Ability Experience, Archives

Travel to the Big Island

Quick notes:

• Sometimes I am served food at 11pm
• Samoans don’t find it rude to point out your baldness or weight
• Hanging clothes to dry in your kitchen isn’t out of the norm
• My village is rather large and takes a great deal of time to walk
• Fiafia’s (Samoan Dance Parties) are a grand time
• My closest neighbors are 3 churches: Catholic, Mormon, and EKFS (congregational)
• Brownie and Blackie are the name of my two favorite dogs (no, I didn’t name them)
• I am growing accustomed to 3 hour sermons at church
• Christmas is just as big a deal here
• I would be curious to see many of my friends try Samoan food and see who could handle it.

If you look on a map of Samoa it is comprised of about ten separate islands. The two largest are Upolu, where I live, and Savai’i. The 4th largest island in the Pacific, Savai’i is known as the more traditional island when compared to Upolu. There are very few businesses on this island, which can make acquiring food or other goods difficult. There is a small airport, but most people travel by boat from Upolu. The villages are father apart with resorts sprinkled in between. The island itself is beautiful with sprawling beaches, lava tubes, lush jungle, high arching mountains, and vast lava fields. It is a naturalists play field.

On Monday, December 20, my family escorted me to their home village of Safune, Savai’i. It is a very small village on the Northeastern corner of the island. We arrived at the wharf at 5:00 a.m. to later catch the 8:00 a.m. boat. My host brother had the car, but unfortunately was put on standby and didn’t make it across until 12:00 p.m. Needless to say he wasn’t happy. After getting up so early I promptly fell asleep once the boat left the dock. I was jolted asleep by the man over the speaker stating that we would soon make landfall.

We had planned on driving around the entire island, while dropping off gifts along the way, but unfortunately our ride was left behind. Instead Ruta, Paki, and I took a bus filled to the brim on a 2-hour adventure to see family. I slept for the first hour, but the second hour was spent worrying when I would be able to use the toilet. When Ruta pulled the chord to stop the bus, I sprinted off to find the closest bathroom. We were only making a quick stop to drop off a fine mat for her brother, so what does that mean? 2 hours back to the wharf to meet up with our driver, James.

Safune was only an hour drive from the wharf, but once we arrived we were all exhausted. We threw some mats on the floor and took a nap. I am convinced mats are one of my all time favorite things here. They are simply woven pieces of dried palm leaves, but have the ability to really soften a floor for comfort. After a wonderful nap, James showed me the local pool. The pool was built from rock and concrete into an estuary. It was rather large and people seem to use it at all hours of the day to swim, bathe, and do laundry. I expected the water to be warm and consist of seawater, but I was wrong. The fresh water was cold, as it was brimming from a mountain spring. The water may have been cold but the black lava rock at the bottom was warm to the touch from setting in the sun all day. The swim was exquisite and perfect for a long hot day.

The evening ran by rather quickly. Dinner consisted of freshly killed/cooked chicken, rice, and a respected Samoan meal must have coffee. I sat quietly at the table while my mother sucked the bone marrow out of her chicken. We were staying at her brothers home, who spoke English surprisingly well. When I say well, we could have a discussion. After getting the jokes aside about getting a Samoan girlfriend we talked about America, Samoa, and family. I showed them pictures and they had a great time. When the hour grew late we finally laid to rest on the mats. We all slept in the center of the room with mosquito nets hung, since the windows did not have wire to keep the pesky pests away. Just as I went to lie upon my oh so comfy mat, I noticed a rather large spider sprawled happily across the wall to my right. Spiders don’t normally threaten me, but when they are greater than the size of my palm I may just startle. I quickly grabbed my book and put him out of my misery. After a few pages of reading Catch-22 I quickly faded into deep sleep with spiderless dreams.

The next morning we made a quick trip to a store a few villages to pick up pankeke. These are just a far more delicious version of the donut holes. When we returned we feasted on eggs, pankeke, coffee, and buttered bread. After the meal I was dropped off in Saumoga to visit Ana, whom is one of my closest friends and another volunteer. We spent the day leisurely walking around the village, down at the ocean, playing pool, and catching up on conversation. It has only been a few weeks since we finished training, but it was nice to have time to just talk with a friend in person.

In the afternoon I returned to Safune. Having grown quite sweaty from my excursion with Ana I made a trip back to the pool. This time I brought soap to a wonderful bath along with my relaxing swim. I don’t remember the last time I took a bath, but I certainly wouldn’t mind doing it more often. As I floated in the pool at the cusp the ocean I could hear the kids practicing their Christmas songs/dances across the way. The siva (dance) would take place on Friday, so their practice was intense to make sure everything was perfect.

When finished swimming, Ruta and I made a visit to her aunt’s fale (house). While they talked I played volleyball with a few of the boys. While playing I heard a gun shot. No one took notice until we were soon watching a pig hightailing its’ way down the road. Not missing a beat, boys went running from all directions, including the game, towards the pig, picking up rocks along the way. Someone had missed while trying to kill a pig for dinner, so who has to catch it? Apparently 20 boys with rocks! The scene was quite comical; it was something you would see right out of a movie. Once the pig was caught everything returned to normal.

When Ruta finished speaking with her aunt, we made our way to her other brother’s fale. We sat outside drinking tea with my aunt in-law watching the boys play volleyball catching up on conversation. Fun fact about my aunt in-law, she is also a pule (principal) and works at a school with another Pisikoa in A’aopo. Ruta and my aunt mostly spoke in Samoan, so I was left to make observations of my surroundings. When a truck passed by with a cow lying in the bed alive with two men laid across it, I could think, “only in Samoa.”

My experience in Savai’i speaks more to the truth of everyday life in Samoa. I take many things for granted such as my indoor shower/toilet, wiring on my windows, and an abundance of easily accessible food. It was clear that acquiring food was much for difficult in Savai’i and takes careful planning as it goes fast. With the difficulties and pesky mosquitos life seemed even more casual than on Upolu, which is already laid back in its own terms. This was only my first of many visits to Savai’i and I can’t wait to explore more of the island.