making samoan food requires massage

in the pics: drawings from a little girl; carvings with paua shell; my friend norman, a student at national university of samoa

some random phrases i liked/thought were interesting

People are very time poor these days
Out of context…bible/my theology/Unitarian
Readiness to die…
Pick and choose…theology
Break with tradition
Obedience…to god/ parents/ the system
Beautiful poetic spirit…richard
Peace is a lie. There is only passion
Is loyalty always the same as obedience
How you use it defines who you are (the force)
Accept the will of the force vs. imposing your own


2/7
Somehow people in my family kept asking me to massage their feet, and back. So I gave Mona a back massage today. I think that might have been a bad idea because now they are calling me foama’i (doctor). And I can guess that they will ask me more often now. That’s fine, as long as I get a massage every now and then. The samoan oil works well for massage, and for keeping the flies off of open wounds.



2/2
My first REAL attempt at making a samoan dinner—fried mackerel and onions, and I forgot the oil (ga’o). add tot that the fa’i (green bananas) and taro. I wanted to warm up the food before we ate it because food tastes better when it is warm. But now we sit and wait for the tea to be done. Broken bike, no swim this afternoon. Not good (leaga). I hear rumors that my bike might return tomorrow. Also, no year 12 boys to help us this year with chores and making food. “cheeky” says the vice principal. And in samoa, cheeky just usually gets hit. I don’t think the food will be warm when we eat it….ahhh but I have my block of cheese and bread for later.

New samoan :
Au mai se oso?
Did you bring me an oso (gift)?

O fea le maumaga lae alu ai mona?
Which plantation did mona go to?

Scratch
Po’u or mafo’e

Save room for lunch
Faagaogao le manava mo mea’ai.

Bbq chicken (special samoan style)
Moa tumu pa’u

bluegreen water hides flying fish

in the pics: many many samoan foods from last year, when the supervisors came for our year12 schoolC examinations, there's palusami, raw fish, pieces of beef, bbq chicken, taro, sea eel + other stuff I can't remember; my training village family had a baby, and named it after me...so it's matthew and matthew looking at you; two young boys from my training village family Lotu and TJ.

1/28
It’s a Saturday morning. …Words and pictures cannot describe how it feels to be sitting here right now. A blue-green crystal clear ocean stretches out before me. the tide is going out. I can tell because the tops of those rocks are now above water. 20 minutes ago they were not. Orange-brown-yellow leaves float in front of me. reminds me of the fall season. The only reminder . (the light breeze) I hear the rustle (it’s almost like a gentle clap) of the coconut leaves. Not the tall monsters that sway gently over all. These are more like bushes, and line the top of the rock wall in front of my samoan family’s house.

The light breeze that ruffles the coconut leaves also creates gentle ripples that hide the fish so well. First two larger fish with black stripes, then a single fish, and a whole school of fish who swim here and there, turning their silvery bodies to reflect the sunlight. Sometimes I don’t know if I’m seeing fish, or just the ripple of the rocks underwater.

Ahhh…whaat a life. One day I can be swinging a machete and planting (toto) taro up in the plantation. The next day I can be floating in the ocean, my spear at the ready, looking for that next big fish for dinner. My samoan-style fishing needs a lot of practice, so more often than not the fish escape, to grow bigger for the next, better-aiming fisherman.

The sun is sneaking around the coconut leaves. My feet are exposed. I think it’s time to move to a fale. I’m waiting for someone to bring my camera so I can pu tpics on a CD for them.

seeing, feeling, hearing after one year

in the pics: two views of christmas. one from the lighted McDonalds Menagerie, some hersey's kisses...chocolate is always good; some keke saina, a chinese type cookie, it's pretty good, and very filling.. i like it with p-nut butter;)

1/25
Today is Sunday…about 6pm. I’m sitting on the third floor of our peace corps office, of which part of is a hotel. .i’m feeling the warm breeze on my face. It’s a cloudy day, so not too hot, and this easterly blowing “breeze” I feel musts be a little stronger in the harbor because the water is white capping; further out past the reef it looks like the waves are rough.

Today has been a very “sit in the office and do nothing day. I’m usually very quick in and out of our PC office, but today is Sunday, and all of Samoa goes to church ( I went to a Baha’I temple), eats toana’I (I made cheesy eggs, black beans, and bread, with a liberal dabbing of hot sauce), and sleeps ( fell asleep listening to my MP3 player). Until afternoon church.

So here’s a random rundown:
What I’m feeling: the sun burn I got yesterday at the beach during our mid-service conference. (did I say MID service conference. Yes. Now the downhill until we get to the end of this journey). The breeze with intermittent drops of rain.

