June 2005 - Fashion, Independence and Beach Huts
from May 2005:Malo Soifua,
Life in Samoa is cruising along... working, swimming, drinking,
dancing, touring, acquainting and not quite enough sleeping...
Things have been really busy here the past few weeks - well really
the whole two months so far... there is always something to do!
Last week we went to the fashion awards show with some very
interesting outfits... some of them were pretty risque for the
conservative Samoans and some were not even sewn properly or fit
their models correctly.. but there were a few gems and the best
designer was clear to see (can't remember the name though...). The
night also included performances from some NZ singers who were here
on a tour - Ben Makisi, an opera singer and At Eaze, an r'n'b/pop
singing duo who dress up like they are rappers but sing cheesy MOR
tunes... there were also performers from 'Star Search' tv show -
kinda like Australian Idol but really terrible.
After all that excitement we headed to a night away at the beach on
the south coast. Staying in thatch huts on the beach with 2 fancy
resorts on either side of us... cheap accommodation, then we can go
and drink cocktails next door and pretend we are living it up. The
excitement continued as we stumbled upon a Jewish-Australian wedding
taking place on the beach next door (in front of the fancy
resort)... lots of circling and they had a groomsman playing guitar
and singing... plus the groomsmen all wore ie fataga, the
traditional Samoan 'man-skirt' and short sleeve shirt - weird as
none of them were Samoan or had any links to Samoa, but something
different I guess...
If that wasn't enough, the next day there was a concert on the beach
in front of the resort with the NZ singers, though this time At Eaze
had a live backing band that sounded awfully like a wedding band...
those attending the concert paid 50 tala ($25Aus) for the
priveledge, but we just happened to be at the beach a few metres
away and scored a free concert... there is something about sitting
in the crystal blue water with a beer watching live music...
After a day off a few weeks back for Mothers Day - this week we had
two more public holidays midweek for Independence Day
celebrations... Not only that but we had a half day Tuesday as well
to go an watch the fautasi (long boat) races in the harbour... we
sat up at Sails restaurant drinking beers all afternoon... its a
hard life...
But its not all beer drinking... We got up early on Independence Day
to watch the flag raising and 21 gun salute and march past of the
police band, school kids and community groups... some of our friends
were in the march too. The kids were particularly cute, some
of were taught to march with a little skip every 4th step...
Yesterday was the Independence Horse Races which was fun. It was
like a country race meet in Aus - we had an esky and nibbles out on
the lawn and the horses ran several races each... one horse kept
bolting round the course before starting the race and they couldn't
stop it - even with a professional jockey on the back. This the
Samoans found particularly hilarious, as did we. The betting was
weird... sometimes you didn't even get your money back when you won!
It doesn't end there - this weekend we have two big nights at the
Siva Afi (fire knife dancing) International Championships, plus I
will be competing in an outrigger canoe regatta!
posted by N-Lo @ 3:28 pm
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