The Faith to Move a Mountain

While most of my posts have had an element of the funny, ironic, or ridiculous, today I am prompted to write a short post on one of the talks given in Sacrament Meeting.
First off let me say that I am attending an international ward. This means that rather than being designated by ward boundaries this ward is a conglomeration of Samoans that have married off islander's, and other people from all over the world that do not speak Samoan. So the entire service is in english. This is a huge boon to those like myself who, after the traditional greeting of "Talofa" which means hello or welcome, would otherwise sit in Sacrament Meeting having no idea what was being said.
With this in mind the speakers in our Sacrament Meeting today were a Samoan woman, her Philippine husband and their six children. I was told that the woman was born into the LDS church, but her husband is a convert of only 4 months. The subject of their talks was "Because of Faith." The husband gave a nice talk, all of the children's talks were cute, and the older boys were impressive in their recitations of numerous scriptures with no notes to guide them, but when the woman spoke it really touched my heart.
She said, "In the scriptures it speaks of faith. Scripture tells us that with the faith of a mustard seed, we can move mountains." She paused and then spoke; "Well, I have never witnessed the removal of an actual mountain, yet I have seen a mountain of despair moved and replaced with hope. I have witnessed a mountain of sin moved and replaced with repentance and peace. I have seen a mountain of the unseen, unknown, and unexplained, moved and replaced with simple assurance. I have seen a mountain of hard times and discouragement moved and replaced by gratitude and a sure knowledge that this is indeed the best of times." She went on to say that because of faith she had seen miracles in her life and the lives of others. She ended her talk by saying "Surely we have all witnessed many mountains moved."
This talk really spoke to my heart today. This week has been hard, and I have been feeling a little homesick, a little weak in my resolve. I have had some disappointments, and have stood looking up at my own mountains. Yet, as she spoke I realized that this week I have also seen mountains move. I have seen my own feelings of wondering why I am even here move and be replaced by a great sense of accomplishment. I have felt mountains of homesickness move and be replaced by a welcome smile and a genuine happiness expressed by another that I am here. I have witnessed in myself the mountain of feeling a lack of direction move and be replaced by a renewed drive to make a difference.
While I miss all of my loved ones and the comforts of home, I have continued faith that I am here for a reason. Indeed this sister is right. Mountains do move. Thanks for the reminder!

I'll take corny jokes for $500 please Alex...

Why did the chicken cross the road?

While the main road through town is quite well traveled, at the blazing speed of 25mph, and at certain times of the day actually has traffic jams, some of the travelers along the road aren't what you might expect or what I may have seen in other places I have lived. Animals, animals wandering everywhere.

Today I traveled a half of a mile and counted 11 dogs along the way. There were two packs of 4, and then 3 "lone wolves" so to speak. The dog situation here is seriously out of hand. Many have mange, fleas, are starving, or in other ways sick. All the females are either pregnant or just were, and while I understand many Samoan families love puppies, once the dog becomes a problem, as they ALWAYS do, many dogs are just left to fend for themselves, or if one becomes a nuisance, they throw rocks at it until it finally runs off. Yet as I now realize, since I have now been here for all of three weeks, the wild and stray dogs aren't all mean and scary. Many are entertaining to watch in action.

They are actually quite wily, dodging cars, and scrapping around for food. I saw this one with the ACME product catalog, out in front of the McDonald's parking lot. I think he may be plotting a way to get happy meals by taking out the next large family filled van in the drive-thru.

The chickens have basically suffered the same fate. Many years ago I am told, there were chickens here, domesticated, egg laying, producing chickens. Now there are just wild chickens running around peoples yards as well as up and down the street. The good news is that they keep the snail population down which would likely otherwise take over the island.

There are also a few cows on the island. I hear at one time the church had a dairy here, but since most Samoans do not drink milk or really like cheese or other milk products, as they have never been exposed to much due to the exorbitant costs, the dairy was not a money maker, and closed. Thankfully they are not wandering the roads.

So funny to see the animals just walking down the street, and even more entertaining because no one stops for chickens in the road, or dogs for that matter. Needless to say, the dogs are fast, as are the few living cats, and the slow thinking chicken who hesitates, unsure why he is crossing the proverbial road, is surely lost!

