Samoa

Our honeymoon to Samoa started off a little rocky when the airline lost our luggage, but we made the most of it and got our bags back just a couple days later. Samoa is a very interesting and beautiful place. I didn't get to take many pictures as the weather conditions were not optimal. It was not as sunny as we had hoped it would be, but I did manage to take a few pictures, which I now present in another musical slideshow! I chose the song "Jesus is the Only Answer" from Bela Fleck's Throw Down Your Heart album because Samoa is overwhelmingly (98 percent) Christian. Their national motto is "Samoa is founded on God." All Samoans adhere to a core of social values and practices, known as fa'a Samoa (the Samoan way) which are quite conservative and traditional. The Samoan culture is centered around vafealoa'i, the relationships between people. Fa'a Samoa has three basic elements to it, which are the Matai (familial chiefs), the Aiga (family) and the Church. This system essentially spells out each person's relationship to one another and to those in positions of power. Samoans have a communal way of life in which most activities are done collectively. They do not have the same ideas about privacy; the traditional homes (fales) are open and have no walls. We found Samoans to be a very kind and generally positive people who are very proud of their beautiful country! They all wanted to know what we thought of Samoa and when we would be coming back. Hopefully we will make it back there someday!

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