American Samoa - Part 3: November 2010
04 December 2010 | Malaloa Marina, Pago Pago Harbor
AH
American Samoa - Part 3
4 December 2010
Talofa!
GOOD NEWS & BAD: We are still docked at Malaloa Marina, Pago Pago Harbor, American Samoa, and there is both good news and bad. The good news is that our new generator arrived on a ship this past Tuesday night and we were able to pick it up Wednesday afternoon, three days ago. The bad news is that yesterday, while Jim was taking out the old generator (for the seventh time; he admits he was getting a bit cocky), he wrenched his back and now is in serious pain, to the point of nausea, and can barely move, much less install a 70-pound generator down in a hole in the boat. So... we will not be leaving in a few days as planned. In fact, we may not be leaving at all - at least not over the next few months. Stay stunned!
In the meantime, we have continued to enjoy ourselves here - most notably with our friend Rudi - and have been working on the boat as the weather, now much rainier, has permitted. Jim's most recent fix to the old generator did outlast any of the professional fixes (there were four of those), but in the end it seemed to give up the ghost, so we have been using the engine to charge the boat's batteries and run the refrigeration. This is a lot noisier as the engine is installed in the main cabin under one of the settees, makes the cabin much hotter, and uses three times as much fuel as the generator. Hence, we were really looking forward to getting the new generator installed and going. Oh, well.
GO 'PHINS! We have been "Dolfans" since we first moved to the Miami area in 1971, our first year of marriage and just one year prior to the Dolphins' perfect season. Needless to say, American football is not a big deal (or any kind of deal) in French Polynesia and the Cook Islands, so we were delighted to find that McDoland's, Sadie Thompson Inn, Sadie's-by-the-Sea, and Rubble's Tavern all have a wide-screen TV where American football is sometimes shown. We were especially excited to learn that Sadie's-by-the-Sea had a TV because Sadie Thompson Inn is closed on Sundays, when most of the NFL games are aired, Rubble's is too far away (and the buses don't run on Sundays), and McDonald's... well, you get the idea. We had to deal with the fact that the early game, which showed at 1:00 p.m. EDT and now 2:00 p.m. EST, is aired live at 6:00 a.m. (now 7:00 a.m.) local time here, but usually we could manage to catch at least the second game and/or the night game, which was great the first time we tried it. The next time, however, we discovered after making the 20-minute walk to Sadie's that no NFL games were on during their scheduled time. HOW COULD THIS BE??? Turns out the local cable service does NOT carry ABC, NBC, NFL Network, or FOX Sports. Consequently, some weekends we could see no NFL games at all. Welcome to "American" Samoa!
TROUBLES IN PARADISE: While American Samoa is truly an island paradise in many ways, the longer we stay the more we discover that not all is swaying palms and hibiscus. For example:
Litter is ubiquitous. I spend much of my time at the Laundromat picking up those Bounce-type dryer sheets, which are inevitably all over the floor, and throwing the little anti-cling sheets in the nearest waste bin, which is somewhere between three feet and three inches away. Go figure. I can't even fathom it.
There are numerous billboards around the island warning parents about underage drinking; teenagers about unwanted pregnancy; and everyone about child abuse. Could there be a reason for this?
According to reports on the local radio station, American Samoa needs teachers with more education. Many teachers in the public school system have only a two-year degree or no college degree at all. Meanwhile, government-paid teachers reportedly haven't been paid for over four months. WHAT???
We hear emergency vehicle sirens on the main road several times every day, yet we have never seen or heard of a major auto accident here. What is this all about? When we asked a New Zealander who has lived here for over 40 years, he surmised that the emergency calls were probably related to diabetes and heart attacks.
Which brings up another problem: obesity. Enough said.
THANKSGIVING: All of the above just makes us realize how fortunate we are. We have much for which to be thankful, including good friends. This Thanksgiving we were far away from all our family and most of our friends, but our new friend Rudi made sure we had a great Thanksgiving.
