island happenings....

Here we are on this rock in the middle of the Pacific ocean.  Sometimes it feels like the rest of the world, and the world I'm most familiar with, is so very far away; and apart from the ache of missing friends and family, this is not always such a bad thing.  For instance, sometimes while reading a news article on my yahoo home page, I find myself feeling strangely removed from the happenings of the world.  It's not that I don't care about what's happening around the world, I just don't feel as connected to it for some reason.  I guess I'm fully engrossed in the experience here and that is just about all my mind can handle right now.  But this last week a huge sports star visited the island and the outside world and the world of American Samoa came together.  Troy Polamalu of the Pittsburgh Steelers flew in to spend a week here in Samoa and jolted this sleepy island into a frenzy of excitement.  Now, to be clear, I am not a big follower of football, by any means.  I probably know just a handful of names, but even I had heard of this guy.  He is the Samoan football player with the really big hair.  He's done Coke and shampoo commercials.  Anyway, it was really fun to see all the excitement on the island.  Everyone was wearing "Troy" shirts and colorful signs were erected around town welcoming this Samoan hero.  He held a football camps for local players and made appearances all over the island to encourage the youth here to go for their dreams. Even Charlie the Tuna from the StarKist tuna factory got in on the excitement.

I was really curious to see what the 4th of July would be like here in American Samoa.  The connection between America and American Samoa is very interesting.  American Samoa is an unincorporated territory of the United States.  Because of their strategic location in the South Pacific ocean, American Samoa is considered a prime spot for a U.S. military base and in return for this land and access to the port at Pago Pago, they receive financial aid from the U.S.  But they are self-governing.  They have their own laws, political leadership, and language.  Also they don't vote in American elections or pay taxes.  However, American Samoans do serve in the U.S. military. Most of what I've read about American Samoa (and what I've experienced myself) states that American Samoa is culturally MUCH more Samoan than American. But even though American Samoa is so culturally, and geographically, removed from the U.S. it seems that many people here have a real connection to the United States.  The people I've talked to seem to think pretty highly of the U.S.  They even seem eager to show their patriotism.  When I drive around the island I see lots of cars sporting American flags and homes flying both the American Samoan flag and the U.S. flag.  So as the holiday approached I was eager to see how much fuss would be made of a day celebrating U.S. independence. After all, American Samoa has their own independence day of sorts called Flag Day (April 17th, I believe). Would the 4th of July really mean anything to the people around here, many of whom had never even stepped foot on U.S. soil??  Just like in the U.S., lots of businesses were closed and government workers had the day off.  As we drove around the island we saw Samoans enjoying BBQs, swimming, hanging out, and having a good time.  There were a couple of 4th of July signs and people with flags.  It actually seemed a lot like back at home, except without the fireworks.  Even though I was a little bummed to be away from family and missing fireworks, I gotta say there are worse things than spending your 4th driving around a beautiful island while listening to U2's Unforgettable Fire and then ending the day at Tisa's with a fresh pina coloda.  :)

So while in Samoa, do as the Samoans do.  One of the first things I remember reading about American Samoa and the South Pacific islands is that Kava comes from this area.  In Samoa it's actually called 'Ava'.  Grant and I have been talking about trying it but I hadn't seen much around.  On Friday night we went to the public market place.  It's a fun event with all kinds of vendors selling food, produce, locally made items, crafts, music, dancing, and fun.....think tropical version of Thursday night market in Chico.  We found a booth selling small bags of dried 'ava' so we decided to buy some and give it a try.  I asked the young girl who sold it to us how to prepare it and she crincked up her face a bit and said, "oh, I don't do that stuff".  The old lady next to her waved her away, leaned in close and with a twinkle in her eye said, "I will tell you".  I felt like we were getting ancient wisdom from a Kava aficionado.  I know this lady has enjoyed a few 'ava' bowls in her day.  :)  She told us to "use patience" and kneed the kava like dough.  Kneed it until the water looks like dark mud and then it is time to drink.  She smiled a knowing smile as we left.  Hmmm.  Interesting.  

So Saturday night we decided to make our 'ava'.  I thought we had some cheese cloth in the kitchen, which the lady recommended using, to hold the dry ava while submerging it in water.  Oh yeah, that was our kitchen back in Chico, not Samoa.  So the only thing we could think of using was a clean sock.  We decided to use one of Levi's little socks.  He doesn't wear socks here in Samoa anyway. :)  So we measured out the right amount and poured it into the sock and submersed it in the water.  I worked for awhile and sure enough the water started to turn brown and take on the look of a delicious bowl of sludge.  And it smelled even better.  Yuck. I made Grant take the first sip.  "Not too bad" he said.  

So we sat down and drank our bowls of ava.  Almost immediately my tongue felt numb and then my throat.  I felt like I had used about 20 sprays of cloraseptic sore throat spray on my mouth.  Not too horrible, but not great either.  But then as that feeling went away, we both felt a sense of calm alertness.  I felt a little more talkative and happy.  Kava claims to promote feelings of relaxation, well-being and patience, as well as a heightened sense of alertness, making it different than alcohol.  I can't say I felt extraordinarily different or relaxed, but it was a pleasant experience.  Pretty cool.  I just found out that they serve kava bowls at Tisa's.  I'll have to try it.