I've been Terrible

I know it!! So disconnected.....our dreams of our bucketlist has only been dimmed out...but never forgotten...I miss our laughs, our koko samoa sessions, I miss everything... :(
Hopefully and soon at that...I will see you both....love you muchos!!

Reply to the previous post-----

I did not write these responses.....you can look at it here---

http://sydneyfob.blogspot.com/2012/06/my-culture-my-malu-reply.html

Tuesday, 19 June 2012

My Culture, My Malu- a reply

I have a malu. An 'au has bitten my skin and indelible black marks remain to tell the tale. I don't hide this. In fact, on any given day in Sydney, you can see a Samoan woman heading into work in a conservative grey suit, and you may not look twice or notice the vae'ali , which crawl down below the back of her knees, signifying her service, both past and future, her tautua, and symbolising that it is on this service of the untitled- the aualuma and the aumaga, that the matai rest.

So while I was not in Samoa for the recent 50th Independence celebrations, when I recently read a well written article by Sita Leota, in the Samoa Observer, 17 June 2012, which shared her opinion about when, and how, one should display the malu, I felt compelled to reply.

Albert Wendt writes beautifully and I love his line "There are no 'true interpreters' or 'sacred guardians' of any culture. We are all entitled to our truths, insights, intuitions into and interpretations of our cultures." I don't deny Sita, nor any of the other Samoans who are/were in furious agreement, the right to interpret our culture. I do however, take serious issue with the imposition of that interpretation on others.

The article sets out "when you are tattooed as a female, the first rule has always been that you don't display your malu in public unless you are in full traditional Samoan wear about to dance the siva Samoa or in a ta'alolo." Is that really what the first rule has always been?

The truth is that the art of tatau was almost lost to colonisation and to Christianity. The missionaries were not overly fond of tatau. Whether it was because they literally interpreted Leviticus, because they saw this cultural practice as possible pagan competition, or simply because they saw it as "the mark of the savage", tattooing was so successfully discouraged throughout the Pacific, that of all our Polynesian brothers and sisters, only Samoa managed to maintain this "mea sina". Even today there are calls for the churches to be more accepting of tatau.

Not so coincidentally, colonisation and Christianity also had a major impact on our clothing or lack thereof. Now I like the mu'umu'u as much as the next woman, who has experienced the sauna that Samoa can be, they're lovely and cool, and they cover a multitude of sins and possibility for sinning, which, of course, was the idea. That said, they are a reflection of just how the church viewed women and their bodies (or more accurately, how they didn't want people to view women's bodies).

Sita quotes Albert Wendt when entreating and exhorting those of us who have malu to "protect it, shade it, cover it". Somewhat ironically, it is the eminent Professor Wendt who sets out in the same article that "Being clothed (lavalava) had little to do with clothes or laei. In pre-Papalagi times, to wear nothing above the navel was not considered 'nakedness.' To 'clothe' one's arse and genitals was enough."

Isn't it likely that the church's traditional position on tattooing, on women, and on covering up, has something to do with the compulsion to (or more accurately in the case of this article), to tell others to cover the malu? It may be that traditionally women covered to below the knee before they went under the 'au, and indeed, many contend that was the reason for the malu - to clothe. The fact that women show malu when they are "in full traditional Samoan wear about to dance the siva Samoa or in a ta'alolo", i.e. in our most traditional of activities, reflects that women traditionally showed their malu, that "the malu for women ...[was] considered 'clothing,' the most desired and highest-status clothing anyone could wear." (Tatauing the post-colonial body; Albert Wendt)

I'm proud of the fact that our culture is a living, breathing culture. I accept it adapts and adopts. Obviously Christianity is an important part of our culture - Fa'avae i le Atua Samoa. So I can accept an argument that our culture changed with Christianity to incorporate covering the malu. In a living and breathing culture, things change. But if it did change then, can't it change now? Can't Samoan women display their malu now, as their ancestors did, without being subject to an opinion piece?

Sita takes umbridge with what she considers is using the malu as a "fashion accessory". Again Wendt insightfully says, "much of what has been considered 'decoration' or 'adornment' by outsiders is to do with identity (individual/aiga/group), status, age, religious beliefs, relationships to other art forms and the community, and not to do with prettying yourself." It may be that one does not agree with displaying the malu, it is another thing altogether to say that just because one displays the malu, they don't do it out of "any sense of belonging, of culture, of being Samoan" as Sita asserts.

