Palagi Tales from the South Pacific

Some old videos from Samoa

2008-11-27T08:19:00.005-11:00

Classic mustache day clip featuring Maximo

Hurricane conditions outside the mobile vet tent. 1000 dogs and cats were spade and neutered by volunteer veterinarians over a 3-week stay. A much needed event that I hope continues!

Traditional dancing at the Flag Day celebration 2005

Fautasi Boat Race in Pago Pago Harbor during Flag Day celebration 2005

more to come...

Off the island

2007-01-30T14:06:00.000-11:00

We left!

January 18th was our last day on Tutuila. We're now back in California planning our 4-month honeymoon trip around the world. Things are quite different back on the mainland. It was even noticeable on our 8-hour layover in Honolulu. We went to Duke's at Waikiki and got the all-you-can-eat buffet. They actually had fresh fruit!!!!!!!!! It was gooooooooooooooood.

The weather is a bit cooler here in CA and the water is a lot colder! We do miss some of the luxuries of the south pacific...sloshball saturdays, BBQs with the Lion's Park Crew, short walks to pristine snorkeling sites, and of course Friday's at Sook's Sushi! Mainly we miss the people though...and of course Ed the dog.

My last Sushi Bowl at Sook's

New Years Eve party in Pago Pago...and saying goodbye to Jonas

Cynthia and me in our Samoan attire

Visiting our Samoan friends at Waikiki

Manuia le Kerisimasi

2006-12-13T14:40:00.000-11:00

Manuia le Kerisimasi ma le tausagafou!

Just returned from a few days in independent Samoa. Went to a wedding on Upolu, then spent a few days in Savai'i. Cynthia and I went scuba diving while in Savai'i as well.

It's been a fun few weeks lately. The tennis tournament I was in turned out to be somewhat uneventful. Not nearly as many folks turned up as last year and it simply wasn't as fun. I only had one match which I won, then ended up getting sick later that night so didn't attend the closing festivities and party.

The soccer tournament was more fun however. We made it to the finals only to lose 3-0. It was fun to get back on the soccer field again though, it had certainly been a while.

Both Cynthia and I sang in the annual American Samoa Government Christmas Program last week. That's a good time for sure! Nothing like taking work time for choir practice! Can you spot Cynthia in the photo? She's the only palagi in the whole choir!
We've decided on a departure date! Looks like we'll be outta here on January 18th. My contract is up and we're heading back to California...most likely the Bay Area. We're still hoping to take a trip although it may not be as long as hoped. Looking to go to southeast asia for a month or so instead of the anticipated 3-month trip. So the next few weeks will be spent packing, mailing things home, and selling a lot of stuff....hopefully!

The blog will continue as I still have some old stories from this place that I've been meaning to post so I may have a retrospective series upcoming....in the meantime...Manuia le Kerisimasi ma le Tousagafou!!

Uneventful events

2006-11-17T10:47:00.000-11:00

Not much happening in these parts lately. It's been raining...a lot. When it rains here, it rains hard. Before I moved here I lived in San Diego and I think it rained more in the first month I was here than it did the entire 3.5 years I lived in San Diego...seriously. So when it rains, one tends to stay in doors.

The sun did peak through last weekend for a little bit though, which was nice since we had a 3-day weekend to celebrate Veteran's Day. Last weekend was also the big palolo weekend. The annual palolo hunt is a Samoan event that occurs once or twice a year (read more about palolo here: http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2004/10/1029_041029_palolo_worms.html). It usually occurs about a week after the full moon in October and November. It is quite an event in the Samoan islands with nearly every village participating in the hunt. A group of us were in Sa'ileilei last weekend enjoying a nice beach cove while villagers were installing lights out over the water in preparation for palolo hunting. They basically ran an extension cord from someone's house out to the lights that were installed on a couple of poles sticking out of the water. As they were doing this we all wondered how far salt water could conduct electricity. We thought we were safe at about 50 yards away, but not surprisingly we didn't stay much longer after their lights were installed.

