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I remember once walking through the village. My cousin and I took a trip around to the back of the village. Trailing behind me was a following of small children who had nothing else to do. So they came with us to check out the old school graves. That was quite an experience. It felt like there was an untouched world back there. We walked through a few metres of bush before we found the first grave. It was like massive piles of stones were gathered and grouped together to mark the bodies of village ancestors. We walked through some more bush and found even more graves. They were all completely unmarked. To the average westerner with no time for stories, they were just stones. But the average Samoan knew which grave belonged to whom. My grandmother knew them all. We spent some part of that afternoon clearing weed and moss off the graves.
I remember once walking through the village. My cousin and I took a trip around to the back of the village. Trailing behind me was a following of small children who had nothing else to do. So they came with us to check out the old school graves. That was quite an experience. It felt like there was an untouched world back there. We walked through a few metres of bush before we found the first grave. It was like massive piles of stones were gathered and grouped together to mark the bodies of village ancestors. We walked through some more bush and found even more graves. They were all completely unmarked. To the average westerner with no time for stories, they were just stones. But the average Samoan knew which grave belonged to whom. My grandmother knew them all. We spent some part of that afternoon clearing weed and moss off the graves.
* * * * *
I was running the shop by myself when it got robbed. I was upset. Between looking after my grandmother and doing various other things on the family land, having no money was the last thing I needed. The women across the road were always out on the road selling fagu sea. I asked them if they had seen anything. They got angry. They were angry at the injustice of having something stolen from me. Then they asked someone else. Another woman stopped by the shop and asked me exactly what happened. I told her my story and because I couldn't leave my grandma, she roamed the village asking people if they knew what happened. No one ever got found out but people offered to step in and help where I lacked support. I had trouble cooking meals and managing a shop so one of the women across the road would cook meals for me and bring them over. People didn't have much but they gave what they could. They'd give me their morning catch of fish or the fruit from their land. They offered me their protection.
I was running the shop by myself when it got robbed. I was upset. Between looking after my grandmother and doing various other things on the family land, having no money was the last thing I needed. The women across the road were always out on the road selling fagu sea. I asked them if they had seen anything. They got angry. They were angry at the injustice of having something stolen from me. Then they asked someone else. Another woman stopped by the shop and asked me exactly what happened. I told her my story and because I couldn't leave my grandma, she roamed the village asking people if they knew what happened. No one ever got found out but people offered to step in and help where I lacked support. I had trouble cooking meals and managing a shop so one of the women across the road would cook meals for me and bring them over. People didn't have much but they gave what they could. They'd give me their morning catch of fish or the fruit from their land. They offered me their protection.
* * * * *
We had a dog named Shaggy. He was a bit old and lost in many ways. We had other dogs too so Shaggy often got left out when it came to proper care. We didn't take care of him very well at all. When my aunt and uncle moved with the other dogs, Shaggy stayed with me. Because it was just me, grandma and Shaggy, I took better care of him. Turns out he could take pretty good care of me too.
I went across the road to the ocean. People don't often cross the houses on the very edge of the coast because they've got some crazy dogs that like biting. I often don't cross without my cousins. Since my cousins weren't around, I was on my own. As I was walking across the road, Shaggy followed. He followed me out to sea, fought off some dogs for me and followed me home after I had finished doing what I was doing. He slept at my feet (and usually brought a host of flies with him). He was loyal.
* * * * *
I'm not sure I can start with the funny moments. Believe me there were plenty of laughs. There were moments where my cousin and I would stand at the shop counter and laugh at the world that was going by. People often presume that it goes slower than the western world. The pace isn't necessarily about a particular slowness. It's just different. Some people work harder than people I've seen here in New Zealand. A day may start at 4:30am and mightn't finish 'til 9pm. But everything is done in communities. If I need to go clean the house, someone else will help me. If I need to go to the shop and get something, someone will come and help me carry back the groceries or make sure the dogs stay away. If I'm making "ice-cakes" for the shop (they're pretty much just frozen juice in a polystyrene cup), guaranteed one or two of the kids will help me. Then we'll walk down to the neighbouring village and get cokes.
Seriously, I know they're just how the earth rolls but man tsunami's suck.
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