Polling the Masses...
Malo, polo fulufulu'a...Ha!...I love being able to call you guys stuff that you have no idea what I'm saying!...It's great...Extra points to somebody who can guess what I just greeted my blog readers as...Anyways, this blog entry should be short...And I truly do mean that...Not only do I have a bunch of stuff to do, I also have nothing to write about...So, lets begin...
It was Flag Day last week, which is a huge holiday on island...It's probably the most significant, celebrated holiday in American Samoa...Even more than Christmas...Flag Day is the day Samoa commemorates the Deed of Cession, or the day in 1900 when America took possession of the island of Tutuila...It' s a day of Samoan national pride...Well, there were cultural events honoring the day all last week...One of the main celebrations was held at the stadium where all of the high schools, military branches, etc. walked in a parade around the field...The pictures on this entry were taken on this day...That image above of the Marine Corps Band is memorable to me because they played at Tafuna High School earlier last week...It was an assembly I was dreading...I mean, the Marine Corps Band?...Playing for Samoan teenagers who adore hip hop and pop music?...I thought the teenagers would "boo" them off the stage because they hate nerdy, big band jazz-like oldies...But the band blew us all away...They were amazing!...I can't explain it...I wish I would've recorded some of their show...But they were absolutely wonderful performers, and every single student and teacher loved the show...They didn't really play the best songs, but the way they played them was entertaining and thrilling...The whole school walked outta that assembly adoring the Marine Corps Band...Who woulda thunk it!?...
If you remember last year, all of the high schools performed a siva, haka, and clap dance for the Flag Day celebrations...It was awesome...(Check out my YouTube videos of those events if you wanna see the awesomeness)...But it was also a ton of work...Thus, this year the high schools opted out of performing...We all didn't want to put the students through that torture again...Besides, education was truly put on the sidelines as they practiced their dances everyday for about two months...We missed a bunch of school days to practice...Here are some of those old clips from last year...Still very cool to watch...
Those latter two pics were of Gene and his JROTC clan...He was the Task Force Commander that day...In other words, he led and gave orders, like a drill sergeant, to about 100 students...I was so proud of him..."Spartans!...What is your profession!?"...Dass mah boi...Speaking of Gene, he did get accepted to a junior college in Los Angeles on a football scholarship...The place makes me somewhat nervous because he'll be all alone in a big city...L.A. to be exact...Oh, my, the things that could happen!...The drugs!...The gangs!...The violence!...I'm trying not to think about all of those nightmarish possibilities...I'll probably be calling him every day to check up on him...He's still applying to the New Mexico Military Academy, the same school Sammy is probably attending...And for the first time ever, I actually want one of my students to go into the military...I mean, I feel Gene will have a better support network if he goes to the military...He'll have people there to help and support him...A sort of family...Also, the benefits in the military are wonderful...But many NFL players were drafted from junior colleges...In fact, there were a couple from the school Gene is going to...So, I suppose, there are many opportunities at this school, as well...Plus, Gene would be doing what he loves...Football...Here are two links to the schools Gene and Sammy are most likely attending...
Now, I realize American Samoa's Flag Day is rife with blog potential...I could write about a bunch of controversial, complex issues that would make exemplary blog discussions...Should this island be an American Territory?...Or should it be independent?...Is Samoan pride honorable and authentic?...Or is it pompous and naive?...Why is Flag Day more popular than Christmas?...Is it just another brainwashing event for the U.S. military?...Is the event just another excuse for the military to produce zombie-esque, robotic soldiers with American pride they can send to Iraq?...But I am not going to ask those questions or discuss those issues...Mostly because I've discussed those topics before...You see, after 111 blog entries concerning a small island in the South Pacific, even the most creative writer has repeated himself several times...I'll spare you guys the promising discussion...Just know that I know Flag Day is a hot bed of political and cultural problems in American Samoa...
There's Sammy...He was crabby that day...And I don't blame him...We all had to stand in the middle of the field for like two hours...And the scalding sun was burnin' us up...It was also hella boring to just stand there for so long...Many kids actually fainted, and you'd see the EMS runnin' around like chickens with their heads chopped off...I was actually getting angry because I guess it's like that every year...You'd think Samoans would learn...Damn Samoans and their weird traditions...Forget the peeps' health...Long live dangerous, traditional cultural customs!...
