Kokorice and toast

I got up very late this morning due to the fact that I have a bit of a cold.  Well, that wasn’t the only reason.  I did stay up til 3 in the morning reading.  I seem to have frequent bouts of insomnia these days.  I’ve heard that this can be attributed to age, well, I am getting older and older every year, duh!  It can also simply be that I miss my hubby and worry about him all the time now.  I just wish all of our troops would just come home already, after all, that was one of the reasons why I voted for Obama.  But that’s not really the subject of this post.  Actually, think of this as a “how to” post – a how to eat kokorice to be more precise.

So, I was saying that I got up very late this morning, just before 10a.m. to be exact.  The boys were already up and had been up for at least a couple of hours.  I know this because even though I tried to ignore it, I could hear them playing rockband upstairs.  Got up, brushed my teeth, then decided that I wanted something other than cold cereal this morning, and besides it was kinda too early for the left-over chicken casserole from yesterday.  Luckily for us, I had everything I needed to make kokorice.

Kokorice is a yummy concoction of rice, coconut milk, and cocoa.  In Samoa, its called kokoalaisa, but my kids have called it “kokorice” since they were small, and that’s what it goes by in our house.  Now I love kokorice for a number of reasons: 1, it’s super easy and fast to make. 2, it’s pretty cheap and it goes a long way if you happen to be feeding a whole army of nephews and nieces who just happen to drop by since it’s a holiday and school is out for the day. 3, it makes me feel good knowing that I’ve fed my kids a nice hot breakfast at least for that one day. 4, you really can’t screw it up even if you’re one of those people who burn just about everything else.  Just add lots of sugar and the kids will love it:-).

If you’re going to have kokorice, you have to have toast to go along with it.  I don’t know about you but here is how my boys eat kokorice.  The oldest will eat his pretty much like most of us except for the fact that he likes to put a couple of cubes of ice in his while it’s steaming hot.  He claims it makes it tastes better, never tried it so I wouldn’t know.  Instead of having it with toast or bread like most people, our second oldest prefers his with Doritos.  I’m not kidding, Doritos.  If we happen to be out, then just plain potato chips will do for him.  Absolutely weird, and gross as far as I’m concerned, but hey he seems to like it and so far it hasn’t made him sick yet.   Now our youngest will not scoop it up and eat kokorice with a spoon as one would expect.  Instead, he dips his toast in it and then bites his toast and dip by dip he manages to finish most of the liquid in his kokorice leaving the rice for either dad or mom to finish.  Did I miss the part about finishing our kids foods for them somewhere in the parent manual?

So there you have it, a “how to” eat kokorice courtesy of my boys.  All you ever needed to know about this favorite Samoan dish! If you are dying to try it out and don’t have a clue how to make it, there are a number of sites that offer recipes for a variety of Samoan dishes, just google “kokorice recipe” and it’ll come up.  Honest!

There is something about the food that we grow up with that just makes you feel better, isn’t there?  Kokorice and sapasui does that for me, and fa’alifu kalo and pisupo of course.  Oh who am I kidding, I love all kinds of Samoan food, they may not be good for my hips but they definitely make me feel better, lol. 

Now I have Samoan food on the brain, next post will definitely have to be about the tastes and smells at the makeki fou in Apia.  Pink, yellow, and green pagikekes, there’s a throwback to the good old days back home.  Fa’akau papa anyone??

Dark-skinned palagis

If you don’t know what that means, that refers to those Samoans who for reasons that I can’t even begin to imagine, do not want to be known as Samoans. The true fiapalagis, in other words.

Let’s face it, every community probably has their share of these idiots.  Talk about a case of low self esteem!

I was speaking with my husband tonight on skype and he happened to mention that he ran into another Samoan soldier there in Iraq.  Unfortunately, this Samoan soldier doesn’t want to associate, speak to, or be acknowledged by others as a Samoan.  Of course that got my — in a knot and I have to vent – so sorry guys.

What is so wrong with being a Samoan? Why would one be ashamed to be acknowledged as one?  Believe me, I’ve met more than a few of these myself too so they’re not as uncommon as you’d think.  Granted we have our problems, we have lots of problems as a community if truth be told.  We have our dumbheads and our troublemakers, you know the kind of people that give other Samoans a bad reputation.  But hey, so does every other race under the face of the sun.  There are rotten stinky apples in every ethnic group and community.  So why?

