Perfect

Le Vasa Loloa would seem fragmented to the outsider's eye.  And it would have been no surprise were it so.  However, the indomitable spirit of the human creature persevered until the concept of Alofa was made known from island to island. Who bridges the gap? We do.

Alofa: s. love, compassion.
Alofa: v. to love, to compassionate; to salute; pl. alolofa; pass. alofaina, alofagia; recipr. fealofani.

The Polynesian Triangle

Samoan Months of the Year (Native)

Utuvamua * Toeutuva * Faafu * Lo * Aununu * Oloamanu

Palolomua * Palolomuli * Mulifa *Lotuaga * Taumafamua * Toetaumafa

Samoan Language Reading Practice: Augustin Kramer's Die Samoa Inseln.

Current Events: Independent Samoa

Also am I the only one who loves this? (Warning: Slow, soft Christian music.)

While studying the Occupation of Japan, I was distracted first by my love of The Last Samurai:

"They're perfect."

And the ultimate distraction was something called the Meiji Restoration.

Let's keep an eye on this, and see how far back in time this dolphin travels into Japan.

Widowmaker

Le Vasa Loloa is a concept that stems from the original idea of a Sacred Center.  Also known as the Pearl of the Pacific, or Penina o le Pasefika, Samoa is the incontestable Heart of Polynesia.

Sa, a. forbidden; redup. sasa. (This word was formerly used to mean sacred, and is still very much used in that sense, as aso sa, fale sa, &c.)

Moa, s. a fowl; the end of a bunch of bananas; the fleshy part of the alili; the epigastric region; a child's top; the middle (as of a road or river).

Epigastric, a. lying upon or over the stomach; of, relating to, supplying, or draining the anterior walls of the abdomen; of or relating to the abdominal region

Amelie Lacroix - Alias: Widowmaker - Huntress

She kind of reminds me of this Huntress.

And this one.

LVL, as in Le Vasa Loloa, also stands as the Roman numerals 19-5-19.  Turns out the zipcode 19519 belongs to one Earlville, Pennsylvania, 40 miles away from Northampton, where the West Nile Virus was recently found.  And, apparently, this is what mosquitoes look like when they bite us.

I hate mosquitoes.

I did not get around to studying the Allied Occupation of Japan or the woman named Elizabeth Choy. But in regards to our great nation, I did discover that the Statue of Liberty was not always green.

I did watch the movie Anbe Sivam, and it made me wonder about Indian hand hand gestures and what they mean.

Le Vasa Loloa

Le Vasa Loloa is at the very least the Samoan concept of the Great Expanse, or conquerable universe, and in this case, specifically, the islands and boundaries of the Pacific Ocean.

Vasa, s. the ocean, (especially of the space between two starting points, as along an ironbound coast, or between two islands).

Loa, a. long; pl. loloa; redup. loaloa.

The Village of Fagasa (Sacred Bay): Tutuila, American Samoa.

Before settling on the name, I researched a few inspired ideas stolen from my late grasp.  The first one was THEREADER.BLOGSPOT.COM, where I read ( Google-translated) this deeply sad story:

Today, on the 12th of 2010, two months have passed since the death of a... there is no way to describe it, friendship is little and love is too much... Vinicius was a companion for all hours. At four years I met vinicius, we had little contact. but earlier this year when I went to college, the first person I met who welcomed me was him, it was a huge happiness. We spent hoooooras walking together. talking, even kiss rolled between us, but nothing that changed our friendship... since last year he asked me to mark his place in the bus for a trip, but on the week of the trip he gave up. when I was returning from the trip to my city I received a call: Vinicius had suffered an accident, and I was in a coma.

it was a shock, the next morning I ran away from class and went to the hospital with his friends. but only one could enter to know his NEWS. I went in and the nurse told me that he was in an induced coma, but he was really bad. It comes out worse than it was. on Tuesday I went to visit him When I entered the room, Vini had his hands tied to the bed so he would not debate, he had tubes in his mouth and nose, and serum on his arm. I talked:

Hi, it's me. His heart beating slowly on the monitor now hit 107. I talked to him for a few minutes. but I will never forgive myself for not having brought him a word from the Bible. He needed more than I said... I held his hand, he tried to squeeze mine and tears flowed from his eyes. he did not speak, nor open his eyes. she only listened to me.

Then, on Wednesday night, I could not sleep, the next morning, I went to class and a song did not leave my head. the music Forgive me (group 1 crew). I talked to his father asking to visit him again, and he told me that the night before they took away all the pipes that made him cry out, because he did not need it anymore. one in the afternoon I was getting ready to visit him when my father called that he had died. I did not believe he died of respiratory failure. on Friday I went to his wake, and before leaving home I looked at her translation, and she said, 

Lord, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death,

I'm not afraid because You're holding my breath...

I'm just afraid I do not have time to spare.

To tell the world that there is no more time to spare... 

(Lord, please!)

Good Christian rap is rare, but the video broke my heart, and the artists actually amazed me: 

Of course after running down that rabbit hole I decided to try Valley of the Shadow and Shadow of Death, as Psalm 23, cliche as it sounds, is my favourite.

I never knew that these were called Psalm Tones!

Valley-of-the-Shadow turned me on to Louis Armstrong's version of "When You Wish Upon A Star," Valley of the Shadow got me thinking about the essence of one's Golden Years, and Shadow of Death prodded me to look into the Allied Occupation of Japan at the end of WWII, and a woman named Elizabeth Choy. So far all of the blogs I had read were tinged with sadness and pain, and most of them spoke of government.

When I couldn't think of anything else I reverted back to a place in which I find/nurture much pride: My Samoan heritage.  I suppose that I am just a dolphin, exploring this great expanse. Come with?