Pese

Christmas in American Samoa is truly incredible. My favorite tradition is that every year all government agency performs christmas carols for the Governor in an event called Pese. The three staff from the Fagatele Bay Office joined the American Samoa Department of Commerce to perform three songs - two Samoan christmas carols and a medley of "Rockin' Around the Christmas Tree" and "Jingle Bell Rock." We had practice every day for two weeks leading up to the event to learn the words and related dance moves. The fact that I can't really sing or dance did not seem to matter as much as my enthusiasm for the practices. DOC also provided us with these stylish pulatasis to wear to the performance.



The performances lasted for three days. Several of my friends and neighbors from the Attorney Generals Office performed on the first day. Nearly everyone on the island watches the singing on television and Lisa and Kelly made quite an impression. When I got to work the next day everyone was asking about them and they were recognized all over town.



DOC performed on the second night. Our whole office met early for a final practice and a glass of wine to calm our nerves. Then we headed over to the stage to wait our turn. We were the seventh group to perform that evening so we didn't make it on stage until after 10pm. The performance went great and I actually managed to remember most of the words to the Samoan songs!