I am reminded of the day our oldest son found out he and his brothers weren’t 100% Samoan.  Yes, I know you’re all going to be shocked to hear this, but somewhere in my kids lineage, there is a palagi man.  Their great great grandfather.  (Gasp out loud).  Anyway, back to our son. To say he was disappointed is an understatement.  He looked at us as if we’d somehow let him down.  We reassured him that he was mostly Samoan, and that seemed to do the trick.  Of course, he was very young then.  Today as a young adult, he knows and is proud of the fact that he is not only Samoan, but also part palagi and he is doing a great job honoring all of who he is.

Back to my question.  Why? Why would someone be ashamed to be a Samoan, a Tongan, a Mexican, a Filipino, a whatever? 

I read a couple of new books recently, both fictionalized accounts of what life was like for Jews under Hitler.  One of the things that touched me the most was the courage exhibited by both young and old. These were ordinary people who refused to deny that they were Jews even though they knew full well what it would cost them.  I’ve read about the holocaust since I was a young girl but reading about this horrific time in our history gets me every single time.  Who can ever forget Anne Frank?  By the way, if you haven’t read “The Boy in the Striped Pajamas” you have to read it.  It’s geared for teens but it is a must read for everyone, besides you can easily read it in a couple of hours.

In case my palagi friends out there get the wrong idea, I’m not saying there is anything wrong with being a palagi.  We should be proud of whoever we are.  Some of us may be both a palagi and a Samoan, or a Chinese and a Samoan, or a Tongan and a Samoan.  If that’s you, celebrate you are.  Be proud of all that you are.  Many of us come wearing more than just the one hat.  We’re not just one or the other.  We’re many pieces that have come together to form the one.  All of that makes us who we are. I haven’t even thrown in the Samoan-Irish-American part yet:-).  The point is, whatever you are, whatever blood you have running through your veins, embrace it, honor it!

So my friends, if you happen to know someone who is having such a bad case of fiapalagi, please tell them to get off it.  Better yet, tell them what the kids in Samoa say when they’re telling someone to take a hike, “ia fa’a pa a’e lou ulu ile sima ga le.”  (Translation) “there’s a concrete wall, why don’t you go smash your fat head against it.”  You’re Samoan, deal with it.

Samoan-American

Undoubtedly, many of our kids who are born and raised outside of Samoa face a real dilemma. 

On the one hand, they have it easy.  Real easy in a lot of ways. After all, Samoan kids growing up in America (like mine for example) enjoy the kind of life that those who are growing up in Samoa can only dream of.  Many of our kids have no clue about the hardships that the kids in Samoa face, that we faced when we were growing up.  Some would say that our American born kids have it made and in a lot of ways, that sentiment would be absolutely correct.

Yet, in many other ways, they also have it a lot harder than those of us who grew up or are growing up in Samoa.  Our kids are expected to walk a fine line between who they are as Americans and who we expect them to be as Samoans.  Those of us who grew up in Samoa  never had to face such a dilemma.  Samoa and Samoan culture was all we knew so we weren’t torn between two conflcting and competing cultures. 

Speaking as a parent, I expect my sons to take pride in the fact that they are Americans.  Because they are Americans, I expect them to contribute to their community and to their country, to be grateful that they are citizens of this great country.  I also expect them to take advantage of every opportunity that is here for them.   I tell them that there is no reason why they can’t be whatever it is that they dream of becoming when they grow up.  I fully believe that as their mother and I think I’ve drilled that into them enough times for them to believe it too.  This dream, the American dream, is one of the best things about America and one of the things that I love about it the most.

However, I also expect my sons to not be so American that they forget that they are also Samoan.  I expect them to embrace and rejoice in the fact that they are citizens of this great country but I also expect them to remember and live their Samoan culture.  Is this practical?  Is it asking too much?  I suppose what I really want is for my sons to take the best from both.  This sounds so easy to me but I know that to a teenager, that fine line isn’t always so obvious, it isn’t so apparent in their minds. 

I think that sometimes this identity struggle is a lot harder on our youth than we imagine.  Perhaps, this struggle and the confusion that comes with it is one of the reasons why some of our youth make the poor choices that they make.  They see and hear one thing at home yet the world outside as they know it is completely different.  How can we as parents, as a Samoan community help them?

