More Fire Dancing!!!

17 September 2013
 
We went to the Siva Afi fire dance group this evening.  This is an after-school dance class devoted to teaching students the art of Samoan dancing, and especially fire dancing.  It was started by a former champion fire dancer, who won all kinds of awards; once he retired, he opened an ice cream shop (named, incongruously, "Oooh-La-La") and also started the Siva Afi dance group.  I don't know this man's name, but he was one of the drummers for the performance.  Basically, the students are given a chance to perform for an audience each Tuesday evening; there is a nominal admission charge for us, and the student performers receive a small salary for their performance each week.

There was the traditional grass skirt dancing (like the Hawaiian hula) that we are used to - although the women get a side to side thing going, and then sort of a Beyonce-like little flick of the tush that, well, I don't know how they do it!

There were men's dances, similar to the Maori haka, with a lot of jumping and kicking and slapping - the kind of dance to intimidate one's enemies just before battle.

Some of the dances were Samoan, some Fijian, some from other islands - but all Polynesian, and some people think that the Polynesian people originated in Samoa and then spread out throughout the Pacific.  So there are similarities, but also differences, in the cultural dances.
 
And there were graceful women's dances, with swaying hips (but not the fast hula) and floating hands and imperceptible foot action so the women seem to almost hover around the stage.  (Okay, not a stage, but the dance area - and yes, they were on bare dirt.  Which caused a lot of dust and those floating orbs in the photos.)


And then the fire dancers - wow!  We were in the front row of the audience, and I could feel the heat from the fire sticks and smell the fuel oil (probably kerosene) - I can't imagine how hot it is to hold a metal rod with burning fabric at each end, not to mention twirling it so quickly that it becomes a blur in a photo!  Seriously, I don't know how they do it at all!

The first group were the younger kids - I'm guessing ages 10 to 14 or so.  I have no idea who thinks it's a good idea to have 10 year old boys playing with fire!  I've taught this age group for 25 years, and I wouldn't trust most of my students with matches, never mind a yard/meter long metal stick with fire at each end.  But the kids were amazing!  Truly wonderful, especially when you see these chunky little guys tossing burning sticks across to each other and catching them in mid-flight!

Then it was the older boys' turn - the guys who were maybe 15-20 years old.  Phenomenal!  I think dancing with fire is probably about as macho as it gets - unless maybe one is juggling knives.  Or chain saws.  But fire is the traditional element here, especially since these are volcanic islands - and fire is much prettier than chain saws.

So, with these photos, you need to keep in mind that this is a digital camera with a flash.  The photo is snapped in a nano-second, or maybe a nano-nano-second.  And yet, the dancer is twirling the stick so quickly, the photo shows an arc.  Or a circle.  Can you imagine how fast those hands are going to keep that stick moving in circles to create that photo? 

And when we're watching, we don't see an arc - we see a circle of fire!

It was amazing!

One young man came out with a fresh stick, one end burning, the other newly dipped in the fuel.  When he started twirling the stick to light the unlit end, there was so much kerosene, it splattered off in a rain of spray that hit those of us in the front of the audience!

And some of the dancers ended up with little streams of fuel burning on the ground, around their feet, so they were actually standing on little rivers of flame!  (I singe my fingers lighting a match, I really don't understand how they manage to do this at all!)

One guy came out wearing a skirt of shiny leaves, and he lit a small bench on fire, the top flaming up with the fuel.  He then proceeded to dance back and forth over the burning bench!  And he finally sat down on the bench to put out the fire!

As I said, this is seriously macho dancing!

And of course, at the end of the show, for the final number, some of the kids grabbed people from the audience and had us join them on stage.  Yes, I was hauled up to the front by a cute young man in a short lavalava.  How could I say no to dancing?

So, I will leave you with a few more photos, and no more narrative.  Except to say that the second to the last photo is the best of the lot.

And if you are ever in Samoa, go to Oooh-La-La ice cream and book a seat for the show!!!! 

 

American Samoa - Definitely Off the Beaten Path!

12 September 2013

It's quite confusing - we're back in Apia, after our week in American Samoa - we left there on Thursday, 12 Sept., and after a 35 minute flight we arrived and it's Friday, 13 Sept. here.  But I'll use the Apia date for the day we toured around Tutuila, the main island of American Samoa.

