A permanent reminder...

The expression on my face is due to the total pain (I was a little wimpy) of my first (and last!) tattoo! I got it done traditionally... not as traditionally as waaay back in the day, when they used sharpened boars teeth, but traditional enough. (see tools in picture.) It was fairly sterile, the tattooist and assistant (see picture) were wearing rubber gloves, although they were also smoking throughout the session, so I'm not sure if that affects how sterile an environment is. My wrist healed perfectly, though, and I didn't contract anything. And, importantly- I love it! I am really happy that I did it and have a permanent reminder of my two years here.

A description: The two designs are straight from a traditional women's tattoo called a malu. Women/girls who are daughters of a high chief often get one, and it goes from the upper top of the thighs to below the knees, and is a varied, intricate, assortment of designs.

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The asterixs on either side are jellyfish ('alu'alu). They represent the quality of being vulnerable and fragile, yet knowing how to protect yourself, and having a sting. The star (fetu) is actually Jupiter, but way long ago Samoans didn't know it was Jupiter, they just thought it was a bright, oddly behaving star, but they tracked it and it was meaningful to the culture. It represents fertility (uh oh!), renewal, starting anew, and the cyclical nature of the environment.

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I am really happy that I did it, although it was SO painful- it only took about 10 minutes, but I was yowling through much of it. (See picture.) The guy (Peter Suluape) who did it is world-renowned for tattooing, and does most of the Peace Corps Volunteers tattoos. I had it done in a village, in an open fale, with my friend Beth, who was visiting at the time, and didn't know what she was getting herself into, and two PCV friends, Aaron and Laura. Aaron got a large and beautiful wrist band, and Laura got a malu on one leg. They are waaay braver than I am.

These are the members of my group who got a tattoo, so you can see that all of us still have all necessary body parts (ie: it was sterile enough that no amputations were needed).

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I'm really happy that I did it- although it hurt- I'm glad to have a reminder of the last two years here in Samoa.

COS conference and MANY pictures!

Fa le Soifua Group 76!

Group 76- After two completing two years of service in Samoa!

(back row: Texas, Ray, Jan, Jordan, Steph, Sita, Jame, front row: Vik, Tim, Erik)

I just wanted to put up a few photos from our Close of Service conference, at Coconuts Beach Club. It was three days of great food, lots of 'processing our experiences', and hanging out with most of my group one last time. A highlight? Hot water in the showers!

We ate really, really well at Coconuts- although the restaurant manager was a total jerk, the food was excellent and it's always nice to eat free food! It was also nice to be at a resort where very few people knew me- most of the beach fale resorts I visit- the backpacker-y type places- know many of us PCVs, so there's very little privacy and anonymity.

This is the 'room' that Sita, Jame, Sefa and I stayed in- it was incredible! Apparently it was $850 US a night, although PC Samoa is waaay too cheap to pay that much, so we must have gotten some sort of a deal! It was a two story fale, and beautiful! The bathroom even had a bidet, which is not fa'asamoa. Did I mention there was hot water?!

Sita, Sefa and I in the 'room'. PC likes to 'treat' the outgoing groups to a nicer place for our final conference... Clearly!! We made the most of it and felt very touristy the whole time!

Jame, Sita and I- the ICM girls!

I'm enjoying my last few weeks, although I'm starting to feel a bit antsy to come home, which is good. I'm spending this next weekend at my counterpart, Tavita's village, as well as visiting my family in my village. Then, next week I'm helping with a few training sessions for the new PC Trainees, and finishing up at work. I'm trying to get as many of those last-minute touristy things done, as well as tie up the loose ends of the PC-related stuff. I'm really looking forward to being done with the bureaucracy of PC, and being independent again.

Students from Lefaga Secondary School- Aaron, Matt and I helped with a group of students fro University Prep in Seattle when they came to Samoa for a few weeks, and arranged for them to paint a gigantic world map mural on the wall of the school! Most students don't have any access to a map, and thus think that Samoa is pretty much it when it comes to the world. This was a great project and a really fun day!

