Getting use to the Culture difference

Life in Samoa can be very interesting at times.  Not only is English a barrier, but of course their experiences are completely different than ours.  My sense of humor doesn't make sense to them so I have to either explain it or just move on.   The only thing we really have in common is the language of the Church. When it comes to this subject it is easy to communicate.
This side of the Island has more people that speak and understand English.  When you get away from here, English is almost non-existent.  Lots of hand gestures and some Samoan that we have learned.

Our first week here we spoke at an all school devotional.  We started with showing a picture of google earth and how far we had come to be with them.  We showed them pictures of our kids and gave them a little background on each family and what they are doing. 

Students made the leis for us

 We spoke about lures that Satan uses to catch us.  We used as the example of them fishing for octopi and how the octopi are caught by thinking that the lure is something it isn't.  A week later we actually saw a bunch of men fishing for octopi, just like we had described.The men paddle with one hand as they jerk the lure with their other hand as they go over a coral reef.  It was interesting to watch them go back and forth.

Octopus Lure

Octopi Fishing

It seems like a lot of work for something that I don't want to eat but they seem to like it.  It isn't very appetizing to see it in the fish market.

Fresh at the market

One day I was sitting in my office and the janitor came in.  He asked me how much I was being paid to be here.  I explained that I was paying for everything to be in Samoa.  He asked me where we got our money.  I told him that I had worked for thirty-five years and then retired.  I was using the money from my retirement ( that didn't compute)  so I said that I was using savings (that didn't compute), so finally he said that my family was sending me money to live on.  I just smiled and agreed with him.  What a novel idea, but I don't think my family would go for that.  With only seventeen percent of the people of Samoa taking home a pay check it is hard for them to understand money.  The biggest income in Samoa comes from families that have moved abroad and send money back to their relatives so that they can survive.  There isn't a little store in every village but there is one of these in every village.

Last Saturday we drove around the island in a whirlwind tour just to see what was there.  We will go back and spend time at many of the sites.  It seems as if Samoa is like Hawaii was years ago before resorts came.  Here are just a few of the pictures we took.  More to come.
Love you all   Mom and Dad, Cherri and Jim

Do you notice the crowds?

Tough life, but someone has to do it

View from our table while we watched the sun go down