Welcome to the Village
Continuing on from my previous post…
We arrived in “the village” feeling a little cool about it all. After all, we'd seen quite a few things this morning that we'd like to know more about - those open buildings, for instance. Were we going to learn more here?
Anyway, we began in good spirits, feeling optimistic and willing to go with the flow. The people here are warm and friendly. Good humour is part of life here it seems.
The lady who welcomed us was certainly everything we could hope for and our fears were immediately overcome. This “village” might well be artificial and created for tourists, but she was genuine and her manner was sincere.
She explained that most Samoan kitchens are outside and that it's the men who do the cooking.
Two gentlemen were working around the firepit behind her, confirming her explanation. One tended the fire whils the other shelled the coconut. This might have been the third (or fourth?) time we had seen this demonstrated, but no matter. It was all in good spirits.
Having shelled the coconut, it was passed the the chap sitting on the “donkey” to scrape out the shell into a bowl, from where it was strained into a “net” made from a handful of fine fibres which could be squeezed tightly to provide the coconut cream.
Except I had lost concentration. I wasn't as interested in making coconut cream as I was in that basket…
Now, come on…look at that basket he was using!! It appeared to be made from a single stem of palm, split down the middle and the leaf fronds woven together to create a container. How? I wanted to know!!
Sadly, there wasn't an opportunity to find out, for no sooner had they wrapped the taro and coconut cream into a couple of breadfruit leaves and put them into the fire to cook for 45 minutes than we were invited to go and enjoy a little tasting of Samoan food.
Firstly, they were roasting Carob beans, ready to infuse with water (or coconut milk?) to create a carob drink that was surprisingly tasty. Was sugar added? We'll never know….
After the drink, there were other things to taste, fresh from the fire. Firstly, roasted banana.
followed by breadfruit
and tuna in coconut cream (better than it looked) . There was also chicken (no need for a photo).
Sadly, I didn't get a photo of the tastiest dish, “Samoan Spinach” which we'd seen demonstrated. That was made from the roasted taro leaves and coconut cream, cooked in a breadfruit leaf over the fire.
All was washed down with cold Samoan lager. Quite good, actually!
Our visit concluded with a dance from a couple of youngsters, whose smiles won over the whole audience.
Though actually, there was one final performance from one of the girls who'd dressed to dance the Taualuga in barkcloth and with an elaborate headpiece. She placed the tip bucket at her feet as she began, the announcement being made that all tips would fund her education. A good cause indeed, though hopefully, it would be shared amongst the other youngsters who had contributed to what turned out to be an enjoyable experience.
We will remember their smiles and extraordinary good humour, for sure.
As we left the village to return to the ship, we noticed the grey skies and the raincloud, which we'd become used to in these last few days. Would we make it home dry or would we get soaked on the way?
Thankfully, we seemed to be in the shelter of the hillside as we drove back past the flowerpot to the ship.
As we sailed away from Pago Pago, we had the company of three or four longboats of Fautasi, traditional boats rowed by up to forty or fifty people, led by a drummer. We’d heard the beat of the drum before we saw the boat!
It was a grand conclusion to an interesting day. We looked forward to arriving in “the other” Samoa and to observing the difference - if any.
Oh and later, I found out how to make that basket…well, sort of. This one doesn't have a handle, but is still really neat!!
