Talofa from American Samoa!!!
American Samoa Canoe Association out for practice in the harbor.
American Samoa Canoe Association out for practice in the harbor.
Check out Sachin's web site if you just can't get enough of American Samoa.
Click here for short videos that are actually quite large even though they are short clips.
World's Best Wahoo-(UT)Noodle Casserole Recipe
Okay, here's another plug for Sachin's web site which has recently received some well-deserved attention from its webmaster. The new stuff is really funny (and informative). Why this guy is defending alleged criminals instead of writing material for Leno is beyond me.
Life in Decatur has pretty much returned to normal for us. It was great to get back to Tyler, Tully, and Mikey -- we missed them a whole lot. We've been traveling a lot since our return from American Samoa -- mostly to reconnect with our families who we missed a lot. After stopping in Portland on our way home, we hit the Poris Family Reunion in Virginia, hung out at Scott and Liz's engagement party in NoCal, and had a great time visiting Jimmy, Beth, Sammy and the newest Miles: Calvin in Cinci.
When we're not traveling we're hanging out with friends here, going to Beat games, volunteering for PEDS or working on the money pit (it looks a lot better now). It's different here than in Pago. Not better or worse. Just different.
Well, we're leaving tomorrow, so it's time to wrap things up. We've enjoyed our stay here, but we are ready to get home to Tyler and Tully. No new pictures, but we picked up a copy of the police report from when we were burglarized.
I'll probably update the site again when we return home. Plus, I owe Sachin an article for his web site, so if you really really can't get enough, then please check out Sachin's web site. It's cool.
Yesterday we went snorkeling at "The Blue Hole" which is right next to the place where the two airport runways converge. To get there you have to walk a mile along the outside of the airport fence, across rocks, coconut debris, and a whole lotta trash that washes up from the Pala Lagoon. The walk sucks, but the snorkeling is really great. It was a little rough out, but it's deep and there's a lot of coral and fish. We didn't get any pictures, but Sharron came through with these great shots from our trip to Savaii last week. Thanks, Sharron -- we're going to miss you!
We spent last weekend in Savai'i with our friends Sharron, Sachin, Eric and Venu. It was a blast. Eric wrote this article about the trip (and some other lawyer ramblings). Sharron's supposed to get us some photos to put up here -- you'll like them.
Last weekend we were in Ofu for some rest and relaxation. We got stuck there for an extra night because there was some crazy weather going on around here. Tutuila (the island where we live) got hammered by rain and wind, and there was widespread flooding and a few mudslides. Jonathan was on island, and he documented Monday's flooding, etc... The pictures are right here -- you will enjoy the ones of the dead rat floating down our hallway at the hospital. Looks like he's still attached to the mouse trap that nabbed him. Four people were killed in the mudslides, and our friend Jennifer who works at DDW was trapped in a bus that got buried in a mudslide. She's in the hospital now with a broken leg, broken arm and broken pelvis. The Demerol is keeping her in good spirits while she waits for the hospital to decide whether or not they are going to send her off-island for treatment. GET HER OUTTA HERE!!! Oh yeah, those pictures of the flooded office -- that's where we work...
Jonathan took these pictures during Susan and Andy's site visit for the BCCEDP in American Samoa (our camera is still missing).
There will probably be no more photos of American Samoa on our site. Our camera was borrowed yesterday. I don't think we will get it back.
On Saturday we went to Tisa's for some snorkeling and pina coladas with Sharron, Sachin, and Eric. Sachin's the newest public defender on island. He's a real actual vegetarian! At Jeffrey's he asked for a vegetarian recommendation and the Healthy Fish entree was suggested. He got the spaghetti and meatballs without the meatballs.
Here are the rest of the pictures from last week.
Here are some more New Zealand photos that came from Amy's recycleable camera.
Since we returned from New Zealand we've been house and dog sitting for our friends BJ & Eliana. Lluvia and Bianca have been good housemates. Really makes us miss Tyler & Tully.
Here are some more pictures of the pups and also of Amy's paddling team.
We got back from New Zealand on Tuesday. We had a great time with our families! Thank you for meeting us -- it really meant a lot!
On Sunday before going to see "Chicago" at the movie theater, we took a walk around Leone. We've done this many times before, so these pictures might seem like repeats, but the big church is always interesting, especially on Sunday when the parking lot is full. This is what a smashed breadfruit on the sidewalk looks like. More pictures, including Amy's chronicle of the blister on her ankle are right here.
We are headed to New Zealand to meet our families tomorrow -- Yahooooo!
Amy loves her new paddle, but she does not enjoy carrying the canoe out of the water.
We went to Hong Kong for Dr. Bob's birthday and Konnie's farewell (pictured here with Catherine the artist and Jim the pediatrician).
My armpit staph infection is much better now, thank you, as you can see in the picture. If you're a Washington Redskins fan in American Samoa you probably take this bus. The rest of the pics from the last couple weeks are right here.
Congratulations Matt & Doris on the birth of Jason Thomas.
Our friend Konnie, a doctor in the E.R. here, is leaving the island next week. We're not sure who's gonna take care of us when she leaves. Hopefully we're done with our staph infections, so there's a chance we won't need to see a doctor again while we're here.
Aside from a short trip to the Leone Waterfall, we haven't been too busy lately outside of work. Drusilla is the new Data Manager for the American Samoa Breast and Cervical Cancer Early Detection Program! We are really excited to have her on board -- she's making a huge difference already.
The rest of the pics, including a couple from inside the bus are right here.
