Week five- Things I have learnt about Samoa so far

1. Body language – This one really deserves an entry of it’s own. Samoan people can communicate very effectively saying very little, using a series of eyebrow raises and hand gestures. Flicking the eye brows upwards quickly can be used as a gesture of greeting, often along with a chin raise. I am having immense fun raising my eyebrows at everyone and getting “replies” (but have so far refrained from busting out my gang fingers to go with it).

All of this is done with an impassive, expressionless face. I have had it explained to me that this comes from both the warrior heritage and living in “fale” housing. Fales are open structures with a roof and floor but no permanent walls (they often have blinds or other temporary walling to cater for the weather). The subtle non verbal communication provides some privacy in villages where everything can be seen.

2. Friendliness- People in general are very friendly, and we get greeted everywhere we go. Living in a semi rural area it hasn’t taken long for people to recognise us on the road, and I wave to many of the same kids on the street while they are walking to school each day.

A cab driver I had used earlier in the trip recognised me at lights this morning (in our respective vehicles), tooted at me (when driving here tooting can mean everything from hurry up to hello to a invitation to merge) and called out “where are you going?” This seems to be a pretty common opener and not at all rude or demanding.

I hope that learning some basic phrases in Samoan shows respect and we can say hello, ask how they are, say thank you and wish them a good day. As with us, many of the Samoan people seem to have at least this amount of English in their vocabulary and anything beyond it can be met with smiling silence. Those with good English often speak with an American accent, which is apparently associated with the Mormon church school system here. Either that or bad American television.

3. Queuing- In Samoa, to ensure you are recognised as next in line, you need to stand very close to the person in front of you. This one took me a while to figure out after several instances of people pushing in on me in lines.

Standing further back to provide personal space to the person in front of you means that you are not seen as actually being in the queue. It happens at the ATM, when lining up to be served at shops or even in other government service queues where you are providing personal information. Privacy is not a big issue, perhaps natural in a country where everyone seems to know each other. The best example of this occurred at the Samoan Immigration office where people actually lined up by standing propped at the counter right next to the person while they talked about their medical status and offending history before them while they were being served. Paul even pointed out one woman reading off the computer screen over the shoulder of the person being served. We have become adept at defensive manoeuvres where we stand next to each other with our hands on hips to block people from standing too close.

4. Dogs- they are everywhere. Barking is one of the most common night noises, and when one starts, it can sound as though a hundred more join in. I can’t quite figure out if they are pets or semi-feral, but they wander the streets and it is rare to go somewhere that does not have one or two on the premises, even at the school (though Izak assures me they are pets).

One of the first phrases we were taught was “harloo!!” as a warning to a dog to back off, though the dogs seem naturally wary of people. Many look skinny and poorly cared for, with tumours and old injuries. Paul has taken to running with rocks to throw at the dogs, and has been given a big stick to carry while riding his bike for similar purposes. He is calling it Solamona’s sword after the man that gave it to them (He has also written on it – “Dog!! Bite me and I will smite you”. He has carried the biblical language further by writing “Don’t steal my lunch, stealing is a sin” on his lunch at the hospital. It has been taken at least once).

His first trip on the bike resulted in a dog being kicked in the head after it lunged at him ready to bite his leg. In another setting I would find this kind of cruelty to animals unbearable but here it is more about survival. Post script: Paul has come to think the dogs are partly a security measure, though no-one here would openly admit to the need for one. He is also refining his dog whacking techniques with Solamona to ensure the stick doesn’t break.

5. TV celebrities- A samoan little person is one of the most visible individuals on the TV here. He is in ads for Orchy, Sol beer and others, often leading a spontaneous street dance number. The only other person getting more commercial air time is a particularly good looking member of Manu, the Samoan national rugby team that recently won the international sevens comp. I have yet to work out his name but I think he plays in the NZ league. A thousand Samoan teenagers have replicated his haircut which is something like David Beckham a few years ago, a kind of stylish mullet (if there is such a thing).

Coincidently rats tails teamed with patches of red or blue home dye are also big. Go figure.

PS the photo was taken by Paul- the view out of back window.