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Cut to yesterday’s bus ride to the south side of the island. I got on the rickety wooden-roofed bus at 3:40 p.m. With an nebulous departure time, I took out my book and read to pass the time. Usually by Friday afternoon I’ve worked up a lot of sleep debt, and after 5 or 10 pages, I hit a wall. Since buses here tend to be packed to the gills with people, and since the hard wooden benches have seatbacks that are only about 8 inches high, sleeping on the bus in Samoa can be difficult. I chose to fold myself at the waist and fell asleep resting with my head on my own lap. This takes practice; I don’t think I could have done this when I first arrived in Samoa.
I’m guessing I slept in this position for roughly 25 minutes. I woke up when some kid tumbled past me. Not too long after I awoke, the bus driver started the bus’s engine, and a slew of stragglers got on.
Once the seats are filled on the bus, the common practice is to si’i, people sit on other people’s lap. So as a bunch of guys boarded, the girl across from me asked if I would be willing to have someone sit on my lap. I nodded and told her that was fine.
She handed the child sitting on her lap to the woman next to her, and then got up and sat on my lap. I should note this is slightly unusual. For the most part, unless a male and female know each other—usually family members of some sort—women sit on other women and men sit on other men. So there was a little bit of social rule-breaking here.
In any case, she sat down on my lap and then turned to me. “Are you sure you’re okay?” she asked.
“Yeah,” I said. “Lē afaina.” No problem.
Very slowly she swiveled her head to look at me. “Have you spoken Samoan the whole time?”
“Yeah,” I said.
“How long have you lived here?” she asked.
“Almost two years.”
“Two years?!”
Yeah, lady. I just folded myself like a map and took a 20 minute nap in the middle of a crowded bus. That’s an advanced skill. It’s not nail clipping, but it’s proof that I’m a bus rider.
I hope you’re well. Pictures from the village below.
![](https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjLsQm0oUaGjCIX_-8hfVIttlxftOOLwvSro1c1yij8tDc79v7wICiZPnmmUT2rrvy-quPIWqgTDGG5JHp7HtV7P0i4WM8wkCs13zedLD8oPEQMUg5jpKjN4dA4KFoOorCG57TQ/s320/2MeBaby.jpg)
Me and the baby. New Facebook photo?
![](https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi2hwzbkjf4gvQXIM84aT_OE4uomloK1ai6zkN3qsYjoARYXNCpaDLv9n8FmvL2wjjaEvTDt_UH1eS-SlPVEZ6SJQgtvymJNGWPIcIOYgr-A2LgcctalbrzGvILZXlBJDEmn8xA/s320/3Girls.jpg)
Akanese (in the middle) and friends.
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It's hard to tell from this picture, but Akanese is playing jacks with these small rocks.
![](https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjFPYsqJZ-ZFr5i9oq_y39GvkOpIBgU-qNSkEcH30d-Q4kBW3DHsepHmi1ikMdq3HPh6kVg0-DRhtd__nRSIjlZ1b9-3dwWmVpjm-gFn6Yyqnx6DfEc0JuM4l1y1y07owojLdmS/s320/5Baby.jpg)
Keleme again.
2 comments:
definitely facebook worthy that kid is adorable.
I love the way you put an island background on your blog title. Care to teach me? :)
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