fe'aus

If any of you have been talking to me while I've been in Samoa, you might be aware that I am subtly trying to force you to learn Samoan with me by casually dropping phrases into everyday conversations. Today, I'll be a little more overt about it: the word of the day is fe'aus, and that means chores.

In Samoa, fe'aus are very important. Every kid has responsibilities, ranging from taking care of younger siblings to working at the church to sweeping the grass outside their house (yeah, I don't know either...), and we've been told it's an excuse that will be commonly used by our students to explain missing homework. And, after living in American Samoa for only a week, I have to admit... fe'aus really do take a lot more work here that on the mainland! Here are some examples:

1. The first fe'au I had to deal with was getting my cellphone set up, which, luckily, only took about 15 minutes and cost me $5 (so, btw, call me!!!!). However, others in the group were not so lucky... it took them about 2 hours, $60, and some of their phones still aren't working to this day.

2. The second fe'au was the bank. We cleared out a two hour block of time to walk down to the bank, pull a number, and sit there and wait. And wait. And wait. Then, we were called up, one at a time, with 5 or so people inbetween us (even though we all came at the same time?), in order for them to get our phone number and set up an appointment to come back to actually open the account. This was actually great news! We had been warned that we would probably have to get a number, wait, leave our name and phone number, then wait for them to call us to set up an appointment, and then finally go to the appointment. Unfortunately, my appointment turned out to be during a time when I have a mandatory class (on July 29th... 2 weeks from now...). I called to reschedule 2 days ago... they have yet to call me back. None of this is surprising. This is Samoa (from now on referred to TIS).

3. And now, on to the most important fe'au (mostly because it comes with pictures, so you can see my new friends AND where I live AND my underwear!): laundry! We could have gone to the laundromat, but it's far and costs money, plus a few of us will have to be doing laundry by hand this year, anyway, so we figured why not start now? The following is a documentation of the ordeal that followed:

Trying to figure out where to put the clothes lines... (we couldn't put them outside because the principal thought the school would look like a brothel... upon examining our undergarments we realized she might be right)

Hanging the clothes lines. You also get a lovely view of the girls' bedroom, aka my home for the past week and the next few.

Caroline decided to hula hoop.

Getting ready! Matt looks nervous... 

Girls doing all the work. Matt taking pictures.

Washing our underwear! In the shower! In men's swim trunks! TIS.

Steevee, modeling our clotheslines.

Finally done!!!! (Where did Matt's shirt go?? And why is Caroline so wet?!?)

 

Finally got all the clothes hung up... hopefully they dry sometime in the next month or so... TIS.

Laundry day numero uno is complete! Hopefully it turns out well! During the school year, this is probably how I am going to be spending my Sunday afternoons! 

And, as a final thought, to all those who might now be worried we're spending all our time doing chores: I do still have time for selfies! This is Chaundra photobombing me and Caroline on the aiga bus on our scavenger hunt!