Bugs, bugs, bugs

When I lived in New York City, I got used to rats and cockroaches being a part of life. In school, bed bugs and lice would sometimes invade as well. I thought this would prepare me for the bugs I would have to deal with in Samoa, but was I wrong?

The cockroaches. First of all, every single cockroach I see here is at least two inches long. It’s like there are no baby or teenage cockroaches. They all just sprout to adulthood immediately. Also, they fly like their life depends on it. I knew cockroaches flew, but these ones fly far, which kind of freaks me out.

The spiders. Along the same lines of the cockroaches, the spiders here seem to be of super-human size. Sure, I see small ones that I have no issues killing with my hand or foot, but then I see ones that are the size of my hand. For example, the picture below is a spider in my bathroom one night whose body alone was nearly the size of my palm.

The ants. While these are actually normal size, they are EVERYWHERE. I find ants in my books, on my arms, in my clothes, on my table, in my bed. You get the idea. I just can’t seem to get rid of them.

The crabs. Now, these are pretty cute and not really a bug. I don’t mind them, but when they show up in your hotel room or your house, they can be a little scarier. Like the one below, which we found in our hotel room before heading to a Peace Corps training.

The lizards. Also, not really a bug, but they are everywhere. Again, these guys are pretty cute, except when they poop all over your clothes: not as cute.

The centipedes. Now, I have been saving this for toward the end of the list because these things terrify me. Just like most of the bugs in Samoa, they are huge. I have been lucky to have never been bit by one because I hear it really hurts, but I have encountered a few at home as well as another volunteer’s house. The one below was probably close to seven inches long and tried to cuddle with some of us when we were sleeping.

The scorpions. Last, but not least are the scorpions. Now when we got to country, we were told there were no scorpions in Samoa. However, one volunteer found one live one as well as a couple of small dead ones in her house. I’m pretty lucky that I have not actually encountered one and I hope I can go the next year and a half without having to.

While there are a lot of bugs in Samoa, I have two things to help me. 1. My cat who is slowly getting big enough to actually take on some of these unwanted bugs. 2. Mortein. Mortein is a magical bug spray that kills these bugs pretty quick. I don’t know why it doesn’t exist in America.

Wait…you really just want to say hi??

Having lived in New York City for the past 9 years, I got used to certain things. Don’t smile at strangers—it may give them the wrong idea. Definitely don’t wave at strangers. A car honking means that you need to move. And finally, if a stranger wants to talk to you, it’s probably not just to say hey.

In Samoa, all of those things are pretty much not true. It took me the past 9 months to really get used to this idea.

First, if you don’t smile at a Samoan, they assume that you are rude and may not really like you. They all smile, practically all the time. As such, smiling at people you don’t know is perfectly normal.

Along those same lines, Samoans love to wave to people who they don’t know. I constantly have people saying hello or goodbye to me with a wave and I have no idea who they are. The best thing to do? Just wave back.

Car honking is like a wave in Samoa. It is not to be rude, it is not to get the next car to go or for a person to get out of the way. It is like a hello. This was definitely the biggest thing for me to remember as I walked down the street. Even just the other day I was walking and had about 10 cars and a bus honk at me to say hi (the driver also waved).

As far as a stranger talking to you as you walk down the street, it could mean that it is a guy hitting on you, but more likely in Samoa, that isn’t the case. People will regularly ask passersby where they are going. This isn’t because they really want to know though; it’s just small talk in Samoa. People just want to be friendly and talk to anyone, even if they don’t know him or her.

 Now, I am not saying that people in New York City are rude, I actually think true New Yorkers can be quite friendly, but Samoans are just extra friendly and nice.