My Fale - Intro.

It has been an especially frigid winter here in Ontario, Canada (I can now say that I know what it feels like in the ARCTIC AIR which equals minus 21 degrees Celsius with a windchill feeling like minus 40!). However, I'm still inclined to open the windows in my house, every now and then, for some #FreshAir. I get this from my Mother who grew up on an Island in the South Pacific called Samoa. Her home was a hut called a fale (pronounced fah-leh). Her fale was constructed by her Father and brothers of local wood (she forgets the name) with a sugarcane-leaf roof made by her Mother with help from my Mum, some of her sisters and probably even some other villagers.

The roof is an upside down bowl-shaped structure and is held up by strong pillars/columns. The floor had a top layer of pebbles with lower layers of sand, coral and lava. The pebbles were covered by handmade native Samoan mats made from a long leafed plant (she forgets the name). That's basically it! I'm not leaving out much here. No walls. No doors. No windows. In fact, if my Mum was asked to draw her home when she was a little girl, it would probably look something like this: (drawings provided by my children - Mum's grandchildren - with photo inspiration from here.)

My Mum has fond memories of her fale. "I like the pebbles. They're very comfortable.", she tells me. Mostly, she liked having no windows and walls. #FreshAir All. The. Time. Mum hated stuffy air. Windows were opened in my childhood Canadian home all year round. Sunny, snowy, rainy, windy (she LOVED the windy days!!). I do believe they were shut tight during a tornado - probably by my Dad. To this day, Mum can't understand how people survive without opening their windows. I have now inherited this need for #FreshAir and have a tolerant husband that allows me to pass on this tradition to our children. The beauty of this fale is how it connects to the people. Wikipedia got it absolutely right when they made the connection between the Samoan fale and the Samoan people,

"The architecture of Samoa is characterised by openness, with the design mirroring the culture and life of the Samoan people who inhabit the Samoa Islands.[1] Architectural concepts are incorporated into Samoan proverbs, oratory and metaphors, as well as linking to other art forms in Samoa, such as boat building and tattooing. The spaces outside and inside of traditional Samoan architecture are part of cultural form, ceremony and ritual."

You can absolutely conclude that the Samoans hid very little. Living was also not limited to their fale. I know my Mum slept, ate some of her meals and had family meetings in her fale but she wasn't always there. She also lived on the Island. The Island was as much of her home as her fale was.

My modern Fale, this blog, I hope to be a place that reflects my modern home. I live in Waterloo, Ontario with an apartment in Toronto, ON. I grew up in London, ON but my roots and family extend across the oceans from Poland to New Zealand (my birthplace) to Samoa. Add to the mix is my marriage to an Acadian man whose roots and family touch Nova Scotia, Prince Edward Island, New Brunswick, Québec and British Columbia, Canada, California, USA and back through the years and over the Atlantic to England and France.

In true Samoan style, there will be food. There will be stories. There will be laughter. There will be food. There will be music. There will be dancing. There will be food. There will be adventure. There may even be some gossip and did I mention there will be food? So, pull up a mat, relax, grab a cuppa Koko, breath in the #FreshAir and stay a while. All are welcome in My Fale.

daisy