Well of course there has to be a hurricane while I am here...

I survived

Hurricane Wilma 2011!

In this satellite pic taken at 6AM today, I am inside the little black circle in the middle of all the red. YIKES!!

Frankly, the irony of the fact that I am here in American Samoa to study Posttraumatic Growth, after the island experienced the trauma of the tsunami last year, only to experience a hurricane myself today, is not lost on me.

As a matter of fact I just may take my own posttraumatic survey later ;o)

Early this morning, I experienced my first a hurricane. Yep, a hurricane!! Hurricane Wilma to be exact. It was crazy!!!!! We had over 24 hours of warning, though, and Ma'O didn't seem to be too concerned at first, and since he was born here I wasn't worried. Then the storm reports kept coming in and then he decided maybe he should board up the house. Ali had graver concerns, and got out their 72 hour kits. Realizing that my 72 hour kit is in the trunk of my car and not conveniently available, I began to pack up my backpack with some stuff to survive a day or so in case we had to be evacuated.

We each had Top Ramen, a couple granola bars, two bottles of water, and a can of tuna (yes, tuna,which if you know me you know that I would have had to be starving to eat, but I figured I could give it to someone else, or maybe trade it like with a sack lunch in school), along with a change of clothes, a book, a flashlight, my camera, my toothbrush, mosquito spray, a hat, a towel, and misc wipes, Band-Aids and medicines (thanks in part to what was left of Diane's thoughtful travel kit.) I was packed and ready, so I decided to go to bed and try to get some rest.

At about 4:00AM I woke up to hear the wind outside my window. It was crazy, blowing so hard that it sounded like more of a scream than wind. The electricity had gone out so it was pitch black in my room and I couldn't even see my hand in front of my face. I took an extra pillow and put it on the bed between the window and myself just in case the window was blown in or broken by flying branches or debris. I thought the pillow might protect me from being hit by blowing shards of glass, and as a testament to the fact that I can sleep through almost anything, I went back to sleep.

At about 6:15 I think the storm was the at it's peak, and a huge tree fell right outside of my window. I woke up for that, but I couldn't see anything. It was so loud that I thought maybe the storage shed that was right next to the tree, had blown away, but it was so dark I couldn't tell what had happened. By 9 AM the storm stopped and it was super quiet outside. I looked out my window and saw the tree, and went out into the living room to see what my host and hostess (Ma'O, and Ali) were doing. It was quiet outside, too quiet, kind of creepily quiet. The leaves of the trees weren't even moving, and the rain had stopped. I realized that we must be in "the eye of the storm." I was right, and according to the radio there was going to be 3 hours "in the eye", then the storm would continue. So I decided to go out exploring a little. The damage was mostly all to the trees. Many banana palms and bread fruit trees were broken in half, and branches, bread fruit, mangoes, and coconuts were everywhere.

When I returned home, we all sat on the porch for a bit, and right on cue, at 12:30 it started blowing again and raining like crazy.

I got a few pictures of the second half of the storm, during the daylight from the porch before it got really bad, although I don't think the second hit was quite as bad as the first.

It wasn't too scary, well maybe a little the night before when it was soooooo dark, and sooooo loud. I have seen lots of monsoon storms in Arizona, but even the worst of those was nothing in comparison to this!

This evening after the warnings had expired, the electricity was back on, and I had notified my family that I was fine, I went out exploring with Sister Webb, from the mission home next door.

While the home I am staying in was beautifully boarded up with painted plywood perfectly fitted to the large ocean facing windows,

many homes used what they could get their hands on, and most had various things nailed across their windows. We saw corrugated steel, doors, signs, misc wood scraps, and chicken wire. Necessity is after all, the mother of invention.

On the way home from our walk, Sister Webb and I were caught in a sudden rain shower. A common experience for me here, and I have been quite wet on numerous occasions! Yet, as you can see from the bad bathroom mirror pic, that I may be wet, but I am fine, and gratefully unscathed, with the exception of a very, very bad hair day!

Storm? Just kidding... but there is lots of excitement here!

Well the only exciting thing that happened was the part where we boarded up the one wall of the lanai while blowing rain was coming in soaking the floors.

Honestly though, I'd really rather not have too much excitement while I am here, well at least not the storm kind, since it is hurricane season!