We had decided not to try to make a big meal on the boat but to go up to the restaurant at Sadie's-by-the-Sea, which would be open, and hope to be able to get some sort of turkey plate there. When we arrived at just after 2:00 p.m. we were informed that they had run out of turkey and had stopped serving the turkey dinners. We were a bit disappointed but would have been happy enough with a cheeseburger if Rudi, who was there at the time, had not stepped in. (Rudi served as overall manager for Sadie's-by-the-Sea as well as Sadie Thompson Inn.) He told us to sit tight; he would get us some "back-up turkey."
Ten minutes later he comes out with two HUGE plates (I'm talking platters here), each heaped with half a turkey breast with gravy, dressing, cranberry sauce, and cooked carrots, green beans and pumpkin. It was a feast for six people! We ate what we could, took the rest home, and had lovely turkey sandwiches for the next several days. THEN, as soon as we had finished with our meal, Rudi whisked us away to a quiet restaurant where he treated us to wine and Alaskan king crab legs. So now we have another great Thanksgiving to remember. (Oh, yes. That "back-up turkey" Rudi mentioned turned out to be his own.)
FRIENDS COME; FRIENDS GO: The reason Jim had a one-day reprieve before trying to remove the old generator and hurting his back is that Rudi quit his job here Thursday, two days ago, and spent the afternoon with us. He hired a taxi to take us out to CostULess to do major provisioning for our supposed voyage to Tonga and New Zealand AND treated us to a festive lunch at Taumafa, a Chinese restaurant in Tafuna (or is it Nu'uuli?). We had beef and broccoli; steamed noodles (pot stickers); and sashimi, plus salt-and-pepper shrimp on the house. Rudi, in his usual fashion, got us the back room where we could have privacy and he could smoke. All in all, a good time was had by all. Then he came over to the boat and we had drinks and snacks in the cockpit, and then he bid us farewell. The next morning, yesterday, he boarded the ferry for Apia, the capital of Western Samoa, and called us at 10:00 a.m. to tell us the ferry had departed and he was on his way. Where he will wind up next is anybody's guess, but we miss him already and wish him all the best.
On a sadder note, we heard via Skype from a friend in Ensenada, Mexico, today that our mutual friend John, aka "Giovanni," died a couple of weeks ago. We were very sorry to hear that even though he had been quite ill for the past year. He owned and lived aboard the sport fisherman "Pulgar Arriba!" ("Thumb's Up!") at Baja Naval in Ensenada when we were there and was one of the first friends we made in Ensenada. Here's to you, John!
THINGS CHANGE: So much has changed around us in the two months or so that we have been here that I could not begin to report them all - or even remember them, for that matter. For instance, the store across from the gas station where we buy ice was a lucky find in that it sold orange marmalade, which is hard to find on the island. (It seems that the popular jams here are grape jelly, strawberry preserves and raspberry preserves.) The last time I needed orange marmalade I thought I'd just stop over there before buying ice and get some marmalade. Surprise! That store was gone, leaving an empty building.
Prices change all the time here. An iced tea at a particular restaurant is sometimes $2.00 and sometimes $2.50, but you never know which it's going to be. Same thing with a six-pack of MGD at our corner store. Sometimes it's $9.05 and sometimes it's $9.95, depending on which cashier is manning the register. And so it goes.
The Blue Room Bar, which we were calling the Matai Bar since it adjoins the Matai Restaurant and has no sign divulging its name, used to be open Mon-Sat and serve wine for $5 a glass ($4 at Happy Hour). About the third time we went there they told us wine was now $6 a glass ($5 at Happy Hour). And as of several weeks ago they said they would only be open Friday and Saturday nights from now on.
So please take anything we say about a place with a grain of salt. Not only might our individual tastes be different from yours, but THINGS CHANGE!