And just to make things more confusing - Pago Pago is the harbour, and not really a specific town or village - even though it's also the capital.  We couldn't quite figure that out - there isn't one single town or city named Pago Pago, and it isn't the name of the island - but it is the capital.  Maybe it's more of a region.  We couldn't quite get a definitive answer on this issue, so we're left with the knowledge that Pago Pago is definitely the harbour (the big dent in the middle of the wedge-shaped island - check the map, above), and it is the capital.  But we don't know if we really were ever in Pago Pago.  Which makes sense, since we never quite knew what day it was, either.

Galu lolo (the G is pronounced like a soft NG such as at the end of the word "sing" - so the word is pronounced ngah-loo LO-lo) - this is literally a flood wave - the Samoan word for tsunami.  (Which is the Japanese word for tidal wave.)  Anyway, there are signs all over for the galu lolos, along with evacuation route signs, entering and leaving galu lolo zone signs, and sirens in each and every town.  (As well as in Pago Pago.)

As I've said before, Pago Pago harbour is a volcanic caldera - which means the center of the island was at one time a giant volcano.  I mean, GIANT!  Enormous!  GINORMOUS!  The Godzilla of volcanoes.

Because these are the hills that surround the harbour, and are the remains of that monster volcano.  And they are pretty monster sized hills.  Especially considering the fact that the island of Tutuila is just slightly larger than St. Thomas - maybe 4 miles wide at the widest, and about 18 miles long.  Not much bigger than the island of Manhattan.  Or Lake Washington in Seattle.  A smallish island, once home to a monster volcano, that erupted and ripped the middle out of the island and left towering hills and a gaping hole as the only evidence of its existence.

Oh, and some lava flow beaches, and the all-over-the-place igneous rocks and occasional sea stacks that look kind of volcanic.

Really, that photo is Pago Pago Harbour, with the craggy hills that were part of the volcano.  I was just amazed by the scope of the caldera and the hills.  MONSTER volcano, seriously!  (That's a freighter tied to a fishing boat - this is one of the prime tuna fishing areas of the world, and Starkist has a huge cannery here in Pago.  Other boats come in and buy fresh tuna - not sure if they eat it or sell it elsewhere.)

Anyway - we went out on an island tour on Wed/Thurs, depending on which side of the dateline you're on.  We made arrangements with Andrew, our very nice taxi driver whom we met when we first arrived on island.  He took us out to the east end of the island, then out toward the west.  And he picked up on the fact that we both like beaches, and so they were featured in our tour.  But we also learned more about the history and culture of the Samoan islands, how they came to be divided into two territories, and we also shared some information about our lives in the US and the USVI.  It was a great day.

Warning - I really like beaches.  I like the colors, the waves, the flying spray and foam, the crashing sound of the waves - and I like capturing all of that on film.  Artsy beach photos.  So if you get tired of the photos, well, sorry.  My dad the coastal geomorphologist trained me well, and I enjoy recording the beaches.  Those of you who think there are too many beach photos (that's like saying there's too much chocolate), please just skip over the photos.  Thank you.

It was a crazy windy day, so we had wild waves and foam and sea spray, as well as flying sand - just a perfect day for trying to visit the major beaches on the island.

One of the strange things about all the Samoan islands is that they're surrounded by coral reefs - so most of the waves break quite a ways off shore, and create calm or somewhat calm lagoons near the beach or shore.  This also keeps predators like sharks away from swimming areas, making nice safe swimming.  But, with the crazy waves and currents, there can be major rip currents and so people have to be pretty careful with swimming, diving, snorkeling around here.  (I was still getting over the respiratory infection, so we skipped the swimming and snorkeling part.)

Another interesting feature are the sea stacks - I'm not sure if these are former headlands where the connection soil and rock was washed away, or if they're giant chunks of igneous rock thrown out by the volcanic eruption, or what - but there are these funny little sea stacks scattered along the shore (mostly the southern shore).  They look like little baby mountains wading in the shallow ocean.  A few are tombolos - meaning the sandy connection is underwater at high tide, but above water at low tide, so you can walk over to the baby mountain.  (The Samoans have named a few, and two that are near each other are called The Brothers.  We didn't hear if there was any kind of interesting legend about them and how they came to exist.)

