Leah,
Its amazing to hear your light and seemingly joyful take on life at this particular moment. You keep after yourself, the positives, and that there is a huge world ready to receive anything you have to give. Your the blazer of a path im strolling down, and others are looking at in wonder and curiosity, especially our little sis. Lets keep going and we'll try to take along as many as we can.

Tons of love


Mom,

I really hope to see you...NEXT WEEK!!! Cant believe how fast this trip has crept up.

"Grazing: Cultural Exploration" Samoan Ava

Ava or Kava is a root that is ground into power and dissolved into a large wooden bowl of water to create a drink that is used for ceremonial occasions, meetings mostly. It has some mouth numbing properties and is great as a center piece for just sitting around, relaxing and having good conversation. Its grown and drank all over the Pacific, and some islands have stronger stuff than others (I think Fiji is known to have the strongest). Matais and man drink it mostly, women can but arent known to. We drink a lot of it in the village, and when i go into the market will sit and hangout with oldtimers and drink a few epu (cups). There are only a few families who are traditionally known for having the ability to carve the bowls, and they are made from a special type of wood that is found in one region of Samoa, its on Savai'i north of my village. This is something im excited to bring back to share with everyone, its definitely a Pacific experience.

Sorry i just looked for some pictures..no luck. I think the next "Grazing: Cultural Exploration" should be of Taro. Get excited.