Bits and Pieces

This week we are eagerly awaiting the first of our guests, who arrive early Saturday morning. We have held off on many of the more amazing touristy experiences so we can share them with the series of people who will be with us over the next two months.

We have visited Pappasea sliding rocks, old lava tubes that have been turned into a tourist attraction; Lanomalu beach in the south of the island, an incredibly beautiful location which was absolutely devastated by the tsunami last year; and Palolo deep marine reserve, a great spot for snorkeling. Oh and the turtle feeding pools.

This however, only represents a small portion of what there is to see and do here. We start on Sunday with a few days on Savai'i, commonly known here as the big island. Samoa is made up of about nine islands, only three of four of which are inhabited. Most people live on Upolu, where we are. Savai'i is the larger of the islands and the next in terms of population size. It is also more traditional with no urban living, all villages. An hour and a half ferry ride and three days to explore- it will be heaven. I look forward to posting more photos.

Other news to report:

We have experienced our first athletics carnival, Samoa style. Elaborate signs, colourful t-shirts with screen printed designs, a marching competition complete with dance moves, chants and drums. The rain held off long enough for the kids to run their races, only starting again while the parents were running a novelty relay. I got soaked but the kids had a ball.

 Blue house. They creatively screen printed their shirts with the words
"blue". I love the bandannas. Check out the little palagi front and centre.

Each house, named after a native samoan bird,
developed screen printed designs (they do this every year-
it's a great idea) and worked up a different way of marching in, with chants,
dance moves and drumming. For green house, one of the teachers
dressed as a dove.

Yellow house during the chanting competition.

Red house- I included this one because of the kid in
the middle who busted out the gang fingers.
I met the him during the first week where he said to me
"Are you that palagi with the two palagi brothers in
year two and four?". Yep, that's me.

I have been a regular user of the National Library of Samoa, but finding myself stumped by the cataloguing system. Have included a photo here of a sample - clothes construction, beauty, nature, management, computer information systems, outdoor recreation and advertising reference books all sitting side by side.

Example of the cataloguing system at the
National Library of Samoa. Not really seeing the themes here.......

National Library of Samoa. The posters are of the first stages
of the German colony in about 1900. The legacy of the germans
can be seen in the observatory, the typical girl's school uniforms
(which look like lederhosen with a skirt), and a certain slap happy
style to some of the local dances.
 

We have made friends with the street sellers who are present every day at the kids school, selling either popcorn or boc choy. Some of the kids are very young and while they tell me they go to school I find it hard to believe. I struggle with an inclination to give them money everyday - the minimum wage here, earnt by most unskilled workers is $2.50 tala an hour, equating to about $100 tala a week, less then $50 aussie. It's difficult to begrudge a child what amounts to 50c for us, so I aim to buy a packet of popcorn or two at least once a week. This week, it was absolutely pouring rain, so I bought four packs, and let her keep the change. I then watched from the dry car while she changed the five tala note over to two 2s and pocketed the remaining dollar. When an older lady called out to her to see if she had made a sale, she waved the four tala at her, keeping her dollar concealed. Learning so early. She had earlier told me that she is only eight.

Two of the little girls that sell popcorn after school.
They speak very little English outside of a few catchphrases
(I be seeing you!) but are still able to be cheeky.
The little girl in the front often asks me how old I am
(I am of course 25), or if I am a boy, which she thinks
is very funny. She did know enough English to serenade Paul 
and I with a Justin Beiber song one day. Samoa loves Justin Beiber. 
Check the covert gang fingers.

Street sellers at the school in the pouring rain.
 On this day they were selling boc choy.
The hot guy in the scrubs is Paul.

Today we have experienced our first earthquake which is apparently a regular occurrence here, though not at a level that is often noticed. This one was big enough to shake the floor and the table at which we were sitting, and lasted about 30 seconds. Bizarre. And vaguely concerning!

And lastly.......amazingly, next week we hit the half way mark. I can't believe it has gone so quickly. Eleven weeks to go.