Why I Voted For Obama

Thank goodness the election is over.  I don’t think I could have taken another week of it. I admit, I am a political junkie.  I surfed the net often for political commentaries, news, and everything else that had to do with the election, and yes I did find myself glued to CNN on several occasions:-).  By the way, I thought they did an excellent job covering the election. Their coverage on election night was superb.  I didn’t care about the holograms at all and found them quite annoying and distracting.  But overall, a job well done CNN.  Even our boys were caught up in the excitement and stayed up to watch the election night coverage with me.  I let them stay up even though it was way past their bedtime and it was a school night.  It was a historic election and a great educational opportunity so it was well worth the exception to our bedtime rules.

I’m glad the election is over because I’m fed up with all the negative campaigning.  I’m really sick of hearing about Joe the plumber.   Maybe now that the campaign is over, Joe the plumber can go back to his day job and finally start paying those taxes that he owes.  I’m glad the election is over because we don’t have to see Palin wink, or make idiotic references to ‘Joe six-pack’ and whatever else came out of her mouth.  Oh, and that interview with Katie Couric.  Wow, I don’t like Palin, but I actually felt sorry for her after watching that.  Well, maybe just for a second.  Hey, if you’re going to put yourself out there and run for VP of the country, we do expect you to actually be able to carry on an intelligent dialogue about important issues.   She’s an expert on Russia because on a good day she can see Russia from her window?  She’s a Governor and she’s that clueless?  I mean seriously, she was a contender for vice president??  What the heck?  Talk about S…C…A…R…Y!!!!!!

I voted for Obama.  Why?  Because he made a better case for president than McCain.  Because I feel that a cooler head is better to lead our country out of the mess that we find ourselves in at this time than someone who looks as if they’re going to go off at any minute, and at the slighest provocation.  Because he came across as someone who will think first and will consider every point of view before rushing to a decision.  Because he convinced me that he will listen and take advice on issues that he doesn’t know much about.  He is intelligent.  He is wise enough to acknowledge that others know more about some things than he does and he is willing to listen and learn from them. He articulated his positions intelligently.  He demonstrated poise, wisdom, restraint, and respect.  He was even respectful towards his opponent as evidenced by all three presidential debates.  McCain, on the other hand, came across as rude, condescending, slightly unbalanced, and angry. 

I should point out that I do not agree with all of Obama’s positions but I don’t expect that there ever will be a candidate that I can agree with 100% of the time. 

I voted for Obama because he did NOT have Palin for a running mate.  I understand she appeals to so many others but she definitely does not speak for me.  I’m a woman, a mother, (sometimes a working mother), a moderate, a conservative, a Christian, and a military wife and I can’t find a single thing to like about Sarah Palin. 

I would love to see a woman take the top position in the country someday.  But that woman is definitely not Palin because for one thing, the first woman president of the United States should be intelligent and knowledgeable about more than just hunting moose.  As a woman, I definitely believe that women can govern just as good or even better than men and I’m hopeful that I will live to see the day when the president of the United States is a woman. 

Unfortunately, there is a very real possibility that we’ll see Palin again in 2012! All I can hope for at this point is that the other party will nominate a woman I can vote for, one that is intelligent, is educated about all the different things that affect our country both here at home and abroad, one that has integrity.  One who has respect for all Americans, one who doesn’t try to divide or instill fear and bigotry.  The list goes one but I’ll settle for these to start with:-).

As a military wife, as an American, I honor and respect McCain for his service in the military.  I respect him as a war hero. I owe him a tremendous debt of gratitude as I do for all the men and women of our Armed Forces.  But this service alone doesn’t make him the best person to lead this country at this time. 

I’m neither a Republican nor a Democrat.  I don’t identify myself with a party because there isn’t one party that has all of the values and ideals that I have.   I vote for the candidate, not for a party.  In other words, it is truly the “character of the person” that matters to me, not the color of their skin, gender, or political affiliation.

I mentioned that I’m a Christian.  I’m a conservative in many ways although I’m probably more moderate than many conservatives.  Some would think that that would automatically make me support a Republican candidate.  But I don’t.  Just because a candidate is a Republican that doesn’t necessarily mean that they have the same values I do.  Let’s take family and marriage for one thing.  As conservatives, we talk a lot about the sanctity of marriage.  We admire and applaud strong loving marriages and families.  Now, when I look at the candidates, it is crystal clear to me which one has a healthy, strong, loving, and mutually respectful relationship with his spouse.  You can stand up and preach all you want about your values but let me see you live it. Let’s see you actually practice what you preach and maybe then we’ll believe you.

