Faga Homestays

Our visit to Faga village was right in the middle of our whole experience. We had adequate time to acclimate ourselves to the tropical climate, the food, the mosquitoes, and have a small taste of the fa'a Samoa before we entered into three days of living in the company of Samoan people.

In our sojourn on both islands of Samoa, the Faga village homestay is where students more strongly delineate themselves not as tourists, but as travelers with deeper intentions. It is an opportunity for students to actually live within the care of a Samoan family in a village life setting, and attempt to catch glimpses of the Samoan way of life a bit closer to the interior.

After being welcomed into the village with a traditional Ava ceremony, students were taken by families about the village where they were given residence is a number of beach fales. All meals were taken with their host families, although some students were lucky enough to have their food served to them in their beach fales! Traditional Samoan food abounds, as well as the occasional meal prepared with special items such as cup-o-noodles, hot dogs and ketchup, and dough-nuts.

For the three days present in the village, students are given freedom of schedule to pursue any particular interests they have in either their host family or the Samoan way of life. Some students visited family plantations, some learned how to weave sitting mats, some spent significant time trying to learn as much of the Samoan language as possible, and some students greatly enjoyed just passing the time with their families during the day. And although three days is a short time, there is just enough to put fingers on the pulse of the way of Samoa; to witness the loving community care of a four month old, to hold sandy hands with young children in laughter, to regard the family elders in moments of family prayer and silence. It is quick but impressive and lasting.


The farewell of the village after our stay is the fia-fia, for which both CCSP and Faga village have spent long hours in preparation. And an added bonus was that our friends at Safua were in attendance as well, which added some energy to the already electric night. The fia-fia is an exchange of dancing and musical "items" back and forth for a couple of hours, and in the end proves to be a unique Samoan way of bidding farewell. We performed a number of American items such as Hanson's late nineties hit "MMMBop," Billy Joel's "For the Longest Time," and we even choreographed a strong and animated "Days of Elijah" song and dance. And we did all this exchanging of song and dance in our new shirts, lavalavas, and dresses graciously gifted to us as our families' guests.

For all of us, the highlight of the fia-fia night will not be easily forgotten, and will remain a steadfast memory in the rivers of our life experiences, just like the village homestay.