I'm involved in an international tennis tournament this weekend hosted by our Lion's Park Tennis Club. This event occurs twice a year, November here in American Samoa and February in Apia, Samoa. It's quite fun, and the real competition is who can provide the nicest spread of food. I must say that the folks from Apia set the bar pretty high back in February. We'll see what we can come up with this weekend. There's also a soccer tournament that starts this Saturday. This is typical for the island, nothing happens for several weeks and then one weekend will be jam packed with events. Decisions, decisions.

Cynthia will be dancing at the community college tonight in support of the Big Man On Campus competition. Can't wait to post photos of that next week! She's also going out on her second diving excursion for her SCUBA class on Saturday. Should be a fun weekend, hopefully the weather will cooperate. I hope to have photos of all these activities posted soon. Have a good weekend!

Tropical Halloweeeeeeeeeeeen

2006-10-31T20:06:00.000-11:00

The room is dark. I sit in silence at the desk and try to keep my keystrokes quiet. The night has been ruined by the most powerful four letter word in the English language. When coupled with candy, it brings hundreds, maybe even thousands of kids into the street, most in costume, many not. Free candy!

The government housing area we live in is mostly occupied by palagi's. The kids know this and they know that Halloween is a palagi custom. Truck loads are dropped off, the small, usually quiet roads are bumper to bumper with pick up trucks and SUVs carrying as many as 20 kids in each of them. Last year I bought several bags of candy and they were gone in under 5 minutes! And I was being stingy...one piece per kid! There were so many that I couldn't tell if they already been by the house! Many had the same costume or no costume at all. The littlest kids didn't even know what they were doing singing some song to a strange palagi!

Cynthia was already home when I got pulled into the driveway. We had planned to go to a movie, or out to dinner to avoid the masses and figured we had until dusk to make a plan. As we were contemplating what to do, we could hear the first wave coming! They were early this year! Our minds raced, we didn't have candy, we were supposed to be out of the house by the time they came around! "Get in the car!" I shouted. I could hear the kids singing their terrifying song as they walked up our street and closer to our house..."Halloween, trick or treat, give me something good to eat!" It was barely 5pm and still light out. We fumbled for the car keys and bolted out the door and could see the SUV in front of our house emploring their kids to continue singing that hideous song..."HALLOWEEN, TRICK OR TREAT, GIVE ME SOMETHING GOOD TO EAT!" "We don't have any candy" we pleaded! They sang louder!

We were seated for dinner by 5:15, not surprisingly we were the only people in the restaurant. We tried to eat slowly. We sauntered around the shopping mall. We went home. We were only going to stop by the house for a minute. Drop off the leftovers, grab the flashlight and walk to a friends house, then the bank. I killed the lights as we pulled onto our street. We quickly got out and ran into the house. No lights, can't risk being noticed. We were in and out in less than a minute and started walking to our friends place. It was dark now and the streets were crawling with kids and trucks full of more kids. Literally as many as 20 kids in the back of the trucks. As we walked down the road to the house, there was a line of trucks, most of the houses were empty, people knew to flee. Two kids asked us where we lived, "around here" we said. We asked where they were from and they said "Nu'uuli" which is the village next to ours. "No candy there" they said. I asked what they were dressed as and they said nothing. Just after free candy!

Our friends weren't home, we walked to the bank. Kids on bikes, kids walking around, kids in trucks, they were everywhere. "Halloween, trick or treat, give me something good to eat!"

We figured it would be nearly over by the time we returned from the bank. As we neared our neighborhood there were still kids loitering about. It felt as though they were following us just so they could sing that song...THAT SONG...GET IT OUT OF MY HEAD!!! We didn't walk down our street, instead deciding to walk up the grass around the back of our house and sneak in the back door. No lights, still too risky. The dogs barked, chased some kids away.

Now here I am sitting in darkness. The dogs are still barking occasionally, but its slowing down. Still no lights though, too soon. Perhaps a movie, if we keep the volume low. We can always mute it if we hear the dogs bark, a sure sign that trick-or-treaters are nearby. Just another tropical Halloween!

