Dec 2005 - Manuia le Kirisimasi
Manuia le Kirisimasi!Merry Christmas, Happy Holidays, Seasons Greetings yada yada yada…..
It’s the end of the year already?! I can’t quite believe I’ve already been in Samoa for almost 9 months and only 3 months to go.
Well its been pretty busy since the last major update. Nothing as surreal as the worm spawn hunting I told you about last time though.
Culcha
Our dance group had an end-of-year performance the other week alongside some of the other classes our teacher takes. It was a good night, despite the massive downpour just before the show that flooded most of the yard. The little girls were adorable, and boy can they shake their hips! They put us to shame in that department. Other ‘cultural’ events we have had recently include the PUAA fest, where we could watch kids grease up and then chase some little pigs around a pen (but also see traditional singing and dancing, weaving, carving etc.) and the Miss ShowQueen pageant where the finest fa’fafines (crossdressers) battled it out beauty pageant style. The swimsuit section was disturbing and some of the ‘talents’ on display were hilarious, particularly the ‘conductor’ act. Basically a ‘lady’ dressed in a long sleeved white shirt and tie with a black miniskirt edged with feathers, ‘conducting’ the music that was being played from a cd. I think you had to be there to appreciate it. Perhaps I’ll show you the video one day. We also attended the final of the ‘Golden Stars’ competition, basically like Australian Idol for old farts. They were all crooners, many of them singing a medley including Christmas carols, Tom Jones songs and traditional hymns.
A few of us have been learning sign language (Auslan) from deaf locals who work at a local disabled school which has been fun, its surprisingly easy to pick up – at least finger spelling is if you learn the alphabet. So now we can ‘talk’ to each other from across the room if necessary. Have still been trying to pick up some more Samoan language too, but it is hard when most people in town want to and will speak in English.
posted by N-Lo @ 3:56 pm
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