Sita writes that the definition of malu is ‘to be protected'. But it can also mean "to protect". As Zita Sefo-Martel puts it "The woman is therefore seen in Samoan culture as the protector of the children, the family, and the village. She is the giver of bloodlines." I am a strong Samoan woman. I have a malu and I can protect what is mine - my malu, and my culture. I do not need an article in the Samoa Observer to guide me, to tell me when and how, I can display my malu, and I very much doubt, any other Samoan woman does either.

O le malu o le laei o tamaitai Samoa.

Our Beautiful Culture

Thought I would share this great article with you girls...hope you like!

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My Culture My Malu

June 18, 2012 Sita Leota Arts & Culture, Samoa Independence, 0

We all know the story of how Samoan women were assigned the malu, and how the Samoan men got their pe’a, which is now immortalised in song – that originally two women swam from Fiji with the insistence that women, not men, were the ones to be tattooed the full pe’a until they arrived at Falealupo in Savaii where they made a mistake and said then that men should be tattooed instead of women.
Perhaps this is just as well. It’s the closest men will ever get to knowing the pain of childbirth that women have to go through.The full pe’a takes days, sometimes weeks. The malu takes about five hours.
Obviously those two women who swam the ocean centuries ago knew that women didn’t have the time nor the patience to be lying around incapacitated when the world was theirs to conquer – things to see, people to do.
Renowned Samoan author Albert Wendt defined the word malu as ‘to be shaded, to be protected, coolness, soft, soften.’ With regards to the tatau found on Samoan females, the definition of malu is therefore ‘to be protected.’
Echoing on this sentiment is Samoa’s first female fautasi skipper Zita Martel in one of her interviews who said that, “the symbolism depicted on a tatau or malu represents a covenant between a Samoan and his or her way of life. It is “O Mea Sina.” It is sacred.
I am very proud of my culture, very proud that I am Samoan. The traditional Samoan female tattoo – the malu – is the ultimate symbol of this pride on any Samoan female. So when I asked my mother if I could get one in 2008 when my sister was getting hers, she told me I’m better off with a dragon tattoo on my back than have the malu wasted on me. “Sika, alu e ka se ka-lako i lou papakua, e sili aku ga.”
It’s not something that’s taken lightly – it takes focus while one man tattoos you, one man wipes off the excess ink and blood and you are surrounded by people singing along to encourage you as you flay your legs about.
There is a huge burden on you to finish your tattoo because nobody wants the shame of a pe’a muku – the unfinished tattoo, and why there is a lot of relief when it is finally over and it is complete. I have seen a pe’a muku, and it was only because I saw it by accident. People who have it will never, ever show it nor tell anyone they have one.
I admire that the art of the Samoan tatau is being kept alive in initiatives like the Tatau Convention, the Malofie and it was one of the highlights of Samoa’s Independence when I saw the group of tattooed men and women proudly marching and dancing at Mulinu’u during Independence celebrations.
I wanted to be part of something that tied me visibly to my country. I see a malu, I see a pe’a on TV when I’m overseas and it brings me home. I have nothing but respect for the courage it takes to lie uncomfortably on a mat wincing and closing your eyes and trying to block out all the pain. I know that the critical moment comes when they reach the knees and you feel like they’re without skin and it feels that they are tattooing your bones directly and it is where most women say is the point where they want to give up.
I respect the mental preparation the tattooed have to go through because getting a traditional tattoo is not something done on the spur of the moment and you suddenly wake up and say, “I’m getting a malu done today.” I know that when a malu is done, you get your parents’ blessings before you make the ultimate commitment to your identity. That you are Samoan, that you are proud to be one.