Glazed Walnut Shriimp

2006-10-12T14:22:00.000-11:00

I should have known. Obviously, I wasn't thinking when I ordered. Cynthia and I went to dinner at the ever popular Hong Kong House last night. One of several Chinese restaurants on the island. The place was deserted when we walked in, but it was 6:00pm on a Wednesday evening. Nevertheless, Cynthia and I were enjoying being out together. Talking about our day and our future. We're still undecided about what our next move is so there is lots to discuss and consider in the next few months.

Cynthia ordered the Vegetable & Tofu Chow Mein right away, before I was ready to order. I was a bit flustered. I have eaten at the Hong Kong House several times in the past and have a couple items I enjoy eating, but last night I wanted to try something different. I know the fish cubes with garlic sauce and the fish cubes with black bean sauce are good. There are also several chicken dishes that are nice, but I was in the mood for shrimp. As I hurriedly scanned the shrimp menu items, the usual suspects yawned off the menu at me...Kung Pao Shrimp has peanuts, which I'm allergic to, Shrimp with vegetables sounds ok, but the vegetables here aren't too exciting. The menu item that jumped out at me in the shrimp selection was the Glazed Walnut Shrimp. Sounded exciting and different, something one doesn't typically get here, so without a thought, I ordered the Glazed Walnut Shrimp with a side of steamed rice and went back to discussing the future with Cynthia.

Another couple arrived in the restaurant and sat down at a table out of our site. Our drinks arrived as we continued to talk. Then Cynthia's chow mein was delivered to our table. The vegetables in the Vegetable & Tofu Chow Mein consisted of carrots, cabbage, and spring onions. Not the greatest selection as I mentioned. It was good chow mein though, love those noodles, may not be healthy, but damn they're good. Then the kitchen doors opened and as the other couple had only just arrived, I knew it was my Glazed Walnut Shrimp. As it neared the table I was a bit excited to eat something out of the ordinary.

As it was placed on the table I scanned the dish and was a bit confused at what I saw. Fried shrimp on a bed of cabbage, sprinkled with walnuts, with a carrot garnish was somewhat expected, but what was the white "sauce" covering the shrimp? It looked creamy, certainly not like a "glaze". "Is that mayonnaise?" I queried the waitress. She replied with a slightly embarrassed "yes". Mayonnaise!?! MAYONNAISE!?!??! On fried shrimp?!? My Glazed Walnut Shrimp which sounded so exciting and different was actually fried shrimp sprinkled with walnuts and covered...and I mean covered, dripping, thick...with mayonnaise?!?! I couldn't believe it...and yet, I should have known. I simply should have known. You can never let your guard down and must constantly be suspicious of things, especially food, that sounds too good to be true. Last night I suffered the consequences and cursed myself for doing so as I used the steamed rice to wipe the mayo off my Glazed Walnut Shrimp. I got through half the shrimp and could go no further. The dogs didn't seem to have a problem with it though.

A Girl Named Ed

2006-09-14T14:37:00.000-11:00

Dogs are a big problem on many small islands. American Samoa is no exception. There are literally thousands of stray dogs running around down here. On top of that, it is often difficult to tell the difference between a stray and an "owned" dog, for even dogs that are considered pets are often not fed regularly and have mange or other physical problems. Nearly every dog has a severe limp, broken tail, and numerous cuts all over their body from fighting with other dogs or being hit by cars. These dogs roam the streets and parks, barking at cars, barking at people, fighting other dogs, looking for food, fornicating, urinating and defacating as they please. Passers by will throw rocks at them, waive sticks at them, kick them, or toss scraps of food at them. Some are aggressive and some wince in fear when people pass by. Those that are agressive are the ones that get rocks thrown at them or sticks waived at them. On numerous occasions I have been surrounded by up to 10 dogs barking and nipping at my feet. Not a fun experience, but we humans are generally smarter than the average stray dog, so we've managed to come up with methods of outsmarting them.

