Life in Samoa

So, first post for a while, sorry I have been neglecting my blog!

Life has settled in to some sort of crazy routine now – Sunday, leave for training location. Thursday evening head back to Apia pretty exhausted, Friday in the office, spend the weekend socialising (probably a little too much!) then head off on Sunday to repeat. Life is pretty good, although tiring!

Here are a few tid-bits of things that have been happening over the last 2 months or so!

1.       5 days of public holiday for independence! below pic is of my work building decked out with streamers :)

2.       UB40 Concert to celebrate independence – definite a highlight  and awesome that no one seemed to notice a group of palagi’s amongst thousands of Samoan’s.

3.       Mis-pronouncing the Samoan word for spinal cord during training and end up saying something quite rude instead… not only that but no one thinks to tell you this until the end of the day when you’ve said it about 20 more times – apparently they didn’t want to embarrass me…go figure!

4.       The Slug’s misadventures…. Oil on the muffler, potential broken axle, failing brakes down a hill – feeling very grateful that my last breath was not in a beaten up Subaru on a deserted road on a remote pacific island! May need to busk or start selling off all my belongings on ebay to pay for dear Sluggy to see another day!


5.        One of those quirky way-of-life things.. toilet paper is so valuable in Samoa that it is not kept in the toilet at work, but in its own special cupboard which you must go to, ascertain how much you will need, then wind it off a roll and stroll on down the corridor, through the foyer to the bathroom, usually saying Hi to about 10 people on the way while you carry your little wad of loo paper or ‘TP’ as it is referred to here! Some sneaky strategies people employ to avoid this include keeping a secret stash of TP under your desk, hiding your little wad down your top or knowing about the secret stash at reception, although that option is not very secret!

6.       The Samoa Stolen Phone Saga: One morning Em and I went for a swim session in the harbour, stupidly leaving our phones in the car. Upon return 40 minutes later the phones had disappeared. Normally, we would accept this as bad luck and get on with life, however our Samoan swim buddy Seti, decided that it was not acceptable and took matters into his own hands. A random guy rocks up on a bike and says he thinks he knows who took the phones! So the bike and guy get put in the van, and off they go on a man-hunt. We went off to work, little did we know of the events that were going on! Seti sends 2 of his workers – including one that was meant to be at our training! – to search the city of Apia for this man. Who they found. Chilling at the market thinking he had done pretty well for himself with 2 new phones to sell. Unlucky for him he picked on the wrong Palagi girls to mess with! He then found himself piled into a 2 door Rav4 with 2 cops and 2 other big Samoan’s – I imagine it wasn’t pretty – and dragged down to the police station. Upon our arrival at the police station, our friendly police officer Titti showed us the thiefs collection – miraculously, Em’s phone was alive and well, however mine was not to have the same fate – already sold we think (Apia police don’t necessarily have the best interrogation skills and tend to believe everything the suspect says :/) Anyway, the phone thief is now likely in jail as stealing is a sin in Samoa. I think  that more than makes up for the loss of my phone, and gives me some serious faith in the people here – there will be people stealing phones in any country that you go to however I think there’s only one where people will go to those lengths to get it back for you J Good on you Samoa!

Samoa Vs. Scotland - Not a bad view from the field!

Catamaran-ing!

WORK! Its not everyday that you love going to work for free :)

Days 5-19 Roosters, villages and Samoan birthdays

So, 19 days in and I’m writing this post while listening to a symphony of barking and howling dogs outside my window. One of the many fun quirks of living in Samoa! It is quite difficult to find peaceful sleep here in between the packs of barking dogs, Samoan’s singing until all hours and the roosters which would appear to have jet-lag as they crow at all times of the day and night! Another fun quirk of living here is the brilliant concept of pre-paid power or “cash power”. This innovative concept is great, until your power credit runs out at 8pm on a Sunday and there is nowhere open in order to buy more!

There are, however, many more awesome things to make up for these few frustrations. Emily, Charlotte and I were lucky enough to spend a weekend in a rural village, helping out with making the traditional Samoan umu (umu literally means ‘earth oven’). After a lot of grating, scraping, peeling, husking , leaf rubbing and general hard, sweaty work, along with 2 hours cooking time, we finally had ourselves an umu. LOTS of umu. Ours consisted of Taro, breadfruit, pumpkin, pork, mutton, chicken, fish and palesami (coconut cream baked in taro leaves). This is eaten OFTEN and A LOT in Samoa. Actually, everything is eaten a lot in Samoa.