The UPrep students and some of the Lefaga Secondary School students after completing the map! The right hand map is the world map, and the left is a map of all the countries in the South Pacific.

An impromptu ava ceremony at the beach at the Ecotourism Conference in May.

A view of the shoreline on the Southeast coast.

Group 76 at Amanda's wedding in Vaie'e.

Texas, Sefa, and I at Erik's wedding in Aleipata, on the southeast coast.

Members of my group and PC Staff at Erik's wedding.

A random picture from the Ecotourism conference.

Beach at Faofao. I'm going to miss all the gorgeous beaches here!

A typical Samoan dancer...

Sunset, looking towards the east.

I can’t believe this… but my time’s nearly up. I’m leaving here in about a month. I leave Monday, July 7^th, around midnight, which puts me back in Seattle on Tuesday, July 8^th. I am full of mixed feelings on this- while I am looking forward to cheese, broccoli, microbrewed beer, Mexican food, and strawberries (among many other things), I am also so sad at the idea of leaving here.

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I’m running around getting the last minute things done- medical appointments, reports, last touches on projects, and socializing with my Samoan family and friends. My roommate, Jame, is leaving me (boo) next Monday, which means that I’ve got a month alone at my house…

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…alone except for the rats. For some reason, the last month has seen a huge increase in rat population in our Apia house. There is constantly a rat-squabble going on in the walls, I’ve identified at least 10 different rats (ranging in size from cute-pet-hamster to obese-pet-cat), and given them identifying names (Mangy-butt, Ugly-gerbily-ears, Monster-rat #1 and 2, etc.) and am literally awoken, often, in the middle of the night from them thumping around, squeaking, and battling. So, that makes me look forward to the clean, rat/centipede/millipede-free sanctuary of my mom’s house. I’m also looking forward to hot water, and a flushing toilet, and functional fridge! Our toilet hasn’t flushed since February (we use a bucket to flush water into it), and the fridge hasn’t worked since November or December. Hot water? I’ve had four hot showers since January. All were a beautiful, memorable experience.

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The Ecotourism conference that I’d been planning was pulled off successfully last month- we had about 15-20 participants, and most had great feedback about what they’d learned. I’m happy it all came together well, and feel much more confident at the idea of organizing conferences in the future.

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I’m finishing the Ecoliteracy curriculum that I’ve been working on the last year. I haven’t felt very inspired by it, but I’m glad to have the experience and have it finished. Other than that- I’m pretty much done! I have a few more hikes, tourist-y things, and trips on my list- I want to go to Savaii one more time, I want to hike to Lake Lanotoo (which is apparently filled with goldfish?), spend as much time as possible with my family, tour the beer factory (it’s terrible beer, but I’d like to see how they make it), and stay at a few of my favorite beach fale places before I go.

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I’m going to miss a lot here. Seeing the ocean every day has been incredible- I’ve never lost my sense of awe and appreciation for seeing a huge blue (sometimes grey, sometimes turquoise) ocean completely surrounding me. And the vivid colors are always going to be imprinted in my mind. I’m not sure I will ever live in a place as beautifully blue and green again- although I hope that I do. I’m going to miss my family- they are so welcoming, mellow, accepting, and friendly. They have for sure been one of the absolute best things about living here. I’m going to miss my friends here- I’ll miss my Peace Corps friends, but I know that I’ll stay in contact with many of them, and visit them when I can (Jame, this means you!), but I’ll miss my Samoan friends even more. My coworkers are incredible people, and I have learned so much from working alongside them. I’ve gotten to know several people in some of my favorite villages (Faleaseela, Tafitoala) really well, and feel incredibly sad at the idea of not being able to see them whenever I want to.

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Before I joined Peace Corps, I’d read a lot of the books- all about some young woman, who goes to some village in Africa, saves babies, digs a well, and makes life-long friends. I’d pictured that experience for myself here. I haven’t saved any babies- although I do know of at least three Peta’s, and one Jordan, and my nephew, Jey, all named after me. I certainly haven’t dug a well- but I have worked alongside 6 or 7 villages to rehabilitate their coral reefs, and fix their marshes. And life-long friends, yes. It’s never what you picture… but I can say that my experience here is unforgettable, and unregrettable, and I have met people that I’ll never forget, and will miss, in an indescribable way, once I’m gone.

