Manuia le Kerisimasi!

Christmas in American Samoa is a bit different. The governor has a multi-day Christmas song thing that all the government agencies sing in. It was broadcast on TV at the time and now they are doing re-runs, just in case you missed it! The AG's office had these festive shirts and red lava lavas made so they all matched.

It was a little weird to spend the 23rd at the beach, but we always have fun! We went to Utulei and then Clif and I got to dive at Faga'alu. While we were at Utulei one of the kids with us found a pipe in the water. She picked it up and dumped the sand and water out, and out came a baby octopus! It was so neat! Of course, it was the one day I had left my camera at home. I only wish I had been able to get pictures of it!

Then Clif and I went diving and saw three trumpet fish - an adult, a juvenile, and a baby. It was so neat to see all the different stages. The baby one looked a bit like a pipefish at first glance. We also saw a jellyfish. We spent about five minutes just watching it float in the water. It was really neat to watch it from underneath and see the sun shine through it. We've heard that they are really rare here, and I had just told Steven on the phone that morning that there really aren't any.

It's not just the weather that makes Christmas different here. It's also the decorations. We went to Leone to check out the outrageous church decorations. Pictures of this church are showing up everywhere because it's the most overly-decorated church on the island, at least when it's not lit up. Although they only decorated the front. There is nothing on the sides and back (I think we should complain!). The churches are pretty fun to see, and we still need to go see the pyramid and Eiffel Tower in lights. That should be amusing.

Leone caves

Saturday we went to the Leone sea caves. They aren't really caves though. They are more like blow holes because there are holes at the top of each cavern. In fact, they may actually be blow holes, but I've never been there at high tide to know. We went when the tide was fairly low so we could swim into them from the ocean side - the kids weren't too sure about jumping into them after the lectures we've given them on how dangerous it would be to fall into one of the blowholes along the walk to Airport Lagoon.

Thanks to Liz for the great photos!

Sliding Rock

We couldn't let a weekend day go by without getting to the ocean so we went to sliding rock on Sunday. We got there as the tide was starting to come in so we didn't get much time to swim. I was distracted by a small pool full of fish on the way and took way too much time there.

I should have realized that it would be even better once we got to our destination! By the time I got over there, the waves made it impossible to get a very good shot of the fish through the water, but we did get a shot of a tiny crab!

And then we drove through Leone where there is a group of about 6-7 fales in a large open area.

Sure, parts of this island are stinky and littered, there aren't many amenities, everything has to be done in person, our house isn't very beautiful, and we have an on-going war with the ants that have decided to make our kitchen their home, but we agree with the wise words of Everett, "it's worth it. It doesn't sound like it would be until you get here, but it is."

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.