The water is so incredibly clear here, you can see the rocks and coral right through the water!  And the gradations of color were just amazing - all I could do was marvel at the beauty of the South Pacific.  (Really, what looks like beach fading into ocean is really sand under sea water that is so clear, it barely changes the color of the sand!)

One of the beaches we visited is named Shark and Turtle, and there is a resort there of the same name.  Andrew told us the legend of Shark and Turtle, and why this beach has this name:

The people who live in the town by Shark and Turtle Beach believe that there was a man and a woman, who were turned into the shark and the turtle.  The man became the shark, and the woman became the turtle.  (I asked Andrew, and he wasn't too sure why they were turned into these animals - he guessed that it was some kind of curse.)  The villagers have a special song, and they will go to the beach and sing the song, and it calls the shark and the turtle, who return to the beach when they hear the song.  And this ONLY works if the people singing are from the village - other people might know the song, and sing it, but this will not call the turtle and the shark back to the beach.  Only if the singers are from the village.

There are also two beach fales (little open thatched buildings) - one for the shark and one for the turtle.  Or, more accurately, for the tourists to stand in while the villagers sing the song and everyone looks for the shark and turtle to return.

So, I'm guessing they were some star-crossed lovers who could only be united in the ocean.  That wasn't in the version of the legend we heard, but, well, it just seems as if it fits.  Sort of the Samoan Romeo and Juliet, or something.



Anyway, we drove to the eastern end of the island, and then around the corner and bam, there we were on the north side of the island - the road continued for just a little way to a village, and then just stopped.  Really.  The road just ended, and we had to make a U turn and go back the way we came.  There are few villages on the north side of the island, and no connecting roads that run the length of the north shore.  There are a few cross-island roads that go to a village or two or three,  and end.  Because not too many people live on the north coast.  There aren't accessible beaches, there may not even be any beaches - it looked pretty much like rocky cliffs all along the shore from where we were.  But, well, it's just the way it is.

From the SE corner, we could look across at the tiny island of Aunu (OW-new), a small village there, and gorgeous beaches.  There were small boats that ferry people across - but it was a wild waves kind of day, and so we opted to stay on the big island.

All I could do was marvel at how incredibly gorgeous the beaches were, what an amazing day it was, and how this island is known almost as a legend, and rarely as a destination - we saw few other tourists, only Samoans going about their daily chores or business, and Andrew, our very nice driver.

To the west of Pago Pago Harbour, the "beaches" are mostly volcanic rubble, lava flows that have solidified to rocky shelves, and dramatic cliffs.  With, of course, roaring crashing waves and sea spray shooting high into the sky and all the thunder and drama that the ocean can summon on a sunny but windy day.  We visited a few of these lava flows, enjoying the flying spray and vertical waves.

And we ran into two young people from Washington DC.  We had seen them at the restaurant where we stopped for lunch.  They work for the US government, and they visit the various US territories and protectorates.  They meet with various local officials, and then, using their degrees as economists, estimate the gross domestic product of each US possession.  They had been in St. Thomas, USVI, just the week before.

How coincidental could that be?

The young woman and I had fun trying to catch the waves as they reached their apex of spray, and chatted, while Richard and the young man talked economics and politics and GDP and who knows what else.  (You can tell I find that about as boring as Richard finds my descriptions of beaches.)

But just in case it wasn't odd enough to meet these two economists who specialize in American protectorates, who had just been where we used to live - no - turns out the young woman went to the same university as Richard.

We chatted some more, didn't explore any more of these small-world-moments, and wished each other safe journeys as we headed off to another amazing crashing waves on volcanic cliffs kind of beach.

Richard thought he may have seen a humpback whale off one of these rocky shores, and it wouldn't surprise me.  I didn't catch a glimpse of it, but it was so similar to the area of Savaii where we saw a whale, well, it just seemed totally to fit.

I would love to figure out how to make a mini-movie of this series of photos - the waves and spray build to such a major crescendo!  And yes, that's spray and foam shooting up behind the cliff on the last photos.

The cliffs were probably a good 10-12 feet above the average water level - so I'm estimating sea spray shooting up may 20 feet?  25?  More?


Last beach, with views of the back of the hills that ring Pago Pago Harbour.