Man, I'm gonna miss this kid...I'm gonna be ballin' my eyes out as I board the plane for the final time and I see his face gettin' smaller and smaller and smaller...Until he disappears into thin air :-(Speaking of saying "goodbye"...I was thinkin' of having a new segment on Samoa Joe's blog...Since I only have about seven weeks left on this rock and this blog will be ending at that time, I thought about how I could start remembering the experiences I've had on this island...And I realized that I wasn't really alone in experiencing this island...Y'all have been with me from the beginning...From blog entry number one, y'all have seen all of the things I've seen...And experienced all of the things I've experienced...Y'all have also aided me in times of confusion and homesickness...And y'all have helped me in contemplating the cultural differences I've encountered...Anywho, this blog could be called Samoa Joe and His Fellow Blog Readers...Therefore, every week or so I'll pose a vote for y'all to participate in...And I'll compile your votes to make a Top Five...Created by you guys!...My beloved, devoted blog readers...All of the polls will deal with my overall American Samoa experience and the bittersweet "goodbye" that's comin' like a train in Texas...This new segment of the blog will be called "The Bittersweet Island Goodbye Blog Top Five"...Yup, it's a long title...But it rolls off the tongue delightfully...The following is this week's poll...
I wanna know what pictures I have posted over the last two years that stick out in your mind when you think of my experiences here...What images are the most memorable?...After 111 blog entries, which pics were the most gorgeous?...The most interesting?...The most fun?...Essentially, I want you guys to create a Top Five most unforgettable pictures of Samoa Joe's blog...Come on kids, Joe wants YOU to vote!...
I do have one discussion question I could pose to y'all...I don't think we've talked about this subject before...Samoans love movies...They live to rent movies and watch 'em...I mean, Gene and Sammy think watching movies is divine...The most splendid thing to do on island...And I suppose that's why Samoans love flicks so much...There's not much to do on this island...Except watch videos...Well, they also enjoy talking during the movies...And when I say "talking" I mean "TALKING"...Samoans adore interacting with the film as it's playing...I know I might be stepping on some toes when I say the next sentence (afterall, it's very stereotypical, borderline racist), but Samoans are like some Blacks in America...If you ever go to a movie theater in the states that many Black people go to, you'll notice this phenomenon, as well...Like if you ever attend Mayfair Mall Theaters in Wisconsin...Similar to Blacks, Samoans adore shouting things at the screen, asking questions out loud during the movie, practically having conversations with the characters, discussing what's happening in the story with their friends, and, simply, interacting with the motion picture...They're thrilled with movies, and they almost become a part of the movie...It's like they get sucked up into the film and live inside of it for those two hours or so while they're watching it...Samoans truly experience the film...It's a communal experience...An event...A TALKING event...Now, of course, palagis think totally differently...We're taught at a very young age to be silent during movies...We think it's the rudest thing in the world to talk during a good flick...Not only do we have rules up the wazoo about this at movie theaters ("Ssshhh, during the movie!"), but even in the comfort of our own homes, usually, talking during the film is not allowed...Frowned upon...I'm not gonna lie to you, I used to despise when the boys would talk during movies we were watching...I used to hate going to the theaters here on island and listening to the rude ass people who'd talk and laugh and shout during the motion picture...I'm like "Come on, how am I supposed to get lost in the movie if these annoying lil' punks keep talking!"...I remember seeing Spider-Man 3 with the boys and getting infuriated at their constant discussing of the flick...But I've begun to change my mind...I mean, Spider-Man 3 wasn't very good at all...But the experience of watching it with the boys became unforgettable to me...And now whenever we watch movies, I actually look forward to talking and having fun with the flick as it plays...Interacting with the movie has become just as entertaining as the actual story on screen...Laughing about the movie and making fun of it and asking questions and playin' along with the characters has become a shared, group occasion for me...And I'm kinda diggin' it...Why be silent during a movie?...It's not a funeral, right?...It's supposed to be fun...And entertaining...I suppose during serious dramas I'd probably think differently...But for comedies and horror and action films?...Bring the rambunctious, engaging chat on!...What do you guys think?...Is talking during the movies totally wrong?...Sacreligious?...Should it be illegal?...Or are white people too up-tight?...Should we all just loosen up a bit and experience the movies in a more communal way?...Or is our technique of watching films in a individual, personal way the right way?...
Okay, it's time for everybody's favorite game..."How Many Fafafines!?"...Can you count all the boys who live as girls in the picture above?...Like always, be careful!...It's tricky...The person with the correct number of fafafines will win my respect and admiration ;-)
Look at that picture above...What did I call 'em before?...Zombie-esque, robotic, patriotic American military puppets?...Hmm, that's what they look like to me...Nah, jokes...I have nothing but respect for these soldiers...Especially since two of my fuams will be them next year...It's just that my liberal democrat demon likes to invade my brain every once in a while...I blame it on those pesky University professors I had for six years of my life...They've infiltrated and assaulted my noggin'!...Help!...