There are the occasional exceptions to the rule however. I have also witnessed this. It all started about one year ago when a stray dog showed up on a friends porch. This dog seemed quite friendly. She didn't bark, didn't growl, didn't really even beg. She was just content to sleep on the table under the carport. Perhaps this dog knew what she was doing, for she had chosen the right house. The person living at this house, Chris, just so happened to be the president of the American Samoa Humane Society, but was leaving the island in 3 short weeks.

While one person cannot save every dog on the island, with 3 weeks left here, feeding this dog was easy for Chris. The dog slowly began to grow on us...she was a sweet dog, with a good personality, which key to winning over humans. She became friends with Chris' dog Utu'fiti (samoan for "flea bag"...at right) and his Steve's dog Moana (samoan for "deep ocean"...below left). Once Chris left, this new dog knew where both Steve and I lived and so began hanging around our houses.

That summer, Steve had a house guest named Ed. Ed was in American Samoa doing some work for his masters degree and training for a marathon at the same time. Ed would occasionally throw this dog some scraps. So naturally, when Ed would go on his 15-mile training runs, the dog would follow with the hope of getting some bread or even a chicken bone out of the deal. This dog had barely eaten for weeks and was running 10 to 15 miles with Ed every other day!!

After Ed left, we realized that the dog and Ed had similar hair color, and perhaps from running 15 miles in equatorial heat together, both often smelled a bit. Therefore, the dog has since become known as Ed (below right on her back). Ed now runs the neighborhood, she knows where everybody lives and where the BBQ's are. It's simply not a legitimate Lion's Park BBQ if Ed doesn't show up!

She has since been legitamized as well. Ed got pregnant several months back, but luckily it was during the time that there were volunteer vets here from Oregon. Cynthia and I struggled to get Ed into a kennel and took her in to get fixed. Ed does not do well with leashes and will simply run away if she suspects something is up...she's still a street dog at heart. The volunteer vets did a fantastic job on the island. They fixed more than 1000 dogs and cats in little over a month. Pretty impressive considering there typically is no vet on the island at all.

A few days after we returned to the island I got a phone call from Cynthia at work. She said she was feeding a stray puppy. I frowned on the idea because if we fed every stray that came around, we'd have over 50 dogs by the end of the month! Cynthia replied saying that she can't be expected to stay at home and not feed a cute puppy that comes up to the door! So, within less than Cynthia and I returned to the island less than 2 weeks ago, we've already adopted another puppy that is quickly becoming Ed's protege. We've named her LaFawnDuh...see below. Her hind legs are longer than her front legs, which makes her look a bit like a kangaroo. We dewormed her and picked about 8 ticks out of her ears. She follows Cynthia everywhere she goes.

As I type this I'm watching Cynthia use a machete to attack a coconut and trim a banana tree in the yard...she's quickly adapting to island life! I'm sure LaFawnDuh will get some of the coconut meat...if she ever breaks through the shell!

Back on the island promoting PBS!

2006-09-14T14:24:00.000-11:00

Well Cynthia and I are back in American Samoa as a married couple!! AND, we have a new laptop computer that I have sworn not to spill water on so it should remain operational. Stay tuned for exciting upcoming blogs relating to dogs on the island, my friday lunch routine, and perhaps even a tidbit about our fantastic wedding. In the meantime, here's some information about a remarkable television series airing soon on your local PBS station!

On Wednesday, September 20th & 27th, PBS will be airing a 2-part series on America's Underwater Treasures. In this two-part, two-hour episode, Jean-Michel Cousteau, his son, Fabien, daughter, Celine, and his team of expert divers set out to investigat, for the first time, all 13 of our National Marine Sanctuaries and the Northwestern Hawaiian Islands National Marine Monument. While discovering what makes them unique, the group explores how these sites are conservation challenges for the country. Traversing thousands of miles, the Ocean Adventures team ventures below and above the sea off the coasts of Michigan, Texas, Florida, North Carolina, Georgia, Massachusetts, California, Oregon, Hawai'i and American Samoa on a mission to introduce Americans to these fragile sanctuaries.