One more thing, enough already about the ridiculous argument that we would never be talking about wardrobe if it was a man.  Seriously people, how many men on the campaign trail (either this campaign or the ones from previous years) spent over $150 thousand on clothes?  It doesn’t get talked about because it simply doesn’t happen. 

Finally, as a minority, a Samoan, I’m very glad that Obama won.  I think it is a great step for our country.  I didn’t vote for Obama just because he was a black man.  I voted for him because he was the best candidate.  But the fact that he did win and that he is a black man reaffirms to me that this country, even with all our problems, is the best place for my children to live. 

As my 16 year old son said the night of the election, maybe someday there will be a Samoan-American president.  And as I said to him and to my other boys, “Absolutely! Yes, maybe someday there will be a Samoan-American president and maybe that person will be you.”  Why not my son? Why not your daughter or son?  The glass ceiling is no more!

You can take the girl out of Samoa but …

In some ways it feels as if time is just flying by.  Here it is October already, a whole month has come and gone and I didn’t post anything.  Shame on me!  All my good intentions for posting regularly down the drain… oh well.

In my defense, I have been pretty busy most of the time.  This is a real good thing for me right now.  I’ve been going regularly to the gym and actually working out when I do go there.  I mean, I’ve gone before with hubby, and mostly just kinda going through the motions while waiting for hubby to be done so that we can go  home.  Pretend like I’m working out while really just doing as little as possible, and cursing the clock for not going any faster.  What can I say, I hate exercise.  This time though, I’m actually breaking a sweat and surprise, surprise, I’m even enjoying it. 

There are  other Polys that are regulars at the gym with me, three Samoans and one Tongan.  After working out a sweat one day, we sat around and just talked about Samoa and the life that we remembered.  We also talked about some of the issues that we see so often up here with some of our fellow Samoans.  All of us are mothers so we understand what a challenging job motherhood can be.  We all know what its like to want to choke your kid for being stupid, to slap them silly for daring to talk back, for forgetting their manners, etc, etc.  But we couldn’t help but cringe with embarrasement at what we saw the other day.  To top it off, it was in church for crying out loud.  A couple of us witnessed the outrageous behavior so this isn’t hearsay at all. 

What happened, you ask?  Well, basically a young Samoan child was getting really whinny in church.  She looked like she was about 5 or 6.  So instead of simply taking her outside to the foyer to quiet her with a snack or a drink or whatever the child needed, her big Samoan mother chose to make a production out of getting out of the pew and stomping out of the chapel, dragging her child by the ear the whole way.  And her face, oh my gosh, if you could have seen her face, you would have sworn she was about to murder the child or anyone else who got in her way.  You can see the palagis looking at each other almost as if they’re trying to decide who should call the police.

Now as I was saying, I’m a parent, a mother of 3.  I know all about exasperation and frustration, and being fed up with whinny kids.  But, there’s a line we just don’t cross.  At least not here in the good ole USA if we want to go home with our families and not be escorted to a nice gray cell by the police.  I mean even if you’ve reached the point of no return, surely there must be some semblance of sanity left in there that tells you that this kind of behavior is not ok in this country.  Yeah, in Samoa, we all know you can get away with beating your kids within an inch of their lives (not that I condone this at all) but my goodness, in America, and in public???  What the heck??  Guess, in some cases, you can take the girl out of the island but you can’t get the island out of the girl. 

Of course, we don’t necessarily want to lose what makes us Samoan, we don’t want to forget who and what we are, we don’t want to let go of our beautiful cultural heritage, BUT there are many other things and behaviors that you should bury under a rock in your village before you board that plane for the land of milk and honey - behaving like an out of control cave woman in public is definitely one of those.

Hello… out there!

Boy, sure has been a long time.  Much too long.  Feels like I neglected a good friend but it’s been one heck of summer.

Let’s see, where do I begin.  Well, in the last couple of months, we moved cross country from the East Coast back to the West coast.  Moving was such a pain this time.  The military usually moves us when hubby gets a new assignment but this time we moved ourselves since it was our choice to move back to be closer to family.  The moving company we went with was terrible.  We had one problem after another with them.  You know how you send out bids and then fall for the lowest bid you get – yeah, that was us.  I know, I know, we should have known better.  But we thought we did our homework, check the reviews online, check BBB etc so we thought we were safe.   Anyway, lesson learned, even though it was a very expensive one. 

