Wuhoo! I must admit, after all my ranting and raving about life in the bush, it is fair to say that i have become quite patriotic to the deep fried kekepua'a infested lands!! I think with age (yes , Im 'aging'- wont deny that...) comes a wisdom that springs from sitting back, analysing and appreciating the good things life has surrounded you with, you just couldnt see it...(with some ranting and raving) and certainly life in the bush has grown on me like a second skin...it aint all bad!! tee hee!!
This was the intro the the news piece that just made me do a choohoo..."na fa'ate'ia le atunuu...." or in english (with some overdramatic interpretation added for my one enjoyment) The ENTIRE country was SHOCKED with the outcome of the Fautasi races today for independce!! Yes, Savaii fleeted a team and we bloomin well WON choooo soooo sooo...I think even, this is the first time we have ever had a team part take..or maybe I am ignorantly wrong, but anyways...Id like to think that. And we showed Samoa didnt we!! E le vaivai fo'i le pitonu'u nei!! There's some good old fashion Savaiian heart right there. Go to participate in something and give it your all , your arm and your leg and bring home the trophy baby!! Surely this win deserves a round of beers (which Im sure they'll get) and $ for more beers later! - thats the way Samoans celebrate, lets not take the attention away from the win with the ungodliness that goes on with booze and money spending in our villages choohoo...
I'm very proud of these boys..even though I dont 'particularly' like this village...haha...i'll give em a couple of thumbs up if they pass me by singing in a bus!!Yes, today Im proud to be a Savaiian, especially when we can SHOCK the whole COUNTRY- se choohoo again!!
Wednesday, June 01, 2011
Saturday, May 28, 2011
Just another day in the bush...
So my ramblings for the week from the bush go a little something like this- certain government organisation had a little workshop at our place...it wasn’t really organised, apart from one of our village matais coming the day before to our kitchen back door- to inform us of some planting demonstration that was going to be done in our yard- OK...and that was it....that evening, secretaries etc of that ministry called to ask if everything had been “organised” yes...organised from a village point of view is- letting us know through the window of our kitchen (back of the kitchen) that someone was gonna be digging a few holes in our yard for some village demonstration...from the ministries point of view- ‘WHAT- the hall was meant to be hired and furniture hired and a podium set up etc etc etc’- moral of this story- don’t ever leave the ‘villagers’ to organise things other then their own faalavelaves...because by just telling us this basic simple piece of info , the buck was passed on to us so that its now all our fault if things didn’t happen- when the workshop started as well, another village taule’ale’a just showed up at my house with a bag of nius mumbling something like here are some nius for you...i thought he was selling them and tried to politely decline as we had already purchased a dozen just that morning to which he smiled nodded, left the nius on the ground and walked off...????? later on..someone came and said they were meant to be for the workshop and there was a mad rush to get them back to the hall to their designated drinkers...again..another pass the buck option for the villagers- someone was probably told to get some nius and take it to the function but they couldn’t be bothered going in to the hall where the function was so someone else would have said just go give it to their staff at the kitchen they’ll sort it out, meanwhile being delivered by a mute didn’t help as we had no idea having not been told anything, what to do with them!...arrrhhhhhhhh
In another instance..a certain big chief in our village some weeks back, just showed up at our workplace (me and husband) to ‘inform’ us..he was travelling to Apia..god knows what for as we weren’t privileged that info..but yea..he had come to get 50tala for his travelling expenses..and that was the limit of vocab in his proposition..im here for the money so show me the money like he was asking to use some air from our backyard ... and then just stood there waiting...like hurry up already..cos you know..we are the travelling expense budgetiers...ok....then later on, his SON came and did the same thing!! (his son is in his 30s so this is not some kid) lucky for him... before he could experience my wrath – he proposed to bring us 3 moa Samoa which we could use for our business meals....well, we don’t have moa Samoa on the menu everyday but at least he was offering something and not demanding...
