television

Television
In Samoa there are two television stations, channel one and three. We get the Samoan news and the New Zealand news. The New Zealand news sometimes shows us a glimpse of what is happening in the world, although it usually leads me with more questions that no one is able to answer because of lack of resources here.
It was real exciting for me last night because I got my sports fix on the news (and it wasn’t watching the normal rugby game that always seems to be on). As the Super Bowl is approaching quickly, the New Zealand news decided to show the teams in contention for the championship….and they seem to really love Brett Farve. They showed the game in which the Vikings killed the Cowboys…and man it was exciting watching the big plays! (Mike and Alex don’t worry I’m spreading the love for the Vikings here, since I miss going out to watch the games with you guys!) They then showed the Jets and it was awesome seeing some NY pride over there! I just wish there was a place here to watch the games…especially the Super Bowl!
There aren’t too many companies that fight for television air ad time it seems. Sometimes when me and some of the other volunteers get together we discuss the five commercials that they show on television. About every month they seem to change them. They just finished showing the Christmas and New Years specials, and now some of the companies are showing back to school specials.
Whenever I visited my parents I was always overwhelmed with all the channel choices they had since they had cable. I mean I did have several with my bunny ears, but it was nothing compared to the hundred they seemed to have. It is kind of nice to only have two choices, as it makes you realize there is more out there than just sitting in front of the television as there is a world outside the living room. When there is nothing on television but the Pilipino soap operas (how did they make their way here anyway?) it makes you realize that there is much more going on and to explore the volleyball games outside or the book that is sitting on my bed itching to be read.
Everyone here seems so proud of Survivor Samoa. Every Sunday night people gather around the television set to watch as they have such a big connection to the show.
I just have a few suggestions for the people who created this show, some little mistakes that I have noticed. When going to a new country, and you pick a word to be the name for the tribe, make sure you know how to pronounce the word. In the Samoan language the g makes a sound like “ng” like in sing. I know I am horrible at pronouncing it, but it is much closer to a n sound than the g sound. Week after week I hear them pronounce galue (the word for work, such as in a plantation) wrong.
I do love how Survivor shows me the places where I would like to visit in Samoa. For example this week a few people won a trip to sliding rock, which is a place that I was planning on visiting this week. It was nice to have a preview of where I was going to.
I feel like I’ve already won Survivor, lasting a lot longer than the people on the television show and not with a lot of their luxurious. I don’t have the luxury of wearing whatever I would like as they do because it is culturally insensitive to dress the way they do. (It is probably the same way in every country they put the show in.) So instead of wearing tank tops and short shorts or wandering around in a bathing suit all day, I am fully dressed covering shoulders and wearing a skirt or something equivalent that is at least to my knees. Their food situation does not seem that bad either. Sure they miss out on the American luxurious, but they have the chance to win them, where as there are no rich Americans supporting me saying if you do this you can win brownies or something else that is hard to come by here. They also don’t have the true Samoan experience in Upolu being scared off by the dogs trying to bite you. Truth be told I don’t think I have seen any animals in their shows and it seems to me even when you are away from a village there is always at least a pig running around. I may not have the million dollars for lasting, but I think I’ve had a much better fuller experience then they have had.