Spoon

Spoon.
Whenever I am at my parents house and I am to set the table to eat, usually I only give a fork as it seems like the most useful utensil. When we were being given meat we placed a knife on the table. Sometimes when we weren’t sure what was being prepared we would get a spoon as well. It didn’t seem like much to wash an extra two pieces of silverware as we had a dishwasher and most of the work was putting the utensils into the drawer and back out of it.
As you might have guessed we don’t have a dishwasher here. The dishwasher is usually one of the children, sometimes the oldest, sometimes one in the middle, and now a recent occurrence is having the youngest. When the dishes were washed they were placed on the side to dry as they were the dishes used most often and so there was no need to put them away in the cabinet of dishes. Silverware is placed in a cartoon little children’s backpack or in a pitcher that contains many sharp knives (thankfully blade down).
When having a meal in Sāmoa, you can bet that being a Palagi (or even a guest)that you will be at the first group for eating. (The second is for those who serve the food.) n front of you will have a bowl, a plate, a cup (all called ipu) and a spoon. One of the children will come around with a bowl of water and a solo (cleaning towel) for us to wash our hands. The prayer is then said. When I was living in Manunu, they always tried their best to get me to say the prayer, but I felt uncomfortable saying it as I never do it in America. In my new family, I do not have this problem as my tāma and tina say it.
Then comes the difficult time. What do I do with a plate and a bowl? Should I be using both of them? On the table in meat, rice, and taro. Which requires a bowl? Am I making someone wash extra dishes if I use both. And if I use both of them, it seems like too much for me to manage!
After being here for the three months I have learned that knives are not really necessary. (Unless you need to open a can, as a machete makes an amazing can opener, although me being the klutz I am being too scared to try it.) My brother would be thrilled with how everyone eats their meat here. Just pick it up and gnaw at it. If it’s too hot, you have it just sit there on your ipu and use your spoon to cut into the gigantic taro (think potato) on your plate.
When you are finished, if food is left on your plate, it is recycled onto the next eaters and so is your plate. (Why wash it when it will become full of the same meat stains and bones in another minute?) You then get the bowl of water to wash your hands as the next round of eaters begins.