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What’s next? Well- I am proud to say that I took my GRE’s while I was here (complicated story), and applied to graduate schools- American University, Brandeis University, Cambridge University, and Yale. I was accepted at all of them, and decided that Yale’s School of Forestry and Environmental Studies program was the best match for me. I’ll be starting my Master’s of Environmental Management in August, and hope to continue working in the South Pacific on Coastal Management issues.

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I’ll be in Seattle for a few weeks, and I’m sure I’ll catch up with many of you. I’ll try to post a handful more pictures, and a few final blog entries, before I leave. I am hoping to have some sort of a talk/reception, in Seattle, and would love to share my experience of the last few years with all of you. I’ll post that when I’ve found a date and location (mid July, in Seattle), and hope to catch up with many of you then!

Entering the home stretch…

A sunset from my house in Fagalii-uta.

That's 'my' dog, Charlie. This is her first bath, and she was surprisingly patient with it. She meets me at the bus every day after work, and follows me every time I leave the house. Anyone loooking to adopt a dog? I'll bring her home with me for any good home that's offered?!

I’ve got about 5 months left, and am busier than ever at work. It still amazes me how far I’ve come… the first 6 months after swearing-in I had to work hard to occupy my time, and became involved in a random assortment of secondary projects. Now, I am juggling all sorts of major projects and just hoping I’ll complete everything I can before I go.

Me and my co-worker, Keli. We're hard at work.

At METI, I’m finishing (hopefully) the Ecoliteracy curriculum. This has been challenging for me, partly because I’m rather disenchanted with the school system and feel like this part of my work is something of an unnecessary band-aid, but it’s given me curriculum-writing experience (and quite easily shown me how little interest I have in doing that for a career), and it’s been a learning experience.

The work I most enjoy, though, is the project management side of our rehabilitation projects. I’ve described METI’s work before, so I won’t repeat myself. We’ve started monitoring our coral gardening projects more closely after we’ve completed the initial work, and I enjoyed working with my (always awesome) counterpart, Tavita, to find the most logical, efficient and useful methods. We finally decided to ‘randomly’ tag 4 of the coral-covered fish houses that we’ve created with the villages at each site, so the last two weeks we traveled around Upolu Island armed with a digital camera, plastic tags, and snorkel and mask. We tagged each selected house with a different color plastic tag, then took pictures of all the coral growing on it, drew a rough map of where the house is at in relation to the shoreline, and now will be able to track the growth of the coral over the next years.

A view from the ferry on the way back from a site in Savai'i. The island in the distance is Apolima-tai, where there's a small village of about 90 people.

One particular village, Matautu-tai, is doing really well with the project. We only completed the work in December, but you can easily see the huge changes in coral growth, and there are already much larger and more plentiful fish within the Marine Protected Area (MPA). It’s heartening to see that a project you’ve worked hard on is already producing positive changes. In theory, those fish will grow bigger and more numerous, and eventually swim their way out of the MPA, where they’ll be caught and sold, or eaten, by the village, thus increasing livelihoods/food security.

Keli and Tavita, hard at work also.

I am also proud as a new mama because one of my favorite villages, Falease’ela-tai, got approved for a grant that I initiated and co-wrote. By the time I leave, we should have completed a large scale marsh rehabilitation project with the village. I love this village because they have a great track record of completing well-thought-out conservation projects, and very little history of misuse of funds. It’s beautiful- surrounded by dramatic cliffs, with a huge lagoon, a large river with a waterfall, and friendlier-than-average villagers. I’m glad they will be one of my last major projects, and thrilled that I’ll be able to see the project through from pre-conception to finish.

