Samoan Birthday Bash

I'm beginning to make it a habit of being in really cool places for my birthday.  Last year, Lisa and I camped and hiked in Yosemite National Park.  This year, I'm in the South Pacific.  Unfortunately though, I had to spend the morning working (prop projections for Game 1 of the World Series).

this describes my feeling about work on your birthday

Work took longer than expected, since my parents discovered how to video chat on google.  To give you an idea of how that went, there was one point when they were asking me how many fingers they were holding up.  I'm making them sound like bumbling fools which is not really fair; the internet in AmSam disappears every time a cloud covers the satellite atop Mt. Alava.  

The highlight of the morning, though, was waking up, rolling over, and instead of finding Lisa, finding sweet new snorkel gear and a box of chocolates. Thanks Lisa!

not your typical fast-food

For lunch, I ate at the Filipino fast-food place in Fangotogo (fast-food here is used to describe anything that has already been cooked).  Lunch was a whopping $4.00.  After spending a few hours on my friend Rob's boat, a 40-foot catamaran that he has been sailing and living in for 3 years, Lisa was finally done with school and we could commence the actual celebration.

Rob (right) talking about volts, amps, and other things I didn't understand

Not Rob's boat

Rob's boat

To celebrate we went to Tisa's Barefoot Bar, the coolest--and only--beach bar on Tutuila Island, for their weekly traditional Samoan feast.  This consisted of putting a bunch of goodies in, on, and under hot rocks (which from personal experience one should not kneel on), and covering it all with layers of banana leaves.  This "oven" is called an umu.

Piña coladas made from actual coconuts

uncovering the umu

 It truly was a feast--we had chicken, pork, turkey, lamb, shrimp, fish, octopus, papayas, tarots, and breadfruit.  I also learned a lot about Tisa's, Tisa, and the history of the island.  Tisa, the owner, is a middle-aged, indigenous woman who is extremely outspoken.  She criticized the U.S. for introducing the "fantasy" of the American Dream to Samoans, who go off to the U.S. now and find it's one big lie.  But she also benefitted immensely from the Americans---50 years ago her grandfather was able to tell the palagi government that Alega and Alega beach was his family's land, rather than communal land.  To this day, Alega is the only privately-owned village on the island...other villages are communal, with a system of chiefs, talking chiefs, and high talking chiefs.  Tisa's is the only place on the island able to serve alcohol on Sundays, since it's exempt from local village laws.  I don't want to get into all the political, economic, and social topics that were discussed, but it really was great conversation, and I learned a lot about the island.

(Out of respect for the Samoan culture, I'm considering becoming a High Talking Sports Bettor; if something needs to be said, the Talking Sports Bettor will say if for me.)

Candyman (a Kiwi who also happens to be Tisa's husband) recounted what happened when the earthquake and subsequent tsunami hit AmSam two years ago.  After the earthquake, Tisa and Candyman got in their truck and drove down the beach telling villagers to get to higher ground.  There was a retired Marine veteran who hadn't spoken in two years, but the event apparently awakened him.  He was yelling at everyone to get beers, meat, and a barbecue in the truck!  Gotta love those priorities.

Below are a few more pictures of Tisa's and the mouth-watering meal:

Lisa and our new friend Dave

as you can see, my background is in photography

The feast was eaten on banana leaves in true manly style...with your hands!

I ate so fast, the food's a blur