Samoan TV

TV is TV is TV, right?  You’d think that until you turn into a Japanese game show and see a parliament member bouncing around in a chicken costume or a Bollywood romance where a couple sings there way into marriage.  TV differs greatly around the world and Samoa is no different.  There are only 3 channels on the regular TV.  TV1, TV2, and TV3 and one of them is a religious channel.  Here are but a few things that I’ve noticed from watching:

Old Reruns

A lot of different shows are sponsored on Samoan TV, shows like Modern Family, Law and Order, and other such ones.  However, the most popular are the old reruns.  Shows such as Fresh Prince of Bel-Air and Cheers that have been off the air for 20, 30 (!) years (imagine, Woody Harrelson with hair).  Those are on every night and a lot of people tune into them.  It’s hysterical watching Will Smith dance around the screen like it was yesterday.  Cheers, I’d never actually seen before Samoa and I don’t find it very funny, but everyone else seems to really like it.  Another odd show on TV is called Father Ted.  It’s a comedy out of Ireland that follows the antics of a Catholic priest.  The humor is beyond me, I guess it’s all about what you grow up with.

Singing Shows

Samoans have an intense mania about singing shows of any kind.  Throughout the year, you see American Idol, X Factor, The Voice, The Voice UK, and Samoan Star Search.  Guaranteed, if you ask a kid about the show that week, they’ll be able to name the singers and what they sang AND give you an opinion on it.  Samoan Star Search is the Samoan version of the singing shows.  The song Halleighlua was sung so often on the show that it was apparently banned. 

Black and White Bon Jovi videos

Sometimes in place of commercials, the TV channels will play old music videos.  The most popular ones are old Black and White Bon Jovi videos.  I’ve never even heard of most of these songs and my host family is singing right along.

Obits

This one really blew my mind.  On one of the channels, you are able to pay money and have the obituary of your loved one read.  People usually submit pictures along with it.  The guy reading the obituary has a long, droning, monotone voice and will usually repeat the obituary several times creating a running, 5-10 minute long section per person.

Spelling Bee

This was on just last week.  The high schools from across Samoa were competing in a spelling bee that incorporated words from all school subjects in English as well as Samoan.  I heard words like vector, interval, and history.  I was really impressed by how well these kids were doing, but I was also equally impressed by how much my host family was into watching it.  They were cheering for our local secondary school the entire time.

Past Dances

The last thing that’s really popular on Samoan TV is in place of commercials, they’ll play recordings of previous dance performances.  They’ll play ones from the Teuila festival, from performances at Aggie Greys, or from school performances.  They’re usually the traditional dances and they’re really neat to watch.  It’s a great cultural injection and really shows Samoan pride.  Love it!

Quick Language Lesson

Some of the vocab I’m probably using in my blog without even realizing it

Fale A house.  Notably, there’s the fale Samoa which is the gazebo like
house and then the fale palagi which is a house like we think in America.

Faleo’o A small fale

Palagi A foreigner

Pule School Principal

Faifeau Minister, Preacher, Priest

Tafao Hang out

Sole Unmarried, young, man

Puletasi Dress

Lavalava Sarong like skirt

Pisi Koa Peace Corps

And just a note, Samoa is pronounced SAH-mow-uh, not suh-mow-uh.

Samoan Videos

Vailima Pool Commercial:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=70j6QqcAuVA

The guy walking says "O a mai", "how is it/how are you"

The guy in the pool responds "Malu rag son", "cool, cold" with slang

American Samoa Oppa Gangnam Style:

It's amazing quality and totally Samoan.

Digicel:

All the best culture parts of Samoa.  Digicel is a phone company here and this is a video they put out about extraordinary Samoa.

Samoan Buses

Samoan buses are a hoot.  They’re converted flatbed trucks that look like a big wooden bus.  Usually a family will own 3 or 4 of them and operate them in a certain region.  They’ll be painted with various slogans.  I ride bright green ones with I’u O Atua written on the side.  The inside will be crammed with seats and it’s two per seat with the one on the aisle having half a buttcheek hanging off.  Once all the seats are full they’ll start sitting people on top of other people.  Usually it’s a good idea to grab a kid and have them sit on your lap.  It’s better that than someone larger.  The front of the bus on the dashboard is usually blinged up.  Upwards of 15 rear view mirrors will be displayed even though none of them can possibly be used due to the bus being crammed.  There is also usually a feathery boa along the dashboard and necklaces hanging.  Many will also hang tapestries or lavalavas from the ceiling with a good example being my usually bus driver who has a large tiger on his. 

The best way to tell if a bus is coming is by listening.  They tend to blast their music so you can hear them a good ways off.  There aren’t any bus stops in Samoa so all you do is go out to the street, chill in a nearby faleo’o in the shade until you see one coming then just wave it down.  Buses run on a very loose schedule so the general rule is to be there 30min before it’s supposed to come and you’ll most likely catch it within the next hour.  Once you get on, a guy called a supokako will take your bag to stash upfront and point out where you should sit.  This guy is responsible for getting as many people as possible on the bus and to also handle any problems (not that there are many).  Women usually sit up front and guys in the back though if you’re married it’s considered good form to sit on each others laps so that you open up another seat. 

If you’re on a bus leaving Apia you have plenty of opportunities to get food.  First off while it’s sitting in the bus depot waiting for passengers, people will be going by the windows selling food.  There’s been a crackdown recently on parents taking children out of school to sell food to bus riders.  The next opportunity is a few minutes later.  As the bus drives out of town it makes a stop at a place resembling a minimart or convenience store.  All the passengers will unload and pile into the store, loading up on snacks for the ride as well as bread and butter for the family back home.  Once you pile back in, the bus will sometimes make other stops as requested by passengers.  I’ve been in the back lot of Bluebird lumber more times than I can count as lumber gets loaded onto the bus through a door in the back and pushed through the aisle.  Sometimes baskets full of taro will be loaded up the middle of the aisle. 

Finally after all of this you’re on your way home.  The ride in and of itself is an adventure.  Going up hills you wonder if the bus will make it while going down you pray that the breaks were recently checked.

That all being said though, I really appreciate the buses.  I have one every hour in my village and they only cost 3USD to go to Apia.  I can meet new people and join in with village life.  How many other palagis (foreigners) ride the buses?