Don’t get me wrong, I love Buffy, hence my plan to re-watch the entire series this summer
despite that fact that I have seen almost every episode (the season where
Willow becomes a witch was, apparently, too graphic for my young,
impressionable mind so I wasn’t allowed to watch most of it. Still not sure if
I am mature enough but I guess I will find out). It is just a little disappointing to realize
that I’m being kept from completing my goal because it rained for a few hours
this morning. Unfortunately, that is life in American Samoa. With no car, I
have to rely completely on buses and the kindness of others. Since the buses
stop at 6 pm and most people are off the road by that time, anything that takes
all day needs to be started in the morning. Otherwise, it becomes a logistical
nightmare.
Despite the difficulty that is travel around the
island, I have managed to accomplish a number of my goals and have quite a few
unexpected experiences along the way. Of all months, May was truly a whirlwind.
(I find it very interesting that, the more there is to blog about, the less I
tend to blog. Time flies, I suppose.)
The first full week of May was Teacher
Appreciation Week. While some teachers expected to be showered with gifts, I
didn’t really get my hopes up; not because I didn’t think that my students
appreciated me but because, if my students were listening at all this year,
they would have known that gifts don’t make me feel appreciated. Effort and
respect do. In the end, a few of my most hardworking and respectful students
did bring me candy ‘ulas (‘ula means necklace and is, often, the Samoan equivalent
to a lei. Some, like the ones I received, are made of candy instead of flowers.
WAY better if you ask me.)
The next week was every teacher’s favorite week:
standardized testing! Here, the test of choice is the SAT10 (pronounced “sat”,
NOT S-A-T.) Of course, the administering of the exam was probably the furthest
from standardized one could imagine. For one, the test booklets were second hand. Second, while I was trying
to stick to the required 30-60 minutes per section with bathroom/stretch brakes
in between (we all know the procedure) , I later learned that most teachers
just gave their kids the exam and told them to work until the bell rang. At
some schools, apparently, if a student didn’t finish the section the first day,
no one made much of a fuss if they went back the next day. While I could sit
here and scoff at the ridiculousness, at this point in the year, such
absurdities no longer faze me. Eventually, you just come to accept them as a
weekly occurrence in one form or another. It is like watching a drunken person try to
make food; you could try and tell them what they are doing wrong but you know
they aren’t going to listen anyways. If nothing else, this week was a nice
break from teaching. To keep my students brains from frying, I let them watch “Wreck
It Ralph” in the periods after the test. They all loved it.
If having a low key week wasn’t enough, that
weekend as our End of Service meeting. On Saturday morning, all of the Tutuila
volunteers gathered at Talolo Lodge (a cute little inn near the golf course) to
discuss our experiences over the past year. We talked about applying for jobs,
what we will miss, the difficulties of readjusting and so on. It was a great
moment to pause and reflect before getting caught up in the hectic mess that is
preparing to leave.
One of the most power reflections for me was the realization
that I have indeed changed over the past 11 months but so has the rest of the
world. Time just didn’t stand still while I was here. Although, from time to
time, it sure felt like it was passing extremely slowly. But it is weird to
know that things won’t be exactly how I left them. I got a taste of it when I
was back from Christmas but now I actually have to figure how I fit into this “new
world”. I expect it shall be an equally interesting experience as it was to
integrate myself into this one.
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| The girls danced while Sa, my landlord's wife, sang |
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| Delicious BBQ! |
From the meeting, most of the volunteers came back
to my place to join in an end of the year, “thank you” party that my landlords
were throwing for us. Now, I was expecting something pretty low key. A little
food, some pleasant conversation, you know, just hanging out. Little did I
realize that they do this every year for the volunteers and that this year was
extra special because it was a dual celebration for the departure of their
relatives who had been visiting from the states. They really went all out. There
was food and drink galore, a party tent, a Disney themed moon bounce for the
kids, and even two whole pigs cooked in the ‘umu. Everything was absolutely delicious and
everyone had a great time. I am very
grateful for my landlords. They are some of the most gracious and helpful
people I have met on this island. I am really going to miss them.
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| Al and Ana - they really know how to throw a party |
From SAT10 week, we went into our last three days
of new material and then two days of review. While I didn’t get to cover much
of Ecology at all with my students, I can say with a great deal of certainty
that most everything that I did teach was completely new to the majority of
students. Probably one of my favorite moments in teaching is when a student
learns/realizes something about the world for the first time. Watching the awe
on their face as they process the information is quite enjoyable. The trick is
figuring out how to get all of them to that moment (if anyone knows the secret,
please share).
Before we entered into our final week of school
(FINALS WEEK!), we had a lovely three day weekend for Memorial Day. For
Samoans, Memorial Day weekend is a time to honor their relatives. They spend
much of their time cleaning the graves of their loved ones. Since the graves
are above ground and, typically, right in their front yard, they not only mow
the grass, sweep the leaves but they also repaint the grave and garnish it with
an array of flowers.
For me, however, Memorial Day weekend was my last
chance to complete one of my greatest and, potentially, most fool hearted undertakings
to date: a cross-island walk. The plan was originally concocted in the fall and
was meant to be completed over spring break. However, I chose to spend the week
in Manu’a instead. So, with my time here dwindling, I had to seize the
opportunity.
