First Friday

On Friday, I met up with my friend Al, who I sat next to on the first leg of my trip here. Al--who I'd guess is somewhere in his mid-40s--is Samoan, and spent part of his youth in Samoa, but lives in Las Vegas now and works in some capacity for a Polynesian dancing group (he's not a dancer). He's back in Samoa for the first time in 11 years to remodel a house and take care of some things on his family's land.

Al's family owns about 15 acres of land on the west side of the island. His mother's house sits next to a larger house where his extended family lives, and Al's brother lives right across the street. Land is American Samoa is family-owned--most land has been in the same family for many, many generations. Samoan law actually forbids any non-Samoan from owning land or a business, which is unfortunate because I could probably afford a pretty sweet place here! It's very interesting that the median annual income in AS is around $6,000, yet gas costs $4.40 a gallon, the teriyaki chicken sandwich I just ate cost $8.99, and American products are purchased at American prices. I've been told the reason is that Samoans don't have housing costs...there's no rent, no mortgage. And if a Samoan loses his or her family, I've been told that another family will take him or her in. So pretty much, if you're a native Samoan, someone will take care of you even if you make nothing.

For the families lucky enough to own a "plantation" (as Al calls it) they can make great money off it by renting to foreigners. Al claims that his family rents out 6 houses that each cost $5,000-$6,000 to build. The renters are farmers, who pay $500/month plus 10% of the profits from selling their crops. It's a pretty sweet deal for the Samoans, and the only way around it for a palagi is to marry a Samoan.

Ok, I've digressed enough. The real action on Friday was at the Samoana/Leone high school football game. In American Samoa, there are 7 public high schools, but all teams play their games at the same field. I understand why after seeing the "field" at Samoana high school, which is quite literally a dirt track. Unfortunately for me, the varsity teams never got a chance to take the field. A fight broke out in the fourth quarter of the JV game, and both teams forfeited. That's right, both teams got an "L" and the varsity game was postponed. Why? Apparently, the communal attitude here translates to the football field too, and it was very likely that if the varsity teams had played there would be some sort of retribution. The football I did see was actually quite impressive for a JV game, though I'm not sure I have any basis for comparison. There were some clear strategical differences from the American game, the biggest being that Samoans avoid the kicking game at all cost. The uprights at the field are crooked but they might as well not even be there, since neither team will kick a field goal or extra point. Punting is rare too--Samoana actually went for it on 4th-and-3 at their own 25-yard line (and made it!). I'll borrow a John Madden saying to describe the offensive philosophy: "Three yards and a cloud of dust."