Samoa is the most open country in the world, and not only do they sleep without closing the door, but they don't even have walls.
Passers-by can easily see some of the homeowner's movements at home.
And Samoans have no concept of clothes, they like to cover their lower bodies with turf, and the same is true for girls.
As a result, Samoa is also known as the most transparent country in the world.
The Independent State of Samoa also often produces some strong men, such as Dwayne Johnson on the Rock, who is a Samoan.
So today we will learn about this small country, what is the reason why they sleep at night and do not close the door?
1. East and West Sa
In 1787, a Frenchman sailed to Samoa's waters, and many explorers visited the area, and some white people also came to settle in Samoa.
Later, it was discovered that the Samoan archipelago was in a special location that could serve as a stopover for merchant ships.
As a result, Samoa became a transit point for British, German, and French merchant ships, and the personnel of the merchant ships could come to the Samoan Islands for replenishment and rest.
It is precisely because of the geographical location that Western countries want to seize the sovereignty of the Samoan archipelago.
In this way, in the 19th century, there was great chaos in Samoa, and the source of the chaos was the intervention of Western countries.
Western countries, led by the United Kingdom, the United States, and Germany, colluded with the forces within Samoa for the sake of the interests of each country, and eventually led to the disintegration of Samoa.
Originally, Samoa was just an ordinary small country, not a vassal state of Britain, the United States and Germany, but just a supply place for merchant ships.
Under the intervention of Western countries, Samoa was unexpectedly divided.
Samoa was given to Germany to the west and the United States to the east.
This was because Germany planted many orchards in the west of Samoa, while the United States had many naval bases and supply depots in the east of Samoa.
However, after the outbreak of the First World War, Germany gradually lost its dominance over Western Samoa, and with the intervention of the British, Western Samoa gradually fell into their hands.
After World War II, the people of Western Samoa chose to file a complaint with the United Nations, desiring independence.
It was not until 1948 that the United Nations General Assembly finally approved the independence request of the people of Western Samoa.
Eastern Samoa, on the other hand, saw that the west was independent and wanted to have more autonomy, but their controller, the United States, said: I will give you as much autonomy as you want.
Although Western Samoa wants independence, they cannot let go of their dependence on the United States.
In this way, they continue to be dependent on the United States for the right to self-government, but will not declare independence.
At present, the United States provides financial support to Eastern Samoa, and the standard of living of the Eastern Samoans is better than that of the Western Samoans.
So much so that they were reluctant to join Western Samoa and were bent on moving closer to the Americans.
But East Samoa is essentially a colony, and their people are American nationals, but not American citizens, and there is something awkward about their status.
Although the American people are Americans, they cannot vote on their own soil, run for president of the United States, and cannot hold public office on their own soil, so Eastern Samoa can only be called "American Samoa".
As for Western Samoa, which is the independent State of Samoa, it is actually a country without an army, it only has police, and the crime rate is also very low.
So who protects national security? In fact, Samoa's defence and security are primarily the responsibility of New Zealand.
2. Samoa's unique customs
Samoa is a country with a history and culture, so there are many rules and taboos.
Some of the taboos in their country are similar to those in China, such as never hitting the bowl when eating, because it is like a beggar.
People are not allowed to cross the threshold when passing things, and the behavior will be very indecent.
Samoans never eat standing up, as this behavior can also be mistaken for beggars.
Speaking of eating, there is a very magical tree in Samoa, called the bread tree, which is also one of the main foods of Samoans, which can grow up to about 15 meters and 10 meters shortest.
Because the fruit of the bread tree is rich in starch, after baking, the taste is no different from bread, it is very soft and delicious, and it is also affectionately called the bread tree by the local residents.
Their country was not afraid of famine at all, and as long as there were bread trees, the people could live.
When people eat the fruit of the bread tree, they will pick the fruit first, then roast it directly in the fire, and when the skin is all black, they can cut it and eat it directly.
Or after roasting, dig out the fruit and put it back in the pot to roast, which will be more delicious and very filling.
The average lifespan of bread trees is very long, up to more than 3,000 years, and Samoans once calculated that if you can plant ten bread trees, you can eat them for a lifetime and benefit future generations.
The premise is that it can only fill the stomach, and it is impossible to have a balanced nutrition.
Not only can the fruit of the bread tree be eaten, but other parts can also be used, starting with its trunk, which can be cut down and used as a pillar for the house.
There are some particularly thick trunks, and people will hollow out the bars inside.
In addition, some of the softer trunks can also be used to make paper.
