Welcome to Samoa!
1107 Words
As soon as I got off the plane, I was hit with heat and humidity and I immediately felt myself break a sweat just by being here.
I should have paid more attention to the island’s weather rather than just up and make my way here. I only had two days to pack my things when I decided that I was moving to Samoa.
I had just found out that I have relatives of my mother’s here in Samoa, who were more than happy to host me during my stay.
I planned to move here to discover my Samoan roots, a heritage that I know nothing about except my ties to this beautiful place, a magical place so rich in culture and history.
All the passengers were directed to a medium-sized building, three storeys to be exact, with an open floor plan that led onto the arrival lounge.
As I walked along the marked path, I was greeted by the sound of music and to my surprise, there was an actual live band right at the entrance to the arrival lounge.
Three men in their formal lavalava (formal sarong worn by men) were playing various instruments and signing to a beautiful, playful tune. I can’t understand the words of the song but I assume it is sung in the local language.
I stood along with some other palagi (foreign nationals) to admire the performance, while some locals made their way outside. They have probably seen this every time they travel back to Samoa.
‘Talofa lava*, welcome to beautiful Samoa’ they greeted us as their song ended. (*hello or greetings)
Grabbing my bags I made my way through the immigration checkpoint, I couldn’t help but notice all the locals here were quite friendly, greeting me when given the chance.
Once all my bags have been checked for illegal contents, I was given the green light to enter the country. A bit nervous and excited, I couldn’t help but imagine what sort of life awaits me on this foreign land.
As soon as I came through another set of doors, I could see many of the passengers were greeted by families and friends by the looks of it, while some palagi made their to the airport shuttles.
Scanning the crowd, I saw a short, plump woman holding a cardboard that had the names ‘SASULU NAZARI’ written on it. I inwardly smiled and felt relieved that my relatives did come out to greet and pick me up.
I waved at her and she immediately noticed me, smiling and throwing me into a tight hug as soon as I was near enough. I could smell cinnamon and coconut oil on her before she released me, ‘Hello Sasulu, my name is Orepa and this is your uncle Tai, he’s also my brother.’
‘Hello, I’m very pleased to meet you and thank you so much for having me on such short notice,’ I said to them, remembering how my aunt was very excited that I would be visiting and she insisted that I stay with them, she gave me no room to refuse her offer.
‘Come on, let’s get you home, it’s about a 30 minute drive so you have plenty of time to have a look around,’ Orepa said while pulling my luggage towards the car park.
We put all my luggage in the trunk of the double cab pickup truck and then drove off into the direction of home.
As soon as we exit the Faleolo International Airport, I was immediately impressed by the lush greenery that surrounded us on each side of the road.
The way nature has been untouched by civilization and remained to grow freely in this part of the island, reminds me of how I used to be before everything went downhill in my life – young, wild and carefree.
Orepa named several villages as we passed them by and in almost all of them you could see they have their own outdoor swimming pools surrounded by large, smooth rocks and palm trees and several villagers enjoying the pools.
Some villages had impressive rugby and volleyball fields or malae, spanning across several metres in front of open fale (open homes), full of young boys and girls playing and cheering on the side.
Little kids were running around chasing each other and playing some sort of game with a ball.
Life in Samoa seems very much relaxed and it seems more of the younger generation spend their time outside instead of glued to their electronic devices. There is a huge gap between the differences of life here when compared to where I used to grow up.
“Life in Samoa may seem relaxed to you, kids enjoy the outdoor and open spaces our yards provide. And in most families, the whole neighbourhood consists of extended relatives such as aunties, uncles, cousins etc., they all socialize and work around each other often,’ my aunty went on to explain.
‘Aunt, why are there big open houses in front of every brick house?’ I asked curious about the reason behind it.
‘Those, my dear, are what we call a fale tele (open meeting house) that every families use for gatherings, special occasions and other important things,’ she answered.
‘Sasulu, every village is guided and protected by a matai (chief) system. Matai means chief, which is an honour that is bestowed upon those who the family deems worthy of the title. They protect the family and their interests, they represent the family in all village matters.’ My uncle explained to me in a serious tone.
After driving about 25 minutes we pulled onto a dirt road that led to a series of houses of different bright colours, ranging from green to blue to orange and even yellow. I would say that this neighbourhood loved to brighten up their homes, not a single dark colour can be seen.
‘And this is our fale (family house),’ Tai announced as we neared the big oval house with no doors, walls or windows. Large wooden posts hold up a domed roof, while there were various intricate patterns decorating the posts.
‘The fale is lashed and tied together with a plaited sennit rope call ‘afa, handmade from dried coconut fibre. Not many people use it nowadays, but we still do,’ my uncle explained in detail with pride evident in his voice.
‘It is really beautiful uncle, I would really love to learn more about the family and Samoan culture,’ I really do, and I am determined to find out more about this place.
‘Oh-em-gee! They’re here, she’s here!’ I never heard someone shriek that way before.
- Writer