Oh, another Samoan word - moana - pronounced moe-AH-nah - means ocean blue.  Yup, one special word for the color of the ocean, which changes depending on depth, weather, time of day, light.  One word for all of that.  Moana.

And then, for the artists in the family, and all my artist friends - just a few photos of the wonderful paintings that were in the little restaurant where we had lunch.  These are by Mark Ashley Faulkner, an artist in American Samoa who is of Solomon Islands and Australian descent.  His paintings are a wonderful mix of tradition Samoan patterns and the natural elements surrounding these beautiful islands.  These photos are just a few examples of his work - I really loved the polyptych, with the five paintings that visually connect even across the open space.  But my favorite is the ocean blue with golden fish.  So, this is your moment of art for the day. 

And that is our week in Pago Pago - one day of gorgeous weather, and six days of rain.  At the hotel that is the setting for "Rain."

Could life be any more coincidental?


Addendum:  My apologies.  Richard has pointed out that there is indeed a town or village of Pago Pago, you can see it on the map at the narrowest point of the harbour (as in the far inland point) - but no one seemed to say that this exactly was Pago Pago when I asked, hence the confusion.  We may or may not have driven through this town.  We don't know for sure.  My personal opinion is that Pago Pago is like Shangri La, or the Room of Requirement - it shows up when you need it.  Otherwise, it isn't there.

American Samoa: Where East Meets West

7 August 2013  or so

We're in American Samoa, on the island of Tutuila (pronounced too-TWEE-la) - just outside Pago Pago (PAHNG-o PAHNG-o) - and on the other side of the International Dateline from Samoa, the independent state (versus Am Sam, which is another US territory).  Confusing - we flew out on Thursday, at about 11:30 AM, and arrived in American Samoa on Wednesday, at about noon.  So it is currently Saturday here, and Sunday there.  Exact same time of day, but one day apart.  So while Samoa is the FIRST place on earth to greet each day, American Samoa is the LAST place to say goodbye to each day.  Kind of poetic in a confusing way.  

Check out a close up of the map:  http://www.scientificpsychic.com/mind/samoa-time-zone.jpg

I'm working on Richard's computer - our hotel has internet access, but you have to use a cable to access the ethernet.  My Mac Air doesn't have the port for the cable, so I can't go online.  So I'm on his computer, which means no photos.  But I'll do the best I can for now.

We're staying at the Sadie Thompson Inn, a lovely and older hotel that has the feel of an old inn, with huge rooms and porches and all the modern amenities.  http://sadieshotels.com/hotels/sadie-thompson-inn  

The building was built at the turn of the previous century (1800 to 1900) and was used as the setting for Somerset Maugham's story "Rain" (also known as Sadie Thompson, the "fallen" woman in the story).   And, for today, we've been having that constant torrential tropical rain - all day.

So we're cozy and comfortable in our room, waiting out the rain, and watching American tv from Hawaii.  I can't tell you how bizarre it is to have American tv and American money again - we've been out of the country for ten months, and we're so used to multi-colored bills that the all-green-all-denominations money seems truly weird!  But, well, I'm enjoying watching old movies on tv.  Especially since I'm staying in due to another stupid respiratory infection.  We spent part of Friday at the hospital, getting an antibiotic for me.  While the medical care here is free for American Samoan residents, and very inexpensive for visitors ($20 for the ER visit), well, it also took about four hours for the entire visit.  Like St. Thomas, things are sort of American and sort of local - a mix of Samoan and US.  Probably more Samoan that US, just like St. Thomas is more Caribbean than US - but that's what makes things fun!

The view outside our room is the "mountain view" - meaning we look directly at the mountain covered in exotic plants and hanging vines.  The mountains here are really tall hills, but incredibly pointy - the island of Tutuila is volcanic, and the Pago Pago Harbour is actually an old volcanic caldera (crater) from an ancient explosion.  The harbour is also very deep, as is much of the ocean around this area.  In fact, this is why the US took over American Samoa when the Samoan Islands were taken over by the Allies in WWII.  The US needed the deep water for their submarines, and the British took (then) Western Samoa because there was flatter land to house their war planes.  (The Germans originally had the Samoan Islands as a territory or colony.)  Eventually, the British put New Zealand in charge of Western Samoa, which later on became the Independent State of Samoa.

Anyway, we haven't seen much of the island, between the hospital visit, staying in to get over this thing, and the rain.