It can be said that the whole body of the bread tree is a treasure.
In addition to eating the fruit of the bread tree, people in Samoa also eat taro. As the economy grew, they also began to eat rice and flour.
Samoans cook mainly from stoves, where they wrap the ingredients in the leaves of coconut trees and put them in red-hot stones.
After waiting 45 minutes, you can take them out and eat them.
If they are guests of honour or important guests, Samoans will serve them roast suckling pig, or roast a certain amount of coconut meat and salt into the vegetables to make a traditional dish called "grilled vegetables".
3. Slow-paced open life
The independent State of Samoa had poor economic conditions, having emerged from the least developed countries of the world for less than a decade.
Unlike American Samoa, it is on its own because it does not have the support of the United States.
Samoa's economy is mainly agricultural, and they often export coconuts, cocoa, breadfruit, bananas, and other agricultural products.
In addition, the main pillar of Samoa's economy is tourism.
Due to its unique cultural features and natural environment, Samoa attracts many tourists from all over the world.
In addition, the locals are paying more and more attention to the development of tourism, and they are also very enthusiastic about foreign tourists.
Samoa is also very affordable when it comes to travel, and many tourists linger.
In particular, tropical fruits such as bananas are very cheap in Samoa, which leads to tourists from all over the world coming here for vacation.
However, it is not convenient for people in our country to travel to Samoa, after all, the country is too far away from us.
If you want to apply for a visa, you may have to go to New Zealand to apply for it, and it takes a long time, so for more people, it is better to travel to the Maldives with this time.
It is understood that there are only a few hundred overseas Chinese in Samoa today.
Because of the underdeveloped economy, the pace of life in Samoa is very slow, and in fact the locals are enjoying their current life.
When you live in Samoa, you don't even have to close your doors at night, and you don't have to worry about thieves coming to steal things.
The first reason is that the locals are more casual and don't value personal privacy very much.
The second reason is that thieves have nothing to steal, because the family conditions of each family are almost the same, and they are all poor.
The third reason is that Samoans have little jealousy and comparison, and they do not steal when they see something better in someone else's house than their own.
The fourth reason is that there are no doors in traditional Samoan architecture.
The traditional houses in which they lived encountered small gazebos similar to those of our country, with pillars, with roofs, and their pillars were mostly made from the trunks of bread trees.
The roof, on the other hand, is made up of huge leaves falling on top of it one by one, acting as a shelter from the wind and rain.
There is not even furniture in the house, and at night people will lie down on the ground and sleep.
Samoans make curtains to hang in the middle of wooden tables, so that in case of rain or thunderstorms, the curtains can be pulled down to keep the rain out.
It looks like surviving in the wilderness, and the only curtain is not to prevent others from peeking, but the main function is to keep out the rain.
This is traditional Samoan architecture, and although Samoans now also use iron sheets as roofs, there are also things such as walls and furniture in their homes.
But they still don't lock it at night, which is also their tradition.
In Samoa, both men and women can walk the streets with a leather skirt made of mulberry bark around their lower bodies.
And this way of dressing is not limited to ordinary people or heads of state.
Some people even wear suits and ties on the upper half of their bodies and skirts on their lower bodies, but the color of the officials' skirts is relatively light, and the skirts of ordinary people are also more bright.
If you are a traveler walking the streets of Samoa, you will be surprised to find that the upper body of the locals is very similar to what we wear, but the lower half of the body is all skirts.
epilogue
In Samoa, instead of pursuing white and thin, but pursuing fat as beauty, it is not uncommon for women there to be more than 100 kilograms.
Men have to be physically fit, and Dwayne Johnson is an example of this.
And the modern development of Samoa is so slow that many of the island's inhabitants still maintain very traditional customs.
They have a traditional folk tradition, a low crime rate, and there is no army, and the only security personnel are the police.
And they still believe that only a "pergola" can help communicate with neighbors, after all, neighbors can enter your home without having to push the door.
So do you like this lifestyle? Take a leave of absence from your thoughts below!
Resources:
The shadow is red2024-06-24 19:49"Men and women of all ages in this country love to wear skirts, and they don't close the door when they sleep at night, and even the walls are too redundant"
Lao Hu, who loves tourism2024-01-17 17:41"There are only 200,000 people in this country without an army, and there is only one city in the country, and there is no railway"
Bole Video2018-05-30 11:08"There is really a "bread" tree in this world, and the fruit of a tree is enough to feed a family"
Map Emperor2023-11-18 13:23"Samoa has long been independent, why is there still an American Samoa? 》