The function i mentioned earlier was held at our big fale..which has toilets on the side of the building, as usual, whenever a congregation of our people use the hall, after 5 minutes, whole rolls of toilet paper went missing, not just parts of it, or even the little cardboard roll left like it had just been used up by some poor diarrhoea laden sod, the whole roll was dismantled from the wall and disappeared. Annoyed the living lights out of me..because with 6 toilets i don’t expect to have to replace 6 rolls every 10 minutes, especially when there are only 20 people in the named congregation...ahhhh...the joys of living in the bush aye..Whats new....
In another instance..a certain big chief in our village some weeks back, just showed up at our workplace (me and husband) to ‘inform’ us..he was travelling to Apia..god knows what for as we weren’t privileged that info..but yea..he had come to get 50tala for his travelling expenses..and that was the limit of vocab in his proposition..im here for the money so show me the money like he was asking to use some air from our backyard ... and then just stood there waiting...like hurry up already..cos you know..we are the travelling expense budgetiers...ok....then later on, his SON came and did the same thing!! (his son is in his 30s so this is not some kid) lucky for him... before he could experience my wrath – he proposed to bring us 3 moa Samoa which we could use for our business meals....well, we don’t have moa Samoa on the menu everyday but at least he was offering something and not demanding...
The function i mentioned earlier was held at our big fale..which has toilets on the side of the building, as usual, whenever a congregation of our people use the hall, after 5 minutes, whole rolls of toilet paper went missing, not just parts of it, or even the little cardboard roll left like it had just been used up by some poor diarrhoea laden sod, the whole roll was dismantled from the wall and disappeared. Annoyed the living lights out of me..because with 6 toilets i don’t expect to have to replace 6 rolls every 10 minutes, especially when there are only 20 people in the named congregation...ahhhh...the joys of living in the bush aye..Whats new....
Saturday, May 21, 2011
adjustment disorder...
Yes, I remember this word being used back in my "Dunners" days of Academia (Dunedin).I remember being introduced to this word when it was used to describe a 'mental' disorder of foreigners (Pacific islanders) who moved over to aotearoa and just didn't get it.Didn't get the food and the cold and the hard work to send money back to the islands and all the damned paperwork needed to just about do anything other then sit on a toilet... Didn't get the swing of things and slowly slid off into depression...well I think this is what I have for fleeting moments everyday...bush adjustment disorder I suppose I would call it ha ha!
On some days, or...for some moments on some days, I really dont mind the bush- and having to 'adjust'...there's no harm done, life here is pretty tranquil and merry ( I suppose if you looked at the little box I live in) and people are just going about their merry way of living in the bush - it is what it is, which might not be what I am used to or would prefer but I deal with it and its fine and dandy. But other days, things get to me, like not having any other people with a similar conversation agenda/background/humor etc..other then my husband and his dear relatives (brother and father mostly, if I'm lucky) to dialogue with (talk about lack of Oestrogen!!) no cinemas or cafes to hang out at or gyms to go manic over going or not going to,even just having relies who I could 'drive over' to see and share a cuppa coffee (or baileys) with on an afternoon or two...and then there a moments where people 'say' things that make me feel all the more like an outsider and not only that...like I'm a snob and not WANTING to become part of the big bad bush...
Like this particular question Ive been asked a time or two- someone asked me why "I dont take my kids into the village" more..to play with the village kids...I suppose my hubby and his siblings have fond memories of hanging out with all their friends in the village growing up - dirty as rag dolls running through the ma'umaga getting stung by bees and chased by wild boars (well, maybe not wild boars but you get my drift)etc....thing is, they forget that back in those days, they had like 10 uncles and aunties and their 50 other cousins who also grew up with them here, also hung out in the so called village, so it was more like a few other village kids hung out with their herd of family kids...for me, its totally different..I am the only offspring - or should i said married to da offspring, with kids here from our family..there are no cousins or aunties or uncles with kids hanging around-there's NO ONE here..everyones up and left and is living it up overseas somewhere while me and da hubby are the one couple residing here with kids..its really just me...so to venture out to hang out with...who again?? who exactly am I meant to take my kids to hang out with???
