During my 2nd "drop-off", I jumped on a bus to Solosolo (because that's where I heard the experts go to surf). On my way there, I met a girl around the age of 13 who was heading to Salesa, but told me she'd help me get to where I needed to go-- and told me to follow another girl on the bus named Susannah. We kept talking and were having a great conversation, and when we got to Solosolo she ended up getting off the bus as well. Susannah was so excited and told me to come to talk to her mom, and kept insisting that I stay with them. But then Telesa kept insisting that I keep walking with her to her village.
So, for most SIT programs, "drop-offs" typically last for only a few hours at the most. But in Samoa, the busses only make their last round to Apia around 4, so anyone in the village without a car is stranded (or has to take a taxi-- which is NOT safe to do alone) and will typically just stay with a family. As it was already 3:30 and I hadn't really gotten to see much of Solosolo, I seriously started to consider staying the night out in a village, and not returning to check in with our group until the morning. But then, Telesa pulled me aside and said "you REALLY don't want to stay here in Solosolo!" And then she started speaking Samoan really fast and I didn't understand... but I caught her say "last month" and "the girl" and "her parents" and "that tree" and "in Solosolo!" while she was making gestures of someone getting hung and stabbing their side. "Pule i le ola!" she said over, and over. I had her write it down so that I could ask my AD when I returned. After attempting to decipher her gestures, I assumed that a girl got hung or something, and although I'm an adventurous kinda gal, I really didn't want to risk anything on my first night.
When I returned to meet with the group, I showed our Academic Director the note, and she said that "pule i le ola" literally means "to take control of ones own life"-- meaning suicide. This was my first brush with understanding how Samoans view life and death. In America, individualism reigns, and it's considered a good thing to be self-interested and "take control of your own life". But in Samoa, it seems like that's nearly impossible. The family structures have just seemed so rigid, that no matter what you do, you will always be defined by a larger group.
Suicide rates have been a concern in Samoa, and I was interested in that before I came. In Sia Figiel's Girl in the Moon Circle, she says that suicide in Samoa is about breaking ties with or dis-associating yourself from your family. Usually when someone dies in Samoa, their body is encased in an elaborate monument looking thing in their family's front yard. The family is constantly reminded of this person and openly meditates on them. Those who pule i le ola don't get any of this, and they are said to just be "forgotten"... but this little girl didn't seem to forget.
Saturday, March 8, 2008
The time I ran into a kid from my high school... in SAMOA
My very first day in Samoa, our academic director dropped us each off in random places around Apia and told us we had to find our way to the market. I was wandering around a village for a while, and this man was sitting down eating and asked for me to join him. I really didn't want to, but he mentioned that he had seen me get off the plane the night before (yes, Samoa is THAT small). And so we talked for a while, and he helped me get to the market. On our way there though, he kept telling me he needed petro for his car. I was trying to play dumb, but he kept pushing me and saying "Do you understand? I need YOU to help me so I can buy petro!" So finally, I gave him 5 tala, and he was like you don't have a 20? And I was thankful that I honestly DIDN'T have a 20, opened my wallet to prove it, and after that he left me alone. But he did help me find the market, so to make sense to a westerner, I was basically paying him for his assistance. But in Samoa, people are very generous, and I now see that that kind of exchange is normal-- and I keep telling myself I wasn't really getting scammed.
As soon as I found the market, I was walking around looking at things and I heard someone say "Where you from?" Already being nervous and frustrated about being in a strange new place alone (and at the time, I kept worrying that everyone was going to scam me like that guy or have other bad intentions), I walked faster and ignored him. But he followed me and finally I bluntly said "The States" and kept walking. Then he said "what part of DALLAS are you from?" I stopped dead in my tracks and flipped around... slack-jawed. He said "I went to Trinity. You were a cheerleader. I graduated in 05, played football-- #37." I was still in awe. He told me he was on his mission for LDS, and I had talked to my friend Tevita (who's Tongan/ a LDS missionary) the day I left for Samoa to see if he knew anyone there, so I wondered if he just told this guy to look out for me. But then he started naming all the different people we both knew, and I'd say a first name and he'd say their last name. This guy really went to my high school. And picked me out at the market in SAMOA!
As I write about this two weeks later, I'm still in shock.
Papase'ea Sliding Rocks (rocks!): A video
My apologies for any neck injuries from watching this. And also for the heartache caused by your jealousy of what I'm doing this semester:)
Our first To'ona'i
Every sunday everybody gets up and goes to church, and then comes home to eat the to'ona'i. Samoa is 98% Christian and they take the Sabbath very seriously! Saturday they (now we) get up early and go to the ma'umaga (plantation) to harvest the fruit and veggies, then we go home and build the umu (a stove of rocks) and do various other things to prepare for the meal on Sunday so that the maximum amount of time to rest is available.
So since this was our first To'ona'i, Jackie (our academic director) did all the work. We ate octopus, raw tuna, and many other random things. But it was all delicious! And we had our very own child to fan us. We should get this child-fanning-your-food thing going in the states asap.
The plane to Samoa
Yes, this is the kind of plane where each passenger is weighed and then seated accordingly.
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