Chapter 7 - More About the Food and Animals...

FOOD – I have mentioned some things about the food, but I have to tell you about the Coconut Crab.  They eat coconuts so they taste like coconut.  We haven’t tried one yet, but are looking forward to it.  The crabs are BIG.  Our bishop showed us a picture of one they caught last week.  It filled an ice chest!!!  Their claws are so powerful that people have been know to loose fingers if they got too close.

I think I mentioned Turkey Tail.  They bar-b-que it and then pour coconut cream over the top.  Our trainer in the MTC told us it was SO GOOD.  Then I remembered that Grandpa Kendrick used to say it was the best part of the turkey.  We are looking forward to trying it.  I will let you know what we think of it.

Taro is something else they eat a lot of here.  They also pour coconut cream over it.  They use a lot of coconut cream – it reminds be of sweetened condensed milk, and I am sure it has just as many calories.  The best way I can describe it is It tastes like a baked potato but with less flavor.  Breadfruit and Taro are two staples – and they are OK, but not as good as an Idaho Spud!  They eat lots of potato chips – but they are really expensive so I don’t know how they can afford them on their incomes.  So many of them don’t work outside of their homes or farms.  The kids eat a lot of Ramen Noodles, but they eat them dry right out of the package.

Cocoa Samoa is a drink like hot chocolate.  The beans grow in a pod on the tree.  They remove the seeds from the pod and cook them until they are dark brown, then they add water and LOTS of sugar because it is very bitter otherwise..  The seeds are white in the pod.  The other day we were visiting the sisters at their apartment and they cut the pod open and gave us a seed to suck.  They are very sweet and taste like chocolate.  I was just sucking away on it and it slipped down my throat!!!  (Jessica - my sweet, sweet granddaughter will appreciate the fact that it tasted better than her contact!) They laughed and laughed at me because I had swallowed the seed.  But I was on a chocolate high the rest of the day!

The is the Cocoa Samoa pod cut in half.  The seeds are
about the size of a dime...

     

Cocoa Samoa Tree - notice the pod...

HOMES – I have mentioned that the homes are very humble, but everyone takes great pride in their yards, and even though there is a lot of litter, you always see people working in the yards, raking and pruning.  If they didn’t keep things cut back the jungle would soon take over.  You see lots of weed-eaters and very few lawn mowers.  It takes a long time for them to mow because they are doing it with weed-eaters.  Usually you will see Fales in front of their houses and there is only one cemetery here.  Most people bury their family members in their front yards.

Sister Amituana'i (from Australia) and
Sister Sevesi-Paepae (from Samoa)
in front of their apartment with Dennis

 ROOSTERS & CHICKENS & DOGS – They are everywhere and really colorful!  In fact we have an attack rooster in our yard.  He likes to eat the lemons that fall off the tree.  Dennis went out to pick some lemons and he spread his wings and hissed at him as if to say “Stay away – this is my territory.”  
Remember me mentioning how many dogs there were?  Well here is a picture of platforms they build to keep the dogs away.  I am a little puzzled though - most of the dogs can jump up on the platforms...

Garbage Platform

The people are very modest here.   If you are on the beach, it is OK to wear a swimming suit, but you never walk around in town or in the villages without having a cover-up on. You don’t see people laying on the beach sunbathing.  Of course they have natural tans – so why layout?   You see very few bare chested men...