Up to now, the only village women I know of names are my babysitter and da business employees...thats it..hmmm...to make matters worse, my hubby's sisters, bless their souls, have instilled a ruthless fear and over-protection in me by pointing out families living around us where "that guy flashed me his willy when I was 10"....so uh, exactly how can one expect that I'm going to be setting my kids free in this village again??Its not all sunshine and laughter in paradise here you know.. uhhh...nah...sorry. If that counts me in as a snob well its kids first I say...and if that means that they may never venture past our grounds gates and be free with the village...sorry if that offends you..when my kids go to my own family compound in Apia, where they have 10,000 cousins and aunties and unlces loooking out for them...they can run free and join in the merry fun....but yea...that about sums that chapter up ...but you think I could explain ALL THAT to the jolly soul who asks me "why" I dont take my kids to hang out with the village kids....its not really a fair question when I dont really 'know' anyone here..and expecting that I will walk out into someones yard and be like "hi, my name is..." well, not gonna happen because thats just not in my nature...and if the conversation has to be in Samoan, well then-even more reason it aint gonna happen because its gonna come out all papagu and I'd just make a fool of myself, feel embarrassed and leave...
ANYWAYS...to cope with adjustment disorder in the village I just- 1) avoid village consultations, bless my childrens' babysitters soul for taking all my mafutaga o tina's contributions for me 2) keep busy with work, and sane by perusing the internet facebook work of blogs every once in a while 3) when its just all gotten a bit much, hop on da ferry and GO to da big city- AKA Apia...
besides, its probably better that I come across as an outsider as sometimes I worry if I got too close to people they would all just start asking me for small loans...
so theres a story for you, a particular lady from a nearby dwelling, whose relative has worked for us for many years, shows up on my doorstep one morning, asking very politely if she can burrow $50tala for an urgent matter, that she would have back in my hand the next day as her brother was sending her money from NZ but it would take a day to get here, whereas she needed the $$ now...and because of the trust I have with her relative, in good faith I leant her the cash. did it come back? No...did it go to anything useful? I later find out NO it didn't...despite hearing as well that this lady parades all 5 different bingos a week at nearby villages religiously and is obviously not short of cash...I never saw my $50 which REALLY p'd me off...she does not have a phone nor is her dwelling on the way anywhere so contacting her for repayment was a little out of the way and I just couldnt be arsed, the witch shuold have kept her promise...anyways, no amounts of threatening her relatives and friends made her do anything more then go "oops" when asked about this...to make matters worse, I started avoiding buying koko-samoa from her kids who frequently come down to our business to sellem, along with many other families kids too, and she then got other relies kids to parade her ware as someone elses so that I would purchase it!!(I caught the kids red-handed doing this- lying to me about whose koko they had!!!) ...i feel like im being screwed by the damned village at times!! lol!I guess these things are all learning curves and Ill get better at spotting when Im being screwed with in the future haha!!...
On some days, or...for some moments on some days, I really dont mind the bush- and having to 'adjust'...there's no harm done, life here is pretty tranquil and merry ( I suppose if you looked at the little box I live in) and people are just going about their merry way of living in the bush - it is what it is, which might not be what I am used to or would prefer but I deal with it and its fine and dandy. But other days, things get to me, like not having any other people with a similar conversation agenda/background/humor etc..other then my husband and his dear relatives (brother and father mostly, if I'm lucky) to dialogue with (talk about lack of Oestrogen!!) no cinemas or cafes to hang out at or gyms to go manic over going or not going to,even just having relies who I could 'drive over' to see and share a cuppa coffee (or baileys) with on an afternoon or two...and then there a moments where people 'say' things that make me feel all the more like an outsider and not only that...like I'm a snob and not WANTING to become part of the big bad bush...