What I’m drinking: previously—mint tea. Now, just plain old, good for you water.

What I’m seeing: a cow…that has broken it’s rope and is mooing in the driveway across the street. It’s eating grass at the taxi stand and no one seems worried. I guess this is a normal thing. A samoan girl is petting (and kissing ) the cow. A palagi is jogging down the street in short shorts (above the knee) not faasaoma on Sunday. I hear a samoan say something about the runner. The darkness of evening creeps in.

Sitting on the third floor also provides a good vantage point. I wonder if the Samoans concept of time has changed at all…the fastest things moving are the cars, which zip around the bend. It sure looks like life has speeded up. Some cars outdo themselves with the boom-boom of a stereo and tinted windows.

What I’m eating: I just ate a keke saina (Chinese cookie), which was very filling. I like them from the Chinese convience store next to the PC office the best. They have the software, moistest cookies I’ve found.

What I’m reading. Two books: the Bone people, by Keri Hulme. The Gift. By Hafiz. More on these when I finish them. I’m about to read Obama’s inauguration speech. The story of the Peace Corps. Fact: early PCVs endured intense physical training at fitness camps to prepare them for service. I didn’t get any physical fitness training. The village based developmentn annual report. I also looked at sports Illustrated pictures of the year—the one with Michael phelps on the cover winning one of his crazy8 gold medals.

What I’m hearing. Cars. People’s voices. Loud, chirpy birds. They are congregating in one tree, which seems to amplify the sound. The moo cow (he wants to have a walk like everyone else). dog barking.

What I’m smelling: dinner smells. Ocean smells.

It just feels weird that a whole year has passed. It feels like the blink of an eye, even though I wouldn’t have said that in the thick of things. One more year to go. Many things to do with my school…and village. I want to start some kind of exercise program at my village. My samoan mother can hardly walk up our front steps. I feel I won’t be able to do much once school starts because I’ll be at school all the time.

time magazine's midservice asks big questions

pics from last year: two year12 students holding the nets used to fish for pololo--a very small white/clearish very salty worm(?) that only comes out of hiding once a year, a big event; two year12 students in the middle of rugby kicking; matthew and the science teacher during the end of year bbq (I think) having fun, acting foolish...having fun ..eat lots of food.

1/23
Our peace corps group 79 had the mid-service conference. The safety and security officer made a comment about the “threat environment in Samoa.” …hmmmm…the only threats I feel are the dogs that want to eat me, and looking out for the next joke from my vice principal…ha ha ha…ho ho ho…he he he…hu hu hu
There will not be another “computer teacher” ICT group coming to samoa. Group 81 was the last. This means there will not be anyone replacing me. that’s too bad, considering there is currently no samoan teacher teaching computers, or even working with me. the next groups will be (certified?) English teachers for primary schools. That is a good step. Get the teachers who do the teaching. We also talked about “counterparts” and “sustainable” projects. It seems it is very hard to make teaching computers sustainable, but I have a feeling when the samoans deem it necessary, it will happen in the snap of the fingers. The real time is not yet. I am teaching years 9,10,11,12 computers this year. That is a lot. Samoa has text books for maths, science, business studies, English, etc. samoa does not have a text book for computer studies. I’m working on my own version for my school. Another PC volunteer is trying to help the government put one together. I’d be surprised if one gets completed before my two years are done.

One of the volunteers in our group is working at a “private” school, and seems to enjoy his work, and has a lot of work to keep him busy. Private school: one person has complete ownershipàleading to more motivation to “get things done.” Government school: who owns this? Less motivation to “get anything done”

Notes from reading Time Magazine, Dec29-Jan5…Obama…he possesses a rare ability to read the imperatives and possibilities of each new moment and organize himself and others to anticipate change and translate it into opportunity.
“a presidential campaign is like an MRI of the soul.”
Good nose for talent…hire really good people…hire the smartest people…low tolerance for nonsense/turf battles…send that message clearly…people generally want to do the right thing… “it is important to carve out time to think and not spend the entire day reactive.”

Big questions…what is my work?...where is my love?...who makes me laugh?...when do I play?...why is the sky blue?...why Andrew?...

Jungle hands learn to pray holding samoan tea

in the pics: the green bananas...a staple (boiled) in samoa. i eat them a lot; giant clams from the fa'asau (marine protected area) at the event where villagers show off their best fruits/veggies (and I forgot the fa'asamoa for that word...)

