Hello, y'all...That's my Cinderella and Prince Charming...I took the picture at our practice the other day...(By the way, I got a new camera!)...In fact, all of the pictures posted today are from our Tafuna High School Musical rehearsals...Today's blog entry will be describing these images, a topic to debate, and a Top Five list...So, lets blow this joint...
There's Elietino as Cinderella singing "In My Own Little Corner"...This song is goin' pretty good...She's been having a hard time hittin' the high notes...Does anybody have any suggestions?...
I apologize for all the students in the background...I've noticed that after three months of practicing the same play over and over again teenagers get really bored...It seems like this may be our next obstacle...Not getting totally sick and tired with the musical...I keep tellin' the kids that when we're sick of it that's when we know we've practiced enough...The hard part as an adult teacher is dealing with these kids...I mean, they're constantly moving and talking and being cheeky and not paying attention...Well, I guess I shouldn't complain...They're workin' their butts off for this production...I have to give them some playtime...
The girl (er, um, the boy) on the right is a fafafine...Donato...She's our Stepmother...Sole, she is gloriously wicked...I mean, truly evil...She's pretty much the star of our show...She's eating her role up savagely...I'm postive she'll get a standing ovation at the performance...The other two girls, Latarah and Eliasah, are our two Stepsisters...They're also splendid as the obnoxious, selfish, and spoiled Prunella and Esmerelda...Does it sound like I'm trying to sell the show?...Yeah, well, I'm impressed with them, okay?...Although, there is still a lot of work to do...
Top Five Places I'm Thrilled to Be Going to With Shawn and Cris:
5. Ofu or Anu'u = Both of these smaller islands near AS are private, gorgeous, and adventerous...Technically, I haven't been to Ofu...But I've heard it's beautiful...The beaches are, supposedly, wonderful...The problem with this place is that you take a tiny jumper plane to get there...And, I guess, the only time it flies to the island is once it has enough people signed up to go...Which makes planning to go there difficult...We may just end up going to Anu'u...Which is a magical place, but the beaches aren't the greatest...We'll see...
4. Apia = This mini-city with clubs, cafes, and restaurants is on Upolu in Western Samoa...The night life is a blast...And I can't wait to party hardy with Shawn and Cris...Oh, and there's, of course, those handsome, way cool New Zealand boys...I'm hoping to have a Rugby-ish mohawk like them when we go...
3. Hong Kong House = By far my favorite restaurant on this island...Pure deliciousness...I know, it is kinda sad that I put a chinese take-out place as a "thrilling place" to go to...But I haven't been here yet this year...So, Shawn and Cris better be ready to eat yummy food...
2. The Fales in Savaii = I am obsessed with this place...It's like camping (which Shawn and I adore) mixed with tropical, sunny-blue beaches...Sitting out on the deck and drinkin' some Vailima with them will be a dream come true...I feel so blessed to be able to experience that with actual friends from home...
1. Fagaima = Yup, I put my own damn village on this list...Not because I'm oh-so-proud of this ghetto-ass village...But because I'm really ecstatic to show Shawn and Cris my life...Just to hang out in my house and play games with them will be delightful...But I'll also be able to show them the walk I go on everyday...The dogs that almost attack me...The flooded road I practically swim through...The churches I attend...The Korean store I dare to buy stuff at...And I'll also be able to introduce them to the Fuamination...This is gonna be so much fun...And it's less than a week away!...
That's Eugene as Prince Charming...He's absolutely marvelous...His emotions are expressed brilliantly through his acting and singing...He has a lot of heart...
Okay, here's the topic I'd like to discuss...You see, I was planning to have the Prince and Cinderella kiss at the end of our musical...I informed Geno and Tino, and I even talked to their parents about it...I even told the other kids about it...They loved the idea...As did I...I don't really know why except I think it would be a surprising, romantic, crowd-pleasing finale to our show...Besides, it would also be authentic to the fairy tale...Right before the curtain closes they'd have a brief, simple, harmless lil' kiss...And the crowd would go wild...I know the teenagers would swoon over it like puppy dogs...I mean, I knew some of the parents would've been shocked and maybe a tad bit dismayed by the act, but I thought they'd get over it...They would focus on the one and a half hour outstanding performance...Not on that 1/2 second peck...Well, one of the adminstrators found out about it and advised me not to have the kiss...Here are the two reasons why I was upset about this...
1. First of all, he kept telling me "Joe, this is Samoa...You're in Samoa...Remember, Joe, you're in Samoa"...He literally said this about 20 times...I was so annoyed...I took a survey of other Samoan adults and students about the kiss before I made my decision...About 50% said the kiss would be spectacular...The other 50% said parents would hate it...I decided to go with my heart and say the fairy tale needs to end with a kiss...I just hate it when people say I'm not realizing I'm in Samoa...That I'm not respecting the fact I'm in a different culture...Even some of my blog readers have this notion...(Ahem, Cris!)...Puh-lease!...I've done nothing but embrace this island and its culture...I've devoted myself to it for two years...Hell, I'm even giving my musical production a Samoan twist!...What more do they want?...Just because I like aspects of my own culture doesn't mean I despise the Samoan culture...And just because I like to challenge both cultures doesn't mean I want to change them...And since I've decided to live in a different culture for two years, I think I have a right to disagree with it every once in a while...Eh...Whatever...
