Mommy and Mya and Turtles

Dressed for lunch ashore the chosen picture spot has a turtle carving. We didn’t get any pictures of the real turtles but had lots of fun snorkeling with them and watching them surface by the reef.

Mya drives

She’s two now and thought it was time.

Traditional boat

These boats were built and given as gifts to a few countries such as Samoa and Tonga. They are a traditional design and the project aims to educate youth on their history and culture. The early navigators originated here, long before the Europeans arrived. Modern science is now tracing the movement of people through time to flesh out the stories of now dying oral tales.

Mata utu

Virgin's grave

The story of the grave is that the young woman buried here was the daughter of the village chief. She was so pure that the lava parted around her grave and flowed around it. Although a fun story, Warren then proceeds to walk around showing us all the other sunken areas that appear not to have lava in this unstable region. We are warned not to stand too close to the grave’s edge lest the lava crumbles and we get to join her.

Ancient grave sight

The rocks mark the ancient style of grave. After the missionaries arrival, graves have been individualized and westernized and are frequently right out front of the house.

Church

Cory follows the lava flow through a church. It came in through the front door and moved in two directions. It was very slow by this time.

Cocoa tree

The fresh coconut here is fantastic. It is grown for local use and can be found at the market and every little store. The red pods are ripe. The green ones are not.

Lava fields

We went on a lava tour with the geologist, Warren. These fields are from 1995. He explained how to see the May flow moving over the February flow. Mya sits in a coconut tree impression and then finds a fig tree.

Lava field 2

This picture tells a few things. The first, which angers and frustrates Warren, is that the upheaval was caused by people taking the lava rock to build decorative walls and ruining the historical significance of the field. Two of the upturned pieces show where the top layer, which cooled very quickly, was remelted by the hot lava below. The rusty coloured line is oxidation. Although hard to see here, the May and February flows are slightly different colours: one brown and one black. Warren had samples taken and their compositions were identical. German studies solved the mystery: one was rained on before cooling and the other was left dry.

Lava tube

The lava flow created great tunnels underground. This is a happy place for all the little swiflets who nest inside.

Vines

Warren stops to show us the South American vines that are taking over the rainforest here. They are stangling the saplings and making the regeneration of a lush forest near impossible.

Lava lava

Mya makes her own lava lava.

Tether

Cory practices moving around on deck with his tether on just like Mommy and Daddy at sea. And what a task master! He calls out all the steps for us to “work the sails” while he commands our pretend sails to various destinations. Antarctica is a favourite.

Using "the heads"

Mya is proud.

Kava

A few men sit around the kava bowl. Kava is the local intoxicating drink. In the village, it is a priviledge for the woman to serve it. Out and about it always seems to be a man holding the long ladle over the communal cup.

Behind the market

Behind the market food stalls sell cooked root vegetables and other treats along with a few vegetables. Cory looks into the bowl of pancakes and the giant pots hold warm tapioca drinks. Supo esi is flavored with cocoa and papaya and vai saw is flavored with banana.

Fish market

This is 6 a.m. at the fish market. The whole city and all its taxis seem to be nearby. Cory is trying to carry the smallest piece of wahoo we could find. The little green bundles are taro cooked in coconut cream and wrapped in banana leaves.

One year ago!

How they looked on Mya’s first birthday.

Birthday play

Duckie gets a ride in the new dump truck and water balloons splash all over the grass.

More Mya Birthday events

Mya woke up from nap to find balloons and streamers.

Happy Birthday Mya!

Traditional Fun and Games

Cory asked the announcer if he could play too. Then we heard the announcement that Cory had come all the way from Canada to try out Samoan games. Would anyone join him? Sean volunteered and the crowd was in hysterics as they pushed each other off and occasionally fell off all on their own. Mya wanted on too!

Traditional tatooing

The missionaries tried to ban it, but this part of tradition remains somewhat intact. We are told there are 3 tufuga, tattoo artists, in Samoa: father, son and grandson. This process takes hours and hours. This is a demonstration at the festival and we watched the son take over from his father. The other men hold the skin tight to keep the shape of the patterns being created to tell a story. It is said that men receive the tattoo as a right of passage and as well as the unique story it tells, it represents the pain that women must bear in child birth. Fair is fair right?
A full pe’a covers from waist to knees and takes 48 hours, not likely all in one go.