We did see tsunami warning signs and sirens ALL along the road from the airport in the west to town (Pago Pago, the capital) - about half the island - and we're told the signs and sirens are all over the island, in every village and town.  The tsunami of September 2009 (triggered by an earthquake in the Samoan/Tongan trench) affected both Samoas - some towns were totally wiped out - and given the ties American Samoa has with Hawaii, signs and sirens were put up everywhere.  Not so much on Independent Samoa.  

We plan to visit some of the gorgeous beaches here and snorkel in the clear clear water.  Maybe do a little hiking.  There doesn't seem to be a lot else to do around here, tourism hasn't quite reached American Samoa.  (We aren't sure why, I guess people get to Hawaii and figure they've gone far enough?)

Anyway, that's just sort of a quick summary.   We'll get out and about, and have more exciting things to report.

 

More Fire Dancing

3 September 2013

We watched the fire dancing competitions this evening - WOW!  (No photos except the ones from our first day, at the info center.)

Imagine a teenage boy or young man, somewhere between age 13 and 19, getting up on stage with a metal stick, each end wrapped in linen soaked in kerosene.  One end is lit.  The other end will catch fire from some kind of fancy trick he does - and the more audacious the trick, the more the crowd will cheer.  So some guys put kerosene in their mouths, touch the lit end to their mouth, and quickly light the unlit end WITH THE FIRE IN THEIR MOUTH!!!

Then - something between baton twirling at warp speed, breakdancing, acrobatics, juggling, and cheerleading - the dancer twirls the lit baton until it looks like a wheel of fire.  He keeps doing that while dancing, doing one-handed cartwheels or flips, maybe he lays down on the stage and twirls over his head, or he rolls across the stage keeping that baton twirling!!!

And then - just in case that wasn't enough - the second part of each individual routine is with TWO burning sticks - and of course, there are unique ways to light these.  Double twirling at hyper speeds, sometimes two sticks in one hand or one in each hand, more acrobatics, some juggling of these fiery batons, and then they link the two (the ends are interlocking hooks) so now they have a double-length baton to twirl and swirl and jump over and, just, WOW! 

Absolutely amazing!

The contestants were the finalists in two age groups, the young teens and then the older teens.  A few were previous years' champions.  They were ALL amazing!  Incredible!!  

Did I mention they all balance the burning stick on their bare feet?  Uh huh, they do!  Sometimes they twirl the burning baton with their feet, but we didn't see any of that tonight.

This was one of the most exciting displays of Samoan culture we've seen - just breathtaking!
 

 

Everything That Could Go Wrong WILL Go Wrong

3 September 2013

The boat we had planned to take to and then back from Pago Pago (pronounced PAHNG-oh PAHNG-oh, NOT the American version which is usually PAY-go Pay-go) - anyway, the boat is going in for maintenance and will not be returning to Apia next week.

So we looked into flying.

We thought we had a good flight booked with Samoan Air, and we even had a response from them.  They're the world's first airline to charge by weight, not usage - so you and your bag are weighed, and you pay X per kilo.  Which seems insane, because I might weigh more than someone else, but I'm not taking up a larger seat than someone else.

Anyway.

We went over to their office today to finalize details, only to find that they aren't flying for the next two weeks.  They're doing a charter to Tonga and then training the airline crew over there, so they have cancelled all flights for the next two weeks.

Back to square one.  We started to wonder if these were signs from somewhere that we shouldn't go to Pago.  Or if it was just one of those things. 

We both really were looking forward to Pago.  So I did some more online research and we agreed - Polynesian Airlines, the airline of Samoa.  A bit pricier, but we can take more luggage.  And we're charged for a seat, not our weight.  And, better still, they actually are flying.

We leave Thursday, Samoa time, for American Samoa, arriving on Wednesday.  We'll return the following Thursday, American Samoa time, arriving in Samoa on Friday.

Got all that?

It has been confusing, trying to book the flight and a hotel, when we're travelling all of 35 minutes away, but crossing the International Dateline.

Best part, though?  We can mail things via the USPS!  That has me excited!  

And we'll see green money again!

 

CELEBRATE!!!!!

2 September 2013

One Year of Travel and a Samoan Festival! 