2. The other reason why this banning of the kiss upset me was because, well, a kiss is just a kiss, right?...The administrator told me that the elders would be pissed as all get-out by the kiss...They would riot over the fact that we had two teenagers kiss in front of 500 people...They would be outraged that we were showing a romance between two teenagers...They would be stunned by the sexual behavior...He went on to tell me that it would ruin the entire show...That the controversy would be certainly in the newspapers and on TV the next day...This kiss would be on the news and in the papers?...Huh?...And I would be the first person these angry people would go to, he said...Families would maybe even try to hunt me down and beat my palagi pukio...Scary, hey?...All of this drama and anger over an innocent, meaningless kiss?...I suppose I can understand their P.O.V....I could see that a kiss, especially between two teenagers, is not meaningless in Samoa...And that maybe this kiss would teach teenagers that it's acceptable to go around sucking face with other teenagers...If you think about it, the whole Cinderella story is filled with inappropriate lessons...It's the story of a girl who hates and disobeys her stepmom after being told not to go to the ball, despises her sisters, runs away, sneaks back home after midnight, kisses a random guy, and then marries him in the span of about three days...It's a whole smorgesboard of objectionable behaviors...How is this kiss going to make it more distasteful?...I suppose it's my American attitude coming into play here...I want a surprising, juicy, thought-provoking ending...Something wild and dangerous...And different...The Samoan attitude (one that belongs in the fifties) wants safety, phoniness, and plasticity...They want humdrum, conservative morality forced into the fairy tale...The administrator said I could do what I wanted to do...But he suggested not having the kiss...Because "this is Samoa"...And "some of the crowd would be enraged by the kiss"...
I began to think about this kiss...What would the kiss represent?...Would it even matter that much not to have it?...Or is it just there to please that need of mine to end off with a bang?...Do I just desire to have a surprising, dangerous ending?...Does this kiss really make a difference to the story?...And do high school musicals in the states have their main lovers kiss at the end?...I am beginning to feel like the kiss isn't needed...And I don't want to ruin the show because of this short, little kiss...I don't want the whole show and the students' performance to be criticised because I wanted a kiss at the end...I also don't want the school and myself to get into trouble...But what do you guys think?...Is the kiss necessary?...Would it make a point to have the kiss?...Teenage sex is prevelant on island, so is a kiss all that shocking?...Also, rape on island is a horrible problem...And so is violence...What damage could a magical, romantic, fairy tale, happy ending kiss do?...Would it really have such a bad influence on the kids?...It's not like they don't watch TV...Or listen to hip hop songs...For Christ's sake, haven't these kids watched a fricken Disney movie?!...Don't all of those end with a kiss?...Would these parents and elders be overreacting if they became livid over a lip-lock?...Especially one that happens in Cinderella, the most well-known romance tale of all time?...Does this not reek of censorship?...I don't know...I'm still trying to decide...Help me!...
Love ya and miss ya...
-JOE
"Don't you sometimes feel that this is the kind of life we were meant to live on this earth? Everything we need, everything, right here on this island, right at our fingertips. You know, if only people could have all this and be satisfied, I don't think there'd be any real problems in the world."
-Father Robinson in 1960's Swiss Family Robinson
Hey, everybody...This is gonna be hella short...Shawn'll be here in about an hour or two and I still haven't got everything that I needed to get done finished...I still gotta clean some of the house and complete some last minute tasks for the musical...Oh, my gosh!...I'm so excited for her to be in American Samoa with me...It's gonna be so much fun!...And just so delightful to have her with me...I can't explain it in words...I'm gonna be one happy uso :-)
The pictures in today's blog entry were taken at Wednesday's Field Day for Tafuna High School...Essentially, it's a game day where all the classes compete in a variety of silly activities...Such as pie eating contests and sack races...The teachers have to participate, too...I got 2nd in a three-legged race...Anyways, the Juniors won...It was damn hot...So, I just wanted to get the darn day over with...
So, I just wanted to give a brief thanks to all of you loyal readers...I truly do appreciate your interest in my life...And I am so grateful for all of you that stick by me through thick and thin...It's corny, I know...But, being on a lonely island, I need to know people still care about me...And y'all do that for me...Fa'afetai...
Okay...This was probably the shortest blog of all time...But I'm way too thrilled to see Shawn and Cris...I can't write right now!...So, come back in a week and hear all about our travels and see some of our gorgeous pics...And I'm sure I'll have plenty of controversies to discuss, as well...I'm sure Cris, Shawn, and I may be debating our lil' hearts out for most of this vacation...Stay tuned for next week...
