 Talofa from Samoa |
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Samoan harbor
We rented a car and drove on some back roads to discover beautiful vistas and villages backed by cliffs spilling over with waterfalls.
Samoa is like Hawaii but there's no dry side of the islands, only green everywhere with lots of waterfalls. The villages have nicely painted houses and fales in all shades of the rainbow. The grass is kept trimmed and bordered by decorative plants and flowers. There's very little trash around compared to Fiji. But... we just miss the big Fijian "Bula!" Don't get me wrong, Samoans are nice and if we hadn't been to Fiji first we probably would think that they were really friendly. We've just been spoiled.
Also, even though Samoan schools are all taught in English, we have a hard time communicating. Yeah, it's their country and our problem but again, we were spoiled in Fiji.
It is incredibly beautiful here though.
Open market
We love to buy Palusami, taro leaves filled with coconut cream. It's so tasty! And we tried some new fruit we've never seen before, sour sop and auli (I think.) They were just okay though. Faintly... [more]
Croweded bus
I have never been on a more crowded bus. Love the woodwork in this hand made coach though.
Church
Samoa is checkered with churches. Some villages have four different denominations. The Mormons are making a lot of inroads because they are only requiring people to pay a little bit each week.
Fale in Manase on island of Savaii
They call these fale. This one's not really traditional as it has walls. Most fale are completely open to allow the breeze to flow through. Cute though, ain't it?
Jane's bar in Manase
We drank the most delicious locally made coconut rum in this little bar on the tip of the peninsula. Mixed with Sprite it tastes like bubble gum (interesting but don't want to drink bubble gum) and m... [more]
Drag queen
Samoans have a word for men trapped in womens bodies - fa'afafine. This is Lisa dancing with her but she only had eyes for Toby. He had to beat her off of him with a stick. I laughed and told him t... [more]
2 Comments - Add Public Comment or Send Private Message
July 22nd 2008 - Eric Schmidt:
I love the palm trees and waterfalls. You guys must be having a blast! I guess the Samoans are the unlucky product of American education system unlike the Fijians.
Actually, we are not in American Samoa so we can't blame the US school system for this one. :-/
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