Malae o Letalu: ... and from Paradice to ParaNiZe

So we came home from Hawaii and rested for a week and then got “shipped out” to NZ, one of my favorite places in the whole wide world. There’s something about NZ that draws me to her - ok, IT! (I don’t know who assigned the feminine pronoun to countries. Yeah, like...hmmm....America is a she: “Stand beside her, and guide her”...lol!) Anyway, it’s not rugby that draws me to NZ. I’ve broken my love affair with rugby ever since I broke my clavicle - ok collarbone. Many years ago. And it’s not necessarily the land or the people, or the sheep either, though I must admit that I do like eating lamb!..sweet and sour lamb! Oooohhh Bingo! That’s it. That’s “the” something that draws me to NZ. Food! New Zealand food! Fish and chips. Meat pies. Peanut slabs. Ice Cream. Butter. Sausages. Salted Beef (Povi masima). Tomato sauce/ketchup (Wattie’s). L&P (you Americans have to guess this..lol).etc. etc. By the way, all these (except L&P) are found here in Yankeeland, but NZ does them far out and far bettah. So if you learn that I am - or will be - traveling to NZ, other than for a fa’alavelave, chances are that it’s a pleasure trip. Eating pleasure that is. Lol!!

We were there during the PolyFest week. So we stopped by to check. And bought food. On this particular day, we went over to the Samoa stage/field. We ate while listening to some students who were asked some impromptu questions. The questions were mostly based on some of the contemporary issues facing Samoans in general. So here’s my personal assessment. I gave all the students I listened to that day a “C” grade on the regular A-F grading scale. Grades could have been D’s but the students' introductions and closings using a lot of Samoan alaga’upu (proverbial expressions) - albeit by rote - earned them some good points. They were so articulate in their greetings and closings but when it got to the part where they answered the questions, they were either lost or just utterly uninformed. Answers were mostly laughable. Literally. I understand how the cultural and traditional speech giving is high on the lists of the Samoan language revival initiatives in NZ, but having the students also focus and study the contemporary issues affecting Samoans is perhaps a more important priority. Fai aku ai fo’i.

Overall, however, NZ remains my "NiZe" and favorite vacation spot. On our way back we did stop in another favorite place, Hawaii, again, for a day.

Oh yes, we went to the Sky Tower this time. Some pics from the trip...