AMERICAN SAMOA - PART 2

8 November 2010

Talofa! (Hi!)

Well, we have now spent 40 days and 40 nights in Pago Pago Harbor. The weather is a bit warmer and wetter than when we first arrived, but otherwise nothing much has changed. We finally got the old generator "fixed" (I'm knocking on wood as I write this) on the fourth try - at least it has worked for the past several days. Jim has taken that generator out of its compartment so many times now that he's gotten it down to a science. The first time it took him more than a day; now he can do it in half an hour. Then we had to carry it on the bus (after walking several blocks to the bus stop) to the machine shop, where they cut some wires in order to replace the bearings. That created an electrical problem that kept coming back each time we reinstalled it and used it again, so now we have taken it four times to be repaired and think maybe they finally have it fixed. Meanwhile, we have ordered a new generator which is due to arrive toward the end of this month. So looks like we won't be leaving here till December.

For those of you Americans who might be looking for a place in the tropics to retire, American Samoa has both advantages and disadvantages. On the up side, Americans are allowed to live and work here; their currency is the U.S. dollar; their postal system is part of the USPS; you can buy many familiar American products here; gasoline prices are cheaper than in the States, and many food prices are similar to the States. Restaurants are reasonably priced, and there are even several fast food chains (okay, I shudder, but many people like them), including McDonald's, Kentucky Fried Chicken, Pizza Hut and Carl's Jr. Other familiar stores include NAPA Auto Parts, True Value Hardware and Ace Hardware. The big CostULess store here carries many of the same products as CostCo in the States, but you don't have to have a membership to shop there. Tipping is optional, but wages are low here, so an extra dollar is generally appreciated. Medical care and prescription medicines are also quite inexpensive compared to the United States. And, of course, English is the official language.

On the down side, it is hot and humid in the spring and summer; they have cyclones (hurricanes) and tsunamis here; it rains 200 inches a year; electricity is VERY expensive; mid-range rentals - or perhaps, any rentals - are difficult to find; buying property could be problematical; and some Americans who live here have said the medical care lacks much to be desired. And don't forget that this is a fairly remote island: everything must come in by air or by ship. Air can be quite expensive (we were quoted $1500 to ship a $430 generator), and ships take a lot longer to get here. Packages sent parcel post from the U.S. may take months to arrive, although Priority or Express Mail should arrive in a week or two. All that being said, the Samoans are a very friendly and gracious people, and we are really enjoying our stay here.

Jim and I paid a visit to the hospital - LBJ Tropical Medical Center - soon after we arrived. We were fortunate in that fellow American cruisers, Don and Judy on Wind Ryder who had been here for a couple of months, went with us on the bus and showed us where to go and what to do. You go to the emergency room first and get a hospital card. This is free and involved only filling out a short form; no insurance is required. Then we went over to the primary care section and made an appointment to see the doctor. We only had to wait a few days for the appointment. (This was not at all an urgent situation.)

When we returned for our appointment with "Dr. Sean," we had to wait about 10 minutes to see him as they wanted to give our blood pressure time to settle down. Then they weighed us and took our blood pressure, and then we got to see the doctor. Dr. Sean is very attentive and personable and certainly seems competent (just ignore the Crocs: at least he wears shoes; some of the patients in the waiting room were barefoot). He is a family physician from New Jersey and has served as a U.S. military doctor and an HMO doctor in Massachusetts. He is the supervising physician here even though he is only 39 years old. Bottom line, he saw both Jim and me together - we both had developed a nail fungus in the Marquesas; advised us on several health issues we brought up; prescribed medications; and spent an hour with us. The TOTAL cost for the doctor visit for BOTH of us was $20.

Due to possible side effects of the new medication, we had to have a blood test. This was also done at the same facility and cost us $10 each. Then we picked up our prescriptions at the pharmacy section of the medical center. The doctor had told us that the fungus medicine was expensive, but at least it would be cheaper than in the U.S. because the medical center made no profit on medications. Those prescriptions cost us $35 each, and another prescription was $39. All in all, we were quite pleased with the whole experience.

However, we had to wait a day for results from the blood test and Jim's phone (he had paid for minutes so that he could use his phone here) wouldn't cooperate and then it was the weekend, so on Monday we tried to go by the hospital since we were headed in that general direction anyway, but the bus driver failed to make the turn and never took us to the hospital. Therefore, we went the next day. This time the bus did go to the hospital and we did get to see the doctor, but he couldn't remember our results for sure and his computer was down due to a power outage. We waited for a while, but the computer still wasn't working, so we left and he called the next day and said the tests were fine. No big deal for us, but the power outage at the hospital was somewhat of a big deal because the apparatus that causes their generator to kick in automatically as soon as there is a power failure failed, and they had two people on the operating table at the time. Fortunately, they managed to keep both surgery patients alive for ten minutes until they could get the generator going. Whew! Sounds like "MASH" or something. Just one of those things that reminds you that although technically you may be in the good ole U.S. of A., you are not really in "Amurrica."

One of our favorite places to go here is Tisa's Barefoot Bar. A week ago she held her annual Tattoo Festival over the weekend. We went out on Saturday and spent most of the day there. Sat with Don and Judy, listened to live music, watched people get tattooed, looked at some interesting tattoos, ate hot dogs and drank whatever. Don, who is about our age and has never had a tattoo, decided to get one on his shoulder/upper arm. He survived but didn't look like he enjoyed the pain all that much. Anyway, people of all ages and various cultures were there, and quite a few did get tattoos. One tattoo artist was doing tattoos the traditional way, which involves tapping a long wooden stick to which are attached three sharp objects (they used sharks' teeth in the Marquesas) that they dip into some kind of "ink" and then tap into the skin. I took lots of photos with my new camera, so once they are posted you'll be able to enjoy the festival, too.

Other than that, we have nothing exciting to report. We have spent quite a bit of time lately with Rudi, who is the new manager of Sadie Thompson Inn. Rudi is a 37-year-old American who has traveled all over the world his whole life and has been to many of the same places we have. His parents have a home in Scottsdale, so we enjoy talking about our favorite restaurants there. He is an international restaurateur of the first order, with chef training as well, and he is intelligent and well educated and humorous and definitely a little bit crazy, so naturally we became friends in short order. Rudi says that Jim is only the second person he has ever met who went to as many schools from first grade through high school (17) as he has. His being here will make our stay that much more enjoyable.

Now that we have a bit of time and continuous internet connection, we have finally uploaded more photos to the web site. Now all the photos posted, from the Naming Ceremony in Honolulu when we first took possession of the boat through Ensenada Days in Mexico; Nuku Hiva, Hiva Oa, and Fatu Hiva in the Marquesas; Manihi in the Tuamotu Islands; and Tahiti, Moorea, Raiatea, and Bora Bora in the Society Islands (including a sub-album of Canoe Racing), have been added to the web site, with more to come soon.

Enjoy!