Like this particular question Ive been asked a time or two- someone asked me why "I dont take my kids into the village" more..to play with the village kids...I suppose my hubby and his siblings have fond memories of hanging out with all their friends in the village growing up - dirty as rag dolls running through the ma'umaga getting stung by bees and chased by wild boars (well, maybe not wild boars but you get my drift)etc....thing is, they forget that back in those days, they had like 10 uncles and aunties and their 50 other cousins who also grew up with them here, also hung out in the so called village, so it was more like a few other village kids hung out with their herd of family kids...for me, its totally different..I am the only offspring - or should i said married to da offspring, with kids here from our family..there are no cousins or aunties or uncles with kids hanging around-there's NO ONE here..everyones up and left and is living it up overseas somewhere while me and da hubby are the one couple residing here with kids..its really just me...so to venture out to hang out with...who again?? who exactly am I meant to take my kids to hang out with???
Up to now, the only village women I know of names are my babysitter and da business employees...thats it..hmmm...to make matters worse, my hubby's sisters, bless their souls, have instilled a ruthless fear and over-protection in me by pointing out families living around us where "that guy flashed me his willy when I was 10"....so uh, exactly how can one expect that I'm going to be setting my kids free in this village again??Its not all sunshine and laughter in paradise here you know.. uhhh...nah...sorry. If that counts me in as a snob well its kids first I say...and if that means that they may never venture past our grounds gates and be free with the village...sorry if that offends you..when my kids go to my own family compound in Apia, where they have 10,000 cousins and aunties and unlces loooking out for them...they can run free and join in the merry fun....but yea...that about sums that chapter up ...but you think I could explain ALL THAT to the jolly soul who asks me "why" I dont take my kids to hang out with the village kids....its not really a fair question when I dont really 'know' anyone here..and expecting that I will walk out into someones yard and be like "hi, my name is..." well, not gonna happen because thats just not in my nature...and if the conversation has to be in Samoan, well then-even more reason it aint gonna happen because its gonna come out all papagu and I'd just make a fool of myself, feel embarrassed and leave...
ANYWAYS...to cope with adjustment disorder in the village I just- 1) avoid village consultations, bless my childrens' babysitters soul for taking all my mafutaga o tina's contributions for me 2) keep busy with work, and sane by perusing the internet facebook work of blogs every once in a while 3) when its just all gotten a bit much, hop on da ferry and GO to da big city- AKA Apia...
besides, its probably better that I come across as an outsider as sometimes I worry if I got too close to people they would all just start asking me for small loans...
so theres a story for you, a particular lady from a nearby dwelling, whose relative has worked for us for many years, shows up on my doorstep one morning, asking very politely if she can burrow $50tala for an urgent matter, that she would have back in my hand the next day as her brother was sending her money from NZ but it would take a day to get here, whereas she needed the $$ now...and because of the trust I have with her relative, in good faith I leant her the cash. did it come back? No...did it go to anything useful? I later find out NO it didn't...despite hearing as well that this lady parades all 5 different bingos a week at nearby villages religiously and is obviously not short of cash...I never saw my $50 which REALLY p'd me off...she does not have a phone nor is her dwelling on the way anywhere so contacting her for repayment was a little out of the way and I just couldnt be arsed, the witch shuold have kept her promise...anyways, no amounts of threatening her relatives and friends made her do anything more then go "oops" when asked about this...to make matters worse, I started avoiding buying koko-samoa from her kids who frequently come down to our business to sellem, along with many other families kids too, and she then got other relies kids to parade her ware as someone elses so that I would purchase it!!(I caught the kids red-handed doing this- lying to me about whose koko they had!!!) ...i feel like im being screwed by the damned village at times!! lol!I guess these things are all learning curves and Ill get better at spotting when Im being screwed with in the future haha!!...
