The Simple Life

This is a picture of our neighbor’s house on one side. One day I was walking past and no one was around so I really looked at the house and thought, “There’s nothing in it, how can someone live there?” Well another day as I was walking by I noticed some smoke coming from the back of the property. This got me thinking. That’s probably their kitchen back there, just a small fire or an umu (some larger leaves on top of the fire to smoke things). They probably sit on mats to eat and I know in traditional homes they use their fingers to eat too. They sleep on small mats at night and just roll them up in the morning and put them in the corner. Their house doesn’t have walls, but they use sheets when it rains or they want some privacy. Really what else do they need, at least for survival? It made me wonder – are they unhappy with the way they live? They’ve probably never been able to afford to leave this island and probably never will. They don’t have a television and may know little of the rest of the world. If that’s all we knew – would we be wanting more?

I’ve tried to take the Samoan’s perspective on us as the wealthy Americans - what they must think of us. It’s a little difficult because in America there isn’t any comparison. Most immigrants are seen as lower class in our country and have less than we have, not more. I really think this experience will change the way I see our country in the rest of the world or rather how the rest of the world sees our country. Its makes me think that U.S. citizens should not criticize the U.S. the way they do. They really have no idea how blessed we are to live there and have the government, freedoms, laws, and economy that we do. I’m seeing more and more this entitlement that’s growing in our country. Its ugly. That’s the only way to describe it. I think we could all learn a few lessons from living a more simple life.