Here are some links to YouTube vids I've recently posted...Two of them are dances the kids performed at school...The students call it a "MTV Showdown"...The Samoan young people will dance and lip-sync to popular songs, creating a performative MTV video...They're pretty nice...Oh, and the last link is of the Fautasi races, which I'll probably tell y'all about it on the next blog entry...Those were the boat races that were held on Flag Day...Check 'em out...
Alright...That's it for tonight...So, come on blog readers...What'd you think of the Flag Day pictures?...Is Flag Day just another recruitment event for the American military?...Are Samoans wrong in celebrating the day America took control of them?...Is there too much Samoan pride?...Did you know the Marine Corps band was so excellent?...What do you think of those two college options for Gene and Sammy?...Is the military a good way to go for them?...Is talking during movies rude and interrupting?...Or should it be done more often?...How many fafafines in the picture?...And how about that liberal demon that occupies my brain every so often?...Should I listen to it?... Oh, and the most important question for today is the poll I posed for our "Bittersweet Island Goodbye Blog Top Five"...What pictures have I taken are unforgettable to you?...Which images sum up my experience here in American Samoa succinctly?...Which pics were most beautiful to you?...The most interesting?...Describe them and tell me why you think we need to put them in our "Top Five Pictures on Samoa Joe's Blog"...I'll post the results on my next entry...
I love ya and miss ya...
-JOE
"Little islands are all large prisons: one cannot look at the sea without wishing for the wings of a swallow."
- Richard Burton
posted by Samoa Joe at 3:34 AM
5 Comments:
im going to pick my top 5 without going back and looking at all, cuz i think those would be the ones that stuck out the most for me.
1) the first picture of you in ur lava lava.
2) well i dont remember what pictures they were, but the very first waterfall movies that you put up.. and osme pictures of that. i thought were so amazing.
3) ur picture when ur dressed up with the other teacher for opposite sex day or whatever... and ur wearing those huge high heals!
4) that picture of shawn flexing her muscles with the samoan kids.. cuz she looks like a fool ;)
5) the picture of you with ur cinderella cast.. at your cast beach party.
I think Gene should go the the Naval Academy and play football...the head coach is the only Samoan football coach in the NCAA division I. Also, he needs the discipline because he'll lose it in the JC in L.A.
About the Samoans and Blacks talking during movies; its all true. As a Samoan, I hated my mom doing it while I was watching TV. but now that I have my own little kids and we watch movies, etc... I kind of like talking during the movies sometimes..tho we don't do it nearly as much as my mom and all the other ghetto-fob-ulous Samoans did back in Calif where I grew up.
I guess its cultural cause my Mexican, Greek and Italian friends all do the same thing...When we'd go to their homes, if they had some old school seniors, etc...they'd be chatting it up.....and you couldn't hear a damn thing...It aint just blacks, its everyone outside the mainstream white middle class from middle america that acts like that...but you are right, blacks have a lock down on talking smack...no argument with you there at all......
I think you had to fafafines in the pic you wanted blog readers to comment on....right
?
I will have to repost what 5 things stood out the most during the last 2 years cause there were many....
dude, why dont you have Gene go to Wisconscin and go to a JC there and play football....lots of Samoan kids from the West Coast go to schoools back east and in the midwest to get away from there family and friends in CA, OR, WA, HI, AZ, NV and UT....they want them to start fresh with no distractions.....
Flag Day is over rated, those friggin politicians in Am Sam are so full of shit its pathetic....just a show of who can outdo who....bullshit if you ask me....its way over done....
Reno, NV
i like that idea. have gene go to school in wisconsin! he can be a badger!
I have to admit, I haven't seen all of you postings, but my favorite pics are the one's of you and your weird family dressing up as old ladies. I especially liked the one of the dog. Too funny!!
Looking forward to having you home soon.
Carla
malo neman, mr. hairy balls, huh?!?! good one, man! i think what stands out in my mind the most is you dressed like a chick!
now if only u were blonde, had a smaller waist and big hips, I think you'd be pretty damn fine! uh, you'd need some thicker lips and a nice summer tan - u'd be hot! hehe. but anyways, love what ur doing there and hope you can duplicate your success when u cum back stateside to badgernation....anyways, thanks 4 always entertaining us online with your stories...love all that u did with the kids, cinderella, speech festival, etc. etc....take care neman...malo lava! and have an awesome trip back home...i hope they do something really nice and recognize you for all the good that you've done there at Tafuna HS....one luv, hamo fanz online.
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