FEAU

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.