I’m BACCKKKKKK!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Ten days in the village and I’m still alive and kicking. Maybe it wasn’t that bad after all. There were some times when it was a little hairy, but overall I must say it was a very good experience and I’m glad that I did it.
I stayed with a family of six. My host mother, Sipili, is a Grade 1 teacher and the assistant principle of the local primary school. Her husband Tuaitau is a planter. They have five children- four boys and one girl. The oldest boy, P.S.A, lives at home with his wife Conzuela and their two children Laisene (who is almost 4) and Edweena (who is three months.) Sipili’s two youngest children, a fifteen year old girl named Talia and her ten year old brother Viula also live at home. The other two boys work and live in Apia and I never met them.
They live in a rather nice palagi house. It’s two stories with a connected bathroom and shower. I was one of the lucky ones who had an actual bathroom to shower so I didn’t have to use the bucket by the road. They also had a fale Samoa which is where the parents slept and spent most of their time during the day since it’s cool and gets a nice breeze. The other two buildings on their piece of land were the kitchen and the Samoan kitchen which is where the umu is built.
About half of my time was spent in class at Jackie’s house, which was nice because I think I might have gone crazy otherwise. Don’t get me wrong. Some of the members of my family were very nice. I loved my sister-in-law and her two kids. Without Zuela I probably would have gone crazy. She’s twenty-six, very pretty, and also I think a bit lonely. She comes from another village and moved here to live with her husband’s family. Her own village is a fifteen minute drive or so, and her family owns some beach fales which are popular with the tourists. I could be wrong in this, but it seems like most of the work around a house is done by the in-laws. Zuela did all of the cooking and most of the housework in my family. At one point I asked Talia if she liked her sister-in-law and her response was “oh yes, because she does all my chores for me. I just go to school and play volleyball. Zuela does all the rest.” The same was true for the family across the street where Mira stayed. Most of the plantation work was done by the son-in-law, not the sons who still lived at home and spent most of their time laying around and playing volleyball.
In general life is very relaxed. Unless a person has a paying job they don’t really do a whole of anything during the day other than getting and preparing food, and relaxing. Don’t get me wrong- it’s not that easy when it means picking or fishing or killing every meal you eat, but there is still an awful lot of sleep and down-time. It was quite strange, especially for us girls who then had very little to do since most of the work, including the cooking, is done by the men. It was a little different in my family since Zuela cooked most of the meals, but even then it was nothing like what we were expecting.
Going to the beach isn’t that popular either. It’s a ten minute walk to a beautiful sandy beach on a reef, but most adults never go unless they are fishing. I took my snorkeling set out several times. It’s so easy to get lost in the underwater world. The little boys also loved my set so it was hard to go for very long. They monitored my time usage pretty closely and made sure to tell me when my time was up.
It would be hard for me to go through a day-by-day play of what I did so I’m going to copy and paste bits and pieces from my own personal journal, and use that to build on for the rest.
9/21/06
“I find that part of me begins to agree with Kalia. I’m only five years older than Talia. She does not have to be my slave.” One of the hardest things for most of us to get used to was the almost stifling service. The first thing my host mom did when we got back to the house after the welcome ava ceremony was sit down and tell me that I was her daughter and that we were family. She then proceeded to not allow me to do anything on my own. We all wanted to fit in and be part of the family but it was not something we were really allowed to do. Or at least some of us weren’t. I ate with the parents, was served by my supposed sister, got food no one else got to eat, and was not allowed to really help with anything when Sipili was around. One of the nice things about Zuela is that she would let me cook and eat in the kitchen with her and help her with her chores. I was able to experience some of the actual work that went on. I also just really wanted to eat what everyone else was eating. It’s hard to eat much when you know the little kids are eyeing your food and just wishing that they could have a bite. Looking back the first couple days were very much days of hostility. We went in being told to try as much as possible to become part of the family but looking back that is a rather unrealistic expectation. Once I gave up trying to do that fell into a more comfortable “long-term guest” role I was able to enjoy myself much more. Some people were going to treat me a certain way and I left it at that. Sipili was going to insist on cutting my taro every evening at dinner. There was nothing I could do about that and so getting frustrated was pointless. On the other hand, since they insisted on treating me as a guest I had more freedom to wander around with some of the other students.
