Machete

The South Shore of Upolu


Some children fishing off of Savai'i.



Tools to make ava bowls.




Views from the road.




Machete
Have you ever put a machete in your hands? I used to think it was a scary feeling having this big knife in your hands. What if it drops and cuts off one of your toes? Ohh, that frightened me so much. In our house in Colorado we have several machetes from my sister’s trip to Panama, and swords from when we went to Japan. Those weapons stayed hung up on our walls for decoration, never to be used for anything.
Then I came to Samoa.
When I arrived here my thoughts on big knives changed.
It started off with the “Machete factor”, which is as soon a male puts a machete in his hands he automatically became good looking. Take the machete away, and he was ugly. I finally got over “the Machete Factor” after living here for awhile.
Then I began using machetes more and more. I used it to weed the lawn (or rocks), tried to use it to open cans of tuna, opened a few coconuts with them, and even sliced some fruit as well.
While Jen and Cammi were here, they began to see my new found love for the machete as they laughed as I cut the grass on a plantation road with my knife. I think they were laughing nervously, since Cammi was backing away far, since she was unsure of my ability with machetes, and was afraid of me swinging it like a baseball bat, as those sometimes fly out of people’s hands.
Before I left I was scared of lawnmowers, as I thought they would run over my feet. My amazing neighbor, Mike, helped me out with this. Maybe when I return I can return the favor, by finally using the machetes in the house to cut both of our grass. (Or maybe Jen will stop me, since she might worry about what the neighbors might think.)
Anyway, machete=good times.