Truthfully this week has been full of another kind of excitement. I have watched a woman I work with, Henna, transform from a quiet, withdrawn, woman with low self esteem into someone who is outgoing, excited, and confidant.

Henna started her own business, selling pancake's, 7 for $1. Here they are not flat and grilled like at home, these are more like banana flavored muffin balls that are deep fried deliciousness. Yum!

Henna lives with her husband, two children (ages 2 & 4, her 4 year old is partially blind) and her sister in one rented room in a slum. Minimum wage on the island is around $4 an hour, and she works part-time for the foundation I am helping, which is an amazing job at $5 and hour. Her husband is sometimes employed. She feeds her family of five on $40 a week. They are Tongan so receive no governmental assistance. I have no idea how she does it. (Please remember the price of groceries. Eggs are $3 a dozen, milk $12 a gallon, a head of lettuce $3, etc...) But this week she has had an extra infusion of cash, and self confidence with her new little business. In one day, with the help of her sister she earned $13. She was so excited to tell me all about it that it brought tears to my eyes to watch her. I am excited to see how this sudden self sufficiency will change her life and that of her family for the better. I have already seen how it has changed her demeanor. She suddenly sees a light at the end of what has been a very dark tunnel. Go Henna!

So, yesterday I spent my morning teaching 8 other women how to put together a business plan so they can apply for loans and start their own businesses too. (As if I am a business major or something) but I soon realized that I didn't need to know much. I studied the "Where There Are No Jobs" program book for a few hours, and am aware that if I know just more than the ladies I can be helpful. Plus, I can share some math/bookkeeping help and practical advice. I am hopeful that maybe 5 of them will receive 2 month loans of $50 to $100 each in the coming weeks, and hopefully do as well their first week as Henna has. Now that's the kind of excitement I am up for seeing while I am here!!!!!

Tropical Depression?

Does this mean the entire area is feeling a little blue?

Ha Ha Ha

Just an FYI to my friends and family, I am told by my hosts that during a storm like this they often lose power and even when the power comes back on, the internet cables are buried quite shallow and flood easily causing days of no internet. Currently the only concession that has been made for the storm is that the lanai on the house was letting in too much blowing rain on one side, so it is all tarped and boarded up now. Not to worry, we have lots of groceries and flashlights, and I am perfectly happy and safe, 2 miles inland and completely comfortable. The storm that they have been predicting to carry over 60 mph winds has been reduced to 20-30 mph and the warning is set to expire by 9am tomorrow. The whole thing may just pass in the night with no sign of ever being here by morning, or may wipe out our power & internet for days.

As it has been pointed out to me, when the weatherman says that a storm will hit the coast of the US, the chance of accuracy is higher because the land mass is so great, so while it may not hit EXACTLY where they thought, it will likely still hit somewhere close. Here, weather forecasting is an attempted prediction that a storm will hit an island that is only about 77 sq miles, or about the size of Washington DC. Basically the head of a pin out here in this huge ocean... so, if the storm doesn't track EXACTLY as predicted the island is easily missed completely!

Since I know about now my dad is reading this and saying to me in his head, or perhaps to my mom, "Skip the labor pains and give me the baby would you?"

Dad, here is the baby:

I didn't want any of you to see something about a "Tropical Depression" in this area, in the news and worry. If you don't hear from me and can't contact me for a couple of days, I am fine!

Love you all, and I will take photos if anything exciting happens, and if not I will let you know that too.

"OFF" Affecting Cognitive Abilities...

After 15 or so ant bites, from ants so small I may need to get some reading glasses to see them biting me, and a few mosquitos who got in a few nips, not to mention hearing horror tales of Denghui Fever, I have begun wearing this new body spray. It has the light and lovely scent of DEET. Now this is not just any OFF, it is "Smooth and Dry", ironically two things I aspire to be while here in the beauty, bugs, & humidity of Samoa. Each day I get out of the shower and dry off, then spray my arms and legs, anything exposed, with this OFF Smooth and Dry mosquito spray, and then I get dressed for the day. Then late afternoon I give myself another fine misting. I did not even bring perfume or scented lotions with me as I was informed that those just attract bugs, but I am glad I brought 3 cans of OFF. Can you get DEET poisoning from daily use? Could this explain why I have been struggling to finish the excel spreadsheet I have been working on for days, or even this sentence? Perhaps it is affecting my cognitive abilities? Let's just say that while I cannot prove a causal relationship to what feels like a lower IQ, I believe if I work hard enough I might find a correlation. If not I am going to alter the results of my study and say I did anyway. Think any lawyers out there would pay me big bucks? If Dr. Wakefield can do it with vaccinations and Autism, I'm pretty sure I can do it with OFF and my own IQ.