APOLOGIES: We mistakenly reported earlier that a movie of W. Somerset Maugham's "Rain" had been made here in American Samoa. We have since been told that although three movies have been made of "Rain," none was made in this location.
A WORD ABOUT PHOTOS: While we've been sitting here in Pago Pago Harbor with good internet service most of the time (okay, it did go down for two days early Thanksgiving week due to rain, but usually it works), we have finally caught up with posting our photos on the Cactus Wren web site. The newest albums available are Rarotonga and Palmerston Atoll, both in the Cook Islands, and American Samoa. A few photos that I have taken over the past few days are still in my camera, but otherwise everything is posted, arranged, and captioned. There are also a number of sub albums that may interest you:
HIVA OA & FATU HIVA - MARQUESAS
Cemeteries of the South Pacific - This sub album, inspired by my sister-in-law the history professor, includes photos of a world renowned cemetery in Hiva Oa and a historical cemetery in Palmerston as well as individual grave sites in American Samoa. Take a trip down history lane with us as we travel across the South Pacific.
RAROTONGA - COOK ISLANDS
Beach Scenes - miscellaneous scenes of beaches and the ocean on Rarotonga.
Cool Cats of the South Pacific - a collection of photos of cats from Rarotonga and other Pacific islands for the enjoyment of our cat-loving friends. These are some of the most relaxed cats we have ever seen. In fact, the entire album was inspired by a cat at the Ship Wreck Bar where a sign next to a hammock proclaimed the area to be the "Stress Management Office." We dubbed the cat the "stress management consultant." More photos will be added to this album along the way, I'm sure. Take a look!
Saturday Market - photos taken during our Saturday morning visit to the Punanga Nui Cultural Market in Rarotonga. You don't want to miss seeing the children in their native dance costumes.
PALMERSTON ATOLL - COOK ISLANDS
Children of Palmerston - There are only about a dozen children, including one infant, on tiny Palmerston Island. We enjoyed taking photos of some of those children during the Telecom ceremony where phones were given to each household on the island. The children were one of the highlights of the festivities.
AMERICAN SAMOA
Tattoo Festival - This annual event at Tisa's Barefoot Bar & Grill is a must see. (Warning: not for the overly faint of heart.)
Roadside Scenes - Fagatogo to Tafuna - Miscellaneous photos taken along the roadside, either while walking or from a bus (preferably stopped), of the scenic coastline and typical residential villages on the main island of Tutuila, from "downtown Pago Pago" (Fagatogo) to the industrial park and airport area (Tafuna). Come ride along with us!
Tisa's Barefoot Bar & Grill - We have visited Tisa's several times and find it to be one of our favorite places. It is unique to our experience, and we wanted to share it with you. Enjoy!
Island Buses - These colorful aiga (ah-INg-ah) buses are a cheerful part of the local scene. Don't leave home without boarding one!
Many of the photos from the Society Islands in French Polynesia, the Cook Islands, and American Samoa were taken with my little digital camera with the broken screen. Since we could only see the upper right-hand corner of the photo on the screen, odd compositions and tilted horizons often resulted. Some photos were taken from a moving boat or bus as well, adding to the problem. We know these photos are not of the best quality but wanted to share our experience with you through them nonetheless. Please forgive our shortcomings. (Make that "my" shortcomings; not Jim's.)
Also, we have discovered that the captions that appear when you hover the cursor over one of the small photos on a photo collection page come to an abrupt halt mid-word when an apostrophe appears. Therefore we have tried to eliminate all the apostrophes, resulting in such awkward expressions as "son of Ed" instead of "Ed's son." Again, please forgive. This is a glitch in the software program that is beyond our control.
That being said, we do hope that you will click on the "Photo Gallery" (there goes another siren!) on the right-hand side of the main page of the web site and view whatever photos may interest you at your leisure. To read about our earlier adventures on this journey through the South Pacific, just scroll down this page.
Enjoy!