Thursday, May 05, 2011
on a Wednesday evening
Its late evening, early night...and I'm sat at home by myself. Little baby mo is down for the night...hopefully she gives me a couple of hours before her usual midnight antics...I get the occasional wif of Samoan koko, roasting into the night and in the distance the faint roar of waves crashing on the reef.Its a pleasant warming smell, the koko, and a soothing but at times unnerving sound, the reef. It reminds me that these people, that we, are in touch with the earth and the sea and our surroundings and nature. She produces and we harvest, we reap , we sow....she pounces we suffer, we repair..we go on.
The news of a tornado in Auckland has just splashed across the TV news...how strange, the tsunami here, then the earthquakes in Christchurch, the earthquake/tsunami in Japan, and now a tornado in Auckland!! Its unheard of! I'm slightly disturbed. Is this something to worry about? I cant help but wonder if nature has decided to turn against us after all.. I remember the assignment my geography expert little sister did, dictating the trend in natural disasters in the pacific. Not necessarily increasing in frequency but in intensity. The thought of this haunts me ever so often, especially when thinking about our property and our business... I worry about the tsunami every once in a while too. We are by the sea. What if it came at night? Without a warning? What about my two young children?would we get out quick enough? Could i get to my life jackets I pathetically but preciously keep in the house?would my hubby run off to save the guests and get swallowed by a galu afi?? I wish my fears were recognised more and someone could say- “don't worry, tomorrow we will build you a house up in the hills” but alas, this is wishful thinking no doubt.
It is odd to think that 5 years ago we lived in a developed country. Child-less. In high paying jobs (come to think of it now) at the time, if you had told us we were fortunate we would have laughed. We certainly did not think so at the time.We certainly took our jobs for granted. And we spent our $ on movies and food and trips and family. Funny that, and when we got pay rises it just meant that we spent more...on what now I cant exactly fathom. Now, we run a business where we cant even afford to pay ourselves most of the time. What we gave up from those years, we did to be closer to family. To our roots. To enjoy and suffer the luxury of being our own bosses.To have kids that could run around barefoot on the grass and topless on a beach. And I look back on those years when we were young and child-less and see how naive i was. I wish someone could have told me to be more appreciative, or at least to save more and invest (in good projects) etc...I wish i built or bought myself a house, cause we probably could have.
Now, i (try to) plan out what i can do in every single hour of a day- not literally mathematically but roughly in my head(!) . This does not include any personal luxuries like napping,reading books, putting on a face mask, painting my toes and at times washing my hair even! This is all business, kids, egging the husband to do stuff...and more business and kids. I want to do so much more and have so much more included, like exercise and cooking more (though i am blessed the husband does this!!) the only reason i can blog now is this is usually ‘putting the baby to sleep’ time, and thank goodness tonite it was a smooth and effortless journey! So now i have moments to spare,AND the laptop is at home!I used to forbid myself from bringing it home incase i was inclined to do some work on it....home time is kiddy time..so no work to distract from what is meant to be quality family time!
I went to Apia for the weekend. It was so busy. The roads were busy and dusty. My usual lot of baby sitters were busy making it a bit tricky with the kids to do all i needed to do. The days were packed with what to do what to buy where to buy it from.alot of disturbing things in the news locally in Apia. Lots of break ins. A couple of violent deaths involving beatings and rocks slammed into peoples heads....was glad to getaway back to my (adopted!) home in Savaii...and recover in our relaxed not yet fraught with crime atmosphere. I also read something very disheartening in the newspaper. That the reason you don't see mozi coils in most other developed countries is because they are banned. The chemicals they contain (and I did pathetically try to google this one time...but got distracted) have been shown to be a horrific cancer inducing agent! Some 10X worse that cigarette smoke!! Ahhhhhh!! And i am the queen of mozi demise, light these coils up everywhere. Seems like it is better to just let em bite, then set yourself up for cancer later in life. Crap. So now, i have banned mozi coils from our house.