Following this we stayed at Lalomanu beach in traditional beach fales which are basically a wooden platform with no walls, and a palm frond roof. This is one of the best beaches in Upolu but also the one most affected in the 2009 tsunami. It was heartbreaking to hear the families’ stories of their lost loved ones and see the devastating effect of the wave on the once-flourishing coral reefs of the area which are only just now beginning to sprout new growth. This beach also gave us a taste of the incredibly strong and dangerous currents that Samoa unfortunately has, which helped me affirm the need for my assignment here.

This past weekend was spent on Namu’a Island, which really is a tiny piece of tropical paradise, with no electricity, just a row of tiny open fales on the beach. I saw my first sea turtle and a lot of crown of thorns starfish - ouch! The days consisted of snorkelling, general chill-out time, a bonfire, crab-racing with the local kids, stargazing (must be the most stars I have ever seen in my life) and jungle-trekking with some of the local kids which turned into an epic adventure literally ‘off the beaten track’. After 2 hours barefoot trekking through dense jungle I can definitively say I have been were no woman has been before.

Other activities so far have included out-rigger canoe paddling with Samoan and Kiwi boys, fun-running (slash walking!), Island Zumba and a foray into Soccer.

Despite all these adventures I have actually been working, currently finishing up an audit of all the accommodation properties in Samoa, where Emily and I have been sussing out the different pools, beaches and conditions around the island, as well as introducing ourselves to all the staff of the resorts and beginning the plan for the next 6 months. Along the way we have been getting to know our Samoan colleagues, including a 4-day overnight trip with them in our first week of work! This trip also happened to include my lua sefulu tolu birthday which involved papaya cake and happy birthday in Samoan at breakfast, a whole umu roasted pig at lunch, and chocolate cake and Samoan happy birthday again at dinner. It is also apparently Samoan tradition that on ones birthday one is required to get up in front of everyone and perform a traditional dance while everyone sings in Samoan. What else could I do but oblige!?

If you have gotten this far down I applaud you, and thanks for keeping up with my adventure!

Fa soifua!

Erin

Days 1-4

Malo!

So, 4 days into this epic adventure and already I don’t want to leave. Can’t imagine what it will be like in 6 months’ time….

At 525am on Thursday I arrived in Paradise. Awaiting us at the airport was our Samoan country manager Fran and her new assistant Bob, with bottles of cold water in hand – thank goodness because we were already dripping with sweat.

Samoa is hot. Really hot. And Really humid.

But this was soon forgotten on the drive from the airport to the hotel in Apia on the other side of the Island of Upolu. An amazing sunrise as we crawled along the streets, dodging pigs, dogs, horses and locals in the villages. Everyone gets up early here and now we know why – its just too hot to do anything by 12! Samoans live in traditional open houses called fales – no doors or windows! Just a roof. As we drove past the ocean there were locals out fishing in the traditional wooden canoes. We have since seen the fruits of this labour at the local fish market on the harbour – we will definitely be stocking up here every week.

We spent the first few days doing all the important things – like getting SIM cards and a Samoan ‘drivers license’ (a piece of paper that costs 20tala – but no parking fees ever!). We also got fabric for our Puletasi’s (traditional Samoan women’s dress) and learnt the important lesson that in Samoa, the brighter the colour, the better! Dolly the tailor then made them up for us overnight – (cheers Dolly!), ready for our visit to the Australian high commissioner and the Australian Federal Police Superintendent (who also gets to wear a lavalava and thongs to work!). House hunting proved to be a huge success – Charlotte and I are super excited to move in Tuesday – pictures to follow (warning  you will be jealous!)

Saturday was our first day of adventuring. After picking up our wheels for the next 6 months – affectionately named the ‘Black Slug’- we piled in and ventured down the windy roads (speed limit always 40kms an hour), over a mountain to Sa’Moana Resort. We made the short journey of 35miles in a record hour and forty minutes. Finally to a beach! Afternoon spent swimming, relaxing, hammock napping and then experiencing a fia fia night of traditional umu (hot stone oven) meal including a whole pig! There was singing, dancing, fire dancing, more singing  and an ‘ava ceremony. All the performers were from the local village of Salamumu and were super friendly – the men and boys are very cheeky! After an epic drive home, including a tropical downpour and a cow jam, we were back in Apia by midnight.

This morning was Aso Sa (Sunday) and we decided to attend church with Fran. It is in an amazing location halfway up the mountain overlooking Upolu and was a great way to meet many locals – we have already found a local mechanic for our car! So as is Fa’a Samoa – “The Samoan Way” we are spending Sunday afternoon relaxing and catching up on nap time. This new week will bring lots of new adventures including moving into our own houses and meeting our Host Organisations for the next 6 months!

Tofa!

Erin