Sounds of Samoa

After a weekend visiting my village that I lived in for two years, I was suddenly hyper aware of the sounds of the village. Now that I live in the capitol of Samoa, the sounds are much different. But it is the sounds of the village that make up Samoa in my mind.

As I sit there during the day in my family’s faletele (open, traditional Samoan house), I listen to the constant crow of the roosters. They are everywhere and never seem to sleep. The pigs wander around, snorting, sniffing, eating, and sleeping. The dogs run and bark after each other, cars, people, basically anything that seems to be a threat. The sound of a song on someone’s speaker blares throughout the village. Typically the song of the season plays on repeat, and I mean literally repeat; it plays again and again and again for hours. No one seems to tire of it until the next big song comes along, which will probably be in about 3 to 6 months. Children are laughing and chasing each other, assuming everyone is napping or they have no chores to do. 

In the evenings, at least two church choirs can be heard practicing. The sound of the piano and the youthful voices of children singing hymns that they’ve probably known since they began to talk. People are walking along the road and calling out to each other as they enjoy the coolness of the evening once the sun has gone down. The roosters continue to crow – nothing’s going to stop them from letting out their thoughts. Pigs have settled in for the night after eating. The dogs are even more riled up; ready to protect the property they live on. 

Even in the middle of the night, the chickens are making as much noise as they want. The dogs occasionally start fights and much barking ensues from several dogs. The main sound though, is the sound of the ocean waves coming in. Even if you don’t live right next to the ocean, you can hear the sound of the water.

Despite there being cars, especially in my village, the sound of cars is not prominent to me. Occasionally, one will honk and the sound of the diesel engine buses doesn’t miss my attention. But it is all the little sounds that come to mind when I sit and listen to the village.

Talk the Talk

Every culture has its own idea of what “small talk” consists of. You know the questions you ask when you first meet someone or they are just an acquaintance. And there are always those questions or topics that are not socially acceptable to ask someone you don’t know well. For example, in the states, you would never ask how old someone is when you first meet them. Getting used to what is considered small talk in Samoa was something I had to adjust to because it is far different than what is considered small talk in the states.

A few weeks back, I was walking and a woman was out waiting for a bus and asked if she could walk with me for a bit. I had never met nor seen this woman before, but we started talking as we walked. The following is a general overview of what we discussed and a great example of what small talk is in Samoa.

One of the first things we established was each others’ names, which is not usually a first question. I have spoken to several Samoans where I do not find out their name until the end of the conversation (or maybe not even at all). I also found out that she was leaving her work of being a house cleaner in my village and was going home. This then led to me inquiring about where she lived. This all sounds pretty normal for someone from the states to this point.

Over the next 5 minutes that we were together (yes, you read that right, it was only about 5 minutes that we walked and talked), this is what I learned about this woman. She has two children who live with her brother on Savai’i (the other island). She lives in a village in the Apia area with her mom. She is 32. Her birthday is in June and she asked for my phone number so that she could invite me to hang out with her on her birthday.

The fact that I know things like her age and her children make it sound like we are close friends from an American perspective, however, these are normal things to talk about with strangers in Samoa. I remember when we first moved to our training village, one of the first questions I was asked was how old I was. It is also not unusual to be asked if you are married almost immediately and if you have kids. There is also no assumption that just because you aren’t married, you don’t have kids.

One of the most common questions anyone asks here in Samoa though (especially when seen walking or sometimes even when you are just sitting) is “Where are you going?” Even if it is obvious that you are walking to school, people with call out “E te alu i fea?” (Where are you going?) That was actually what started my entire conversation with this woman.

I used to get annoyed by the questions: Where are you going? How old are you? Are you married? I have slowly become used to it though and I was actually the one to initially ask some of these small talk questions to this woman. I haven’t heard from her about seeing her on her birthday, but I’ll keep you posted.