Papalagi WHAT CAN LEARN FROM" THE Papalagi "DI 
Every country, every society, every culture has some customs, forms of thinking, a way of seeing the world different. Individuals born in this culture assimilate such elements so deep that eventually form part of their way to be personal. You can be sure that you yourself would be completely different from having been born in another company or in another era. Now, not only absorb what it conveys our culture, but also it is part of us so that we feel as "normal" "natural," which "should be", while the customs and ideas from other cultures seem strange and sometimes even incorrect, and more as more different from ours. It is as if at the time of birth you put a pair of glasses with blue crystals could no longer take off for the rest of your life. Not only the world would see blue, but you'd be convinced that the world is blue (remember: you've never seen otherwise). If someone came and told you that the world is red, what would you think? However, that person sees the world only because of that red color are the lenses of his glasses, just like it happens to you. If you were born into their culture, which you'd take the red glasses, and you'd think that he is convinced that the world is blue is wrong.
This phenomenon is called ethnocentrism is given according to which we can not avoid adopting the criteria of our own culture as a benchmark to judge the rest. obviously is no such thing justified given that there is no reason to consider a particular culture as absolute reference point for all others. The result is that while it is itself culturally "normal", what we feel culturally alien, at best, at least "weird or" eccentric "and, at worst," wrong " "absurd", "disgusting", "objectionable" or "inferior." We can hardly escape the ethnocentric view, because they would have to strip away everything that we have learned in our own culture or, put another way, we should stop be ourselves. However, it is important to be at least aware of this phenomenon condition for this to take us to realize, in turn, that there is no objective reason to consider us as normal, correct, much less the higher .
Just give us that awareness is what he intends the book that discussed and recommended here. A text that aims to contribute to something as difficult as change, even for a few moments, the color of the crystals of our glasses, that is, see us from the standpoint of another culture. Even if it is also necessary that the reader put something (a lot) on their part, being willing to be receptive to that experience. Of course, this reading is not going to lead to fully adopt the gaze of others, but we can understand that you yourself can be so strange to the eyes of others as the opposite occurs. That is, there is someone for whom "the other" is us. 
are referring to the work The Papalagi . This is a series of speeches whose authorship is ascribed to Tuiavii Tiavea chief of a tribe of Samoa, a country comprising a group of islands belonging to the islands of Polynesia in the Pacific South (must be said that "tuavii" means "boss" in Samoan, and Tiavea was the name of their village, ie the name that you know is not only a description referring to his position and origin). This character had the opportunity to travel to the West and tour several countries studying and analyzing the life, customs and environment of the civilized white man in the Europe of the first decade of the twentieth century, very close to that of today in many respects , so that much of what the text states is perfectly applicable to our society. Back to their homeland prepares speeches through which wants to show his people what he has seen. The conclusion Samoan chief is that the kind of life that Europeans are not at all good nor enviable, and its ultimate intention is to prevent his people to resist to assimilate Western culture.
These texts first appeared before the European public in a German edition in the second decade of the twentieth century, in a transcription and translation by Erich Scheurmann. Scheurmann was a German artist who in 1914 traveled to Samoa, then a German colony, fleeing from the First World War. There he meets Tuiavii Tiavea with who befriends. As a result, notes of this set of speeches and makes them come to Europe putting them within reach.
described above responds to the explanation of the origin of the texts that once offered himself Scheurmann. However, there is some controversy about it, as some argue that the author of the alleged statements may well have been himself. If this is true, the romance that stains disappear earlier history and to clearly diminish the credibility of these accounts ("then a Samoan early twentieth century would see us well or not?), But would have to add the consideration of the merit the literary exercise conducted by the German. Anyway, this possibility does not diminish one iota of value to text on it that could be interesting and useful. Regardless of who is its real author, the lessons we can draw from it are exactly the same. We could say that if that was not the real prospect of a Polynesian, or could be or, as the ruling said, was non è vero è ben trovato . Personally, I have always approached this book preferring believe or, better believe I'm playing, I really read the words of Samoan chief. Although literature was also the literature (and sometimes, especially literature) can help us see with new eyes, which after all is what it is in this case.
At that time all the major European nations had established colonies in other continents. Moreover, there was some time ago an intense exploration activity to areas of the globe still little known, sometimes by the mere desire to increase geographical knowledge, and sometimes more practical reasons, such as establishing commercial communication routes or discover places that could be a source of natural resources and, thus, of economic wealth. Due to that, the contact between Western culture and other cultures at that time was infinitely more intense than it had been in previous centuries. This situation has stimulated the curiosity of Europeans and other cultures such as foreign to them. The nineteenth century had lived a true fever for ethnographic research: the civilized world travelers returning from distant lands to tell their countrymen the strange and bizarre customs of the peoples called primitive. However, few were those who were interested in listening version otherwise, how we were and what they thought the "primitive" of us?. After all, I thought the civilized man, are they who are curious customs, not us, they are "rare", we "normal." Samoan chief's speeches give us a rare opportunity: to discover how our supposed normality is only our eyes but not in the eyes of an individual from another culture. As Scheurmann himself says in the introduction: "Through his eyes we look and see from a viewpoint that might not otherwise receive." We are offered the opportunity to see ourselves from the outside, allowing us to reflect on our world in such a way that allows us to grasp things about him that would not otherwise perceive, then placed inside the perspective we need for this: one never looks at her curiously what it considers "normal." 
On the other hand, reading the speeches of the Samoan chief also allows us to learn another lesson. Reading texts, we may look at more of a moment that the interpretation he makes of some of our habits is too simple and superficial, we think that is a result of their ignorance our culture, we say "do not understand anything, what he sees as something so weird it's not, it looks like he has really absurd sense ,...". Well, let's realize that the same might think an individual of another company about their world view might be a member of Western culture. We repeat again: nothing is "weird", nothing is "normal" all that happens is that our respective glasses crystals are different colors.
Incidentally, the name of the book's title, Papalagi , is the strange tribal customs and myths and sometimes seemingly absurd stars Samoan chief's speeches. Ie Papalagi , these exotic creatures that awaken curiosity, we are.
is a tremendously entertaining book whose reading is accessible to anyone, even at early ages (a good gift for the son or nephew who likes to read, or you want to wake up that hobby). Its appeal is enhanced by the fact that is often presented in large format, hardcover (comic book type album, so we understand) and text accompanying the illustrations excellent, the work of renowned Joost Swarte (you can see a couple of them in this article).
First published in English in 1981, the latest edition that I have recorded is in 2002 by RBA. Easily reachable in most bookstores. Anyway, if you take a look before buying or out of curiosity, you can find it in PDF, full text with illustrations, here . Although, frankly, is one of those books I like to take physical form.
I can not say that I envy to this architect ... more than many others. Say it's a hippie from the 00's, because there is almost no ground for a municipality and the governments get tough, so your float is nomadic. As we read in the post to which can go by clicking on the image, not the first prototype built, but the former took him up a hurricane: (You can see more pictures. It is based on an island floating on reused plastic bottles, building materials donated or found. .. a slum, come on. But a beautiful hut with land for planting and everything and a solar panel. Luckily there are still architects who dream! 
