Samoans take Christianity very seriously indeed--I've never seen so many churches in one place as I saw on the 10-mile stretch of road from Faleolo International Airport to Apia, the capital. Most people I saw pray at home mornings and evenings. Samoans generally are Protestant, but Mormons made their presence known, too.
So did the weather. When I drove to Poutasi with the wife of the village chief, the rain was flooding the road. Eventually it ripped out the bridge to Poutasi, and I had to wade across with my equipment. I started to cross in my underwear, offending my companion, who insisted I put on the spare lava-lava (men's wrap-around skirt) that she was carrying.
Life in Poutasi was as close to pure Marxist-style communism as I've ever seen. If you ask relatives for something, they more or less have to give it. That's the Samoan way. Nobody ends up with too many possessions, because if they do others will ask for them. People with very little mooch off their relatives, who have to oblige them.
I was happy to be there for White Sunday, the one day in the year when the children eat before their parents. About 75 kids sang at a church service, but only about 40 parents and grandparents showed up. I wondered why so few adults came until I recalled that each family has 4 to 8 children. If Samoans weren't constantly emigrating, these beautiful little islands would be completely swamped.