We have been one year on the road.  Yup, today is our one year anniversary of leaving St. Thomas, USVI, and living our dream retirement of just traveling.

What have we accomplished in one year?

Well, the blog has 208 posts and 17,000+ hits.  Or pageviews.  Not 17,000 different readers, but 17,000 times someone – anyone – has viewed one of those 208 posts.  Not too shabby.  Especially when we receive comments from people we don’t know.  Or have readers in countries we’ve never been.  Our readership is increasing – we think this is very cool.

We’ve been to five different countries in that year.  Here’s the breakdown:

            2 months – USA (focusing on 5 different areas)

            3 months – New Zealand (both the north and south islands)

            6 months – Australia (every state and territory except the capital)

            2 weeks  – Singapore – because we had to leave Australia

            2.5 weeks – Samoa – our entry into the Pacific Islands

We’ve frozen our gazoobies while watching fireworks in Wellington NZ, and broiled in Darwin, Australia.  We’ve swum in the Coral Sea and the South Pacific, dipped our toes in the Indian Ocean, the Tasman Sea, and I’m not sure where else.  We’ve traveled by car, train, bus, boat and ferries, plane, trolley, camper van, giant camper van, and walked miles and miles.  Plus navigated bus and train and subway and lightrail and trolley systems, and eaten more fries (chips) than in our entire lives before now.

And the animals – little blue penguins, kiwis and wekas, koalas, kangaroos and wallabies, dingoes, wild camels, emus!!!  And of course some dolphins and a few humpback whales!  Plus having brekkie with the koalas, getting to hold two koalas, and visit countless others, and pet a few kangaroos – all highlights!

We’ve learned Kiwi and Aussie slang, a few words in Maori and Samoan, and made friends around this part of the world.  We’re reaffirmed that people are people, no matter where they live or how they speak or what they look like – we all laugh and love and smile and chat and enjoy, and in this part of the world we embrace the stranger rather than be suspicious.

We’ve both won a few jackpots on the pokies, and possibly (hopefully) come out ahead.

Mostly we’ve had a wonderful time!  There have been a few downsides, when things became a hassle (because we didn’t fit the norm that the customs agents or ticket agents expected).  There was my surgery in Melbourne.  And Richard’s dental work in Singapore.  Some very cold nights.  A day here and there without electricity.  More mosquitoes than is healthy.  But no major encounters with deadly creatures, no crimes, nothing major.  Nothing we couldn’t handle, and nothing we won’t eventually laugh about – all part of the normal travel experience.

Festivals – we’ve attended festivals!  And a rock concert.  (Okay, that was just me.)  Light shows, fire works, music, alternative music, Italian food and flag tossing, Chinese food and theatre, art festivals – just about every festival you can think of.

Right now, beginning last night, it’s the Teuila Festival in Samoa.  The teuila (pronounced tay-WEE-la) is the wild ginger flower, which blooms this time of year.  The flower is featured in this week-long festival of Samoan culture, heritage, history, and arts.

So today, we walked to town (to get our tickets for the boat to American Samoa, but that’s another story) and thus missed the parade.  However, I met groups of people walking back after the parade, and these lovely young people in their beautiful parade uniforms happily posed for a few photos.  They’re from the Nafanua Outrigger team (or maybe the Alo PauPau team?) and will participate in the boat races, so of course I wished them luck.

We saw some activities at the cultural village (with food and lava lavas for sale) – cultural relays where team members have to do the traditional palm frond braiding and such – the whole thing is similar to the VI Carnival, and Richard and I have always been Carnival fans!  So this is exciting, we’re looking forward to the Teuila Festival activities and have a full schedule of events to attend!

But right now, we have to buy tickets to fly to/from Pago Pago.  The boat will go to Pago (pronounced PAHNG-oh) on Thursday, as usual.  But it won’t be going/coming back on the following Thursday, as usual, and when we had hoped to return.  Instead, the boat will be going in for yearly maintenance.  And won’t return to Apia until Sept. 19 – a week later than we had planned.  Too close to when we leave for Fiji. 

So we’re looking at flying.  Hunting around for an affordable flight.  Looks like we may have a flight on Samoan Air, but they’ll get back to us with an email.  Island internet time.

We won’t worry, something will work out.

In the meantime, we have a festival to attend, and an anniversary to celebrate!