Please tell me this is a movie...

The Samoan people are very interesting. A few nights ago I went out to eat for a birthday, and we ate at this place called "The Reef". The food was good (I had a cheeseburger..not roots) and so was the service. The fact that they don't tip here made the night even better, but when I thought my night was at its apex a fantastically entertaining thing happened. Half of the restaurant burst into song. It was a notch below a musical. It was magical. They were singing some church songs which made it even better, but I am still a little confused as to how the song was chosen and the pitch was set without any suspicious dialogue. The Samoan people have very good voices on a whole. They also love to sing (which could account for a lot), however, the thing that surprised me was how loud they sing. It is almost deafening which is a good segway into church on Sunday morning. Let me begin with this. I walked into church Sunday morning by myself because Mara was still at the car and we were running almost late. I felt like I had 3 legs or something incredibly deforming about me because people were staring. It was like they had never seen a white person before. I can’t imagine how they would gawk if I didn’t have somewhat of a tan. Church was good though, but these little kids (maybe 11 or 12) sat behind me and sang as loud as they could. I, in fact, have never heard such volume from a tyke. It was kind of a catch 22 because it was really sweet that they were so enthusiastic about worship, but on the other hand I value my eardrums. Another thing I noticed about singing at church is that they sing the same songs that I have known for years but they don’t sing the same notes I do. They have basically made up a line of music, and being an outsider it is hard to follow. You also never know when they are going to bust into Samoan, which does not sound like actual words but grunts. I am trying to pick up something but it’s harder than I thought. Heck, I can’t even pronounce Samoa correctly. It’s Sa (like saw) Mo (like the o in cold) an. I’m trying to get it down, and I am going to work very hard and try to be semi fluent when I come home in June. Until next time…