Time To Be A Tourist

Kelly arrived Thursday and it is such fun to be the tour guide. I have really missed him!!

We didn't do much yesterday, a kind of mellow day with a short trip to the American Samoan museum. The time change is kind of a killer those first few days. While it was only 8pm here his body was saying midnight, midnight, sleep, sleep...

We leave this morning to fly to Western Samoa and the islands of Upolu and Savaii. We are staying just a block or so from the LDS temple in a lodge while in Apia on Upolu and then we are basically sleeping out in a fale, open air just a roof and floor with mosquito netting while on the beach in Savaii. At least I hope we are. I have not been able to get confirmation on our fale on the internet, although I have been trying to do so for over 2 weeks. We are now just kinda going with it hoping there is a fale waiting. If not there are lots of places to stay there so we are just winging it.

I can't wait to be a tourist. While I have been here for 2 months almost, I have not been much of a tourist. My first snorkeling outing was last week with a couple girl friends, and I am excited to see as much of the world as possible, both above and below the water line on all the islands in the next week and a half. Kelly is pretty adventurous and is willing to try new foods and sleep wherever so this next few days on these other two islands should be interesting...

We do have a few plans confirmed. We have tonight and Tuesday night confirmed in Apia, and a man I met who is working for the LDS Farms in Apia is taking us to Sauniatu, a historical LDS village about 40 minutes away. I am told it is gorgeous, kind of a garden of eden, all green with waterfalls and that it is historically significant to the church here. Sounds cool, and it is so kind of Brother MacDonald to offer to show us around.

Now that Kelly is here I am basically finished working and am just going to have some fun! I remain a researcher, but only in a very limited fashion. (I do have an interview planned with a couple who were in Western Samoa during the tsunami). Mostly I plan to just be a tourist now.

We will be gone for 4 days, then coming back to this island for a last week of fun in the Samoan sun. There is so much to see all over this beautiful place and I can't wait to take it all in through tourist eyes!

I have the camera battery charged... Pictures to follow :o)