As soon as Tuala picked me up at the airport he said his children still remembered the day I took his whole family out for dinner, US Thanksgiving Day last year. That was my treat to him and his family for his friendship. Not that often you will say your taxi driver becomes your friend, but that is what we became - good friends. I said in my post last year, he was a true Samoan and that he is. Family oriented, religious, hard working and a heart of gold - that's how I would describe him. The picture below is from our Thanksgiving Dinner last year.
He said no McDonalds this year Lance, I am going to make you an Umu at my house. I was honoured that he would do that for me. An Umu is a meal cooked in the traditional Samoan way. Lava rocks are heated up the placed on the ground or buried in the soil. The food is then placed over the rocks carefully. Some of the food was cooked in coconut shells. Then banana leaves are put over the whole fire area. The Umu is now working, as the steam slowly cooks the food to make it very tender. This meal is usually reserved for Sundays and family gatherings and it will take three hours to prepare and cook the food. I can’t imagine doing this on a hot Samoan day of 95 degrees and 80% humidity. We set the day and he picked me up to enjoy this special meal - for me.
I decided to show my appreciation to him and his family by giving them a gift for Christmas time - one I know the children would really enjoy. They are a very poor family, and the possibility of affording a dinner at McDonalds is not an option. I went to the McDonalds in Apia and asked to buy enough gift certificates for a family of two adults and six children - for a nice dinner. I think there was going to be enough for ice cream at the end too. Taula’s family - four daughters, two young sons and Elsie his wife. Off I went to the McDonalds to get my surprise together. I asked the reception lady at my hotel if she could jazz up my gift envelope. I had picked up a McDonalds plastic bag, and she cut it to fit the envelope - it looked good.
Their house was made of wood, with a tin roof. It looked very similar to other houses in the area. This house actually belonged to Elsie's grandparents, both now deceased. Like many homes in Samoa, parents and grand parents are buried in the front yard. In this case a view out the front window would be of the grandparents burial crypt - called a Tu'ugaman in Samoan
The pictures of the inside of their house show the simple lifestyle they live. A wide open central room showed very little furniture. I could see one kind of bed, but most family members slept on the floor. No chest of drawers anywhere. Clothes were either piled up on the edge of an old couch or crammed into stacked old suitcases - the girls room looked like a typical teenage girls room, messy. The four girls were living in a small room sleeping on the floor and the two adults in the central room with the two youngest boys. The back yard maybe a bit messy by our standards - but an important lesson of my visit - don't compare other peoples lifestyle with your own. It's their lives and standards not yours. They were proud to show me their house.
Looking at what little they had and how simply they lived made me feel so humble. I wanted to go the nearest IKEA and buy them furniture that would help them live more comfortably, but there is no IKEA here and that is not what they would want. They were content, and it showed me how different our lives were. As long as they could afford the tuition to send their children to school (private church schools were extra), they were happy. Was my life and lifestyle better because I had more stuff, definitely not.
The Umu that Taula prepared for me was special. Unfortunately the girls had committed to going to their church and practice for the Christmas Pageant. So it turned out that it was just Taula and I enjoying the meal. There were lots of leftovers for the girls - when they would return. Elsie was there but she had the youngest boy in her hands and for most of the time.
I can’t tell you the name of all the dishes we enjoyed, but they were all good. Cooked in the Umu (mostly by steam), made everything so tender. It was beautiful simple setting as we enjoyed the meal together. I won’t forget the meal - his gift to me.
At the end of the meal I gave Elsie (Taula’s wife) the gift certificates. I told her that I wanted the children to enjoy their “Happy Meals” at McDonalds again, maybe for a Christmas outing. I wish I could be there to photograph the event and see the joy on their faces.
What a memorable meal for me. To be invited into his home and see how he and his family live, that was special. Taula could not have given me any gift - more valuable. The smiles on everyones faces showed me how content they are with so little, by our standards. I have had an opportunity to travel to many places and experience many amazing things in my life - this night with Taula's family brought me to tears. Not in front of them but later, when I realized how much the whole event had deeply touched me.
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