The last main project I’m working on is planning an Ecotourism Conference for PCVs and their counterparts. I think one of the major needs of Samoa is a way for families and villages to support themselves financially, rather than relying on cash from overseas relatives. There are very few small businesses, and there’s a definite need for more small-scale tourism activities. I’m working on designing/organizing the conference, and am gaining great experience, and enjoying it, so far. It’s great to be in the driver’s seat and leading the project.

Without getting my mom’s hopes up too high… it looks like I’ll be heading home in late July or early August sometime. I have to leave the country (visa expires) by August 24th.

I’ve gotten many emails recently from family and friends talking about their friends who are thinking about/filling out the application for/interviewing for the Peace Corps, and asking if they can forward my email to them… so here’s a general, blanket permission for anyone to email me if they are considering Peace Corps. I am more than happy to answer questions, and would give positive, though honest answers. I wouldn’t recommend the Peace Corps to everyone, but have been so, so happy with my experience, despite- or maybe because of- the challenges I’ve encountered. My email is jejobe@gmail.com.

I hear from almost everyone that I talk to how they ‘thought about’ or ‘almost joined’ or ‘always wanted to do’ the Peace Corps. All I can say is… do it. Or don’t, but don’t sit around and over think it. Fill out the (long) application, go to the interview, see how it goes. You’ve got nothing to lose in interviewing and seeing what sorts of opportunities you could have. You could be in an entirely different country doing something flabbergastingly, perplexingly amazing in a year. Or you could still be sitting around, doing the same old job. I’m glad that I won’t regret not doing it. (I don’t think that made sense grammatically, but that’s another drawback to PC- you forget how to write proper English!)

Despite the bureaucracy, Peace Corps has been undoubtedly a great experience, for me (I can’t speak for everyone here…). As my service is drawing to a close I feel more and more strongly about the benefits of Peace Corps. World-wide, or country-wide change will never happen because of Peace Corps Volunteers, but you do get to be a part of some really neat projects, and meet some amazing people, and do interesting work, just because you’re a PCV. You get thrown in some pretty incredible situations, and there are definite advantages to being part of this organization. Ok, I’m done with that spontaneous recruitment message! Enjoy the pictures!

Travelling Through the Pacific...

The incredible Coromandel Peninsula!
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Last December, I went to New Zealand, again, for a nearly 4-week-long holiday. One of the benefits of being a Peace Corps Volunteer is the generous vacation leave- in two years we get 48 days leave, and they’re pretty good about letting us take it whenever we need it.

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The first week and a half I spent traveling around the Coromandel Peninsula (which is slightly south east of Auckland, on the North Island). My friend Lafi, who was a PCV in Samoa at the same NGO that I work for, met me at the airport. We drove all over the peninsula, stopping frequently at beaches and cliffs with good views, went spear fishing, kayaking and hiking, and met up with his Swedish friend, Mathias. On Christmas Eve, Aaron (from group 77) flew in, and the 4 of us spent the next 4 days eating, swimming and playing together.

We had a makeshift ava ceremony on the beach near Whitianga. I was the taupo, and Lafi did the honors of the untitled man...
Some gorgeous sandstone cliffs on the Coromandel Peninsula. I don't know what I'm doing.

Kayaking on the Coromandel Peninsula.

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On Christmas morning, about 3 am, we woke up to drive about half an hour to Hot Water Beach. There’s a lot of thermal activity all over NZ, and at this beach hot springs under the sand in the intertidal zone gush HOT sulfurous water up into the sand. If you time it right (about an hour before and after low tide) you can join dozens of other tourists on the beach, with shovels, and dig shallow holes that fill with the hot water, and then soak in a home-made hot tub right on the water’s edge. It’s beautiful during the day time, and even more gorgeous under a full moon, as it was on Christmas morning. There were about a dozen other tourists there, speaking German, French, Austrian and Spanish. Lafi and I spoke Samoan to add to the lingual diversity. Despite the early hour, it was a great start to Christmas day.

Opening gifts on Christmas morning (after the hot water beach at 3 am...)

Hot water beach. Mathias, Aaron, me and Lafi...

