Paka o Amerika Samoa

I woke up early today to return Oscar's car and pick up ours. Apparently, he successfully jumped the car last night right after we left for Tisa's, so a new battery did the trick.

Today, we took our revived vehicle back accross the island to National Park of American Samoa (Paka o Amerika Samoa) on the island's northern shore. To get there, we had to drive into town and then up over the mountain pass. We stopped at the top to take some great scenic shots of Pago Pago harbor with Mata Fau in the background (see photo to the right).

We descended the steep, windy road and passed through the village of Afono before entering official National Park territory. Having driven the route last week to check out the area, we knew to park at the scenic overlook, where a hiking trail led down to the shore below. We took in the beautiful view of "Cock's Comb," before heading down the trail into the forest.

The steep trail led us to the rocky water's edge, where we proceeded to carefully climb accross the rocks to a tall peak overlooking the sea. We sat in the baking sun, cooled by the ocean breeze and taking in the beauty around us. The surf is significantly smaller on the northern side of Tutuila due to the prevailing winds from the south, but the whitecaps still powerfully crept up the rocks below us.

After some photos, we climbed off our rocky perch and heaved our way back up the steep trail to our car. After a few minutes to catch our breaths, we continued driving thorugh the village of Vatia toward Cock's Comb. At the end of the reoad, we parked and embarked on a short hike (it was really more of a walk, much to our disappointment) to the stony beach below Cock's Comb. We didn't stay long, but we did observe schools of fish literally hopping over the rocks to escape from tidal pools into the outer ocean - an amazing feat of evolution.

We were all exhausted as we began the hour-long treck home. Susanna and Kirstin cooked up some delicious Indian-style eggplant and chicken for dinner, and just now we picked up Katy, a medical student, at the airport. She'll be living with us and doing doing research on gestational diabetes at LBJ Hospital for the summer (or winter). I took a lot of pictures today, both in the National Park and on pictures from the car, so check them out if you have a chance.

Tisa's Polynesian Feast

Even as we finally make some headway on our research, we've been taking advantage of our slow work week. Yesterday, after our errands, we drove into town (Pago Pago) to visit the Jean P. Haydon Museum. The museum displays traditional Samoan artifacts, including pigs-tooth tatoo equipment and carved wooden fishing boats. There was also come cool information on Samoan medicine and traditional healers.

Tonight, we went back to Tisa's, this time for her Polynesian feast. On the way, we stopped to fill up the car with gas. After paying, I turned the key only to find that the car would not start. We all looked at each other exasperated and worried that we wouldn't make it to Tisa's on time. We called Oscar, the car's owner, who came to rescue us. After unsuccesfully trying to start the car himself, Oscar called his mechanic friend and eventually just gave us his car so we could make it to Tisa's on time. Tomorrow morning, we'll have to bring the car back to trade it in for ours or a temporary rental. Thank goodness for Oscar, though.

We arrived at Tisa's just in time to watch as Candyman uncovered the umu, or stone oven. The umu consists of layers of hot stones and food and is covered by big banana leaves. Tisa explained the process and food selection as Candyman and some helpers pulled away the rocks and moved the buried food up to the serving table. The feast consisted of tarot root, spiced pumkin, papayas, coconut cream sauce, red snapper, lamb, pork, chicken, turkey, and even a freshly caught octopus!

In traditional Samoan style, we ate on plates of woven leaves, and we ate with our fingers. The food was delicious, and the meal was capped off by a signing and dancing performacne by Tisa and two of her grandaughters. As we sipped our pina coladas, we watched a stunning moonrise over the ocean.

Next week, if all goes well, we should be able to start our research in full force. But while we wait, we'll continue to enjoy ourselves. Either tomorrow or Friday (weather depending), we plan to spend the day exploring the island of Aunu'u, just a ferry ride away.

BBQ and Beautiful Beaches

Yesterday, Sunday, we went to a barbeque at Oscar's house. Oscar is a Peruvian who has moved around a lot but settled in American Samoa for the past 15 years, and he is renting us our car for the summer. He has a beautiful house in Tapitimu, complete with a covered deck and an outdoor swimming pool. We lounged around, ate lots of grilled meat and salads, and went for a swim. It gave us a chance to meet a bit of the Palagi (non-Samoan) community and enjoy a beautiful, cool (high 70's) Sunday afternoon.

This morning, since we are still waiting on responses before we continue with our research work, we decided to explore a few new beaches we saw Google Earth on Larson's Bay. We parked our car at Turtle and Shark Lodge in Vaitogi, where we got to see a blowhole. Leaving our car at the lodge, we hiked along the trail leading around the bay. After about thirty minutes of walking through the woods and then through a high-grass field, the path led us deep into a banana plantation. As cool as the plantation was, the path eventually reached a dead end. We backtracked and found two different forks, but each direction ended in the midst of the banana trees. Finally, we found a promising trail that led toward the bay.

