Life for most Samoans is centered on their chores (feau). You have the basic chores, like sweeping the
house—which is done with a short broom made of parts of a coconut tree and
dried. It is way more difficult than
sweeping with a regular broom because you have to really get down low to sweep
the floor properly using the side of the long twig like things to sweep the
dirt away. Laundry is another chore
that takes ages and is a lot of hard work.
You usually have to do it early in the morning so that your clothes can
get out in the sun to dry and also because the water gets turned off in the
morning between 9 and 10. I only know
one family in my village that has a washing machine but I know that they exist
for some Samoan families because several of the other PCVs have washing
machines—I’m not jealous (the more I say it the more I start to believe
it). I am a pretty lazy laundry
washer. I usually just my put my clothes
in a bucket with some soap and let it soak for a little while then punch it around
for about five minutes and then do 2 rinses.
If something is super dirty or if I’m feeling extra energetic that day
then I will use the scrub brush to scrub my clothes. I try to hang out my clothes out in the sun
as early as possible but a lot of times I’m too late so they stay out all night
and get rained on but then they are fine by the next day. I’m not the best laundry doer ever.
Making the food is another chore that has to be done every
day, obviously. The saka (taro or
breadfruit usually) has to be made every day.
That means that someone has to go to the plantation, bring the taro,
peel the taro with an old tinned fish can cut down so that it’s really sharp,
cut the taro, and then boil it. Usually
it is covered with pe’epe’e, which is like coconut cream. For that you have to go get the coconuts,
peel the shells off the coconuts, crack the coconuts, shave the coconuts, use
the water and a hush to make a nice cream liquid out of the shavings—it’s more
complicated that it sounds. Everyone I know cooks over a fire, so you have to
get the firewood, make the fire, and then cook your food. Needless to say, making the food can be an
all day event. And if you eat two meals
a day then it’s always an all day event.
Tae Lapisi (picking up the rubbish) is another chore that is
done every day. The funny thing about
rubbish is that it’s not really rubbish that they are picking up, it’s
leaves. My dad would be very happy to
know that all those days of him making me pickup sticks and me crying that it
was the worst thing in the world, have paid off now, because picking up rubbish
is one chore that I excel at. I’m way
more thorough than most of the Samoan kids that are usually in charge of
picking up the rubbish, so I look like I’m ridiculously slow, but I personally
think it looks much better when I do it than when my host brother does it.
Vele le vao (picking weeds) is a chore that is done somewhat
regularly, depending on the family, but is done by every family the week before
the asiasiga, which is when people go around the village looking and checking
all the yards to make sure they are being taken care of well. I’ve heard they give a prize for the most
beautiful house in the village, but I’m not sure if my village does that or if
it’s just some villages. This is my
favorite chore, I really enjoy picking the weeds.
Sasa le vao (cutting the grass) is also done in time for the
asiasiga. This is a fun chore to watch,
but one that I have only tried twice and massively failed at both times. Basically, you take a machete and just hit
the grass really hard with it. It takes
ages and it takes a lot of muscle strength (that may be why I’m not so fabulous
at it). It’s really a very fun chore to
watch shirtless young men do—I say that respectively, but honestly. They are just so good at it. And it looks so cool when there are ten guys
out there just hacking away at the grass with giant machetes.
Some other chores are roasting cocoa, which is done over a
fire so is very hot. Basically you just
roast the seeds and pull off the shells, but it’s so hot and the shells burn
your fingers when you pull them off. But
the finished project is delicious cocoa Samoa, so I am a fan of that
chore. Feeding the pigs is done daily,
as well. That consists of cutting
coconut slices, and then sitting down on a bucket and yelling “PIG PIG PIG PIG”
in a deep voice over and over again.
That’s a chore I have only done once—but it was so much fun it made
consider wanting to live on a farm! Feeding the chickens is kind of the same
way, except you usually throw rice and say “Coo, coo, coo.” Feeding the cows is similar except you just
take the leaves and put them in front of the cows when they are tied up, pretty
simple. Making the beds is another chore
that sounds similar to things we do back home, but here it usually consists of putting down mats on the floor,
and then laying out everyone’s individual sheet and pillow in the correct spot
and tying up the mosquito nets.
These are just a few of the chores that Samoans do on a
regular basis and that I have had the chance to do myself—there are plenty of
others that I know I’m forgetting.
Basically, all of these chores make me realize how many little things I
have taken for granted my whole life.
When cooking a meal can be as simple as putting something in the
microwave for 2 and ½ minutes, whereas here it never takes less than a couple
of hours. It’s little things like that
make me appreciate where I come from and also where I am. I feel so lucky to be in a place that I can
learn so many little lessons everyday just by observing the people around
me.