Thankfully, we do have all our stuff now even though we ended up paying double what they originally quoted.  It felt almost as if they were holding our stuff for ransom until we paid what they wanted so we decided to just cut our losses and pay them just so I can have all my furniture.  We did get everything pretty much in good condition.  Everything, that is, except for the piano.  The legs on our brand new piano broke during the move so I’m waiting for my claim with the moving company to come through.  All in all, it’s a big pain in the you know what trying to deal with this company.  Ga’o le kiga ai fua o le faiai i le kele o le kuluku o gei kagaka.

A couple of weeks after we got settled in our new place, hubby left for Iraq.  He’s deployed there with his unit for a year.  We’re all trying to be strong and to do what we need to do, but it’s hell being separated for so long.   I’ll write more about this experience and this whole Iraq thing later…

The good thing is the boys are doing good since their cousins are around. They all go to the same schools now so that really helps them.  They all hang out after school, my high schooler is on the varsity football team with his cousin and he’s reconnected with other friends so its great.  Anyway, school has been in session for them since the second week of Aug so they are settled in and adjusting well. 

What else have I been doing?  Well, we had to make some trips up north to check our home.  It’s about a 5 hour trip from where we live now.  We chose to come live down here for now because most of my family live around this area but we have a home that we’re renting out right now up north.  To make a long story short, my tenants pulled a number on us and broke their lease early and left owing me two months rent.  When they left, we found some problems with the house that we had to take care of so we had to go there a lot to take care of all that.   The good news is I’ve got new tenants in there now.  The property management company that takes care of the property for us tells me this family has excellent credit and references so I’m hopeful we won’t have to go through this kind of bs again.  Oh, and btw, I’m going after the previous tenants for rent owed even though there’s no guarantee I’ll get it.

Ok, guess that about catches us all up.  I’ll try not to be too long about the other post:-).  Have a great week everyone.  Fa for now.

A Stroll Down Memory Lane

We’ve been working hard these last few days trying to get everything packed, cleaned, and organized for our upcoming move. The boys were packing books and stuff when they came across old photo albums. So, of course, everything had to stop so that we could all take a look at all those old photos.

There were several pictures that made all of us laugh so hard. There were a couple of pics of their dad back in da day when he had a mustache. These were from the days when the two of us had just met so the boys weren’t even a blimp on the map yet. A couple of pictures were taken at Pago Elem where he used to teach. Do they still have those fale style school houses? The boys had a good laugh over those ones. To make matters worse, he was even sporting what the boys called an afro, even though it really wasn’t. They’ve seen other pictures of him with this hairstyle before but that didn’t stop them from cracking jokes at their dad’s expense again. Hubby is in the military so he wears the standard military cut and in my humble and unbiased opinion, he makes it look really good.

There were pictures of them when the two older boys were about 6 and 3 holding hands. They’re now 19 and 16. They got a good laugh out of that one too. They were in their Power Ranger costumes for Halloween. I’m gonna save that one for when they get married. It’s going to show up on the highlight video for sure:-).  The youngest one got a lot of grief over some pictures that we took of him in his birthday suit.  He was about a month old at the time.  I thought it was cute.  Still do.  Hey, it was backside only, no frontal nudity.  By today’s standards, it rates a G, not even close to a PG13:-).

We spent a lot of time on old pictures taken in Samoa. Again, these were from the days before the boys were even born so we spent a lot of time talking about them; where, when, who etc. There were some black and white pics of my siblings and I when we were all so young. These were taken at Fosgren’s photo studio in Samoa. It was probably the only photo studio in Samoa at the time. I believe this photo studio/pharmacy is still in business today in Samoa. All the pictures had a fala (the one you sit on, not the one you eat) as the background. I wore a dress that I probably wore to Church and flip flops. Yeah, can’t beat the styles back in da day:-). That also got a lot of laughs.

There was one picture of us and some other village kids hanging off my father’s red truck. It was the first car our family owned and at the time, it was the only vehicle in the village. That red truck has a colorful history. For one thing, it went for a dive off the uafu at Mulifanua. I’m serious, it really happened. My dad had gone to Apia for some business, and he was coming back to Savaii. He got there too late for the last ferry from Upolu to Savaii so he had to wait there overnight for the next ferry. Apparently, my father fell asleep sometime during the night and the truck just rolled into the ocean – with my father inside. He’d forgotten to set the brakes!