1/20
I’m at my training family in a village called Lalomauga. I’ve been helping to cut the grass, and clear land for a plantation. I’m swinging a three foot long knife. I’m reminded of a long time ago when our family went to a beach house, that was kind of in the beach “jungle.” I would take a stick or piece of bamboo and whack and whack and thwack the bushes. Only now I have a real knife, and an unlimited amount of jungle to keep me happy. My hands usually get blisters before I’m tired or out of jungle. After about an hour or so of hard work, its time for rest (coma), and jumping in the river to float down to the deep part and play throw my samoan sister in the water. The cool water feels so nice after dripping sweat. Drinking coconut juice isn’t so bad either.

Why are two tiapula leaves bad?
Aisea e leaga ail au tiapula lua?

We want all the taros to grow the same size.
Fia fai taros ituaiga tasi.

Why are three or four tiapulas good?
Aisea e lelei ail au tiapula tolu po’o fa?

Because all the tiapulas will be the same size, and will be mania in the mouth;)

I have to give two thumbs down to computer programs that require an internet connection to access the HELP feature eg. Google’s Picasa. Most people in Samoa do not have internet. So if one of you smarter-than-me people knows how to get picasa help without internet, please shout in my ear.

It was also hard for me to figure out picasa—I’m a windows explorer kind of person. Yes I subscribe to the Microsoft machine. This was in an ubuntu (yeah open source) environment…which I’m not familiar with at all.

I’m still trying to learn samoan prayers.
Iesu fa’afetai mea ai foai mai tausi ai matou, amene.

That was pretty easy. Here is a harder one:
Iesu fa’afetai mo fua o le tino ua e foai mai tausi ai lou matou ola. I lou suafa Iesu, amene



1/15
Hmmm..the last two days I’ve been working in the plantation. Sa ou futifuti taamu (I cleaned the taamu)..the mushy stuff off the root/taro part of the plant. The next day we toto (plant) the stalks to create new food and make the plantation bigger. I didn’t take a shower after the first day and after the second day I have red bumps on my arm and sunburns in random spots—well I guess wherever I didn’t put sunblock. We (me and mona—the family member who works in the plantation) go in the morning—about 7am, so the sun isn’t as strong as in the afternoon. I just swam in the ocean and took a shower. I feel better. Tonight’s dinner was taro and cut cucumber with mackerel.

I could increase my sugar consumption by 100% if I had the Samoan tea every night with dinner. Let’s just say my family likes their sugar and other sweet things.

Movie: Dreamer. A little girl with spunk and determination gets her dream—her horse racing, and winning the Breeders Cup. It’s amazing how things change when you give a young person ownership. Little girl got ownership.
When you ran the earth shook
And thunder rang clear
A space was made
For squeezing the win
(I don’t remember the exact words to the poem in the movie…)

heading to NZ is developing its country

in the pics: the making of a very sweet Samoan specialty called fautala. made with a special breadfruit. i think the pics are in order of 1,3,2 from top to bottom...first cooking the sugar over hot rocks, then the mixing the coconut cream, breadfruit and sugar, then the finished product. It was very sweet, very filling.

12/27
Our journey within a journey beings—to NZ that is. Here I sit veggie stand waiting for Mike’s family to pick me up so we can go the airport.

I met a samoan today, who lives in Australia, but wants to start a computer training center to link with things like music and art. Cool. His enthusiasm really impressed me. the problem is—he’s going back to Aus for two years before I get back from NZ. So our time over lapping in Samoa was about 10 minutes (actually, later when I got back he was still in the village, so we talked some more). If he’s for real, his goals will be a big boost for samoa, and especially the area where I live. There are so many applications that can generate income about and beyond knowing the basics of computers. I with my time with Andrew was longer. He has the intimate knowledge of samoan language and subtle culture that I will never have. I guess for now, our collaboration will be by email.

Today: rebuild norman’s computer (dr. Watson failed>…;( sasa le vau, jane and olsen’s, school building: pack, hot rocks on back, yoga, home: pack, shower, eat, wait and 4 corners…and now we are to the present time. (faatali I le magafa)


12/26
Why does it seem that developing countries (OK…so I’m going to use a generalization…and sometimes that’s bad) are hot(ter) and have different color skin?
Why not white people in less developed countries? Hmmm…less developed, but who’s measuring the “developeness?”


I hang with pulenuus (mayors) and faifeaus (pastors). They are poor by western standards, but live like kings by Samoan standards—especially pastors. They get A LOT of money from people in their village. Sometimes I wonder what my life would be like if I was living with a family who was ever more poor.