Sliced turkey please...

While the deli counter does not seem like it would be much of an adventure, shopping here is always interesting, to say the least. Price and service are often both dependent not on what you need but on who you are, or at least who you are related to.

"Please pick up a little sliced turkey on your way home," Ali said as I was leaving for the gym, followed by "Stop at KS Mart if you would, they have a deli, and maybe get some whole wheat hoagie rolls as well." Seemed like a simple enough request, and certainly I have accomplished such a task many times in my life. So... hot, sweaty and discouraged I left the gym to head to KS Mart. This store does not have prices on things. Literally at least 50% of the merchandise has no price. It has been explained to me that Samoans are impulse buyers, especially when it comes to food, and also too proud to ask for prices so as not to seem poor. So with no prices on things, the store can ask $7 a pound for Ecuadorian bananas (even though local bananas are in season and really cheap) and people will pay it when they are at the register even though they are horrified by the cost, just to save face.

Well anyway, I found the deli counter, but there was no clerk to be seen. I did the obligatory "hello...hello..." asked a couple of people, but still, no one. Finally I went up to the register, and to my surprise, the cashier literally screamed across the store for someone named Loli to help me. I went back to the deli, and there was a woman, on my side of the counter, but she could not slice meats, and when I asked for sliced turkey she tried to give me a container full of turkey tail.

Turkey tail is a traditional Samoan food, mostly fat, and it looked nasty all cold and coagulated in the clear plastic deli container. I told her that I was hoping for sliced turkey, and she began speaking to what looked like no one behind the counter in Samoan.

Then I saw them...two women sitting on the floor mostly hidden behind a large table. They had been there all along. They had to have heard me ask around for them, heard my "hello's", as well as a couple of other people's that hadn't been so tenacious and were now gone. Certainly they heard the clerk yell, yet they remained there talking and laughing sitting on the floor with their backs to me.

Customer service is very different here. It really means you might end up lucky enough to be a customer since, you may or may not be served, at some point or not, depending on many things; ie., the weather, mood swings, astrological readings, whether or not you are related to the clerk, (which may help or hurt your standing, depending), and of course whether you are palongie or islander (I have found price is quite dependent on this last piece of information as well).

Sadly, in my case it looked like the weather was bad, someone's mood was swinging, my horoscope must have read "you will not be getting any help today", I am not related to anyone here, and I am very obviously and obnoxiously palongie. Yikes! No wonder my deli friends had no intention of slicing anything.

I am told Samoans will never be mean directly, they just pretend that you do not exist, and they can't be bothered; more of a passive resistance to customer service. I finally said "I can see you, you know." This seemed to annoy them enough to force one of them to push herself up from the floor, put on the plastic gloves and slice some turkey. I nicely said "3/4 pounds please," and then I smiled and thanked my new friend when I got 1 & 1/2 pounds instead. I carried it up to the counter, asked the price of a package of cheese, which caused the Samoan woman in line behind me to giggle, but since I had no way of knowing if it was $5 or $500, I thought it was an important question.

Finally, over 30 minutes, and a couple new friends later, I felt a rush of adrenaline and a real kinship with those early people, the conquering hunter gatherers, as I finally left the store with hoagie rolls, sliced turkey and some cheese.

Gym/Sauna

One of my goals while I am in Samoa is to walk/hike and get into good hiking shape getting a jump on all my Utahan hiking buddies while they are still experiencing winter this year. So, here I am in paradise, thinking I am going to take a nice walk, or go hiking, and I am circumvented by scary dogs.

I have already been barked at by a pack of four, and I hopped into the car quickly.

Here on the island lots of people have dogs. Dogs that they do not fix, feed, or fence. Luckily rabies does not exist here, but the idea of even being bit by a hungry scary dog keeps me from venturing out very far on foot.

