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