my dream new zealand

Cook Islands Language Week has begun and will go till Saturday.  I don't know about you, but I like the concept of having language weeks to raise awareness and celebrate our Maori and Pacific languages in a country where maintaining these treasures is something of a struggle.

While doing my last minute research for this post, I was a little sickened to find an article quoting the Minister of Education and Pacific Island Affairs, Hekia Parata as saying "it's not possible for the government to produce teachers in all the languages that communities might like".  I do agree that community support is key to the cause of language maintenance in New Zealand because without a communal buy-in, nothing can be sustained, however I have to side with Labour MP and Pacific Island Affairs spokesperson, Su'a William Sio in saying that responsibility cannot be solely placed on the community for the survival of their languages.

When it comes to language, the face of education would change in my dream New Zealand.  At the very least, te Reo Maori would be a compulsory subject in all primary and secondary schools as well as having the option to study a selection of Pacific languages, particularly the languages of the Cooks, Tokelau and Niue.

I believe it is completely possible.

This is me - Teine 'Afakasi.

steamy sunday

Here is a collection of my favourite steamy tattooed bodies! 

Jason is the newest addition after watching Pani interview him at Armageddon.  Who wouldn't want Momoa?

This is me - Teine 'Afakasi.

talanoa tatau

On Tuesday night there will be a talanoa at Massey, Wellington with the tattoo art and design collective Taupou Tatau that I wish I could go to.  Ever since the day one of my big cousins came home with what was then one incredibly cool contemporary tattoo, I decided I wanted a tattoo too.  I was only a child and come to think if it, this particular big cousin was somewhat of style guru to me growing up.  Years on, I have acquired some ink, thanks in part to my style guru cousin and would be telling lies if I said I did not want more.  Put simply, I love tatau for the story and meaning it carries .. I also love steamy bodies that come with tatau!

This is me - Teine 'Afakasi.

#31WriteNow .. late again because my laptop died right on midnight

I have just gone through the FREAK OUT stage that I often go through when writing, only magnified times 100 because I have no idea what I am going to write and I only got home at 11:30pm and maybe I should just give up on this crazy writing challenge that I am going to suck at any way!

Now I am just writing through it because it is now 11:42pm.  SHIT!

Shit because the only thing I can think of to write about is related to work and I do not like talking about much to do with my job because my boss is a bit of a stalker, but I am going to do it anyway.  What else is there to write about?  Time is not my friend.  If you know me in real life, please please please no commenting on what I do to pay the bills.

Today I was speaking with a client from India.  I could barely understand what he was saying in general so when he decided it was a good idea to give me his email address should he need to be contacted, I did not know whether to roll over and die laughing or just roll over and die as he said "S for sun, I for iPhone, N for .."  I for iPhone?  He couldn't say infant, indigo, idiot or INDIA?  Aue, what is the English language coming to?

This is me - Teine 'Afakasi.

#31WriteNow day 1 .. an hour late!

It's after midnight and surprise surprise, I'm wide awake perusing blogs when I come across the #31WriteNow blog challenge via PIMPI KNOWS and Awesomely Luvvie to post something to my blog each day for the month of August.  Within minutes I decide to go for it .. considering my last post I think what better way to force myself out of my comfort zone and get writing than to rise to a challenge, even if it is self imposed.  I am calling myself crazy right now, however this is going to be a fulfilling adventure that I am both nervous and excited for.

This is me - Teine 'Afakasi.

i'm back?

Well, I have been a bit absent .. ok, very much absent from the blog world.  The words above seem to capture best what has happened in the last few years - I keep letting others hold my pens, or worse I lose them all together which inevitably leads to one very neglected blog!  I started this blog anonymously and to my amazement, I have met some very good people along the way while managing to still stay as anonymous as possible considering how small my world seems to be.  I definitely want to keep it that way, yet still tell my little tales.  So, time to start paying this blog some attention, find some pens and start writing.

This is me - Teine 'Afakasi.

the start

I do not really remember the exact moment I began my conscious journey of identity and feeling that I was different from the rest, but I do remember the time.  I had moved schools shy of intermediate where the school roll was more than double my previous school, I knew nobody and the kids were mostly white.  An incredible contrast to the mostly brown faces I was used to schooling with.  There was no Polynesian group and singing practice consisted of songs only in English.  Importance was placed on how trendy your clothes were and the latest duraseal your books were covered in.  Meeting and connecting with a brown face was something very novel and exciting.  The Rents had not thought enough of the cultural changes I would face and as a consequence I struggled with my lack of preparation.  It felt like I had moved to a new country, not a school in a new suburb which made for hell at times, but I did manage to make a few friends along the way who I am still friends with today.  These school years also prepared me somewhat for high school, thankfully, even if it was the hard way.

This is me - Teine 'Afakasi.

dusty demon slayer

Some months ago a friend told me he has had a dandruff problem since who knows when and had tried just about everything in an attempt at ridding himself of this dusty demon.  I suggested coconut oil to him to combat the dandruff which he had not tried and I promised I would bring him the real deal all the way from Samoa.

A month or so later I arrived back from Samoa with the fagu'u thinking I would give a bit to said friend and keep the rest for my own personal use.  I was also telling myself the fagu'u I had was enough for the two of us because he was probably going to come back to me saying it was not working, even though I knew it would.  Judgemental on my part because the other palagis I have suggested coconut oil to in the past for ailments such as eczema frowned upon the idea of a natural remedy over something the doctor prescribed.

Oh how I was wrong this guy!  As it turns out, I have managed to help change the life of a mala from Notting Hill and you can now call me the Dusty Demon Slayer.  Gone are the days of an itchy scalp and constantly dusting off shoulders for my friend.  He would probably bathe in the stuff given the chance!

With the fagu'u almost out I now need to find a supply because my friend from work is getting through more coconut oil in a week than I do in a several months!

This is me - Teine 'Afakasi.

war of the worlds

I had never seen anyone terminally ill until my mother's brother became sick during my teenage years.  As an extended family we banded together as best we could to offer my uncle and his immediate family our support in what became his last months of life.  In sickness and in death the doors were always open for those who wanted to spend time with my uncle and the family.  As other family members passed away, I took the Samoan way of facing sickness and death to be the norm.

Some years later, my father's mother became sick and in her tender age, she began residing at a rest home - something I did not like, although had no say in.  After a short time at the rest home, my grandmother became unconscious, and surrounded by her children and grandchildren, she slipped from us slowly, day by day till finally she passed away.  In sickness and in death the doors tended to be more closed than open to anyone but family, and even then, there were seemingly unsaid limitations.

From my grandmother's decline in health till we laid her to rest with her husband, I felt like a foreigner living in some surreal reality.  The way everything was handled was not what I was used to.  I regularly thought to myself, who are these people I am meant to be related to?  My mother must have had an affair!  Is my father really the milkman?

So where does that leave me all these years on?  Thankfully I am still very much my father's daughter!  I still get a little sad thinking there were things I could have done or said differently, however I have to remember it was about my grandmother, not me.

This is me - Teine 'Afakasi.