Website sv Encanto
2007 Dec 25 
American Samoa is not that different from any typical American town. On Christmas Eve the shops were filled (procrastinators unite), the single major road was tangled in a traffic jam, the buses played endless Christmas tunes and we even saw a few Santa hats dawned on the happy shoppers. The faces of the children were filled with anticipation. And in the spirit of the season, everyone, stranger or friend, were bidding each other "Merry Christmas" and "Happy Holidays". The bus was decorated with wreathes,
red and green decorations and sparkles as it drove us through the community of Nuuuli,where the homes were adorned with lights and life-size Nativity scenes, reindeer, and snowmen. In the afternoon, Santa drove around the loop road on a fire engine waving and yelling "ho ho ho". At nightfall, the shoreline was ablaze from the lights on the homes, outlining roof tops and windows, including a home that had a gigantic blue sled on their roof and a humongous inflated snowman on their lawn. Least I need
to remind any of you, it is typically 90°F in the afternoon dropping to a mere 85°F by nightfall. Yearning for the cool and beauty of snowfall and snowflakes was a stretch for us as we patted the sweat from our brows. And finally, at midnight on Christmas Eve, abundant firecrackers popped and the sound of Christmas music filled the air from several homes on shore.
Two week ago the community joined in three evenings of holiday performances by all the various agencies of the government. Dressed in matching attire made by the island sewing shops, groups gathered on stage to dance and sing Christmas Carols. This island may have lost much of its handicraft culture, but it has retained its Polynesian love of music, dance and singing. Everyone from the barely walking young babe to the barely walking elder, sings, moves and sways to the ukulele. The holidays bring
out the boisterous and the blessed that can carry a tune.
With the holiday season, Encanto follows our few family traditions: making a puzzle on our Main Salon table, listening to holiday music (from Christina Aguilera to Elvis to Bing to Polynesian versions of classic tunes), watching a set of holiday DVDs--including The Santa Clause 1 & 2, The Polar Express, Love Actually, and the episode in Friend's Season 7-"The One with the Holiday Armadillo, and finally, nibbling on homemade gingerbread cookies, fresh popover muffins, oranges, popcorn and toasting
in the new year with hot cider brewed with cinnamon sticks.
We would watch the Jimmy Stewart classic movie, It's a Wonderful Life, but I think we are living it.
Ho, Ho, Ho and Happy Holidays to everyone.