An 80 Mile Trip...

So we just returned from Western Samoa this afternoon and thought we should write a little about it. So we went to the airport to check in and we had to stand up on the scale where you usually put your luggage so they could weigh you. This is so they could assign you seats so the weight of the plane would be balanced because the plane was so small. We had to hunch when we were walking to the aisles to get to our seat. I think the plane held about 20 people. It was very pretty flying across the ocean and coming into Western Samoa. The water was beautiful and we were flying in between the clouds. The flight was really fast, it was about 30 minutes. We were shocked once we were up in the air when they turned on the air. It shot out of the vent in a white color. We don't really know how to explain it except we thought we were getting gassed by some deadly chemical, but it was just air. I guess some some scientist will have to explain that to me. Marci was in the front row and could have punched all of the buttons (so she says), I think she means she was really really close. Once we landed, we got a taxi to take us to our hotel. In Western Samoa they have chickens, pigs, dogs, and horses running around everywhere. Everything else is about the same as America Samoa. American Samoa is run by our government, so the poor use food stamps and rely on our government for help. Western Samoa runs itself, and they are proud of being a self supporting nation, even though they tend to be poorer. They still maintain their culture and a lot of their traditions.

We also exchanged our U.S. money for tala, and got a stamp in our passport for leaving the country. We still hadn't done that since America Samoa is a U.S. territory. Once we got settled in, we went to Aggie Grey's for a fia fia night ( a Samoan luau). They had traditional Samoan singing and dancing. We had a lot of fun and laughed a lot. A guy came and got Marci to dance up on stage with him. At the end, he gave her an ula, which is a Samoan flower lei. Then they had fire dancing by the pool. Aggie Grey's would be a great honeymoon spot, just in case our future husbands are reading. At the end there was a buffet of food and desserts, it was ok.

Day 2:

We wake up. The end. No just kidding. We find out that there is complimentary breakfast and this is not Super 8 complimentary breakfast it is more like Embassy Suites. We had fruit, toast, baked beans...New Zealand thing.., muffins, poached eggs-never tried but loved, bacon, sausage, a samoan dish that was not my fav., and french toast. We were refreshed and ready to start the day! We drove the the opposite side of the island to Taufua Beach Fales, which cost $26 and included 2 amazing meals...you can't get that in the states...but if you can let me know and we can go together. A fale is a traditional samoan house...now most live in a more modern day house, but invite their guests to stay in the fales. So we get to our fale and change right into our swimsuits to go snorkeling. Even though we live on an island this is only the 2nd time we have been in the water. And this was a way better experience than the 1st time...the water was calm, snorkels worked fine, and the ocean life was like we should have been on the Discovery Channel or something, but in real life. The only hard part was that we were warned not to touch the coral or it would die and that was sometimes a problem b/c the coral was at times only a foot away from yourself and the top of the water. We saw a bright blue starfish like the one off the Little Mermaid when it covers Ursela's mouth. They really do exist and they're huge!!! We learned this neat trick while snorkeling...we're no longer beginners we are probably more at the intermediate level now. We could swim down to the bottom to look and then come up to the surface and not have salt water in our mouths...yes, i know quite an improvement. We also saw a bright blue clam (the clam would be open and then when we would swim down it would shut itself), sea cucumbers, rainbow fish, and fish of every color imaginable. We then split a Coke for lunch and then it was back to the ocean for us now experienced snorkelers. We were in the water to about supper time, which was served family style with everyone sitting at long tables..reminded me of Blue Haven..Melinda and I sat by this New Zealand family and it was really interesting just getting to talk to them and learn differences and for the main part similarities. They speak English, just in case you didn't know, but it was sometimes very hard to understand them. One of the sons was named Reegan and I thought the mom said Vegan and the girl who was close to our age in what they call college "Uni" was named Charma...I thought they said Charmin..like the toilet paper. One phrase that was funny is the daughter said "Mom can I scab some toothpaste off of you?" Also burglars are called home invaders..but they don't pronounce their R's like we do so it sounds more like home invadas. We talked for hours and then invited the four kids to play Uno, which they pronounce Youknow, and they ended up showing the Americans up...we all came in last. They were Christians we ended up finding out and it's just encouraging and neat just to talk to other Christians around the world. When it was time for bed I had to go to the restroom, but when I walked in...their was what I thought was a huge poisonous spider..but it turned out to be only the hugest hermit crab I've seen in my life, no exaggeration. We then climbed onto our cushions and enclosed ourselves in mosquito netting and called it a night.

It was such a great morning waking up to the sound of the ocean. Once we were up we ate breakfast and drove back to Apia. We saw the New Zealand family and they sat down by us again at breakfast...I think they liked us. We saw a lot of horses, it's weird to see them in a rain forest looking setting. It looked like where they filmed Jurassic Park, but I think that was Hawaii or some other place. Then we went to the Marketplace which was huge. It was very overwhelming and almost a little stressful for us. We went up and down every aisle to find out the best prices for things. There were t-shirts, hand made jewelry sets, serving dishes, place mats, purses, flowers, weapons, fine mats...and many other things. We finally managed to get gifts for everyone. We got a tapa board for us and the rest of you will just have to wait until we get back to find out what we got you. After the souvenir shopping we were very tight on our Samoan money that we had exchanged. We ate at a cute Italian pizza place and ate some very good food. We decided not to get a drink, since money was tight.

Things that we didn't get to do: See waterfalls and swim by them, swim with turtles, tours, snorkel where you can swim under a cave, visit a Samoan museum, and many other things. Lovely time, but we're really tired.

Last morning:

We went to Robert Luis Stevenson's house where he spent the last years of his life fighting tuberculosis. I just wanted to have a sentence where it sounded like I read. Don't feel bad if you didn't know who he was: He is a author who wrote many famous works including Treasure Island, Jekyll and Hyde, and you know many other great stories that I have not read. He wrote 13 books in the last 4 years of his life. That's unimaginable to me. While we were waiting on our taxi Melinda met a friends that was part of a cruise ship that was in Samoa. She told Melinda that she looked like her dead husband that had blonde hair and blue eyes. She told Melinda never to remarry because all of her friends who were still married hated their husbands. She said husbands get to possessive when they get older...I thought this was pretty humorous. We then walked around the harbor where ships dock and then it was time to leave Samoa and head back. That is all. We were invited back by the normal rain that comes down usually everyday in American Samoa and that's where this story ends.