Welcome to Samoa

I’m typing this up in MS Word but I’m not sure when I’ll actually be able to post it. Internet here is very slow. I’m also trying to post some more pictures, but bear with me because it might be a while.

I talked very briefly about our “Tour of Oahu” with Jack that we did on Saturday. I have some pictures that I’ll post at some point, but I wanted to explain a little bit more about what we did that day.

We started out at the Hostel, drove through Waikiki and past Diamond Head. I really want to hike it, but that’s going to have to wait. Maybe in December when I have my twelve hour layover… We continued to follow the coastline. It was such a nice view with the beach on one side and green mountain on the other. For being such a small island there is a remarkable difference in rainfall. At one point you could see a distinct line where the green and brown met due to rainfall in one place but not in the other. After rounding the southern tip of the island we stopped at a blowhole. Unfortunately there were not enough waves to be able to see the effect, but we should be able to see one in Samoa. All along the coast are fortifications built during WWII by the US military in case of a land attack. I don’t think I would have noticed some of them if our guide had not been pointing them out to us. We saw one of them at Manana Island- our next stop. We also saw some paragliders. Apparently it’s a very good place to catch some wind. Our next stop was Waimanalo Beach where we saw a sea turtle in the water. It’s also the scene of a very famous kissing scene but I don’t remember which movie. After the beach we turned inland and visited a Hawaiian Heiau. Basically it’s a pagan temple where they might have had human sacrifices to the god of war. We also got a little botany lesson here. I wish I could remember more of what we were told. There was this nut that had all sorts of uses but I don’t remember the name. It did give me a lot of respect for people who used to do things without all of our modern technology. Think of how long it must have taken to discover and perfect some of their techniques! Further inland we came to Pali Lookout- the site of a famous battle. The losing warriors were forced to the edge of a cliff and either jumped off or were pushed to their deaths. If you go down the cliff a couple feet there is a pretty cool wind effect. For about five feet the wind is incredibly strong. Our clothes were blowing, our hair was in our faces, people were losing hats. But walk another foot and there’s nothing but calm. Back in the van we drove for about thirty minutes back towards the west coast and then up to Waimea Bay where we saw several sea turtles basking in the sun. Don’t touch them though as there are endangered and disturbing them is punishable by a large fine. Our final stop of the day was Sunset Beach. Blue water, sandy beach, palm trees. Fewer people. More of a postcard location than Waikiki. We threw on the beach for a little while and then swam in the ocean before enjoying some very fresh pineapple. I wish we could have stayed to watch the sun set but we had a prior commitment so we headed back to the van and drove home.

And that was basically the end of our time in Hawaii. Well, that and snorkeling the next morning but I’ve already told you about that. Now I get to talk about Samoa. We had a five hour flight to American Samoa on a big plane. The kind that have7 seats in an aisle. Sorry but I don’t know what kind those are. We got to American Samoa and walked down the stairs and crossed the runway to the airport which was about twice the size of the plane. From there we grabbed our luggage and crossed our fingers- hoping that the plane that would take us to Samoa was actually coming. We had to weigh ourselves and our luggage so that they could make sure the plane was evened out. Turns out, half of the luggage had to be left behind. People are still waiting for it. I was one of the lucky few who managed to get all of it when we landed. Let me just say for the record that flying in a little prop plane over the ocean might have just been a little bit more intimidating than jumping out of a little prop plane (probably the same size) earlier in the summer. I’ll have to get used to it though because we do it several more times before the end of the semester. Everything turned out fine, and people have been doing it for years so I’m sure its very safe, but it is rather incredible to think of that tiny plane in that huge body of water.

Most of us are in separate rooms here at USP- the University of the South Pacific. I’m living with one other girl on the program and three girls from Fiji. They were awake when we got here at 1:30am and very friendly. I have a single which is surprisingly large. It has a bed, desk, shelves, and closet. It’s probably a little bit larger than the singles at Lovett College.

Now the fun part. I feel like I’ve been typing for a while, but I’d rather type than write it in a journal so I hope I’m not boring anyone. Our morning started at 9:30am with a brief check-in. “How did everyone sleep?” “Are you ready for the day?” “Here’s where to find things.” This was followed by two hours of language instruction- reviewing how to greet people, introduce ourselves, ask for directions. After lunch we loaded up the bus and went on our first Samoan drop-off. Hawaii was nothing compared to this. Each of us were dropped off in a different village and given the following tasks: find out what the name of the village is, discover something about it, get on a bus, go to Apia, buy something, and meet in front of the Fale Tourism. Sounds easy right? And in some regards it was, but you have to remember we’ve only been here for twelve hours and had absolutely no idea what to do. I was dropped off in a tiny village called Faaioga. (I think that’s how you spell it.) I met a really nice lady at a covered bus stop and she told me where I was. She also said, or I understood her to say, that there was a golf course up the road so I took off to see if I could find it. Half a mile down the road it began pouring. I took shelter under a tree for about ten minutes but when it began to let up I headed back to a little roadside stand I’d passed. I bought some candy and chatted with the man who owned it and the pool “hall” in the village. It was the only shelter nearby so I spent about 30 minutes chatting with this man who was trying to set me up with his 40 year old son. He was very nice and friendly but the moment the rain let up I was on my way out the door and back towards Apia. The rest of the day was pretty uneventful. People here are incredibly friendly and willing to talk. And of course the Samoan guys all love the “palagi” girls. What can I say? It’ll be an interesting semester.