The interior of a Samoan home is conceived and constructed according to an age-old traditional design, under the supervision of an experienced tufuga, or carpenter. The timbers are generally pou muli, a light, firm wood. Not only does the traditional Samoan fale have the greatest beauty of any traditional South Pacific home, but it is also ideal for the climate. The walls of western-style wooden houses prevent breezes from cooling the interior. For sheer comfort in the hot Pacific climate, nothing surpasses the traditional Samoan fale.
Most households have a few chickens running around outside.
At night, the roosters crow at least four times during the hours of darkness. Sometimes you'll hear one rooster crow, and then, further away, dozens of other roosters crow like a wave of sound passing over the landscape and moving out into the distance. Most families keep a few pigs somewhere in a little pigsty away from the family's main dwelling. Sometimes piglets are given to children as pets. The pig will follow people around, collapse in a happy heap, puppy-like, when scratched, and generally maintain a presence outside the family's dwelling for years.