Several years ago, a fa’afafine caused outrage when he went and got a malu. I support gay rights and I love my fa’afafine friends. However, a malu is for a woman. A pe’a is for a man. There is no grey area about it. A line was crossed when a man went to the tattooist that he wanted a malu, and for that tattoist to give it to him was against all the rules of the Samoan tatau.
Again, I repeat Zita Martel’s words: It is sacred. O le measina. All the fa’afafines I know (and trust me, it’s a lot of fa’afafines; I’m practically one myself!) are adamant, like the rest, that this should never have been tattooed in the first place. At a time when nothing else seems to hold any reverence, you don’t want your culture to be cheapened by acts such as this.
There is nothing more beautiful than the sight of a Samoan woman in a fine mat barely coming down her bottom to show off glistening legs that are tattooed with a malu. Or an old lady in her best puletasi hoisted up to show it while she’s doing the Samoan siva. I have nothing against the malu because it’s part of who I am. It’s what identifies a Samoan female when you see them before they’ve even spoken a word.
There is something particularly amazing when you see a malu by accident on the older folks that you didn’t even know had them. There are six tattooed people in my immediate family: my grandmother, my Dad, my brother, my sister, my cousin and my aunty and I take pride in all of them. I have several friends with malus who have gone to the length of changing their complete wardrobe so that nothing is showing at all when they are out. From hotpants to long dresses, from short shorts to knee-length tights.
They say goods often on display quickly lose their colour, which in turn makes them lose their appeal. In all honesty, some of the tattooed now use the malu as a fashion accessory more than out of any sense of belonging, of culture, of being Samoan. And I say this because when you are tattooed as a female, the first rule has always been that you don’t display your malu in public unless you are in full traditional Samoan wear about to dance the siva Samoa or in a ta’alolo. This is not what I saw during Independence.
Groups of girls in shorts parading their malu in town eating while walking – one of the seven deadly sins in Samoan culture. Girls in nightclubs dropping it low on the dance-floor in barely-there clothes pulled up even more to show off their malu.
To each their own, dance naked, wear your hotpants if you want to – my point (and I do have one) is that I personally don’t like seeing it when you have a malu, having it done with some knowledge beforehand of what it is, your obligations of being a tattoeed female, knowing what it represents and what it means and you are gyrating almost in the nude in public showing it off. Otherwise, don’t have it – save yourself the earache of having people saying that the malu is just another box to be ticked for you.
It brings back the words of my mentor when he told me this: “I’m very happy for my children’s achievements. I don’t, however, need to resort to the newspaper to announce all [their achievements] to the whole world. O le aga a le Samoa, e le fa’avi’ivi’i i saga fagau.” And I use this here because, like the malu, you show it when it needs to be shown.
E le’o se mea e kau fa’aalialia. It used to be that the malu was respected because it was rarely seen and nobody ever showed it. Don’t take that away. Don’t belittle your pain. There is a particular lady that I admire from Savaii whose malu doesn’t see the light of day until that Samoan taualuga song comes on and then she whips up her lavalava for the world to see. A sight to behold. Like a virgin about to be touched for the very first time. And that’s why it brings me back to Wendt’s definition of malu. Protect it. Shade it. Cover it. As for me, I’ll stick with the dragon tattoo for now.
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* The malu referred to in the title is not only (obviously) the traditional Samoan female tattoo but more or less, the protection offered by your culture, your family. O lau aganu’u, o lou aiga e te malu ai.