The plan was this: take three days to walk the
approximately 34 miles from the west side of Tutuila to the east side; follow
the main road the entire way; bring friends; and don’t get killed.
My walk began, as any good walk should, with an
hour long bus ride. Actually, it started with an hour long wait for the bus
which was followed by the hour long bus ride out to Amanave, a village on the
far west side of the island. It is true that road does go past Amanave.
Unfortunately, the road is extremely long and windy and has no bus route that I
know of. So, for convenience or safety, I chose Amanave as my starting.
The far west side of the island is extremely
beautiful. Villages are quite peaceful, they are right on the ocean, they have
lovely beaches and the terrain is, essentially, flat (until you go past Amanave
which involves climbing a steep hill on a windy road… you can see why I didn’t
want to start any further out). Within 5 minutes of walking through the
village, I drew the attention of the villagers. Unlike in town where I live, being
white on the west side is still somewhat of a novelty. As I passed a group of
adults and kids playing games on the church volleyball court (pretty much every
church has a volleyball court outside. Obviously, it is a holy sport), the
crowd erupted with “palagi!” Clearly, my presence had been noted. One young
girl even came up to me and asked to take a picture with me. It was quite a
warm greeting and an excellent start to my adventure. Unfortunately, I couldn’t
stay and chat. I wanted to make the 16 miles back to my house before sunset.
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| View of the Island from the West side |
As I moved through the west side, the greetings
were much the same. Eventually, I caught up with Beth and Jill who were
checking out the haunted Atauloma girls' school
just past the village of Afao. The site was visited back in 2011 by
Ghost Hunter’s International and there is an entire documentary about the
school on Youtube. (http://www.samoanews.com/?q=node/3966)
Clearly, the building is no longer functioning as a school seeing as it is over
grown with weeds and the roof has collapsed in but, I will say, it definitely
still has that creep factor. I would NOT be caught dead walking around there at
night (pardon the pun).
After showing me the school, Beth and Jill decided
to join me on my walk. Eventually we made it into Leone (where Jill lives).
There we stopped to check out the many monuments that the village has to offer.
This included a Peace Garden dedicated in memory of the 2009 tsunami victims, a
statue where the first missionaries landed, and the oldest church on the
island.
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| Atauloma Girls' School |
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| Missonary Landing Monument |
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| In memory of those lost in the tsunami |
A bit famished, we made a quick stop for pineapple
flavored soft serve at one of the local grocery stores. I’m not a fan of
pineapple but it certainly makes for a delicious ice cream. By the time we
reached the village of Futiga, the new and exciting scenery had ended. Having
lived on the island for 10 months, we had all seen what these villages had to
offer so Beth decided to head home.
Within seconds after Beth’s departure, Jacquie,
fresh off the plane from Manu’a joined us…in flip flops! Crazy, I know. The
three of us continued on for another hour and a half before we reached
Malaeimi, where Melanie, Steph, Andrea, Hannah and Jess live. After a quick
stop in to rest and do some yoga on their floor, we continued on. Now with
Melanie by our side.
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| Oh, Carl's Jr. Will I miss thee? |
We didn’t get far, however, because it was
approaching 3 o’clock and I was starving. What better fuel than a California
burrito from Carl’s Jr/Green Burrito?
After lunch, Jill decided to make her way back to
Leone while Mel, Jacquie and I moved on. For the rest of the weekend, it would
just be the three of us.
Right around sunset, we found ourselves walking
along the sea wall. This is probably my favorite stretch of road because you
are right alongside the crash ocean waves. Whether it is night or day, walking
or on a bus, I always find the road along the sea wall to be quite calming.
Even on the most difficult days, I look out at the ocean waves and remember why
I am here and how much I love the natural beauty of the island.
We reached my house around 6pm and were in bed by
8pm. After almost nine hours of straight walking I was exhausted.
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| The harbor around sunset |
On day two, we had a choice. Either we could try
to walk the remaining 18 miles or we could simply walk 10 to the volunteer
house in Fagaitua and save the final 8 for day three. When we realized the
straight 18 would leave us 8 miles from the closest bed and that it would
likely be late in the evening on a Sunday, we opted for the split. So, we
began the long hike around harbor.
The distance between one side of the harbor and
the other really isn’t all that far. I’d guess that it is under a half mile.
However, what it lacks in width, it really makes up for in depth. In total, the
road around the harbor is approximately 5 miles. Since we were only walking 10
miles, this was clearly a large portion of our day. Unfortunately, most of the
area around the harbor is residential which meant there wasn’t much to see. Fortunately,
it really cut back on lag time and we managed to get around the harbor at a
decent pace.
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| Breaker's Point |
The first interesting site we reached during day 2
was Breaker’s Point. Breaker’s Point is located right at the end of the harbor
before the road starts heading further east and is, essentially, the brother to
Blunt’s Point in that they are both historic World War cannons guarding the
entrance to the harbor.