It's been 2 weeks since we posted any pictures... What have we been up to? Besides working and the usual, we took a little trip over the mountain to Vatia a couple weekends ago. It was kinda rainy, but pretty awesome nonetheless. Here are some more pictures from the last couple weeks on Tutuila.
This past weekend we flew over to Ofu and stayed at the Vaoto Lodge where Marge and Tito Malae took good care of us. We had a really relaxing stay -- hopefully we can make it back over there before we leave American Samoa. The villages are clean, the beach has nice sand, and the snorkeling is great because the outer reef protects you from the waves. Here are some more pictures if you haven't seen enough already.
Note: the little dirt pile pictures were taken before and after the trip to Ofu. They are in our bathroom at home. We've caulked about 5 times already and those suckers keep on breaking through... Maybe we need some better caulk.
Last week was business as usual at the hospital. They are renovating our old office for a group from the hospital, which is why we have moved across the hall.
On Saturday we hiked the Mt. Alava trail in the National Park. It was great -- here are the pictures.
Not too much going on last week. We went out to the tidepool, which is a 20 minute walk across the rocks from Sliding Rock, but didn't take the camera. Had lunch one day at "Don't Drink The Water" which was pretty good. That's where we took this video (627 KB) of Jonathan, who really misses his girlfriend. Luckily he is going to see her in a few days -- he needs to get away for a while.
Here's a picture of one of our roommates at home. And here are our co-workers at work: Moira, Va'asa, and Maryanne (Happy Birthday!).
The rest of the pics from last week.
Last week Tai and Marv adopted another couple of puppies and gave them the names Whitey and Brownie. We've been calling Whitey "Pala" instead. Pala is short for palagi, which, as you know, means "white person." Also, last week was the first time that I purchased a bag o' buns (six for a buck). Yum! Fried dough balls with a jelly filling! Get 'em at the bakery, right up the road from the hospital. Then check right in to the hospital to get your arteries unclogged.
On Thursday night we went over to Maliu Mai for free pupus to celebrate their 2 year anniversary. It's a neat place, but it's hot in there and it's loud. No problem -- just drag your table outside!
Since we had Monday off, we got outta Dodge and spent the weekend in Western Samoa (now known as Samoa) at Coconuts on Friday and Saturday nights, and at Aggie Grey's on Sunday night. Coconuts was really great -- we ate all our meals at the awesome restaurant there, swam in the Gecko shaped saltwater pool, kayaked in the ocean, checked out the local village, and just lazed around. Aggie's is in Apia, which is the biggest city in all of Samoa and American Samoa -- about 40,000 people. They even have a real coffee shop/wine bar called Cappuccino Vineyard that Amy thought was better than Starbucks. They served a great breakfast, and had a yummy banana cake. Yum! Big city luxuries in a not so big city place. There are still some of these guys roaming around, after all...
Last week I took some pictures during my bike ride home from work. Life is really going to change around here when KFC opens. And not for the better.
On Saturday we went to the small island of Aunu'u to check it out. It costs 2 bucks each to take the boat over. We hiked around for a few hours and saw some pretty neat stuff. Then we went to Tisa's on the way back home for some pina coladas. Yum.
Just so you don't think it's all play and no work, here's a picture of a lady burning trash. Lots of people do that here. The only things that get recycled here are Vailima bottles, so just about anything can end up in a pile of burning trash -- cans, plastic bottles, plastic bags, etc... Amy is writing an article for the local paper that talks about the danger of burning trash.
Our jobs at the public health department keep us busy from 7 or 7:30 until 4:30 or so. We've gotten a lot of work done already, but there is plenty to do. The goal is for us to make sure that the work we do will be carried on after we leave. The best thing we can do is to get other people interested in gathering, analyzing and acting on Cancer data. So far one of our best hopes is Dr. Cayari, the Pathologist, who is very much interested in making sure that a cancer registry gets started and maintained. We'll write more about this in the future.
Crip is the latest newcomer to Tai and Marv's place where we're staying. He really looks good now -- you shoulda seen him before.
Last weekend we played Cranium over at Eliana & BJ's house (that's Leti trying to stay awake next to BJ). They're from Gainesville and they started up a Sunday afternoon pickup Ultimate game here at Lyon's Park. The field is really crappy and someone sprains an ankle every week, but it's fun. They made sushi and pizza before the big Cranium game. Very nice!
We also finally went to Tisa's Barefoot Bar on Sunday for some snorkeling and virgin Pina Coladas (it's a long drive back). It was great! The rain didn't even bother us...
On Christmas morning we went for a long walk around our neighborhood, which is the villages of Vailoa and Taputimu. Everyone we saw asked us "Where are you going?" It was funny.
We had Christmas dinner at Eric's place over in Government housing. He's a law clerk who's here for a year. He and Amy played Jewish Geography after we played dominoes.
Sharron was the chef -- she made a really tasty cornish game hen & stuffing -- yum!
Check out the bananas, papayas, and oh so much more, right here.
There are pictures of the landfill, the American Samoa Under 17 National Soccer Team practicing, Fagatele Bay National Marine Sanctuary and so much more right here.
Here is another batch of photos from the last few days. I'm working on an automated way of commenting these things, but for now you'll just have to guess what's been going on!
We really miss the boys, but we know that Mike is doing a great job taking care of them. Tully had him trained real well even before we left Decatur!
Happy Birthday, Mikey!
Our best lead on a place to live is a place called Sliding Rock , which is Tai and Marv's place.
We will be working on a few cancer related tasks during our six month stay in American Samoa.
