Samoa - Apia II

Now then, Samoa. I had been looking forward to this. Read a lot, heard a lot. I would almost claim that Samoa might be the best known destination here in the South Pacific. Or perhaps Fiji is better known. Who knows.

In any case, it was an early start for me, or rather, an early departure, and the way it always is with me, if I have to be awake at three o’clock, then I am awake at three o’clock, but not because I set an alarm, rather because I barely slept at all. That does not work so well for me. So, almost a whole night awake and then the stress in the morning, which for my standards I handled surprisingly calmly and without any emotional roller coaster. Easy.

And then I sat for six hours in the air conditioned airport on Fiji. Going out and back in again was too much effort for me, so I just sat there and kept drifting off, those little ten second naps, only to eventually find myself on the overcrowded plane to Apia, luckily fairly far in the front, quicker exit.

And already at the airport it became clear to me: Samoa is different. The people are nice, no question, just differently nice. Not so performatively nice, but with a distinctly different bearing and self confidence, while still being relaxed. I got through immigration pretty quickly, had my bag in hand, biosecurity, he looks at me, looks at my shoes, I had polished them to a shine, secret tip, and that was that, through I went.

Then I walked into the hall and the humidity and heat hit me, and there it was again, that leaden tiredness that used to hit me from time to time in Queensland. Quickly got some cash and I was already in a taxi. He too offered to drive me around the island over the coming days, he even had a map, what progress. I stayed vague, because I knew I did not want to make any decisions today. Just to prove what kind of driver he was, he overtook particularly often and otherwise drove rather aggressively. I am more the type who prefers arriving a few minutes later, gladly even late, as long as there are no human collateral damages involved. Be that as it may, this time it went well.

What I could see of Samoa passing by was what I had already suspected: Samoa is different. The entire tsunami wall along the coast is painted in all kinds of colors, the roads are wide and good, there are traffic lights, one drives on the wrong side, and there are many traditional wooden houses by the roadside, almost like longhouses. And what was new to me: very, very many national flags. Literally for miles.

For me, as an upright and honest German, rather deeply unsettling, that much national consciousness. You can see what happens when that tips in the wrong direction. I am more in the camp of less is more, but to each their own. Side note: do we in Germany really want the strongest army in Europe again, with the election results at the moment, really? Whether that is such a good idea. But what do I know. Luckily the demographic replacement project got off to a good start.

He dropped me at the hotel and I asked him how you say thank you in Samoan. He told me, all pleased and friendly. He liked that I had asked. And then into the hotel. Left and right and suddenly my bags were in other hands and I was checked in. The woman at the desk smiled slyly: “Warm today, isn’t it.” What can I say, she was right.

Up to the room, and first of all I was hit by the air conditioning cooled down to eighteen degrees. That is no way to acclimatize. So I turned it much warmer, and since it still felt too cold to me and the sun was setting, I went after one of my favorite pursuits: sunset photography by the sea. But for that I still had to walk a bit, or rather limp. I was still having trouble with my left foot, or rather with the whole leg. It still felt as if I had cycled two hundred kilometers today. I know that feeling. So I limped to a point from which it would turn out well, which it did, and then walked the kilometers back again.

I had to do something about my foot, it was swollen. It is not as though this is unfamiliar to me. I think on the bike in Tonga I simply had to adopt a position, that whole thing without pedals, which strained some muscle, and now it is having a cheerful inflammatory reaction. Pain radiating right up into the knee. Yes, that is what happens when you get old. I made it back to the hotel, resolved to do something about it... and then I was already asleep. That is how fast it happened.

About Samoa: The islands were settled thousands of years ago by Polynesian seafarers and culturally belong to the core of Polynesia. In the nineteenth and early twentieth century Samoa came increasingly under foreign influence. In 1899 the western part of the archipelago became German, in 1914 it was occupied by New Zealand and later continued under New Zealand mandate administration. The resistance to this foreign rule, particularly in the form of the Mau movement, still belongs to the country’s historical self understanding today. Samoa became independent in 1962 and was thus the first Pacific island state of this scale to regain its political sovereignty.

So, German administration around the turn of the previous century and this strong Polynesian inclination toward independence. I know exactly why all of this feels very sympathetic to me. Not a trace of the British, okay, the New Zealanders, but they too are rather of the variety of turmoil and independence.

Anyone who wants to understand Samoa cannot get around faʻa Samoa, the Samoan way. Part of that is also the faʻa matai or Matai system. Society is collectively organized, carried by the extended families, the aiga. A very clear example of the Samoan way is that political participation in Samoa is still closely tied to the Matai system: anyone who wants to enter parliament must hold a registered Matai title and must have performed monotaga, that is, ongoing duties and services, in the constituency through that title. A Matai in Samoa is a traditional titleholder and usually the head of a family, so much more than just a chief in the western sense.

From this one can see that politics in Samoa is not simply understood as an individual right, but as something that grows out of family, rank, village, and obligation. Precisely in that one also sees the proximity to patriarchy, because although women can hold Matai titles, they are much more weakly represented in these traditional power structures. The men are strong here, you notice that immediately when you move through the city, and they are used to it. It is simply a different system. You, as a foreigner and a younger man, show respect to the men you meet on the street. And through that they show respect to you. It is a little crazy, but I already knew that, experiencing it now is something different. Samoa is different, did I mention that already?

So I woke from my coma and asked my foot what things looked like today, and it said: oh you, take it easy today. So I left my room and the humidity told me the same thing: take it easy today. Really hot, really muggy. So I walked to breakfast and the first drop of sweat ran down my back into my ass crack, the first of many that day. And the woman at the breakfast buffet looked at me and said slyly: “Hot today, isn’t it.” And I understood the game.

I went out of the hotel and wanted to look around the city, make loops as usual and find a supermarket. I returned pretty quickly and did the only sensible thing. I sat by the pool and stuck my foot into the cool water all day, and it thanked me by swelling down, all the pain receded from the left leg. Wonderful.

In the evening I went out again, once more in search of a supermarket, once more unsuccessful. I found hardware stores, fish market, electronics stores with spirits and musical instruments and a McDonald’s, many clothing stores, still no supermarket. That was almost already the whole day.

And the next day began the same way. “Warm today.” “Oh, actually it’s quite alright.” And then out at midday in the greatest heat, whistling loudly through the Cultural Park, on the left “Hot today,” on the right “Warm, isn’t it.” They know exactly that the heat and humidity must be pretty intense for someone who is not from an island. And I nodded and smiled and whistled and did not let it show, I had also acclimatized, and walked a bit through the city.

The cityscape is again marked by magnificent churches, Catholic ones as well, and the sweat ran down my ass crack. “Nice here, a bit muggy today, isn’t it?” The next one with his beautiful grey wrap skirt, I need one of those, and a colorful shirt. And yes, it is damned muggy here. The game is really nice. And on the way back I finally found what I had been looking for for two days, a supermarket of the general store variety. WD 40 next to toothpaste. In my next life I will become a Malaysian general store keeper, spiritually at least, not professionally. I am putting my faith in karma.

In the evening there was cultural entertainment at the hotel and I had to interrupt my foot cooling for it. Men and women dancing, singing, playing drums, very much the full thing with a fire dance show, actually quite pleasant. The only thing I did not quite understand was the “bone of recognition,” and whether one found Polynesian women attractive, that was what the hype man seemed to be asking, not my words, it was in fact a misunderstanding. He wanted us to throw money into the “bowl of recognition.” Not anything with “bone.” And at the end the male dancers went around the tables to thank people, and every single time I was asked why I was sitting there alone. Have the boys discovered something new. In that spirit.