Samoan Language Week

 Finally it was the day of the Umu but it was also the day that Miss Haslem was going to leave us.  It was also Miss Haslem’s last day which was very sad. I wanted Miss Haslem to stay longer. The Samoan children in the school were wearing their beautiful traditional Samoan clothes.

Before we went into the hall or unpack the Umu we were on the courts in front of the flag. Mr T was going to raise the Samoan flag up the flagpole. Mr T started singing the Samoan national anthem and then some other people started singing. I tried to sing along but it was hard since I didn’t know any words.

I was so excited to see the process of the Umu because it was a once in a lifetime thing that I would see. The Umu had four layers. The four layers were Newspaper (Top Layer), Banana Leaves (Second Layer), Tin Foil to wrap around the food and Hot Rocks to heat the food up. 

I could smell the Umu from far away. It smelt so good. It was very smoky but luckily it didn’t smell like a bonfire, instead it smelt delicious. It smelt like some yummy food. It looked so good that I just wanted to eat it immediately. I was so happy to see the process of unpacking an Umu. 

After the umu was unpacked it was all put into the hall on tables. It was very nice how they put Samoan patterned cloths on the table. It had red, green, blue and white colours on the Samoan patterned cloths. We had to sit down on the floor and we waited. Father came into the hall to bless the food we just sat there and listened to the prayer. It was a very nice prayer. There were loads of different kinds of Samoan food such as Chop Suey, Seafood Salad, Taro, Coconut, Pig (Pork), Poupou, Raw Fish, Banana, Taro Leaves, Pork Buns and Rice. It all smelt so good. 

We were called up class by class to get our food. Room 6 went first, followed by Room 5, then Room 4, and finally it was my class Room 2 / 3.  There was a massive long line when it was finally our classes turn to get up and get some food but since there was a massive long line Miss Paton called us up one by one. Deevon was handing out the plastic bowls. When we got closer to the tables of food Damian’s Mum Marcella wrapped a paper towel around our fork nicely then gave it to us. When it was my turn different people were asking me if I wanted this or that. When I said “Yes, I’ll have some Chop Suey”. Then Ayla and Aden’s brother Lawson asked me if I wanted some Banana leafs and I said “No thanks”. Then I went on getting other types of food. Virginia asked me if I wanted to get some Pork Bun and Roast Pig and I said “Yes please” because it looked nice to eat. The last thing I got was the seafood salad. The Chop Suey was very nice to eat, it was delicious. The Pork Bun was alright to eat because the pork inside it didn’t taste very nice and the Roast Pig was very yummy and delicious and because it was roasted it was also quite oily. The last thing I ate was the Seafood Salad. The Seafood Salad contained raw prawns, crab stick, cucumber, cherry tomatoes and a special sauce which I didn’t know what it was called. After I finished my food, I got some more Seafood Salad because I liked it so much and I wouldn’t be able to eat it again in a long time. It was my chance to get some more. If I was to rate the food I ate I would rate it a 9 out of ten. We got an extended lunchtime so when we got back to class it was already like around 2:35PM so we had to just pack up for the end of the day. I was really sad because I really wanted to present my migration presentation to Miss Haslem because it was her last day with us.

Overall I had a great day and I had so much fun. It was an exciting day and also a sad day.

The End!