Well its official, we're about to get our first cyclone. Before you panic and rush to the phone to call me, Tropical Cyclone Evan (not sure why a white man's name is used for a cyclone in Samoa) is only a Category 1 Tropical Cyclone. Its projected path takes it right to our doorstep. I closed my windows and brought everything inside. We'll see how the winds are when i get home as to whether or not i need to board them up. I'm thinking i probably won't unless we get further warnings.
Somehow the thunderstorms and tornadoes of the Midwest don't seem as scary anymore. At least not when you have a swirling storm of death coming at you. I'm exaggerating of course.
Now onto the real stuff. I just had an excellent visit from my good friend Andrea. Andrea and i went to University together. Since freshmen year we've had at least one class together every semester, sometimes two or three. She is now a fellow at EPA in Chicago. It was a trip full of diving and adventures.
Her flight was scheduled to arrive at 9:40 PM so Kristine (another good friend of mine here) and I were waiting at the top of a mountain to watch the plane land. Around 9:50 PM i decide to call Hawaiian Airlines and ask them what is going on. They say the plane had to return to Honolulu due to a medical emergency. This meant that the plane didn't land here in American Samoa until about 4:30 AM. UGGG!
But this also meant that we were able to have drinks at the tree house and watch the sunrise which was a treat as i am usually never awake early enough to do this. We spent the rest of the morning sleeping off our tiredness. In the afternoon i took Andrea on a kayak trip. Its really easy to kayak from my house out to a beautiful pool with lots of fish. Andrea had a field day collecting shells and flotsam.
The next day we went for a short hike before catching a plane to Western Samoa. We rented a car and immediately went to the South side of the island. We went to the Sua Trench (some of you might remember that picture of a gigantic sink hole in one of my earlier blogs), it was very low tide. There is a hole in which water comes in from the ocean you have to swim underwater and hold your breath to keep the . I've never swam to it because every time I've been there the tide has been to extreme to risk trying it but this was a calm day. Andrea and I went over to the edge and like little kids debated whether or not we should try and swim under it. After numerous scouting attempts, i said i was going to do one more scouting attempt. I got halfway there and realized that it would take longer to turn around and get back than just going for it. I get to the other side and shout for Andrea but my voice is blocked by water and rock so after a few quick deep breaths i make the dive under and go back for her. I make it back to the other side gasping for air. I told her that it is totally doable but to make sure she is ready to kick as it is a good 50 feet of underwater swimming. We proceed to do this about 4 times before we finally decide that we are done.
We were staying at these beach fales which are essentially open air bungalows with a mattress and a mosquito net. As i would learn after 4 days, i like having a fan blowing on me when i sleep. It was nice, we had a FiaFia (celebration show) at the fale in which the workers did traditional dancing and music.
We stayed at these fales for 2 nights. One of those nights we were drinking with a bunch of Kiwi's (New Zealanders) and Australians. We were trying to figure out a game to play. I suggested flip cup, thinking that something as idiotic as flip cup would be a universal game. I was wrong. After teaching them how to play we played a total of 14 rounds! They were so into it. It was hilarious, they even started talking like Americans.
We capped off our trip in Western with a hike up to Robert Louis Stevenson's grave. For those of you that don't know, Robert Louis Stevenson wrote such classics as Treasure Island and Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde. He moved to Western Samoa in 1890 to find relief for a respiratory issue he had. He eventually passed away here.
We made a quick stop at the fish market before returning to Pago Pago for the rest of the trip.
The rest of the trip involved a lot of diving and hiking. We went for a total of 5 dives while Andrea was here but i had a feeling that wasn't quite enough for her. We wanted to do more but the weather wasn't the most cooperative.
It was a really good trip and it was excellent that Andrea was the first of my friends to come and visit me here. It is no small feat.
Now that i am done with my first semester of Grad school i can finally get ready for the next batch of visitors.....my mom, dad and brother who will be arriving in about 2 weeks......providing the island is still here and not blown off the map. You can thank Andrea for the amazing pictures and her underwater camera.