9/23/06
“Riding to the plantation today was pretty sweet, but I wish they’d let me ride the horse by myself. It would have been so much more fun! I know- I’m complaining.” As I mentioned earlier my host dad was a planter and they had two plantations. One was right next to the house and the other was a fifteen minute walk. The plantations mainly hold coconut trees and taro, and someone from the family goes almost every day to collect the food for the evening meal. That would be one of the hard parts of life. Many of the families who worked the plantations also had horses to haul back the food. Horses also served as lawn mowers I was told. Families who don’t have horses still cut the grass the old fashioned way- with a machete. Sounds like fun right? Since I’d expressed a desire to ride the horse when I arrived on Thursday they told me that they would let me ride it on Saturday. I felt like such an Indian. We used a rope for a bridle and leaves for a saddle. It was pretty amazing.
9/24/06
“Thoughts on the day- they just drag by so slowly. We don’t do much besides eat and sleep. The heat kills all desire to move around and be active. Wow ok and the wind just changed directions- not the best smell. The pace is so different from the States. I haven’t really figured out what people do here. But more on that later- I’m going to go help my ‘sister’ with an assignment.” The assignment was an English assignment. I helped her with several during the week and they were pretty tough. I don’t know where they get them from but I’m not really sure how they expect them to come up with the answers.
9/25/06
“Last night I had so much hostility. Waking up to find gum all over my clothes- I waws so angry with Talia.” I shared a queen size bed with my Samoan sister and she went to bed with gum in her mouth. I woke up to find my arm in the gum and it all over the back of my shirt. Needless to say I was not so happy, especially since I’m not sure how accidental it was. The evening before she’d wanted to go get pancakes = doughnut holes. We spent two hours waiting for them. Or rather, I spent two hours sitting around and she spent the time flirting with her boyfriend. When she was finally ready to leave it was time for our evening check-in so we went straight to Jackies. Neither of us had eaten dinner and since I hadn’t eaten she couldn’t go home because she would have gotten in trouble. So, while we were in class she sat outside with her boyfriend. We ended up having snacks and stuff so I was fine, but she ended up not eating and I think she was a little upset at me. It was definitely not my fault. I was almost in tears by the time we’d gotten to Jackie’s house. I was hungry, tired, frustrated, and feeling very used by this fifteen year old. Oh that and she didn’t want to give me back my change after I’d paid for the doughnut holes. Jackie assured me that she’d done it before and had probably stolen $100 American from the last SIT girl. I’m glad she told me that because it helped me realize that I didn’t have to be quite so nice. Sunday evening was probably the low point of our trip. Talking to Jackie that night the light bulb went off in my head and things got much better. “I think things will be ok. It was rough for a little while, but I think they might be changing for the better.”
9/26/06
“Watching the sun rise from my bed this morning was so beautiful and so random because it only lasted for a minute or so. Looking past the mosquito net and glass and screen it was the first thing I saw when I opened my eyes. The green and yellow foliage of the tree tops and the dark green of the coconut trees met the pale blue sky, and in that space the white clouds became a swirling mystery of colors. Was it purple? Or a darker blue? Now it was golden. Nor was it the entire sky- just the little piece framed by two tall coconuts and partially hidden by ever-green trees. This was the beauty that has captured the hearts and souls of so many sailors and poets. A breathtaking moment and a glimpse of paradise.”
“Things I learned today/did today:
- learned how to build an umu ( a Samoan oven), from lighting the fire and heating the stones to covering the food with leaves
- scraped taro with part of a tin can to remove the dirt and purplish inner skin
- peeled green bananas with a sharpened sick and got sticky goo all over my hands
- scraped the inside of a coconut. As with everything else it was much harder than it looked
- wrapped the palusami in its many layers of leaves; yes there is a trick to it
- husked a coconut despite the fact that the husk really liked being where it was
- made an eating plate/bowl out of the leaves of a coconut tree
- saw a pig killed and gutted
- realized that big lung is quite delicious when cooked well
- ate some delicious octopus
- watched a deaf man climb a coconut tree with a knife between his teeth
- watched cocoa being made
- learned how to sasa, a dance done sitting. It mainly involves a lot of clapping and knee slapping
- blew the conch for sa. This was one of the highlights for two reasons: it took me about ten minutes to figure out how to place my lips; and because my Samoan mother told me at dinner that Mira and I were the first girls to blow the conch in Lotofaga because it was a boy’s job
Oh and I saw an awesome shooting star last night. I think it might have been my first one ever.” Tuesday was one of the coolest days because spent it in hands on learning.
