American Samoa
The Mariner pulled into the dock on schedule at 08:00. The dark grey clouds intermixed with a few white ones let us know that the day was going to be unpredictable weather-wise. There were a a croup of dances in traditional Samoan outfits on the pier. They began singing and dancing almost as the ship finished tiring up. Miss American Samoa was there to great us.
The hills were covered in green foliage with the mountains reaching up to the sky. The mountains were wearing crowns of white fluffy clouds. The homes, businesses and offices were hugging the shore and the one road which ran along it. The excursion today is called the Samoan Cultural Experience. There was some hang up on going ashore.
The excursions meet on the Constellation Theater. You are supposed to go there at the time noted. The excursions are timed to depart about 15 minutes apart. The Samoan Cultural Experience had three different departure times, 8:45, 9:00 and 9:30. There were several other tours as well, most with other departure times.
The theater was packed with people upon our arrival. It appeared none of the excursions had left yet. The ten o’clock excursion people started arriving. Finally just after it had gone ten they began releasing people to go to their excursions. It had gone a quarter past ten when they called number 11, our excursion.
Out of the theater, through security, down and gang plank to the pier. Walking along the pier towards the exit. Everything seemed backed up. Finally at the entrance to the port area it becomes clear what the hold up is. The “buses”, a term very loosely applied, were converted pickups.
Ours was a Ford F450 dual wheel drive “bus”. The guide explained they are “family buses”. So, they removed the cab and the bed of the truck. The built a wooden frame, much like you would frame a house. A boat was turned upside down and used as the roof. Just be to clear looking up at the ceiling of the bus you were looking into that park of the boat in which you would normally sit. It was a really nice wooden boat and had a nice lacquer finish. Very processional.
Plywood was added to the interior and exterior of the framing to box in the passenger and driver’s area. A few metal braces were added here and there to give it strength. A set of plywood steps were added where the passenger seat of the truck used to be, so the passengers of the bus could enter and exit. Plywood seats were then added for the passenger's comfort. Windows were plexiglass with a wooden handle. There were two positions: up or down. Even if up, they didn’t close off the whole window space, and the bottom rested on the windowsill. Opening was easy, you lifted up on the wooden handle, aimed the bottom to the slit between the interior and exterior plywood and let the windows fall into the space.
Now in order to protect the outside, tin cans, not the little ones but the 3 or 4 liter size cans were cut up and flattened out. Then they were nailed in an overlapping pattern on the plywood. To this there was added several coats of very colorful layers of paints with religious and island themes. It should be noted that the bus had five rows of seats on each side of the bus, two people to a seat. There was a row across the back of the bus which could hold three to five people depending on how big they were. So the bus could hold 23 to 25 people. Photo on facebook.
The bus ride out to the small village where the Samoan Cultural Experience was to take place an enchanting. Riding a long in the “family bus” as akin to Cinderella riding in the carriage. Riding along the water front, then up into the hills above Fagatogo, where the ship was docked, and then down the other side to the little village of Fagasa-Fagatele. The guide at the show stated this meant forgotten bay. And, and was he joking? The people where were originally practiced cannibalism. The first Europeans didn’t want to stop here and thus it became the forgotten bay. There aren’t more than a couple dozen houses and meeting houses. Apparently, you don’t invite people into your home, you invite them to your family’s meeting house.
The meeting house is a platform without walls. Just a roof to protect you from either the sun or rain, the two options here. In the meeting house you would greet someone with an ava ceremony. The ‘ava ceremony is one of the most important customs of the Samoa Islands. It is a solemn ritual in which a ceremonial beverage is shared to mark important occasions in Samoan society. It is this ceremony they will be preforming for us today.
The ‘ava ceremony within Samoan culture retains the same ritual pattern with slight variations depending on the parties involved and the occasion. It always includes speeches and oratory and the formal drinking of Ava, including women if they are part of the ceremony, with special attention paid to precedence in drinking order. One of the most important occasions for the 'ava ceremony is during the bestowal of matai chiefly titles.
Two people from our tour group were chosen to be part of the ‘Ava ceremony. The non-invited tourists sat in chairs. The participants in the ceremony sat on the floor. There was signing or chanting, seemed more like a conversation than anything. They the participants were presented with a drink. A drink aptly named ‘Ava. ‘Ava or ‘Awa or Kava is the drink used during important social gathers and rituals. It is also used as a medicine. It is made from the roots and bottom portion of the stem of the kava plant. Traditional methods of preparation include the chewing, pounding with rocks, and abrading the pieces of rough coral.
The kava root, when made into the ‘ava drink or a tea, it is said to elevate ones mood, well being, contentment and produce a feeling of relaxation. Several studies have found that kava my be useful in the treatment of anxiety, insomnia, and relax nervous disorders. Sounds a bit like something from the 60’s.
After the ceremony we loaded back into the buses and went to the market place in town. Think of it as a government organized flee market. While it was a lot of tourist stuff, it was also fresh fruit, fish and everyday items used by the Samoans. It is an open air market for the most part. While it isn’t made of stone nor does it have a tile roof, it follows the same pattern of the loggia build as markets by the Romans.
My favorite one in Italy is the Porcellino Market in Firenze. This is the one with the statue of the wild boar that you are supposed to run the snout for for good luck. The one in Frienze was built in 1547 by none other than Cosimo I Medici. He built it as the seat for precious fabrics and goldsmiths. The other just around the corner from that is the gain market, and church. But that is a different continent.
One of the differences is the importance of family. Yes in ancient time, or during the Roman Empire, things were organized around family. By the 16th century they were organized more by guilds. Craftsmen would form guilds to protect their economic interests. Family was still important, just not in the same way as it is to the Samoans. Many Samoans don’t ever leave the island. They want to stay connected to their family.
Back at the Mariner after the tour we had lunch in the Compass Rose. Nice to get into an air conditioned space again. Then we went to Club.com to try and see if we could fix Mary’s phone. We tried and tried but it didn’t work. It seems to be the lack of a good connection. Perhaps when we get to Samoa, not American Samoa, which is larger.
We then worked on the African Safari and future cruises using the Club.com’s terminals. They seem to have a little better connection. Just after it had gone 6:30 we went to La Veranda for dinner. We saw Stewart and his wife as we were leaving and invited them to dinner the next night. After dinner Stewart and I went to the Connisseur Lounge and had a drink and cigars. Ok, maybe both should be plural.
Buonanotte e ciao, Enrico
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