The portion on American Samoa will air on Sept. 27th. If anyone is curious about where Cynthia and I are living at the moment, check it out. It shows American Samoa's Fagatele Bay National Marine Sanctuary as well as other parts of the island we live on. While the series is narrated by Robert Redford, several of my co-workers and colleagues from American Samoa are interviewed. I work, or have worked, with all the folks interviewed in the American Samoa section.

So again, the American Samoa portion airs on Wednesday, Sept.27th and I think it will be at 8pm. Please use the links below to check your local listing for the correct air time in your time zone. The series is very well done and should be a good program for all. Hope you watch!

For more information, check out these links:
America's Underwater Treasures http://www.pbs.org/kqed/oceanadventures/episodes/treasures/
Check your local listings here: http://www.pbs.org/kqed/oceanadventures/airdates.html

Technical Difficulties somewhat alleviated

2006-07-12T13:35:00.000-11:00

Well my home computer is shot. I will probably need to buy a new one when I go home in August. Luckily, I do have an external hard drive that has all my files backed up. So I have now moved my external hard drive to my office and will be able to post messages from work with lovely photos.

I'll get to work again soon...blogging that is!

Out of Order

2006-06-11T18:22:00.000-11:00

Don't worry I haven't abandoned this blog! Instead my computer is down at the moment and I am working on getting it repaired. I had to purchase a new motherboard on eBay and it is currently at the repair shop being worked on. Not sure if that will completely solve the problem though...I'm hoping it will and that I'll be up and running again soon.

In other news, the World Cup has started and the fever has reached the South Pacific! While the games start here at 2am, 5am and 8am, it hasn't stopped us rabid fans from tuning in. Just this morning we watched the Netherlands beat Serbia-Montenegro, and Mexico beat Iran. The local TV stations are only showing 32 matches so we've done a bit of our own internet research and here's what we came up with. Here in American Samoa we watched Portugal beat Angola over an internet feed from a Chinese television station! If that's not dedication, I don't know what is.

Now I must get some sleep so I can watch the US v Czech Republic before work tomorrow at 5am! Please stay tuned while I sort out my technical difficulties.

Work luncheon...samoan style

2006-05-18T09:04:00.000-11:00

Not long after I started working for the American Samoa Coastal Management Program, which is housed within the AS Department of Commerce, a co-worker's father passed away. The following day, a checklist was passed around the office. The checklist had three columns, the first column had every employees name, the second had a few $ amounts written down, and the third had a couple scribbles of PAID. In Samoa, it is customary to contribute money or food to a family when someone in the family dies. This checklist was going around to collect money for our co-workers family, and it was passed around for everyone to see how generous, or not, their fellow employees were. I didn't even know the guy, but felt coerced by this checklist to give something. I think I gave $5. Since then, in support of this custom, the Department of Commerce has adopted a policy that all employees must contribute $20, all managers $30, when a co-worker experiences a death in the family. Just recently this tragically occurred again to one of our new employees. When she returned from the funeral in Washington state she wanted to show her appreciation by providing lunch for the entire department. This wasn't any ordinary work lunch. No casserole and cake, or sandwiches and salads. This lunch included two pigs, a size 2 and a size 4, cooked in an umu. An umu is the traditional Samoan way of cooking, which basically involves heated rocks in an underground oven with I believe taro leaves stuffed inside the pig. A size 2 pig is the usual size used for family gatherings. I believe it is an adolescent pig. The size 4 is the largest I have seen at an event, this pig was huge! You can't use a regular knife to cut up a pig like that...you need to bust out the machete. The attached photos are of our lunch in the DOC Conference Room with our trusted employee Tau, hacking up the size 4 pig. Watch out for flying pig pieces as he whacks that pig with the machete! Deeeeeelish! Don't eat the pink parts though cuz those aren't quite cooked all the way through and you may get some unknown tropical disease. And be sure and fill a styrofoam box with leftovers to take home...grab a whole ham hock, there's plenty to go around!

