Malo!
So after getting back from Savaii, we now have a brief stay at the University of the South Pacific in Alafua (our home base) before flying to American Samoa next week. But SIT doesn't let you sit still for long, so this week we are working on our mini ISPs (the semester will culminate in a 30-page Independent Study Project; this is our practice run). The topic I've chosen is studying the Samoan perceptions of Upolu vs. Savaii (the two main islands of Samoa), and particularly looking at prejudices and jealousies.
On Monday, my Academic Director dropped me off at the Government Building in downtown Apia, where I had decided to visit the Department of Statistics. The building, however, proved to be quite confusing; although Western in architecture, it was not Western in use. The front of the building has a large, wide staircase leading to a row of glass doors and a lobby. The Samoans, however, keep these doors locked. I don't know why. And when I asked, they all looked at me like it was normal to instead enter the building through a tiny enclosed staircase on the side of the building, hidden behind an unmarked door.
When I finally found my way to the correct department, I was again astounded by the Samoan-ness of it all. The receptionist could not have been more friendly; she gave me an informal interview and introduced me to a few higher-ups, all of whom did not mind in the least that I had simply waltzed into a government agency and expected to get immediate help. They spent over an hour going over the latest census data and in-country migration rates with me, printing out copies of all the charts I thought might be useful and chatting about my project.
Tuesday night I again found myself loving the friendly and relaxed Samoan attitude. Our assistant language teacher, Ruta, invited a few students to her church for the B'hai Naw Ruz (New Year). The night was filled with delicious food (a feast, if I ever saw one!), adorable children performing songs and dances, the teen group's amazing Samoan slap dances, and games which included the entire community. My favorite game (and the favorite game of many Pacific Islanders, apparently) is Pass the Parcel. There is a "gift" wrapped up in layers and layers of newspaper (the gift is always taro), and everyone sits in a circle passing it around. Music plays in the background and when it stops, the person holding the parcel takes off one layer of the paper and uncovers a slip of paper with an "embarrassing" task on it. Samoan humor seems to be very different from American humor, however, which made participating in the game even more hilarious. We simply couldn't understand why people thought the tasks were so hilariously outlandish! The crowd's favorite, for example, was when a girl who was about eight years old had to blow up a balloon and sit on it. The building shook with laughter when the balloon popped and even the adults were gripping their sides.
I've spent most of the rest of the week collecting surveys for my project and making flight arrangements to visit New Zealand for two weeks at the end of May (I'll then return to Samoa for a week, go home for a week, and fly to Israel!). I'll fill you all in again before we leave for American Samoa next week, and hopefully I'll find some interesting data to share.
Alofa ia te otou! (Love you all!)
Fa,
Leah
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