I don’t know exactly how my neighbors refer to me when I’m
not at their house. Ideally, they still
call me Ally when I’m not around, but sometimes even people who know me well
still call me “Palagi” or “Pisikoa” (white person or peace corps). My host family calls me “Tiene lale” or
“tiene lea” (that girl or this girl) when they are talking about me, it’s not
offensive at all because it’s so common, but it still makes me laugh when I
hear it. “Take the food to that girl.”
“What’s that girl doing?” “Be quiet, that girl is sleeping.” So anyways, it doesn’t matter what my
neighbors refer to me as when I’m not around, I have finally found a place that
really feels like home.
The last few weeks in Samoa have dramatically changed my
attitude here, and I think I owe a lot of that to the family that lives next to
me. I’ve mentioned before that most
Samoan houses are big open rooms with few walls or bedrooms (if any) and there
is not a lot of privacy. Because of
this, it’s pretty much like we always know what our neighbors are doing at any
given point of the day. We can talk to
each other by just raising our voice a little even when we are in our separate
houses.
This was the first family that I really met when I came to
Savaii because this is where I play volleyball every day. We also happen to go to the same church and
they have several teenage girls that I really like. They invite me over for Sunday lunch after
church a lot of the time, which I always love! We watch movies, play cards,
chat, watch Samoa Star Search, drink cocoa…it’s great! I now spend more time
there than I do at my own house, but I love it because it’s a great fix for
when I have that homesick feeling. This
family reminds me of what it is that made me fall in love with Polynesian
culture in the first place. I love big
families. I love see the relationships and seeing the love and seeing the
different ways that that love is shown.
I love watching them work together to get things done. I love that they have to make approximately
50 pounds of chicken to feed all of the people in their family. I love that they laugh at everything—that’s
what always draws me over there. When
I’m sitting in my room alone, either in silence or just the sound of my own
laughter when I’m watching Big Bang Theory (hilarious show, by the way—I
totally recommend it!), and I hear the laughter next door, it’s impossible to
stay away. They have 20 people living
there now (the compound has 2 houses) so there is pretty much always something
going on. Even during the afternoon
malolo time that is generally an understood period of quiet/resting time all
across Samoa, you can almost always count on seeing someone in the cooking
house or hearing a baby crying. Which I
love since, as my PCV friend Zach recently pointed out, I’m addicted to noise
and people.
Some more things I love about the neighbors:
1.
They are all really good at volleyball. Even the 6 year old sister has a better serve
than I do; the 12 year old is way more consistent in her passing skills than I
am and the 50ish year old mom and dad—well they just make me look
pathetic. The levels of anger that
people have when I play on their team and suck (obviously) vary from person to
person, but despite the fact that I am really terrible, even the most
competitive members of the family still let play on their team every day.
2.
They say the funniest things in English. The littlest girl always tries to speak to me
in English when we are alone. She says a
lot of words, I don’t really understand the message she’s trying to get across,
but I’m always impressed with her vocab.
One thing she will say is “It’s very nice.” or “NICE!” which I appreciate because that’s
my most commonly used phrase in Samoan.
“Manaia!” The older girls say
things like, “It’s none of your business” and “I don’t care” or “It’s VERY no
good.” and “the ball is very outside.”
They are always hilarious! But my favorite was when the 12 year old
girl, who has become one of my best friends in Samoa, was walking home with me
and we were holding hands and she whispered “I like your mom.” I had shown them some pictures from America
the night before and everyone was saying how young and pretty my mom is, but
she was so cute when she said that!
3.
They buy Ice-Cream for people’s birthdays. I don’t think this needs any commentary, it’s
ice-cream! What’s not to love about that?
4.
They dance all the time. And sing. It’s great!
5.
They have this family meeting thing where they
get together with the extended families in the village for Sunday Lunch. There
is so much food, it’s impressive. I
can’t tell you exactly what they talk about, but I know it’s about family
things and making the family better.
Everyone has to give $5 (single) or $20 (couple) and they save the money
for things like funerals or weddings or whatever comes up in the family where
they will need money. It’s great! I have
been invited twice now and last time I gave my $5 and they wrote my name in the
family book—I like to think that means I’m officially a member of the family! J
I feel so grateful to have these neighbors that have
welcomed me so kindly into their home and have allowed me to feel like a part
of their family. It’s these kinds of
things that make me love Samoa. It’s
going to be a great 2 years!
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