After we had been enjoying our lunch for a little while, the two building security guards were eyeing our event through the conference room windows. After a few minutes they were invited in and went to town on the remaining pork. These two had certainly eaten their share of pork in the past, they knew how to put it away and had plenty of belly room to do so. Some of the photos show baskets made of coconut palm fronds, which is what the pigs were delivered in, another basket was full of breadfruit and taro, which are popular vegetables here. All in a days work here on the rock!

Big Mac Democracy

2006-05-10T19:33:00.000-11:00

Here in American Samoa, nearly every village has their own beach. In order for an outsider to use a village beach, one must simply ask permission from a villager. Most of the time you would be granted use of the beach. Sometimes you may be charged a nominal fee ($2) and other times you may be flat out denied, for instance on sundays or if there is some event going on in the village, or, I suppose, if they simply don't like you, which is rare. This is the case for nearly every beach on the island except those that are not associated with a village, which there are a few, but these usually require a lengthy hike. Some of these are usually worth the hike though. There is one beach on the island that stands out from these standards though. Utulei Beach. Utulei Beach is within the outer Pago Pago harbor area and has a large, nearly 5-acre park attached to it. It is quite a nice spot, with Samoan beach fale's (open air huts, pronounced fah-lay, see photo below) scattered around the park for picnicking, BBQ pits, public restrooms, and magnificent views of the harbor and surrounding mountains. The Yacht Club is at the far end of the beach park, and there are a number of small sailboats and outrigger canoes that are launched from this spot. This park is directly across the street from my office at the Executive Office Building and we often eat lunch under a fale while taking in the view. It is not uncommon to be joined by sea turtles swimming in the near shore waters. It's a great spot and in the shade of the fale with a nice breeze, its pretty cool as well.

A few decades ago the local Department of Parks and Recreation signed a contract with the Federal National Park Service to keep the area as a park in perpetuity. Over the years the American Samoa Department of Parks and Recreation has received federal funds for park improvements. About a year ago, the Governor of American Samoa signed a lease with McDonald's to put a new restaurant in Utulei Beach Park. What!?! Since then, the Governor has been seen on TV promoting the plan and questioning why some think its a bad idea. Also, the local Parks and Recreation Director has openly supported the project and has signed an agreement with McDonald's for other park improvements.

There is an existing McDonald's on the island. It is located in Tafuna, a large village on the western side of the island. The Tafuna Plain is the largest area of flat land on the island and supports numerous businesses and residential homes. I've been told that the Tafuna McDonald's was the highest grossing McDonald's in the world in 2004. I don't have numbers to verify that, but I will tell you that it is considered rude for a person to return to their village with only enough McD's for themselves. It is not uncommon for someone to order 25 Big Macs or more and take them back for the entire village to eat. A new McD's on Utulei Beach would make it easier for residents on the eastern side of the island to get their Big Mac fix...or so the argument goes.

My office, and the other 7 offices that make up the Project Notification and Review System Board (PNRS, the local land use permit review board), has been reviewing the permit application and working with them to prepare an environmental document. I can't comment too much at this point as the project is still pending, but let's just say I haven't been very impressed with their efforts to date. However, public participation is happening as earlier this week a public hearing was held and that was quite an entertaining event.

The few days leading up to the public hearing saw protestors on the beach sporting signs and yelling catchy chants. This is the first time I've seen actual protests on this island. I've lived on this tiny island since January 2005 and in my time here my program has held a few public hearings. Usually about 4 people show up to these public hearings and they are fairly worthless. However, for the McDonald's public hearing over 300 people showed up. Viewpoints from both sides of the debate were emotionally portrayed and we sat and listened to personal accounts of Utulei Beach history for over 6 hours!! At this point, the saga and debate is on-going. We hope to have the PNRS Board vote on the project in the next couple of months. Will be interesting to see what happens! I'll keep you posted.