Lafi and Mathias soaking at hot water beach on Christmas morning...

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The water was generally very cold, but it was fun to actually play in the waves- the reef surrounding Samoa prevents many fun big waves from reaching the shore (thankfully, because I can’t imagine the erosion if there were no reef!) so the lagoons are akin to a calm bathtub. I miss playing around, and being thrown about by waves!

Hot water beach- not at 3 am!

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After our week and a half on North Island, Aaron and I flew to Christchurch, on the South Island. We rented a car, went to a gigantic, overwhelming grocery store (my heart rate went significantly up) and grabbed lattes for our long drive south to Milford Sound.

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Side Note: I was desperate for caffeine and had no other easy option, so ordered a Vanilla latte from a Muffin Break stand. When I reached my car, and took a much needed sip, I immediately noticed the lack of espresso. Disgruntled, I returned to the stand, and asked for my two espresso shots, and the guy actually had the temerity to tell me that Vanilla Lattes don’t contain espresso in Italy, so Muffin Break follows that long held tradition. I was aghast, and had to beg the man to put espresso in my latte, all the while receiving a lecture about how I should have told them that I wanted espresso shots. (!!) I’m suggesting a boycott of Muffin Break…

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After a delayed caffeination, we began the drive. From Christchurch to Milford Sound is a 10 hour drive, and it was about noon. Neither of us had driven on the ‘wrong’ side of the road, nor had we driven in the past year or so. With much dramatic shrieking and a few swerves, we were off! We’d stockpiled our cooler with hummus, specialty crackers, fruits and about 15 types of cheese (I’m not kidding. 15.), so we ate as we drove. If you’ve never been to NZ, I highly recommend it. It is by far one of the most beautiful countries I’ve been to, and the ecology is incredibly diverse. On our ten hour ride we moved from sub tropical trees and plants, to grassy meadows, to hundreds of rivers in green valleys, miles and miles of fluffy grey sheep trotting over impossibly green hills, dense leafy glens, glacier-fed neon-blue lakes, sharp, steep green-grey cliffs, and snow-topped mountains. If you’ve seen The Lord of the Rings, we were right in the middle of where they filmed all those dramatic scenery shots.

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Finally, we passed Queenstown, drove by The Remarkables (a mountain range that was aptly named), and passed the last town (Te Anau) before the two hour drive through the middle of a national park to Milford Sound. At this point, it was about 8:30 pm, and fairly dusky, though it would stay light until almost 10 pm. As there’s only one place to stay, and one store (and one bar!) in Milford Sound, most people make it a day trip (on a gigantic tour bus, ew!) so there was absolutely no traffic going in and out of the park. We had the whole drive to ourselves, which was good because it was distracting enough in its creepy, gloomy beauty. Fog descended, darkness fell, and with the misguided belief that we were at sea level, we entered the famed Milford Sound tunnel, hand-dug with picks, about a hundred years ago. It went straight down, immediately bringing Dante’s Inferno to mind… “We’re entering the 7^th circle of hell…” and we half expected to crash into a pile of old, rusty cars and floating bodies in a pool of sea water as we proceeded down the steep grade. Apparently, though, it was a tunnel through a glacier-capped peak (we discovered when we left Milford on a sunny day after 5 days of blissful fun) and we were definitely not at sea level, yet. The drive proceeded down the mountain, winding through the woods, passing sites with names like “The Chasm” (further inspiring dramatic Dante’s references) and we finally arrived.

