Another Update!

Okay, now that all of that fun stuff like not working, having my parents here, and getting off of the island for the first time since I got here eight months ago is over, I can get back to blogging! Horray!

With my first guests on the island, and with my first string of more than three days off in a row, I made a startling discovery: There isn't really that much to do here. Especially if your guests aren't completely obsessed with hiking.

But I asked around a lot, borrowed some travel guides, and even browsed through my pictures on my laptop, and was able to scrape together enough for a satisfying seven days on The Rock¹ and 1.5 days in Indie Samoa². Yeah, that's totally what I was doing the entire time I wasn't updating much, and never, ever playing computer games. Nope, nope.

I must also give credit to my awesome girlfriend who came over and helped with completely spearheaded a massive cleanup of The Nest.³ During said cleanup, she taught me important things, like how my water pitcher-filter had been put together wrong (basically making it an ordinary pitcher for the two months that I had owned it), and how my stovetop OPENS UP for easy cleaning!

OMG!

So anyway, I managed to scrape together nearly everything there was to do on the island, and I think they had a pretty good time. And I got to take some pictures with Mom's camera and transfer them to this laptop, so you get to actually see where we went, and I get to pad out this entry with them.

Friday, July 17th

Go on a driving tour of the entire island, directed by the pastor of Adam's church while Adam is working. See first fautasi race and dancing fafafines at Blue Sky's 10th Anniversary festival.

Including a tour of the National Park and the spectacular views it has to offer:

Buffet dinner of Samoan food at the Tradwinds Hotel. Enjoy oka until you learn that it's raw fish. Take in a show of fiafia dancers while you eat your taro chips.



Saturday, July 18th

Lunch at L&L Hawaiian BBQ. Hike up to the WWII-era cannons, which happen to offer some spectacular views (More pictures of these and others when I get around to them on my Facebook albums).


Realx at Maliu Mai Resort with some cold beverages and enjoy the view.

Sunday, July 19th

Go to church, meet everyone there and have lunch with them and taste the exotic menu at a strange place called "Carl's Jr." Relax at Two-Dollar Beach. Discover an eel that the local kids say is poisonous but probably isn't.


Get tired and go to bed. Write more later.

¹ American Samoa, not the wrestler who happens to be half Samoan. I'm going to dedicate and entire entry to explaining nicknames given by locals.

² "The Independent State of Samoa.™" I guess I'll have to include nicknames that I made up as well.

³ My apartment. It can get a bit messy.