As we followed the trail deep through the trees, the sound of the ocean got louder and louder. The bright blue water finally appeared before us through a gap in the trees, and we all rushed out onto a rocky overlook. We were instantly overtaken by the beauty of the scene before us. A pristine sandy beach wound around a small inlet in the sea. Rocky cliffs rose high above the beach on either end, and dense green jungle spanned behind it. The cove in which the beach sat protected it from the rough seas, letting only small waves reach the shore. Coconuts were scattered accross the sand, which bore no indication that anyone else had been there in hours - if not days. As Kirstin aptly put it, "this is what people think of when they talk about paradise."

We spent over two hours on the secluded beach, relaxing and wading into the shallow water. We found crabs climbing on the rocks, hermit crabs crawling in the sand, bright blue fish swimming among the coral, and even a school of sea cucumbers sprawled out on the coral bed. Despite the midday sun, a cool breeze kept the temperature comfortable as we laid on the beach reading.

After leaving the picture-perfect beach, we found the continuation of the trail along Larsen's Bay. We hiked through the woods until we reached the second beach. This one was rockier and more open, giving a great view of the entire bay. We sat in the breeze atop a few giant boulders for a few minutes before starting our journey back around the bay to our car.

It was a wonderful way to spend the day, and I marvel that places of such seclusion exist. Maybe I'm just still getting used to this little island in the South Pacific, but maybe the scenery really just is that beautiful. I appologize that I accidentally forgot my camera at home today, so the pictures posted are Susanna's.

Internet, Food, and More

Its been a slow past few days in terms of our research as we wait for our consent forms to be translated into Samoan. In addition, I struggled with the American Samoan Telecommunications Authority (ASTCA) to speed along the process of getting DSL for our house (we've just been "borrowing" wireless from our neighbor). Yesteray, the crew came out to our house and got both the phone and DSL modem working. However, as soon as they left and I plugged in the wireless router, the internet stopped working. Just my luck.

In the meantime, we've done some laundry and more food shopping. Really exciting stuff. In terms of food, the island gets a suprisingly good stock of groceries. We shop both at KS Mart (a normal supermarket) and Cost U Less (a rip-off of Costco), both of which are located down the street. The only real difference between food here and in the states is the lackluster selection of fresh food. But we've managed to find more than enough veggies to get by. The selection of restaurants is really disappointing, dominated by fast food and cheap Asian cuisine. There are a few seafood places that I'm excited to try out, but otherwise I think we'll end up eating in most of the time.

Yesterday, we returned to Sliding Rock to take in the powerful surf and wade on the rocky beaches. We even started a house shell collection. Today, despite the rain, we drove out to the National Park of American Samoa on the island's northern coast to check out the beautiful scenery. While we did't really stop to look around much, there are a buch of hiking trails that we'll have to return to later in the summer. We also got a beautiful view of Tutuila's northern coast.

We ended the afternoon by stopping at Tisa's, where we tried Candyman's legendary Pina Coladas (they were every bit as good as I hoped for). The water was a little rough for swimming, but we sat and talked with Candyman for a while, and he gave us a map and some suggestions on things to do while we are here. We also signed up for Tisa's Polynesian feast this Wednesday night - supposedely some of the best local food on the island. We're all very excited for the meal.

Hopefully the coming week will be a fruitful one in terms of our research. With all four of us now settled in and Professor McGarvey gone, we are all ready for the actual data collection to begin as soon as possible.

The middle of nowhere

This afternoon, we decided to take a break from our research and go out to see some of the island.  "I want to go there," Gabe stated as he pointed out a spot he had found nearby on Google Earth (see photo to the right).  There appeared to be a road that got somewhere close to the beaches he was talking about, so we decided to go on an adventure.  We hopped in our Mitsubishi Outlander and drove in the right general direction, eventually finding the unmarked road that supposedly led to the coast.  We drove down the increasingly rugged road until we reached a locked gate.

We turned off the car and got out to look for a way to keep going.  We found a Samoan woman clearing some brush with a machete who yelled for a child to come and get us the key.  While we waited, she tried to converse with us in broken English.  She asked if we had 4-wheel drive.  We didn't, but we told her that our crossover SUV would be fine. Once the gate was open, we thanked both her and the child and were on our way.

