Rapture!

Hi all, So i know your as upset as i am that the rapture didn't happen.  I decided i would wait until after the supposed date to post my next entry just in case no one was around to read it. 

I apologize for not posting something before.  I still don't have internet after 3.5 weeks of waiting and its starting to piss me off.  It has been an exciting week.  This week Mila and I spent the majority of the week going out and certifying our vegetative barriers that were planned for our EQIP contracts.  Some of the clients installed them poorly and i had to tell them to fix them before i would certify it.  Something i might be more stringent about than my predecessors.  Others baffled me with their ingenuity.  I had one person who used old cardboard boxes to control weeds along his barrier line as a result his vetiver was the best i've seen yet considering it was only installed a couple of weeks ago. Another who was planting it on such a steep slope that in order to keep the grass from slouching, put in anchor points and attached a string between them that serves to keep the grass upright.  I have to say that these types of ideas are so simple and so effective that i am tempted to encourage others to try them.  

One of the more ingenious producers and her son.

Me shooting the slope to confirm that the barrier was installed according to the contour of the slope.

One day Mila and I hiked up a mountain to go and certify one of our producers.  His land was located at the tip of a mountain flat where him and his family grow taro, bananas and coconuts for sustenance and for minimal sale.  After climbing up that beast of a mountain and certifying his lines i was feeling a little lightheaded.  He graciously gave us all coconuts to sit and drink, wow!  That was the best thing i had had in a while.  Not only did it quench my thirst but it envigorated me with energy for the climb back down.  I was later told that marathon runners in Hawaii often drink canned coconut juice because it is filled with electrolytes and gives them a boost for their endurance. I personally really enjoyed the meat that was inside them, totally reminded me of Cambodia although for some reason i remember not really enjoying coconuts while i lived there.  It's strange how you end up liking something only to have grown up not liking it at all.

This last weekend i went for a hike with some of my palagi friends.  It was a relatively easy hike by American Samoa standards but don't let that fool you, it throughly kicked my butt and made me realize how ridiculous out of shape i am.  I think i might have to start exercising a little bit more.  Although i have lost 5 pounds since moving here, probably due to the amount of water my body loses on a regular basis due to sweating.  During that hike by the time we got to to the summit my shirt was completely covered in sweat, it was somewhat disgusting.  I spent the remainder of the evening helping Mila with her resume.  She is debating going back to Las Vegas to be with her husband and other child so i wanted to make sure her resume was as good as possible before she applied for a position there.  Her resume was really good, the only problem was some tenses issues.  

Super pumped about next week, i'm taking a Samoan language class from 1-3 Monday thru Friday.  My boss has been kind enough to allow me to do this on work time which is great!  He said that i probably won't be fluent after just one week but i at least should be able to start understanding the structure and pick up on basic words, which is what i'm hoping for.  The language is rather confusing, there are multiple ways to say the same word to have a different meaning.  Its not like chinese where you alternate the inflections to mean something else.  Here's a good example.  Fa'a Mole Mole means please in Samoan well in a fit of confusing i said Fa'a Mule Mule which means butt (like your behind).  Then Mila told me that if you just say Mole Mole it means smooth so i said Fa'a Mole Mole, Mole Mole, Muley Muley or please smooth butt.  Suffice it to say that had her rolling for a good part of the day! Well with that little snafu i will leave you.  More later.

My amazing co-worker Mila, without who not only would i not be able to do my job but probably go insane with boredom at work on some days.  She's an awesome gal, so friendly and eager.  Its kinda bothersome because you feel like your optimism is nothing compared to hers.