So in order to reach my, get in hiking shape while I'm here goal, I decided to try the gym.

With directions, keys to the car, my gym clothes on, and my water bottle in hand, I headed out.

When I arrived I paid the $6 day use fee, and hopped on an elliptical machine.

The gym was a small building behind the swap meet, one wall had small high windows, no glass only screens, and there was one open sliding glass window next to where I was. Although I felt that $6 was high for a dirty gym with run down equipment, with my goal of fitness in mind I began my work out. I set the machine to full incline, with low resistance and began to quickly "climb". Within moments I was sweating. Really sweating. Considering I rarely sweat, I thought, 'this feels kind of good, like I am somehow accomplishing something.' For the first 15 minutes, I worked away to the dance mix on my ipod.

The air in the gym was so hot! Although I thought I might pass out, with my $6 in mind I was not quitting, I wanted to get my money's worth. I adjusted the ramp down a bit and increased the resistance to full, making it harder to "climb" but slowing down the walk considerably with the thought that I might keep going, but cool off a bit. As I drank and drank, sweating and sweating I looked around at all the locals who were also sweating profusely, and realized that while there are 9 ceiling fans none of them were running.

At 23 minutes I had to stop. I could not take it anymore. I went to the counter and sweating profusely my face beet red, I asked the cute girl why the fans were not on.

Please understand that it was 91 degrees with 89% humidity outside. Inside with no ocean breeze, and a bunch of hot sweaty people, it felt like it was 150 degrees with 120% humidity. The open window next to me was actually collecting condensation.

So, the cute girl, in answer to my question, smiled sweetly and said, no... we don't turn on the fans. The customers don't like them on.

I walked away thinking...SERIOUSLY??? I am dying here, and I can take the heat after all, I have some serious heat credentials! I was born in Phoenix, AZ. I have been in a convertible Volkswagon sans air conditioner, on the freeway, stuck in traffic, top down sitting in the sun, in 122 degree heat, with crying kids, but this...this hot sweaty humid heat, was too much!

I conceded defeat having experienced both the gym and the sauna at the same time, and tail between my sweaty legs I finished my bottle of water and headed off to my next adventure.

The deli counter of the local grocery store...

My island love affair...,

Pineapple

My island love affair...,

I had no idea what was coming my way when my hosts sliced that first one! I mean I have had pineapple before, fresh pineapple, lovely juicy fresh pineapple in Hawaii even, but these are like none other. I drive down the road seeing them laying there on the fruit stands, I hear them calling my name from the kitchen counter, and the slices sing to me from their container in the refrigerator. I am obsessed!

Some things I did not know:

Pineapples are not really a single fruit, but a cluster of up to 200 fruitlets, and growing them is a huge time investment with only a small return. The plants

take two years to become productive, flower for only one day and produce only one fruit at a time, and usually not more than two pineapples ever. Once I realized this the $3 pricetag on a lovely fresh pineapple somehow seemed like a great deal. After all it took 2 years to grow and I am really paying $3 for 200 fruitlets, saying it like that makes it suddenly sound cheap!

No wonder this amazing fruit has become the object of my affections.

A little pineapple trivia:

• Pineapples were originally called "anana", which means "excellent fruit" in Caribbean idioms, and were later called "pineapple" by European explorers who found the flesh to be like an apple, and the appearance similar to a pinecone.
• Approximately three pineapples are needed to make one can of slices
• They were so rare in antiquity that they were given the name of "Fruit of Kings"
• Both root and fruit are eaten and applied medicinally as an anti-inflamatory.
• The pineapple design has been associated with "Welcome" in some cultures, where it is carved into decorative woodworking.
• Who...lives in a pineapple under the sea?
  
  
  
  Sponge Bob must be such a nice and
  welcoming guy that
  he chose to live in one.

George Washington was seemingly inspired by the fruit.

And the beautiful pineapple is obviously the reason for Mona Lisa's famous smile.

All moderation aside, the bottom line is, I am in love!!! Luckily for me, the type of pineapple grown locally on the island has an unusually high sugar content and low acid.

Translated: It is super sweet like candy and does not cause canker sores, so you can eat it, and eat it, and eat it with no adverse affects.