She wasn't kidding about needing 4-wheel drive.  The dirt road was very erroded and rough, but we managed to make it to the where the road ended and the walking paths began.  We hiked through rows of coconut and banana trees to a clearing that gave us a brilliant view of Fagatele Bay, a volcanic crater.  The waves crashed against the cliffs and shot more than 20 feet up in the air.  After staring in awe for a while, we headed back down the trail to go down to the beach.

The sky opened up in rain as we walked, but by the time we got back to the car, we decided that, because we were already wet, we would just drop our gear off and go to the beach anyway.  As we hiked down the steep hillside, the rainforest closed in on us making it darker and darker.  As we neared the water, we reached a set of wooden steps that took us down to the small beach.

The beach was no more than 20 yards long and looked out onto Fagatele bay.  It was high tide, as evidenced by the powerful 4-foot waves that washed right up to the top of the sand.  We left our shoes on the stairs and waded into the ocean, the rain still pouring down on us.  The four of us were the only ones around, and we just bobbed upand down in the waves and took in the scenery around us.  In front of us, the turbulent blue ocean; behind us, a steep wall of dense green rainforest.  It was very much a  "Wow, I really am in the middle of nowhere!" moment. 

As we swam the rain let up.  Kirstin was quick to point out a flying fox directly above us.  As we gazed up at the sky, we noticed more and more of the bats emerging from the trees above us.  Within minutes, there were hundreds upon hundreds of bats circling the skies.  There is no way I can translate the experience into words, but it made me so happy and excited to be in this wonderous and secluded place for the summer.

My dad said to me earlier today, "Your pictures look so beautiful, why aren't there any resorts or tourists there?"  To be honest, plopping a resort down on the shore would take away from places like the little beach on Fagatele bay.  The remoteness and the lack of human impact on the is what made our experience so incredible.  As we hiked back up the hill and drove home, we agreed that we all hoped to find many more places like this one throughout the summer.

Interesting Tidbits

Since the past few days have been mainly filled with research-related tasks and activities, I haven't had much interesting material to write about.  Everything with the research is going great, and we think we might have a group of four young Samoan researchers who are interested in working with us on the project (we need translators).  However, I thought this would be a good opportunity to write up a few "interesting tidbits" on American Samoa and Samoan culture that I have observed so far.  So in no particular order: 

• There is no such thing as a short conversation.  Even quick meetings end up taking a long time and discussion can easily extend on tangents.
• Everyone sits or everyone stands.  It is very rude to stand up and talk to someone who is seated.
• A smile begets a smile.  When driving around the island, especially in more rural areas, it is almost expected that you wave at pedestrians as you drive by and they back at you.  It really does prove the friendliness of Samoan culture.
• The only billboards are public health announcements.  I know it seems weird, but this really is true.  Every single billboard is from the Department of Health, offering some message to Samoans.  For example, "School sucks. But having a baby sucks even more."
• Non-Samoans cannot own land.  Even US citizens must rent.  Probably a good move on the part of American Samoa to prevent a total culture invasion.
• There are no traffic lights.  I guess they figure that with only one major road and an island-wide speed limit of 25mph, they're just not necessary.  However, the first traffic circle was actually just installed 2 days ago.
• There are no street addresses.  The checks for our research funds actually say "Behind the golf course" as our valid address.

Research and Western Tutuila

Yesterday was a very productive day for our research, as we got a lot of the preparatory work going that is necessary before we actually meet any of the children.  We even did some shopping for supplies to keep us organized.

In the late afternoon, "Tour Guide Steve" (Professor McGarvey) took us out on an adventure to the western part of the island, including the villages of Leone, Vailoa, and Vaitogi.  This area was stunningly beautiful, though very different from the Eastern rural district.  Vailoa (picture shown) had an open field in the village center surrounded by many fale (open huts).

The coastline was also very different and pretty (especially in the late-afternoon lighting).  The beaches were mixed with black, volcanic stone weathered into wonderful shapes by the powerful surf.  We walked around at Sliding Rock, a beautiful beach area with awesome lava-rock formations and mesmerizing waves.

After relaxing at Sliding Rock for a while, we hopped back in the car and headed to Vaitoga, another village on the southwest side of the island.  Here, the black rock beaches formed cliffs above the water.  The surf, in all its power and glory, slammed into the cliffs and sent water shooting into the air.  The irregularity of these water sprays led us to stand stupidly with our cameras waiting to catch a picture at just the right moment.  You can see one of these on the left.  The afternoon just confirmed Tutuila's natural geologic beauty.

We returened home as the sun set.  After dinner, we returned to the airport to pick up Kirstin, the third member of our research team.  With the work week starting up again, we are about to head out to a second meeting to further our work.