Meat Pie and Coca Cola Memory

Several days ago, I came home after work and looted the fridge and got a small bottle of Coke Zero (picture).  Then I went over to the microwave where the oven-warmed NZ meat pies were, took one out and sat down to eat. Nonchalantly! Suddenly an epiphanic and deja vu moment. A particular memory that was lodged in the back of my mind broke free and beamed me back to my Leifiifi Intermediate (now Leifiifi College) days in Samoa.  It's one of those things and moments that brings back memories of a particular time and place in your life.

Looong time ago, before Samoa College (Samco), I attended Leifiifi Intermediate, in town, in the days of Pisupo (Bishop) the principal and Miss Mabel Howes, a favorite and well-known teacher.  She was my Form II teacher.  Another equally well-known teacher at the time was Lisi Vaai who was my Accelerated Class teacher.  And there was this time in one of the two years I was there that some overseas group came to do a study on education in Samoa.  One of their programs involved some students to stay after school to answer and fill out a written survey.  It usually took 30-45 minutes for each session and lasted for a week - or two, I think.

original coke

And the incentive for those who volunteered  was a small bottle of Coca-Cola (original) and a meat pie for each student. I remember that the Coke was always super cold that I could vividly picture the condensation bubbles on the thick glass, and the meat pie was always tasty and crunchy hot.  For a kid straight out of the village far from town, this was a treat of a lifetime and in stark contrast to simple coconut snacks of the children in rural areas.

Ever since that time, I have developed this craving for the pair.  And so this past week when I sat down at the table looking at my two “old friends”, I said “Yes, coke-n-pie, Leifiifi dayzzz!”  And to boost the whole flashback and memory, Coke Zero is about the closest version ever to the flavor and taste of that wonderful and much-coveted  original Coke.

And coincidentally, the above happened at about the same time (several days ago) that the news broke of the Coke Zero going away and  to be replaced by Coke Zero Sugar.  In other words, Coke Zero will soon be just .... another memory.