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Milford Sound is arguably one of the most incredible, stunning, mind-blowing (insert any dramatic superlative here) places on earth. When I woke up the next morning it was pouring rain, and all I could see were sheer green cliffs (reaching nearly a mile up) on every side. I counted the waterfalls- at least 20. (Although later in the day, after more rain, I counted again and there were well over 50.) I couldn’t overstate how beautiful this place was. Carved by glaciers thousands of years ago, creating a long (16 kilometer) inlet from the Tasman sea, Milford Sound is appealing to the marine biologist (me!) because of it’s weird ecological happenings. The sheer cliffs can support bushes and trees, but barely, and there isn’t much dirt for their roots to hold onto. Add a drastic amount of rainfall, and you get millions of gallons of tannic water pouring into the Sound. This tannic water doesn’t mix with the sea water until it reaches the churning Tasman Sea, so it creates a 5 meter deep layer of dark, tannin saturated water on top of the sea water. This is amazing, because it means that those animals and plants that live at 7, 8, 10 meters are animals that normally live much deeper, at 40 or 50 meters (where it’s equivalently dark without the aid of tannic water).

Milford Sound from the air (Thanks, Marisa!)

Aaron and I, completely soaked from boating under a gigantic waterfall!
Gorgeousness everywhere you look!

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Some other marine biology nerds built a really innovative floating observatory, only accessible by the dozens of large tour boats that circulate constantly around the Sound. They built a floating platform, with a 10 meter deep tube that you can descend, and check out the sea life attached to the observatory. There’re rare black corals, quirky deep-sea fish, rarer crabs and a few seaweeds that can survive on so little light. It’s really impressive and of course, I geeked out and ran in circles around the tube checking out the life.

Dolphins! (There were about 50 of them!)
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One of my best friends, Beth, is working at Milford for the summer (in the southern hemisphere, our winter= their summer) with our friend Marisa, and Aaron and I were hosted in grand style by them at the staff lodge for nearly a week. In that time, we hiked, rock climbed (I was terrified but proud of myself for trying it), went cliff jumping into “The Chasm”, a freezing cold glacier-fed river, stood at the base of the gigantic Bowden Falls (hurricane force winds) and got drenched, and nearly blown away, went on a beautiful tour on a boat, saw pods of the rare dusky dolphins, and ate, and ate, and ate.
Beth and I on the boat on Milford Sound.Bowden Falls, where Aaron and I nearly got blown away by the hurricane-force winds, although this picture is taken a different day, and dosen't look as dramatic!)

I rockclimbed up this!!

See? That's me!
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This was by far one of the most fun weeks I’ve had in years, in one of the most amazing (again, insert any superlative here) places, and we had a perfect time. If you get the chance to go to New Zealand, make it a priority to visit Milford Sound.

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After the unending beauty that was Milford, we drove back up to Christchurch (in a day, again) retracing the gorgeous route, to pick up Aaron’s friend Cali, visiting from America. We spent a few days in Christchurch visiting museums and eating, then split up. I went north to Kaikoura, which is famed for whale watching. I wasn’t feeling the need to go on a whale watching tour, so I spent most of the time wandering around the various beaches, admiring the plentiful sea lions and drawing pictures of sea weed. One day, while staring out to sea, I noticed a large school of fish being herded (I can’t think of a better word) by a few sharks. It was amazing to watch from the shoreline and made up for skipping out on a whale tour.

Dux Bar in Christchurch. Aaron and I left our mark- note the $2 tala bill on the upper right!

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Then… wine country. I went to Marlborough County. Wow. I have never been too much of a wine snob, although I appreciate good wine, in general, I’m not too schooled on it. I am now! In two and a half days, I visited 9 vineyards and tasted thoroughly at every one of them. I tried the famous Montana Vineyards Sauvignon Blanc platter, and have been spoiled for life and will hereto after avoid sub standard Sauvignon Blanc. (Try their 2006 “B” vintage! You’ll be converted!) I also went on a 4-hour horse ride (yes, in the middle of the wine tasting) with a retired Kiwi rancher up into the hills surrounding wine country. It was beautiful and relaxing and fascinating.

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Finally, I treated myself to a massage and a spa soak (and more) in Hanmer Springs, which was unexpectedly great. Although touristy, I made it off the beaten path and discovered some beautiful fields (under Orion’s belt in the starry skies) and found it a memorable, fantastic place. (Blimey!)

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After nearly 4 weeks of travel I was completely relaxed and very well-fed, and just looking forward to returning home and finishing up my last 5 or 6 months… but before that…

I returned for two weeks, dove back into my work, then dashed off, this time to American Samoa and Hawaii.