The boys had never heard that story so I tried to paint a picture of what life was like back then. How we took the ferry from Salelologa to Mulifanua and vice versa. I tried to tell them what that felt like, the smells, the people, the jostling to get on first, and the seasickness (mostly on my part). That part grossed them out, for sure. Oh, I also told them about sleeping at the uafu, (along with everyone else that was trying to get either to Apia or Savaii) just so we can be sure we’re on the ferry the next day. They had a hard time visualizing that one. Definitely a lot of adventures that I still have to tell my boys about. I’d love to take them back there again now that they’re older. They will appreciate it much more now so I’ve got to work on this. I hear Salelologa is quite the modern place now. Good, progress is a positive thing. I just hope things don’t change too much or I won’t recognize anything when I do take my family back there again.

Uso – in Good Times and Bad

Our two older boys really got into it yesterday. They are 19 and 16. Our 19 year-old finished his first year of college last week and is home for the summer. After dinner, I told them that I needed their help in the kitchen. The 19 year old told the 16 year old that one of them should dry and the other will put the dishes away. No big deal, right? Well, my back was turned so I didn’t see what happened but according to the 19 year-old, the 16 year-old gave him a “look.” He said his 16 year old brother had so much attitude in that look that he just couldn’t help lashing out with something terrible like, “wipe that look off your face before I wipe it off for you” or some words to that effect.

They exchanged words for about 2 minutes before I finally told both of them to shut up and then had a sit-down with them. I asked the 16 year old first to give me his version of the blow-up. He readily admitted that he did have an attitude. This was interesting so I pursued it further. I asked him why he has an attitude, where it was coming from etc. He said he was stressed out!!

Stressed out, that boy doesn’t even begin to know the meaning of stressed-out. He was stressed about living here and being so far away from all his friends. Mind you, we’re moving in two weeks, back to the West coast, where he’ll actually be much closer to said friends, and here he is still stressed. Well, I guess he saw how ridiculous his argument sounded for he tried to change it again soon after.

Suffice it to say, that we did get everything straightened out and the usos are friends again. After we talked and they both got to say their piece, I asked them to kiss and make-up but they didn’t go for it. I was only playing anyway – men don’t kiss and make-up, what was I thinking?

In a way, I was glad for the opportunity to talk with both of them yesterday. They’ve been taking a lot for granted lately and I was tired of that. They needed to hear that their life is extraordinarily blessed and they have no cause for complaints. Everything that they need is available to them; food, shelter, family, support, love, and of course all the modern toys that come with being a teenager in America. What more do they want? They have a family that loves them and parents that actually communicate and listen to them. Sometimes, you just don’t know what you have if it’s right in front of your nose.

We had a good talk and I reminded them of their blessings. I asked them to think of someone else instead of always me, me, me, all the time. They think they’re stressed! Try being responsible for your kids and their welfare and see what real stress feels like. We also talked about family. I reminded both of them about family and how we want our family to stick together and not tear each other apart.

I also had some choice words for the 19 year old. Both of them needed a heavy dose of “reality” to get them out of the “pity me” mood they’ve been showing. A kick in the butt would probably have been just fine as well for both of them if I’d had the energy to do that yesterday. As it was, we talked and talked and talked. They even came up with some creative ways to handle any future stresses they might endure. Huh, they need to go to spend a month in Samoa. E vave lava le uma ole stress pe’a kuli e fai popo ma alu e fai le umu. E le’i o’o kamaiki gei ile mea e ka’u ole stress pe’a leai se mea’ai ga’o le fasi ulu ma le miki mafu e ai pe’a fia ai. Aue, ia se’i iloa ai fo’i le fa’akamala.

I wanted my sons to know that family is family. We do not disrespect or discard our families just because we’re stressed or having a bad day. One of the things I love the most about our Samoan culture is our emphasis on our families, our aigas. I love the way aigas are always there for each other. I’m grateful to know that my sons cousins, uncles, aunts, grandparents, and everyone else that is even remotely related to us will come to their aid if they need it. Aiga, usos are forever – through good times and bad!