Lastly...palagi (pronounced pa-lahng-ee) literally means sky bursters, but realistically means white person or non-samoan. See if you can find the palagis in this picture of the 2005 American Samoa National Baseball Team, there are two, appropriately nicknamed Palagi #1 and Palagi #2.

Cinco de Mayo in the South Pacific

2006-05-07T16:39:00.000-11:00

While I've only met one person from Mexico on the island since I've been here, Cinco de Mayo is celebrated here. At least it is if you organize a mexican food dinner for 25 on May 5th, which is what happened over the weekend. It wasn't just a Cinco de Mayo fiesta, it was also a birthday celebration (Sebastian, Emily and Su). Randy, Billy and I organized the event and went over to the Talolo Lodge earlier in the week to set things up. We tasted the margarita's and the homemade salsa...and then another margarita, just to make sure things were satisfactory. Our hostess Chande knew what she was doing. Best margarita I've had since I've been on the island...I think the only one I've had on the island though so that may not be saying much. The Talolo Lodge also has a pool, which is pretty sweeeeeeeeet, cuz not many places on the island have a pool.

We left work early (not a problem here) to get to the Ili'ili Golf Course for a quick 9 holes before it got dark. Chande wanted to join us so we picked her up on the way. The Talolo Lodge http://www.american.samoa-hotels.com/taalolo-lodge/Index.html is right next to the golf course so it was a perfect pre-party activity. There were 9 of us golfing so we had one foursome and one fivesome. Sebas, Gonzalo, Benja and Jeff led off, followed by Chande, Doug, Steve, Randy and me. I've actually been golfing quite a bit lately. It's so cheap. The cart rental is actually more than the golf fee. For 9-holes the cart is $7 and the round is $3...ridiculous. Throw in a few six packs of beer and you have a great afternoon for around $12. Can't beat that. You do get what you pay for though. While Ili'ili Golf Course does provide spectacular views across the Tafuna Plain and Matafao Peak (the highest peak on the island at 2,142 feet), there's no sand in the sandtraps and the greens are covered with patchy grass and lava rocks. A 2-putt is a good thing here. Still fun though.

So we teed off and I was killing the ball off the tee. Best drives I've had in a loooooong time. Naturally though since my drives were on, my short game was pathetic. I put up a 5 on the first four holes, in recognition of Cinco de Mayo. Then put up a couple sixes and ended with a 4. We only managed 7 holes due to darkness. Chande who is probably twice my age, slaughtered all of us by going 1-over for the seven holes. Talk about consistent...she crushed the ball straight down every fairway. Her punishment was a lot of waiting around in her cart while the rest of us zigzagged the course. We finished around 6:30, emptied our beer cans and bottles and moseyed (yes that's how you spell it...I looked it up) over to the Lodge to get the fiesta going.

First thing I did was jump in the pool. Felt nice after working up a sweat on the golf course...doesn't take much to work up a sweat here. I'm sweating just typing this right now. Anywise, people began to show up at the Lodge and before we knew it we had a large group of people drinking beers, margaritas and enjoying chips and homemade salsa. There are only two places on the island that serve Mexican food. The Yacht Club has a pretty good chicken burrito and Evalani's has a larger selection, but I have yet to have a meal there that I would go back to order. So simply having chips and delicious homemade salsa is quite a treat. The menu then followed with albacore tuna tacos, chile rellenos, cheese and chicken enchiladas, refried beans, and spanish rice. It was awesome! I got seconds, but couldn't finish.

After the grub, there was more boozing and swimming. Randy was trying to learn to do back flips on the edge of the pool. If only that pool had a diving board, I couldn't quite get all the way around on my flips, probably cuz I was overloaded with rice, beans, and beers. The hardest part was balancing on the edge. Demond, fully clothed, attempted to help Randy steady himself at one point, only to be dragged into the pool. No word on whether his cell phone is working again. It was a grand event, a bonified Cinco de Mayo golf and pool party. Chande was a gracious host and can't wait to kick our butts in golf again. The pool party aspect reminded me of the good ole days at Rogier's place in Wavre. Aaahhhhh those were the days...damn I'm old, that was over 17 years ago!

