Happy people

Talofa! (Hello!)
(By the way, this is where a person would yell it back to the greeter. Come on, it's tradition!)

I know it's been said before but I just have to say it again--I love food. It's very appropriate for me to say it again because this week I'm going to tell everyone about Samoa. Being part Samoan is probably one of the big reasons I love food.

Taro amd Palusami

Samoa is one of the many Polynesian islands in the Pacific Ocean. Now, being on an island it has a lot of tropical kinds of foods that people are very familure with like bananas and coconut. Some of the foods many might not recognize is things like oka and taro. Oka is a way that they eat raw fish that has been marinated in coconut milk. Taro is a potato like root that is used often in their cooking. They also use taro leaves to cook some foods like palusami.

My all time favorite dish is koko laisa (cocoa rice). It's like hot, chocolate pudding with rice in it. It is traditionally is made with coconut milk. It gives it a more rich and sweet flavor. Coconut milk is often used in their cooking.



Fire dance

The great thing about being Samoan is that a person always has family. It doesn't matter how distant that person is related to them. They are family. If someone is at a Samoan family reunion they will be referred to as: cousin, uncle, aunt, great uncle or great aunt. It just depends on what generation that person comes from.

People in Samoa are very friendly. People can tell by the clothing they wear and their smiling faces. Their clothing is made in bright rich colors. Instead of a hula skirt they wear things like lava lavas. Lave laves are thick material that is tied around their waists. Samoans are also very happy and cheerful people. It's because they celebrate life to the fullest extent.

Samoans don't just celebrate with food. Another way they celebrate life is with dancing. My favorite dance is the fire dance. Men perform the fire dance. It's where someone has a stick with fire on both ends. Many might recognize it from the movie Lilo and Stitch.

I hope everyone found this post interesting and cool. I had lots of fun writing it!