PAGO PAGO

Tavita, head of tourism

View from harbor

that's a boat in front of the church!

one of the central fales

church again, different angle. also, check out the bus parked out front.

bridge half gone, however still being used

ouch

still happy people, finding a nice place to swim

'flower pot'

TK likes the flower pots

shot of the changed coastline from the tsunami

Jack likes TK (and tigers)

excellent construction

fuzzy ceiling tiger

the driver on the bus goes...

cool bus

park named after Sen. Inouye from Hawaii

Bruddah*licious cops like TK too

Charlie lives in Pago Pago? who knew?!

needs no explaining

local government building. look at the detail on the fence

this is all carved from one tree!

man, I'm glad they accept delivery, otherwise who knows what you'd be eating

another angle from outside the harbor

earlier, there were ladies selling all kinds of stuff. then, I guess, it was time to eat, so they all disappeared. this is very typical of a fale structure. open ones like this are surrounded by homes. they meet for everything in these open ones, and they are EVERYWHERE. each family or should I say, family GROUP, has their own.

notice the inside - all carved

my cute little Tongan ladies, the one in the middle has a daughter in Lahaina! She gave me a lei. all were sweethearts!
















Samoa. Yet again a place I have longed to set foot on, but maybe for different reasons. I have met many people from Samoa, and their outward and inner happiness must come from a place I needed to see with my own two eyes. I never expected I would have the chance to see how deep that inner Samoan joy really runs.

As most of you know, a tsunami occured on the morning of Sept. 29th. We heard about it when the ship was docked in Longbeach, and the details were sketchy. We weren't sure if it would affect our stops in Samoa. We were worried about the people and loss of their homes and material goods, along with vegitation and other resources. I felt a little bit helpless (and got the same response from felllow passengers).

A week or ten days before our scheduled stop, we heard that we, in fact, were going to stop in Pago Pago (a Princess ship had already made a stop and gave us helpful information on what to expect), however, not all excursions would get to happen. Part of the problems included lost vehicles and beaches that were literally washed away.

We were able to dock, as planned, and it seemed like everybody who could, was there with transportation and craft stalls. And everybody was smiling. The first person TK and I meet was a guy named Tavita. He was head of the visitor's bureau. Really, from his happy countenance, I never would have thought there had been a national tragedy not long before.

I perused the myriad of craft vendors in the area, but wanted to check out lots of things before I made any purchases. The people were all so happy and smiling, it was infectious. As I walked out to the main street (I didn't really have a plan to do anything special) a bruddah*licious teenager (I find out his name is Jack, and he's nineteen) asked me if I wanted to take a taxi. I talked to him for a minute or two, then a guy vouched for him (he was a High Councilman, I find out!), so I follow Jack to a bus.Let me explain what I mean by a bus. I'm guessing its a truck cab and chassis, but these clever Polynesians build a wooden (yes, I said wooden) passenger compartment onto it.

These busses were all over, in different sizes and colors, but all followed the similar style of rounded corners and roof. I realize I didn't get a good picture of the outside, but if you look at the inside pictures, you can really get a feel. I want to mention that different owners put their own flair when decorating these vehicles. Ours had pictures of tigers up in the rounded ceilings, between the 'rafters', furry fabric lining the dash, a colorful paint job and plexiglass (fixed) windows that were attached at the bottom and were maybe four inches high. The rest of the opening was our air conditioning.

I have to admit, it was quite fun to travel in this 'bus' and get a bit of a tour by our driver(Jack's uncle).As we departed for our tour, there was a little sprinkle happening (not surprisingly as this area gets LOTS of rain) and our driver takes us to one of the things that keeps Pago Pago thriving, the tuna industry. I took a photo of Charlie the Tuna's Samoan home, but the other tuna factory was not up and running because of lack of power. It hadn't been restored since the tsunami.

Here is where I am going to post a few photos and give some sad details of the devastation we saw as we drove around the area. I admit I started crying and could not stop. There were homes completely torn off their foundations, large boats thrown onto the shore like toys, cars that looked like they had been in a 30 rollover accident-through a palm tree grove. I know we have seen this stuff on tv a zillion times, and I know I get sad when hearing about hurricane, earthquake and other calamitiess, but seeing it with my own two eyes was just too real.

I guess I couldn't keep my eyes off of the scenery (maybe like looking at a train wreck...?) and I was just getting sadder and sadder.

BUT...

I started to look around. There were people. Families. Red Cross volunteers. City workers. People everywhere. Working. Working together. And they all SMILED. Literally, every person we drove by, waved at us. If they were raking up debris in a yard, they stopped and waved. If a guy was driving a tractor or backhow, he smiled and gave us a wave. People at bus stops. Kids playing. Teenagers walking down the road. Everyone was happy. Everyone was smiling. I coulnd't believe it! These people have something that must exhude from within that pushes past all the fluff in life.

The closest thing i can liken it to would be when all the residents of Whoville came together on Christmas morning to sing. It didn't matter if they didn't get presents or have their roast beast feast, it was just that feeling of joy and happiness. After I had this beautiful awakening, I truly enjoyed every minute of my time there. It really did look like a slice of paradise in the vast blue pacific.

So now I will tell about some of the things is saw as well as some info on the islands of Samoa. We are going to be talking about American Samoa right now (we go to Independant Samoa next month). It is made up of seven volcanic islands, very lush and rugged and has very dramatic views - both of mountains and ocean. Because of the American ties, I will say that the roads and sidewalks were the best I've seen in the south Pacific.

As I mentioned under the pictures, the way it's set up in Samoa, is pretty much family/villages. They have their 'cheifs' who handle the main issues. They also have a government, but a lot of the day to day stuff is handled the old-fashioned way. The way it works with the U.S. is a little complicated, but I do know I can't just MOVE there like I belong. They can't vote for president, but the U.S. has close ties to the tiny country.

Enough of this boring stuff...I think the captions on the pictures I posted tell the most important stuff. A couple of details I want to add would be that when I took a walk, after my bus tour, that EVERYONE waved at me as I walked down the street. So here it is, when people are driving by, you wave at them, when people are in a car, they wave at you. They are the nicest, friendliest folks around. And it wasn't just me who noticed.

Everyone, literally everyone I talked to on the ship, made the same comment. No matter if they were on specific tours, or walking, or taking a bus around, everyone said the same thing - about how people always smiled and waved, and how resilient they must be. I thought the whole day was most refershing.

Oh, and I did want to mention that the staff on our ship took cash donations as well as Holland America Cruise Lines donating thousands of dollars worth of linens, dishes and other supplies. What a wonderful world we live in! That's all for now!

TINY KONA'S TRUISM of the Day...

Money doesn't buy

happiness

comes from within

(a Wheel of Fortune 'before and after')