In my next post I'll explain what a palagi actually is...

earthquakes and tsunami's

2006-05-03T11:54:00.000-11:00

So I was startled out of a deep sleep at 4:30 this morning by a magnitude 7.9 earthquake epicentered 20 miles below the sea surface near Tonga.

Sucker lasted a good 20 seconds and I rode it out laying in bed. I somehow managed to fall back asleep after that until my alarm went off around 5:45am. Lately I've been waking up early and going to the gym before work. Just works better for me and is a great way to start the day...getting pumped up for the wedding ya know. So anyway, I'm listening to the music on the radio (one of the 12 songs they play, usually Kelly Clarkson or Nickelback, which is usually enough to get me outta bed). The only DJs that actually live here on the island on the particular station my alarm is set for, start at 6am...the Samoan Sunrise show. Until then its a recorded, or internet-fed DJ from somewhere in Texas I think. 6am rolls around (yes I'm still laying in bed) and the local, live DJs come on the air and interrupt a song for **BREAKING NEWS**. A report is then given on the earthquake that I felt earlier and that there is a tsunami warning in effect. They also report that if there were an actual tsunami generated, it would have hit the island around 5:20am based on the quake magnitude and distance they can determine that sort of stuff apparently. It was now 6:10am. My sleep would have been even more rudely interrupted had a tsunami torn through my bedroom at 5:20am. Thankfully it didn't and I haven't heard any reports of damage or fatalities anywhere in the pacific which is good. The warning system was pretty good, but could obviously be improved by having some live bodies to report local emergencies...not that I would have been awake to hear them, but anyway. Some friends called me from there car on the way up the mountain to safer ground around 6:25 and I had to inform them that the tsunami warning had been cancelled...they dissappointedly replied "so we have to go to work now?" The warning was cancelled literally 30 seconds after the Department of Education had announced that all public schools were closed. I'm sure there were some students absent today. I proceeded to work.

Planning a big Cinco de Mayo event for Friday. 9 holes of golf, then margarita's and mexican food. Can't wait. Amazingly, Samoa is actually not known for its mexican food, having said that, maybe I shouldn't be too excited about our Cinco de Mayo fiesta! One thing I've learned about this place is to never expect much, you have to lower expectations, that way you're less likely to be constantly dissappointed, and if something actually goes as planned, you are pleasantly surprised. Speaking of food, my gracious neighbors from India brought me some homemade indian food for dinner, which was awesome!! Even included some homemade, roti bread with a little island flair. Much appreciated...I saved some for lunch tomorrow.

better late than never

2006-05-01T12:59:00.000-11:00

I should've started one of these in January 2005 when I arrived on this tiny little rock in the South Pacific...but today seems like as good a day as any. I have to give props to my friends Sara and Alex (mostly Alex) for providing such a riveting blog of their new life in Brussels. These first few posts may be in somewhat of a flashback mode to try and recount the crazy things that have happened since landing in American Samoa...all 76.1 square miles of it! I'm sure I'll forget some of the crazy occurrences, and will be overwhelmed with new ones, like the pickup truck in front of us on our drive to work this morning that had an old oil drum with no lid in the bed of the truck and whenever the truck accelerated or turned too sharply a strange chunky, yellow liquid would overflow into the bed and slowly dribble out the back onto the road...sewage sludge? restaurant grease? vomit? upon further inspection (we passed a car so we could get right up behind the truck...average speed on the way to work is 15mph) it was determined that there were noodles...as in spaghetti noodles...hanging over the side of the drum. Why in the world these 2 dudes were transporting a large oil drum full of noodles in the back of their truck is beyond me, but if any restaurants on-island are featuring a pasta special in the next few weeks, I'm gonna pass. Stay tuned.