Anyways...for the moment, Im at peace with being where I am..in my home, now mozi coil free...away from the bright lights of the city,the hustle and bustle of town, away from work (for now) sat in my house beside the ever rising ever noisy but also serenading ocean..wondering what Thursday has in store for me...goodnight
The news of a tornado in Auckland has just splashed across the TV news...how strange, the tsunami here, then the earthquakes in Christchurch, the earthquake/tsunami in Japan, and now a tornado in Auckland!! Its unheard of! I'm slightly disturbed. Is this something to worry about? I cant help but wonder if nature has decided to turn against us after all.. I remember the assignment my geography expert little sister did, dictating the trend in natural disasters in the pacific. Not necessarily increasing in frequency but in intensity. The thought of this haunts me ever so often, especially when thinking about our property and our business... I worry about the tsunami every once in a while too. We are by the sea. What if it came at night? Without a warning? What about my two young children?would we get out quick enough? Could i get to my life jackets I pathetically but preciously keep in the house?would my hubby run off to save the guests and get swallowed by a galu afi?? I wish my fears were recognised more and someone could say- “don't worry, tomorrow we will build you a house up in the hills” but alas, this is wishful thinking no doubt.
It is odd to think that 5 years ago we lived in a developed country. Child-less. In high paying jobs (come to think of it now) at the time, if you had told us we were fortunate we would have laughed. We certainly did not think so at the time.We certainly took our jobs for granted. And we spent our $ on movies and food and trips and family. Funny that, and when we got pay rises it just meant that we spent more...on what now I cant exactly fathom. Now, we run a business where we cant even afford to pay ourselves most of the time. What we gave up from those years, we did to be closer to family. To our roots. To enjoy and suffer the luxury of being our own bosses.To have kids that could run around barefoot on the grass and topless on a beach. And I look back on those years when we were young and child-less and see how naive i was. I wish someone could have told me to be more appreciative, or at least to save more and invest (in good projects) etc...I wish i built or bought myself a house, cause we probably could have.
Now, i (try to) plan out what i can do in every single hour of a day- not literally mathematically but roughly in my head(!) . This does not include any personal luxuries like napping,reading books, putting on a face mask, painting my toes and at times washing my hair even! This is all business, kids, egging the husband to do stuff...and more business and kids. I want to do so much more and have so much more included, like exercise and cooking more (though i am blessed the husband does this!!) the only reason i can blog now is this is usually ‘putting the baby to sleep’ time, and thank goodness tonite it was a smooth and effortless journey! So now i have moments to spare,AND the laptop is at home!I used to forbid myself from bringing it home incase i was inclined to do some work on it....home time is kiddy time..so no work to distract from what is meant to be quality family time!
I went to Apia for the weekend. It was so busy. The roads were busy and dusty. My usual lot of baby sitters were busy making it a bit tricky with the kids to do all i needed to do. The days were packed with what to do what to buy where to buy it from.alot of disturbing things in the news locally in Apia. Lots of break ins. A couple of violent deaths involving beatings and rocks slammed into peoples heads....was glad to getaway back to my (adopted!) home in Savaii...and recover in our relaxed not yet fraught with crime atmosphere. I also read something very disheartening in the newspaper. That the reason you don't see mozi coils in most other developed countries is because they are banned. The chemicals they contain (and I did pathetically try to google this one time...but got distracted) have been shown to be a horrific cancer inducing agent! Some 10X worse that cigarette smoke!! Ahhhhhh!! And i am the queen of mozi demise, light these coils up everywhere. Seems like it is better to just let em bite, then set yourself up for cancer later in life. Crap. So now, i have banned mozi coils from our house.
Anyways...for the moment, Im at peace with being where I am..in my home, now mozi coil free...away from the bright lights of the city,the hustle and bustle of town, away from work (for now) sat in my house beside the ever rising ever noisy but also serenading ocean..wondering what Thursday has in store for me...goodnight
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