Unlike Blunt’s Point, however, Breaker’s is not
readily accessible to the public. The entrance is actually on someone’s land
and, thus, you need permission to go up. It isn’t that hard. The owner was
actually out on his porch having a smoke when we arrived. We asked if we could
go up; he grabbed his key; and, within 10 minutes, we were at the top.
From Breaker’s, we walked another two miles to the
village of Alega, home of Tisa’s Barefoot Bar. Apparently, it is typical to
call ahead to Tisa’s to see if they are open but, since it was Sunday, we were
pretty sure they’d be open. After all, they are one of the only places where
you can swim and have a drink on a Sunday.
With only 3 miles to our final destination, we
decided it wouldn’t be a bad idea to spend some time at Tisa’s and enjoy ourselves.
We began with a couple piña coladas,
as all trips to Tisa’s should. Then I took a little nap, enjoyed a delicious
BBQ chicken with a side salad and banana fries, bought myself a Tisa’s bro
tank, and headed on our way.
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| The moon setting at 6am |
We were in Fagaitua within an hour. As it was a
lovely evening, we decided to grab some ice cream and sit by the water. I must
say, I am really a big fan of the east side. It is a very peaceful place with
beautiful beaches, much like the west side. The only major difference is the
roads between each village. On the east side, the roads are quite steep and
rather windy which, in a car, is not so bad as long as you avoid driving off
the cliff but, when you’re walking, really makes for a strenuous hike.
The next morning was the final day. Only 8 miles.
So, to avoid hiking for 3 hours and then having no time to do anything else,
Jacquie and Melanie made me wake up at 6 am. Definitely not how I imagined
spending my Memorial Day (the perfect sleep-in holiday) but, in the end, it was
effective.
By about 9 am, we had reached Tula, the furthest
village East. To that point, Tula was the farthest I’d ever gone in American
Samoa. Being the nerd that I am, I couldn’t help but mutter a LOTR quote as we
left Tula:
“This is it.”
“This is what?”
“If I take one more step it'll be
the farthest away from home I've ever been.”
Yup, it happened and I am proud of
it.
From Tula, we followed the road around
to the north side of the island, climbed THE steepest hill of the entire main
road (I swear, it was brutal. Especially at the end.) After the hill, we made
our final descent into the last village on the main road, Onenoa.
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| Onenoa |
As we stepped off the road and onto
the sand, I breathed a sigh of relief and accomplishment. After 3 days and
approximately 34 miles, I had accomplished one of my three biggest goals of
this year: Walk the island. It truly was an amazing experience. There are so
many wonderful sites that you tend to miss when you’re just driving through a
place. It is not until you take the time to stop and look around that you
notice the little things, the funny signs, the intricate artwork, the waterfall
up on the mountain side. I can now say I’ve experienced many of those things to
the fullest. That is really why I walked. I think that that is really why
everyone should walk. For the little things.
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| We did it! |
With one goal down and almost 8
hours of sunlight left, I figured, “why stop there?” So, while Melanie went off
to compete for a soccer championship, Jacquie and I took a boat over to Aunu’u.
Aunu’u is no more than a 15 minute
boat ride away from Tutuila and the ride only costs $8 total (that means $1
each for 8 people, or $4 each for 2 people…and so on). While almost every other
volunteer had been to Aunu’u within the first three months of living here, I
had never gone. If I had known what it was like, I think I would have made the
trip monthly.
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| Our boat to Aunu'u - the water in the dock is sooo clear |
Although Aunu’u is extremely small
(I’d guess four or five miles around), it is mostly uninhabited. Much of the
land is, however, cultivated with banana and taro plantations. This means that
there are paths that can lead you to all of the good sites. The issue is
knowing which paths to take.
As Jacquie and I made our way
around the island, we came upon a huge, shady tree (perfect for reading under)
situated at the top of a hill and right next to a radio tower. From the tree,
the path split three ways. On a whim, we headed right. This path took us to the
dump. Not exactly the site seeing we were hoping for but, when we doubled back,
we found a smaller path off to the side that took us to Moamoa Cove.
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| Moamoa Cove |
While many coves here are beaches
perfect for swimming, at Moamoa, it is best to stay as far away from the water
as possible. The waves were vicious. They were thrashing all over the place,
slamming into the rocks. It was quite breathtaking.
From the cove, we continued on the
path which wound up looping around a huge marsh in the center of the island’s
giant crater and back to the huge tree. That solved the mystery of the middle
and rightmost path. Next was the left path.
Taking the left path led us to a
lovely little beach and a smaller marsh/lake and then back into the village.
All in all, it was a nice hike and managed to get my total weekend mileage to
around 40 miles in 3 days.
Now, what goal did this trip
fulfill exactly? Well, American Samoa is made of five main, publically
accessible islands: Tutuila, Ta’u, Ofu, Olosega, and Aunu’u. The minute I
stepped off the boat, I had, officially, been to all five. A feat that very few
Samoans ever accomplish.
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| Standing by the marsh |
All that remained was my final
goal: to hike ALL of the National Park day hikes. SPOILER ALERT: since I started
this entry, I have done it! So, check back soon for my next post as I will have
ample time to write it on my flight home!!!!!
