From Super Palagi to Teine Samoa in Ten Short Weeks

Palagi: Samoan word meaning white person

I knew coming to Samoa that I would be a minority in many obvious ways. My white skin and my red hair just to start. I did not realize just how fascinated some Samoans would become by my freckles and the explanation I had to give when I said that I don’t tan. During just the first week in our training village, I had gone to another trainees home. The next day, he explained to me that his host mom could not believe how palagi I was. She called me a super palagi.

I, of course, thought this was hilarious. I definitely stand out and take no issue with being called a super palagi. It was almost like being a weird superhero. Over the course of training, my obvious palagi-ness was there, but seemed to fade as I became more of a presence in my training village. I became a part of my family and the community that I was living in. I stepped out of my comfort zone.

For starters, I had to get used to the idea that the sun was unavoidable and given that I am a fair skinned, red-head, I liberally applied sunscreen every day so that I could actually spend my time outside. That was step one.

After I could actually go outside without the fear of being sunburned every second of every day, I began to join in activities that I had never regularly done or never would have thought to have done in America. First activity? Going to church. This may seem so small, but it is such an important part of Samoan culture. One of the first questions a Samoan may ask you is “What church do you go to?” Everyday life in Samoa revolves around the foundation of religion. Church in Samoa is actually quite beautiful. All of the singing and joy that is brought to it makes it an enjoyable experience.

Next up? Joining the church choir. Did I mention that church is important in Samoa? Well, it is. My host father in my training village said to me one day, “Sana, you are joining the choir.” My response was to laugh because I thought it was a joke as many things are in Samoa. Church, however, is not something to be joked about. He told me I was going to be a part of the choir for the rest of my time in my training village. Even though I had grown up with the idea that I was a terrible singer, I said yes because it was all about the experience. I found out that my singing isn’t so terrible.

Now that I had my religious bases covered, it was time for some typical social activities. So the first social gathering I regularly attended was…BINGO! Oh yes, bingo is very serious business in Samoa. I would go to the bingo my family hosted every Saturday. And it became my routine. Saturday was church choir practice and then bingo. I would get home by midnight and be exhausted.

So what else was there to become more Samoan? Obviously volleyball. This is probably one of the most popular sports in Samoa next to rugby. I had played some volleyball in America, but I didn’t like it much. I tried it in Samoa and it was fun. When I messed up, which was regularly, everyone laughed, including myself. That’s just the way it is in Samoa. And if the team really wanted to win and knew you were bad? They just avoided letting the ball anywhere near you. That was always fine by me.

There were little day-to-day things I did to turn into a teine Samoa (Samoan girl). Two showers a day, bucket washing my clothes, putting flowers in my hair, wrangling in cows in the middle of the night, bathing in the ocean, drinking a ton of tea, eating a ton of taro, and I’m sure the list could go on. I know I am still not quite a full teine Samoa, but I am already a far cry from the super palagi who stepped off a plane in Samoa 13 weeks ago.