I started a real blog!!

I'm hoping to keep it up. it's basically the last 3 days of my life. I hope you enjoi!

http://tangosierramike.blogspot.com/

Well hello....

Well, long time no talkings...since everyone wants to have a boyfriend and work overtime...LOL I just wanted to drop a note and say HELLS YEAH (in a nice way).....September is almost here...I can't wait to see you both!!

Miss you mucho mucho..and I hope your blogging!!

love you!

VaCaY

uGGgHHH!!!! This Fall can't come quickly enough!!!! I can't wait to see my Nutty sisters and re-up on our bucketlist.......I've missed them so...and I can't believe its already almost August!
All is well on my side of the hood and I can't wait to share my birthday with you both, but first we have to share my sons birthday in California with you both.....

I CANT WAIT!!!! :)

Initial Reaction: When Water Burns by Lani Wendt Young

AAAAAAh! I just finished. You don't know the lengths I've gone to immerse myself in the Telesā universe these past two days. Let's just say I've gone without food, completely ignored several familial attempts for conversation and endured hours on my 4.3" HTC EVO 4G Kindle for Android App. Suffice it to say, I'm grateful to be staring at a 40" monitor. Phew! Okay and on to the meat and potatoes...

It's Midnight! I finally finished the book. Eyes. Eyes. Silent scream. Audible scream. The epilogue really disturbed me, but that's nothing new. Let's just say if Leila even spends half of the next book under Keahi's arm I will not be a happy camper, hear that Lani? lol. Ah, but artistic license; your brain child; what say have I? Nein [I tried to find the word for none, but "no" in German will have to do].

Okay now really, my first reaction...What the heck?! Not again. After I spent all this time waiting to find out who the heck this fire Telesā Keahi was and why in the h-e-double-hockey-sticks he was swapping spit with Leila, now I have to wonder how Keahi might use this development to muss or bless Leila/Pele's life...and is she Pele? Or Leila? Will Leila be able to control Pele if she does, in fact, possess Leila's body? And would it be terrible if Keahi and Leila were to become a couple? But I'm Team Daniel all the way so my answer is an emphatic OH HECK NO. (Actually, all those extra questions are probably my third reaction) 

Second reaction:  YES! I finished it. Enjoi! [Do they really say that?]

Things that had me crazy...

• All Telesā will regret Leila's body being healed?
• I forgot where Keahi was when Leila was trying to free TeUILA from the RPG/RPT? [Whatever it's called] and Daniel was fighting the twins. Hellloooooo? A little help here? And then I remembered he got beat down on the beach...again, haha. 
• I knew Lesina was a Telesā THE WHOLE time and it took Leila 12 hours, in my slow reading, to finally catch up to me. Really girl? The Lord of the Rings fiery eye would've seen that from the beginning.
• Teuila at 13 is no stranger to molestation, violence and substance abuse. Her mother should have been her protection. Fail! This breaks my heart. It's hard to read stuff like that. It takes me back to Lovely Bones and skipping heaps of stuff because I didn't want to live with that trauma floating around in the recesses of my mind.
• I have to say that I am grateful we didn't have to spend as much time on Daniel's amazing physique or Keahi's magic abs, that's something that made me a little loony in the first book. [ Hey! My blog, my rules. I can bring back the crazy from the first installment. ;) ] BTW my Daniel is way beefier and more tan than the model. I'll stick with that one. *eyes closed, sigh* lol
• The "Break". This reminded me of New Moon, and that was my least favorite book of the Twilight Saga. I was really hoping I wouldn't have to wait until the very end of the book for a reconciliation - thanks Lani! Also, props to Daniel for being so forgiving and constant. Leila's headstrong, independent ways sometimes got on my nerves, but oh, if I look into a mirror I'm able to give myself much more leeway, hmmm...
• Salamasina is a long-winded storyteller, or maybe I just read too slow.
• I just wanna hug Keahi and send him to church counseling services. His story was an enthralling opening to a much anticipated book :)
• Mele was spurned again. I really wish she could have a reawakening or something. Leila's I don't hit girls remark was pretty darn funny.

Everything else I liked/loved. 

I am really happy Leila had closure with her Folger family. 

I am glad she didn't have to choose between Daniel and Jason, although Jason's love started in a vial. 

I was happy to see Matile and Tuala in a few sequences and esp glad Lani let Matile stare daggers at Daniel in the hospital; I would expect nothing less.

Yay! There are no more secrets between Daniel and Leila.

Simone is an awesome friend.

Daniel's story and powers are revealed - enjoi! [I hope I don't start using this word.]

Salamasina and Leila come to an understanding.

Sinalei and Maleko are brought back as supporting cast members. Continuity :)

Your name was chosen for a Telesā ... TeUILA

I read Telesā the Covenant Keeper and loved it, then I learned the stories about Teine Sa and felt a little bamboozled. I'm not sure why, esp since I knew I was reading YA fiction. I guess it's because I'm a Samoan who's never stepped foot on the land and I was so wrapped up in the description of the country and culture that I forgot it was fiction. That experience helped me to appreciate this book for what it is:  a wordsmith's work of art. 

I'm also glad I'm not consumed by the book. I was a little too neurotic about the first one. Yay for maintaining a passable form of sanity.

I'd like to dedicate the following quote to my awesome Nutty sisters. Bound together in friendship & love and blessed with faith, we can accomplish all things through Christ Jesus. Okay, but wait, that's not the quote. Here it is...

A woman without her history is a fool.

Lani Wendt Young

I love you guys. Stay awesome!