A Harty Party

I got a job. Now we just need to figure out what to do with the kids after school. Apparently there is no real after school child care on the island. The wife of the law clerk that Julia works with is going to watch them twice a week and who knows about the other days. Anyway, the attorney generals office offered me a position. I just need to figure out the daycare situation before I start. I could end up working for a private attorney if we cannot find someone to watch the kids after school.

So most of my time has been spent shuttling the kids to school and Julia to work. However, one day I was able to go on a drive. I drove westerly on the main road until it ended. I started from our house in Tafuna, which is southwest of Pago Pago. The road goes across the flat part of the island until Leone. Leone was the original central village on the island and the place where european sailors visited the island until steam ships made it possible to enter Pago harbor.

The drive was interesting. The road slowly got more and more narrow. By the end it was no wider than a small logging road in Northern Idaho. It also has a lot of twists and turns and cutbacks (also like a logging road) so I had to be careful around the turns. It seemed like there was always a bus or van coming around the corner at same time. I had to pull over, let them by, then continue on my trip. Some of the villages were dilapidated and deteriorating and obviously in need of repair. Other villages were fixed up with fresh paint and a nice new fale (central gathering building). After Leone the road followed the shoreline for about ten miles and then finally ended the village of Fagamalo which sits on a nice little sheltered cove.

Here are a few photos:

It looked like a good snorkling spot. The blue line in the middle is an Ava (current). When snorkeling you can get pulled out to sea by an ava if you are not careful. Pulled out to sea = bad.

This is where the road ended. You can see the little village of Fagamato. Whis is really only about six homes and a church. the road goes right up to the water and ends. The cove is a protected fish preserve so fishing is not allowed.

We are going to have all of our pictures posted on flickr or another site soon so that anyone who is interested will be able to look at all of the pics.