Happy Independence Week Samoa.

While looking for some Samoa pictures to print it came to me, like a monkey to a banana. The first week of June is time to celebrate Samoa’s independence, fifty years now. It was from New Zealand that the nine-island nation got its walking papers. The Fifth International Tatau Festival also falls, those painful intrigue filled tattoos are tataus.

The picture I was looking for was a young girl twisting a colorful umbrella going down church stairs, Samoa is 98% Christian. I thought about the umu or huge feast prepared in pits with great pieces of pork, fish and beef wrapped in banana leafs. I truly slipped into fa’a Samoa, the way of life. My trip to Samoa was magical and will forever remind me there are different ways to live.