I am living proof of this since I have no self control and have eaten no less than a half pineapple myself everyday for 2 weeks, sometimes more. Delish!!

On the Road to Amouli

My first day of work...

I drove the two women who work for the foundation, Nia and Henna to Amouli, a small village on the other end of the island, an aprox. 26 mile trip that took us an hour each way.

They laughed at all the questions I had for them on the way, and I am quite sure went home to their families at the end of the day to tell them about the crazy palongie woman they spent the morning with.

Nia is 39, and has lived on the island since she was 2 months old. She has never even been off island, and was fascinated by my interest in the ocean. Finally she said, "I have seen the cruise ship people taking pictures of the ocean. Why would someone want a picture of the ocean?" So I told her that for many people this might even be the first time they had been to or seen the ocean, and that it was so beautiful here. She said "Some people do not live by the ocean on the mainland?" I told her that for many it could be 2-3 days drive to the ocean from their homes. She was amazed by this idea, and seemed to have a hard time comprehending how big the United States actually is, and how few people live on the coast. Here the mountains are so steep that the people only live along the coastline. Inland here consists of not more than 2 miles from the ocean, so driving for days to get to the beach was inconceivable.

As we were driving by these gorgeous beaches I noticed that no one was swimming, so I asked she and Henna why. They explained that the people here only swim on holidays. When I asked why only on holidays, they said "that is what we do." So, I asked "Why not swim when it is a beautiful sunny day, why not enjoy the beach, why not snorkel and see what is under the waves?" They both giggled and said, "because this is what we do, and we think the ocean is hot." Again, culturally tradition is valued so highly, and never questioned. Obviously I was not born into this culture, so I asked again; "But why?" Nia finally smiled at me as if I was a silly child and said "you should ask in your ward to find someone to swim with you. Also there are palongie men who swim on Saturdays." I laughed and said, "so I should find a palongie silly enough to swim?" She grinned and said "Yes, I think so." I told her that she takes the sea for granted, and that she does not even hear the waves anymore. She smiled and said "You are right."

Oh Nia...

I am so sorry that the sea

Does not sing to you, as she does to me

I regret that you do not hear

The soft cadence of waves in your ear

I lament that you don't know

The beauty of creatures down below

For few things feel so carefree

As the alluring song of the sea

Palongie?

Ocean view

The yard

and the mountains in the distance

My home away from home for a while.

I am staying in this beautiful house about 2 miles from the ocean. The downstairs portion of the house is separate from the main home, and is rented out. From the screened family room, and balcony, there are lovely views, and you can see the ocean off in the distance. It is very lush and green here, and it rains often. In fact it rained twice today, and I had to run through it once. Interestingly, although it was raining pretty hard, it was so warm and humid that it didn't seem wetter than the air without the drops had been only moments before.

Two new terms I learned today...

Palongie= white, off islander (that would be Me)

Sah= an imposed curfew, or time in the village when you cannot be out in the streets, and "should be home praying." This takes place daily from 6:15-6:30 PM, and there are men who patrol the streets in color coordinated lava lava's making sure that no one is out and about in the village at this time. While many believe this is a waste of time, tradition dictates that it continue, and tradition, above all else is important in this culture, or so I am told.

The grocery store...

We went to a couple of stores, and I was reminded of grocery shopping in Mexico. Very limited options indeed! The meat and chicken was freezer burnt as Ali explained that thawing on the ship over here, and then refreezing in the store is a real and common problem. I got yogurt, (a small, off brand, single serving, container of strawberry) for $1.60. A gallon of milk, when it is actually available here, costs $12.00, and gas is $3.75 per gallon. That should make all of you feel like you got a great deal at the grocery store and gas station this week! Topping it off, much of what is on the shelves is either very close to, or past its expiration date.

Then, when we went to check out, Ali handed over her debit/credit card, and the girl walked over to the one machine they have to process a card, and swiped. We waited, and there was no answer. She tried again, and still nothing. We were there for 10-15 minutes, along with another "Palongie" woman who was also holding up the other line. Everyone else patiently waited as the clerks took turns at the machine trying to process both of the cards. Eventually they got through, and we took our very expensive groceries and left.

Food stuff...