9/27/06
“When I woke up this morning I helped Zuela make cocoa rice. Tuaitau had already done the cocoa but we still had to husk the coconuts, scrape them, and squeeze the milk from the shavings. It was delicious, but it made me appreciate how hard they have to work for food. When they are happy living at a basically subsistence level there is no need to do much more. You spent the time you need preparing food but after its all over you are free to rest. Tuaitau didn’t leave the Samoan fale for hours. Several of the girls were complaining about not having anything to do- but that’s exactly what they do everyday- nothing. We are just so used to the rat race of everyday life and the mentality that being busy makes you important that we cannot accept that ‘doing nothing’ or ‘malolo’ is a perfectly acceptable way to spend the day.” Wednesday we had no classes so that we could spend another day with our families observing life. It was nice to have another break in the middle of the week when we’d gotten a little more accepted into our families and were actually allowed to help with some things and not relegated completely to the “guest on the side-line” role.
9/28/06
“Today was a very long day in terms of hours and things done. We spent the morning observing and teaching in the Primary School of Lotofaga. Niko, Cheryl, and I had Level 7. We went over food groups with them and then played hangman. Question: what kind of food is a breadfruit? How about taro?
In the afternoon we all went to a beautiful and quite stunning water fall. With all of the rain we’ve had lately it was roaring. The power was quite impressive. The roar, the white mist, the dense green all around. It must have been 70 feet tall. What would it be like to be the first explorer to see that? To hear it and know it was out there somewhere? What would it be like to be hiking through the rainforest? It makes me really want to go to South America.
Later in the afternoon I went to the blowholes with Zuela and PSA. It was somewhat of an ordeal because my mom wasn’t sure if she wanted to let me go. The mothers are convinced part or maybe all of Kati’s sickness is caused by the spirits and they are afraid it is because of her visit yesterday to the blowholes. Since she got hurt on Tuesday though that’s not possible. The whole spirit thing is interesting however. Even Jackie believes it. How do you reconcile that with Catholicism? I don’t think I know enough about their beliefs. Poor Kati though. She seems pretty sick and last night with the healing/Samoan medicine must have been pretty painful. But back to the blowholes- the tide wasn’t right so there was nothing but air. However the lava formation itself was worth the 10 minute walk and 2 tala. I would have regretted it if I hadn’t gone- esp since I was so close. I’m glad I went with PSA because he knew it well and I felt safe following him out. It was also nice because Zuela has never been to that side of it. We even saw a small shark in one of the little coves. The coral was also pretty intense in one part. Other highlights: waiting 10 minutes to get a picture of the wave action behind PSA; going down to check out the underneath water flow; the huge cave; getting a fish and shellfish from the fishermen in the sandy beach on the opposite side.” I don’t know what else to say about this day. We were going all day, but I was able to see some of the natural beauties of the area.
9/29/06
“The fiafia was tonight and despite my fears that it was just another annoyance it was a lot of fun. Time to just relax and let it all hang loose. Some of the mothers were absolutely hilarious and almost dirty dancing if such a thing is possible in Samoa. Others, like my mom were more formal and serious in their dances. Both groups did several numbers. I feel like our dances went very smoothly if I may say so myself. The boys totally stole their show though with their play. The audience went wild with laughter the first time one of the boys said he “wanted some milk.” When it came to the free-style dancing Niko really stole the show.
The bad part about the fiafia was the pulitasi I got as a figt. I didn’t know whether to laugh or cry when I saw it. It was absolutely hideous. Black background with bright big flowers all over it. I don’t know where they got the fabric but I doubt they could have picked an uglier one. Kalia says I’ll laugh about it later and I’m sure I will.” Memo: I’m laughing now. I’m sure you will too when you see the pictures. :-P
“Poor Katie is still pretty bad. Jackie missed the fiafia because she took her to Apia. This morning when we got to school the healer was there working on her. You could tell that Kati was in so much pain from her crying. It did not help however. Jackie seems convinced that it’s the spirits and that she’s not getting better because she doesn’t believe in them or the healer. I’m not so sure about that. I think the problem is more that Kati was not doing anything to help herself. Not only was she not eating, but more seriously she was not drinking much at all. She was getting very dehydrated and that I feel is the main reason that Jackie decided she needed to go to the hospital- to get an IV.” Kati is doing so much better now. It was probably a combination of several things- a sprained ankle, an infected coral cut, and dehydration. She’s going to with us to get pizza tonight so that’s a very good sign. Except for her taped ankle she looks almost as good as new.
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