Sunset in Kona! And another....

Yep, now I'm just bragging....

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My mom had a conference in Kona, on the big Island, so I flew through American Samoa to Hawaii… my first trip back to America since June 2006. It was wonderful to see her and catch up on all our happenings since she visited me in December 2006. We talk regularly, and email often, but it just isn’t the same as talking in person. She treated me to a week and a half of complete relaxation. We ate out for every meal (although I am completely steamed, still, about the breakfast place at the resort that actually had the gall to ask me to return to my room to put shoes on for breakfast) and drank amazing passion fruit margaritas (try them, Uncle Mark!) and kayaked in a clear, sunny bay. One of the most notable parts of the trip was the humpback whales that were in the middle of mating season, right off of the beach at our resort. We watched them leap around all week, slapping their gigantic tails, breathing big poofs of steamy air, spy-hopping and generally cavorting. It was stunning to watch so much marine mammal activity, and constantly entertaining. Several times while driving to one restaurant or another, we’d get excited and have to pull over and watch the whales play.

Mom relaxing and enjoying the view in Kona.
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I got a much needed hair cut, my skin dried out in the air (no humidity) and I was able to see the weirdest Hawaiian island of all- the Big Island is not what one expects from a Hawaiian island. It’s completely dry and lava covered on the majority of it, has two gigantic actual snow-capped mountains in the middle of it, and the only palm trees are those planted around the resorts.

I don't understand America. People get off a cruise ship to go to Walmart??
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After that tranquil trip, I flew back to American Samoa, where I spent two days with some of my Samoan family just outside the ‘capital’ of Pago Pago (said ‘Pah-ngo Pah-ngo’). I have 9 Samoan siblings, and had met all but one sister, Senia, who lives in American Samoa. They hosted me, and we spent a lot of time touring the island in the back of their pickup truck (which, as far as I’m concerned, is the best way to ride around a South Pacific Island!). Surprisingly, American Samoa looks completely different than Western Samoa. The cliffs and mountains go up nearly to the sea, rather than slowly spread out from the center of the island. The vegetation, of course, is the same, but the geography is much more dramatic. There are few sandy beaches; most are rocky and cliffy. The villages are more modern- no traditional fales, all of the houses are brightly painted cement block. Every family has at least one car- all, unfortunately, American gas-guzzlers, even though there is an efficient and plentiful bus system. What was most surprising was how dirty it was, though. There was rubbish everywhere but in the rubbish bins. Also, there was a huge number of fast food restaurants, concentrated between the airport and Pago Pago. Generally, though, I really liked it- it had the charm of Samoa, and retains a respectable amount of the Samoan culture, but has a few American conveniences (no Starbucks, yet, but more American food in the better-stocked grocery stores).

Random old oil ship on the rural coastline of American Samoa. We left the ship to rust and spew oil into the ocean. Lovely.

Sunset over American Samoa.

My sister, Senia, with my nephew DJ.

My sisters Pasifika, Senia, and my nephew DJ, at the airport in American Samoa.
The mountains rising above Pago Pago in American Samoa.
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One more thing of note: the Samoans in American Samoa are noticeably more overweight than the Western Samoans. This fact is generally agreed upon by Samoans of both residences. I think it’s due to the popularity of fast food in American Samoa (my relatives took me to three fast food places in two days) and the fact that most people are employed in less labor-intensive jobs. Fewer people work their plantation or fish regularly.

My sister Pasifika and me.

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After returning to my Samoa (via a tiny plane, which allowed me to see my island from the air and glimpse about 20 waterfalls that I didn’t know existed) I’ve been settling back into work and planning for my last 6 months. I’m absolutely loving METI, still, and am finishing up my curriculum project. Also, I am planning an ecotourism conference for the village-based PCVs and their counterparts. More about this later, but for now, I’ll say that I am really excited about both the subject of the conference, it’s implications for Samoa, and for the chance to gain experience planning a conference like this!