Samoa - More Than Just a Pretty Face

What is it that first comes to mind about Samoa?  The tattoos?  The rugby players? The girl’s dancing in their patterned dresses? The Haka?  The waterfalls and beaches?  The Rock?

In preparation for this blog I asked a few friends the same question.  Their responses were all aligned, with almost all responding with one of the above answers (it was one avid wrestling fan who replied emphatically with ‘The Rock!’).  Indeed, I asked myself the same question and these were certainly the images that first came to mind.  Interestingly enough, the natural beauty of the islands was either an afterthought or not mentioned at all. 

 

This certainly begs the question, why?  Why are these the images that come to mind and is it a good thing?  Well, to answer this I looked up the Samoan tourist site and one of the main links to click on is ‘Fa’a Samoa – The Samoan Way’.  Within this section is a brief description of Samoan culture pertaining to rituals, family life and their Christian heritage, not to mention the dos and don’ts of staying in a Samoan village.  There is even a subsection that describes the women’s dance, the Siva.

 

It is obvious that the Islanders celebrate these things, as it is an impressive thing to have a country so steeped in tradition and culture and with such an incredible sense of family.  It is remiss of us however, to forget that there is more to the set of islands than these initial thoughts.  In fact, I am blatantly guilty of this, as if you read my first two blogs, you will see that it is these areas of Samoan life that I focus on.  While we should appreciate these parts of the Samoan culture, we must also consider other aspects of the country, such as the natural beauty of the place amongst other things.