Say it ain’t so…

I was sad to hear about a recent incident in Samoa. Apparently, kids from one school went to Apia looking for students from a rival school for the sole purpose of inflicting injury and causing mayhem. The whole incident seemed to have started from an athletic competition between the two schools.

The news from Samoa indicated that a number of people had to be taken to the hospital. One girl was severely burned from a molotov bomb. It appears as if a carful of students from one school went to Apia, basically they were cruising for victims. In Samoa, all students wear uniforms so schools from different schools are easily identifiable by their uniforms. So, this poor girl was standing there waiting for a bus to go home when the wannabe gangsters drove by, saw her standing there in her school uniform,  launched their molotov bomb, and just took off. Reports indicate that this poor girl is going to need massive reconstructive surgery and that she is in a lot of pain. Guess, the long arm of gangsta style drivebys have finally reached our islands. I hope that these misguided, pathetic, and cowardly wannabes pay for the pain and suffering they’ve caused this poor girl.

Back in the day, when these kinds of competitions got out of hand, the worst that can happen would be a full out fistfight or a fuki ga ulu. Heated arguments were sometimes settled with scrapes, bruises, and maka fula instead of cool heads. Bad enough, but now it seems to be getting worse. Now, the new generation has graduated to molotov bombs. What’s next, guns? Are we going to hear that some students are bringing guns to school in Samoa? I used to think that would never happen but now I’m not so sure. E sa’o ai kala a lo’omakukua, ua kele le makamaka kifaga ma TV ae le o e fai gi fea’u.

Is this an indication that there is a breakdown somewhere in our fa’a Samoa? Are outside influences gaining this much of a foothold in our Samoan society? I am saddened by the high number of our Samoan youth that become involved with gangs here in the U.S. And just so you know, I do have a pretty good idea what I’m talking about from previous professional experiences. Now, it seems as if even in Samoa, even in the very heart of our culture with our strong belief in respect, family, and our fa’aSamoa, even there isn’t safe anymore from the long arm of gangs, guns, and molotov bombs.

A Bad Case of the Blues

I don’t know what it is this week but I find myself yearning for the sound of ocean. I miss the mountains. I miss the fragrance of the pua trees and the moso’oi. I miss the birds chirping outside as they devour all the ripe papayas. I miss the kids running around bare feet and without a care in the world. I even miss the nosy villagers that seem to know everything that’s going on in your life before you even know it yourself. I miss the smell of taros and palusamis fresh out of the umu. I even miss the cranky old women who seem to think that we are never quick enough. I miss the sound of Samoa. Guess, I’m just a little down today.

We need to do something to get out of this funk so I’ve told the boys we’re going to the movies after school today. We’re going to see Ironman that comes out today so that should be nice. I think the boys are so ready to go back home and I’m pretty much there too. For some reason, this assignment has been harder than others we’ve done. We’ve always been able to enjoy other places where we’ve lived but this has just not been one of those places for us. The boys and I are heading back to the West Coast when hubby leaves in June. They’ll be closer to family again which will be wonderful for them.

We were hoping to be able to go home to Samoa for a visit before hubby leaves for Iraq but that’s not going to be possible now. His schedule is so tight and they have so much to do before they go so the trip is shelved until he comes back. I know I’m feeling blue mostly because I’m already missing him and I’m worried for his safety. He’s actually away for several weeks for training with his unit, all in preparation for their deployment to Iraq. I’m really going to miss my husband but I will do my best to cowboy up and do my part, plaster a smile on my face, be strong and all that. What a miserable mess!

On the bright side, our oldest will be home from college tomorrow so that is something else to look forward to. He was planning on coming back here to the East Coast next fall as he really likes the university he’s attending now. However, the last time he came home, which was several weeks ago, he told us that he felt he needed to be closer to me and the boys. He seems to feel that with his dad deploying to Iraq, he was responsible for me and his younger brothers. So, he will be going back with us and going to the local university there. I’m relieved too as I won’t worry so much now that he’s going to be a little closer. He’s still going to be about 5 hours away at the university but that’s definitely better than being across the country.

I would make some Samoan food to help get rid of the blues but then no one else would eat it. My younger boys never developed a taste for it. They would eat a few spoonfuls here and there but they would rather have a burger or a pizza. And there is definitely no fun in going to the hassle of making Samoan food that you’re going to eat by yourself. Oh well, maybe a big bowl of strawberry ice cream will do the trick.