I had some lovely raisin toast and fresh fruit for breakfast. Lunch was curried chicken, and papaya from the tree in the yard, also good, and Ali and her husband Phil took me out to dinner at the local chinese food restaurant. Phil (Ali's husband) ordered before we arrived, and got some really good vegetable egg drop soup, (by far the best I ever have had) some pepper shrimp, lightly breaded and peppered, but with the legs and skin intact which made it interesting to eat, a plate of egg foo young, and lastly, two fish. Two whole Parrot fish to be accurate, battered and deep fried, and you just broke off chunks of meat from the fish with your fingers to eat it. If you know how much I do not love either fish or egg, then you would be proud that I had some of everything and I found it all actually quite tasty. The fish really did taste very much like chicken. It was whole however, so I tried not to look the fish in the eye when I tore off a chunk from behind his fin. It wasn't nearly as bad as I imagined it might be, and I found it very good, for fish.

It is 11PM here now, which is 3AM according to my body clock. I think I will call it a day!

Manuia le po (Good Night!)

Hello Samoa... Here I come!

Unbelievable! I will be in the air tomorrow morning by 8 AM, on my way to Oahu, then to Honolulu, then to Pago Pago, American Samoa. The whole thing still seems very surreal.

I have more mosquito spray than most mini-marts, a small fan for my room, and four Benadryl sticks (I hear the mosquitos are fierce, and hopefully these things will help me avoid being bit.) Then there is the Tums, Immodium, Dayquil, Nyquil, Sudafed, Neosporin, Bandaids, vitamins, Asthma meds, Sunscreen, etc... that fill my second suitcase. Along with the new snorkel gear that I can't wait to try out, and all the new cotton tops and skirts, and sandals that will feel so welcome compared to a wool coat, scarf and gloves. My toe nails are polished in a lovely argyle plaid, and I believe I am finally packed and travel ready.

I am feeling a little nervous, but mostly about the very long flights, and the fact that I will be leaving the house at 5:30 AM, and will not arrive until 2 AM my time. That's a long day of traveling!!

Thanks to Candace's sweet mother-in-law, Diane, I have a perfect little travel day pack including snacks, wet-wipes, ibuprofen, disposable toothbrush, etc. Thanks Diane, you are soooo thoughtful!!

I had lunch with my Grandma, mom, daughter and grandson today. So fun to be there, all five generations of us. Just beautiful! My sweet grandma made me smile when she said she was concerned about my safety. I assured her that American Samoa is a US territory and that I will be perfectly safe. After a little more discussion, we finally figured out that her real worry was that I would be taken by head hunters. I told her that they wouldn't want me anyway... empty head.

Seriously? Don't worry, I think the head hunters of American Samoa likely switched over to eating Spam quite sometime ago!! :o)

Truly Grandma, I am a little worried too! Not for my safety, but perhaps for my sanity. I fear I will not like the food. I fear that I may be eaten, not by headhunters but by mosquitos. I fear I may be homesick. I fear I will miss someone too much. I fear things will be different than home and I will not know how to adapt. I fear I will not know the language and some will not be kind. I fear that I will not be accepted enough for others to let me into their lives. And yet, I too believe...

"Twenty years from now you will be more disappointed by the things that you didn't do than by the ones you did do. So throw off the bowlines. Sail away from the safe harbor. Catch the trade winds in your sails. Explore. Dream. Discover." Mark Twain

Hello Samoa... Here I come!

On a scale from one to ten......ELEVEN... is just better!

I read a facebook post by a friend that said "On a scale from one to ten......ELEVEN... is just better! Happy New Year 2011!" I liked the sentiment, and yes, ELEVEN is just better! I am confident that this year is going to be one of the best years ever!

I am here in Phoenix, and I am freezing! Phoenix is having unconditionally cold weather, and my unconditionally cold clothing was left in storage in Utah in preparation for Samoa. So, seriously... I'm freezing!

Well, it's five days and counting until I hop on that plane, and I find I am starting to get a little emotional about leaving my loved ones for 2 months! Really makes me appreciate the sacrifice so many make when going on a mission for 2 years! My hesitance to leave loved ones is however, currently overpowered by my desire to get warm. Only five more days of "cold feet" (literally) and I will be on my way.