So it was flag day this past week. The date in which the American Flag was first flown in American Samoa 112 years ago. It is jokingly called "Dependence Day" by the palagi community but all jokes aside, it is quite the spectacle. I was here during Flag Day last year (local government gets it as a holiday sadly federal employees do not) and had to work as i had just arrived on the island. This year however, i decided i was going to partake in the festivities and add a little local culture to my life.
Flag day centers around the Fautasi Boat races. They are essentially 40-person canoes that race from the outskirts of the island, thru the harbor to the finish at the end of the harbor. There is usually about 14 boats that race from different villages, some have two. I was lucky to attend the launching of one of the newest boats from the village of Vatia. It was super cool to see all the village men lift this gigantic boat out of its house on land and carry it to the ocean. Then the aumauga (untitled men) waited patiently on the grass for their name to be called and told that they have been selected as a rower for the race. Mind you, this all happened about 2 months ago! Ever since then every team has been sleeping, eating and spending almost every waking minute together in preparation for the big race.
The preliminaries happened last Saturday. A group of us hiked up to Blunt's Point, a old WW2 missle battery that has been turned into a mini memorial. From there we could see the boats all the out in the bank getting ready to for the start. Start times vary here (everyone is on island-time which means you either start 40 mins late or 20 mins early and it is up to you to figure out which) they got going at about 8:40 am.
My village of Nuuuli (yes 3 u's pronounce New Uli) took first place in the qualifing round which was really nice to see, suffice it to say there was a little bit of a celebration going on in the village when i got home.
Also on Saturday was the TMO Pago Pago Sevens Rugby Tournament. Seven's mean that each half lasts only seven minutes and with only two halfs to a game, it means that before you know it one game is over and the next one is starting. There were lots of local teams from various villages as well as some teams from Western Samoa, Fiji, Tonga, etc. It was a balmy day so i only managed to stay for a little while before the ocean beckoned to me for a swim. That night we attended the Pese and Siva (singing and dancing) competition in downtown. As i've said before, Samoans are incredible choir singers, they're ability to harmonize comes naturally from years of church and impromptu singing sessions. There was highschool group that did a number from the musical Wicked, made all the more bizare because they were a christian church, but it was good nevertheless.
Monday was work, nothing exciting there, expect that my boss is leaving in at the end of May which will suck as i will have to train the new employee and then the new boss when he/she gets here. Still a little bummed about that.
Because Flag Day this year (April 17th) results in a holiday falling on a Tuesday, festivities dictate that there be a second day to the celebration. So essentially all of the government had a weekend within a week. I unfortunately had to take leave to see the festivites but it was totally worth it. I woke up around 8:00 am, ate breakfast and then my neighbor Kelly and I went to the Stadium to watch the festivities. We arrived just at the end of the parade so we didn't get to see a whole lot, thankfully we arrived at just the right time to hear the Marine Forces Pacific Band play their special session.
After that it was lunch so Kelly and i decided to go and cool down at the waterfall for a little bit. That was just what the doctor ordered after a hot morning. In the afternoon we went back to the Stadium to watch the Pese and Siva again. This time you had entire villages performing for the dignitaries. First up was the team from the outer Manu'a islands. I had remembered going out there 2 months ago and remembered that is was all but impossible to find anyone between 4 and 6 pm. This was the reason, they were rehearsing. The dancing isn't all that special but the sheer number of people doing it in bright colors provides you a visual delight while their amazing singing stimulates your hearing. They go on for quite a while with each village offering a myriad of songs for about an hour. I ended the day at the pool with a little volleyball. Nice way to spend the first day of a weekend within a week.
Wednesday morning was the Fautasi boat race finals. Steve (my upstairs neighbor) is the Coast Guard Lieutenant here. It just so happened that the Coast Guard had brought down on of their brand spanking new National Security Cutters for Flag day, the USCG Wasche. This boat was massive and being that we're friends he arranged for a group of us to get a private tour of the boat and to watch the fautasi boat races from atop of the flight deck. We all owe him big time for this, it was a truly incredible experience and i'm so grateful i know him! He told me he has a souvenir from the boat for me, which i am super excited to see. I have to wait until he is done shlepping his Captain and Admiral around tomorrow or as he calls it passing the football.
This boat was fantastic! It was incredibly large and for some reason seemed really understaffed. Everything was brand new, there wasn't a speck of dust to be found. Things were made so much better by the fact that almost the entire interior was air conditioned. Something us palagi's don't always get. It was funny, we got down to deck 3 where the A/C was a little weaker (not by much) and our tour guide Intelligence Chief Napp started complaining about how hot it was, naturally all of us palagi's starting laughing at his joke, none of us knew until later that he was being serious, which of course made it even funnier. He showed us some really cool places.
After a quick stop at home we headed back to the Stadium for the singing and dancing. Towards the end of each villages show, the paramount chief comes up to front to dance. This is when you get the chance to run out there with them and throw them money. Samoans will literally get $20 in one dollar bills and throw them in the air around the paramount chiefs dance routine and then causually join in. Only in Samoa is it kosher to throw money at people when they're dancing, with their cloths on of course.
Then each village presents Sua (gifts) to the Governor. This consists of the staple of canned tuna, wine, fabric, crackers, pisupo (we call it corned beef), and traditional fine mats. The number of each of these varries but it is usually given in procession while the high talking chief of each village delivers their speech to the governor. This goes on for quite a while.
The festivities were concluded with the lowering of the flag and another performance by the Marine Band.
All in all, i would say i got me lots of culture this last weekend within a week. Now i get to look forward to two workdays before i get another weekend! Sweet! If only i didn't have my mid-year performance review tomorrow.
