We've been having "Alava" Fun

I never thought I would say this, but 3 months on the island have come and gone with a speed I have a hard time comprehending. Only now am I getting my photos together, chronicling the past 3 months. Here is a picture-led recap:

Around Isla Tutuila

View of Pago Harbor from Vatia

Two Dollar Beach

Turtle & Shark Site Vaitogi

Fishermen at Turtle & Shark Site

Matafao

Utulei Beach Park

Mt. Alava & the Starkist Tuna Cannery    

View from the top of Mt. Alava

Rugby, a superior sport

Part of the Flag Day festivities in April was the Marist Pago Sevens Rugby Tournament. Teams from American Samoa and Western Samoa were represented (Western Samoa took 2nd in the Rugby World Cup this year, beaten only by Fiji). There were also a few team members and representatives from the New Zealand All Blacks.

Coast Guard Cutter Waesche

Another Flag Day attraction was the Coast Guard Cutter Waesche. The Waesche and its crew came to port in honor of the Flag Day celebration. We were lucky enough to be invited for a tour as well as watch the Fautasi Finals from aboard the ship.

Fautasis are long (dragon type) boats rowed by a crew of 40 (I think) 

Pago Pago & Malaeloa

To all of our wonderful friends and family who send mail to a strange PO Box in the middle of the Pacific Ocean, this is what the "city" of Pago Pago, American Samoa looks like. I have also included a few pictures of our house and village in Malaeloa.

Not actually in our village, this is in Vaitogi. Malaeloa is an evacuation zone

"Zombie Dogs" are a huge issue here.
And you thought the Sarah Mclaughlin commercial was bad!

Aiga (family) buses play incredibly loud Samoan hip hop

Hobie & Friends

We walk the road to Vatia...lots of people stopped to see what was "wrong"

Hobie and Jorge wearing their Ies

The Young Family

Hobie's buddy "Pikasone"

Fa'a Samoa

Fa’a Samoa (pronounced Saaamoa)

The Samoan Way: 10 Rules to Live by in the South Pacific

10. Why do today what can be put off until tomorrow?

• I have learned that when setting up a phone line 10 business days really means 21, “I’ll be back to get that tomorrow” translates to, “I’ll probably come back, but not tomorrow.” This rule can be applied to anything related to timing or scheduling. It’s not because anyone is trying to put you off or make your life difficult, it’s just tomorrow will probably be a better day to complete any given task, and if for some reason the sun fails to rise tomorrow, well that’s ok because today turned out to be just fine

9. No shoes, no shirt, no service, is not applicable

• Wearing shoes only makes your feet weak and sensitive…how much do you really want to feel when you step on that rusted corned beef hash can? If you’re a guy you can pretty much get away with never wearing a shirt (as this is a modest culture girls wear shirts for obvious reasons), if you must wear a shirt it is acceptable to pull it up over your belly for a pleasant cooling effect

8. If you must wear shoes…

• …rubber flip  flops (called slippers) are preferred. Try wearing some other form of footwear and your feet are sure to rot off due to the humidity. 

image from seereeves.blogspot.com 

7.  Skirts are considered unisex 

• Alright they’re not skirts, although I did see a mighty burley fella wearing what was CLEARLY a woman’s skirt, he was also wearing a t-shirt and flip flops, likely headed to a formal event of some sort. So there are 3 main types of “skirts” 
• Lavalava- both men and women wear these, it is simply a piece of fabric tied around you (more on lavalavas later)
• If you are going to sport the lavalava it is important to know how to tie it: How to tie a lavalava
• Ie- this is the men’s formal “skirt”. It means Material with pockets. If you wear an ie it is also expected that you wear slippers. Ies are often paired with suit jackets and ties
• Pulatasi- This is women’s formal wear. Lovely custom-made form fitting shirt/skirt pieces. Not really my style, but they are pretty 

6. There is no “right” side of the road

• There are some pretty substantial potholes here, you just drive on the better side of the road    

5. Mowing the lawn is done using a weed wacker. 

• this actually takes a considerable amount of skill and forearm strength

4. Vailima is the king of beers and it comes in a convenient 25 oz bottle: 

from jaydeandtasha.wordpress.com

3. UB40 (the creators of Red Red Wine) is the music of choice. 

• turns out UB40 also has done a number of cover songs, my favorite of which is "Swing Low Sweet Chariot"  See the video below.

2. Guns are not allowed…

• However it is quite common to see folks of all ages and genders (kids included) walking down the road, machete in tow. You know, for hacking down coconuts. We are already teaching Hobie about proper machete handling (that’s not a joke)

1.  Do not stand under a coconut tree…it will kill you. Turns out you do in fact have a much greater chance of being killed by a falling coconut than you do being struck by lighting…at least here anyway 

We sure are learning a lot down here, and now that we have internet I can’t wait to share it all on a semi-regular basis…unless of course tomorrow would be a better day for writing. Tofa!