Fagatele Bay and Thanksgiving

     I'll start with a couple videos of Fagatele Bay, mainly because I uploaded them first and can't figure out how to post around them too well.  Without further ado, Fagatele Bay:

Here's another video, a panorama of the bay:

      I'll pass over work for a few days, and will try to make that a post in and of itself.  Let's talk Thanksgiving.  They do celebrate the holiday here; let no excuse for a day off and a feast go unused.  My kind Chief PD, Ruth, invited me over to her place for Thanksgiving dinner.  This came as something of a surprise to her, as until Wednesday she was going to the in-laws for dinner.  Somehow that changed and she was to host dinner.  We stopped several times on the way home for supplies.  That's not as easy as it sounds.  Stores don't carry everything; even when they are supposed to carry something, they are often out, while another store somewhere down the road has lots.  So shopping is hit & miss; you have to make several stops to get several things.  It's different down here.

     So I arrive at the appointed hour to find Junior, Ruth's Samoan husband, roasting a whole pig on a spit near the back fale.  I didn't bring my camera, but picture a whole pig with a stick through it from head to, umm, tail, turning slowly over the coals.  When done they cut it up on a bed of banana leaves.  The skin was a delicacy, kinda crunchy almost like peanut brittle, but with some fat on it.  I tried some, had to.  I also had some palisami, maybe spelled wrong, which is taro leaves wrapped around a dressing made of coconut milk, onions and stuff.  They also called it Samoan spinach, and it did resemble cooked spinach in taste and texture.  It was actually very good, the stuffing was delicious.  Junior is proud of his palisami, and righteously so.

     Ruth, being American, made turkey, mashed potatoes, dressing, cran sauce and a pumpkin cake of sorts (that rated an A+).  Someone also made a ham.  There was taro (everywhere here, it's a starchy root veggie much like a potato).  Lots of people came and it's a small house, so everyone grabbed a plate and sat wherever.  I ate out on the fale with the guys.  So while it wasn't a Norman Rockwell look, it was a true Thanksgiving dinner, with a Samoan flair.

     OK, I also had raw fish made by Junior - it was meaty, in a sauce with some veggies, and lime juice.  Junior claims that the lime juice "cooks" the fish.  I don't know, but I ate a bunch and I'm still here several days later.  I won't say I'm a fan, but I did have some.  I drew the line at bat.  An injured bat turned up - the big kind that fly around everywhere, so the men cooked it and ate it.  They claimed it tastes a lot like chicken, but I am unable to verify.  I tried to ask if it was much the same as eagle, but no one got that one . . .

    Cyndi, I promised that when you come down here I would buy a pig for Junior to cook in the traditional Samoan way, in the ground with hot rocks.  The pigs cost about $160 so that was no small offer.  He said OK if he cooks it, then we all go over to our place to eat it.  So we'll see about that.  Palisami too, and taro roots.  Everyone wants to meet you, I've talked you up pretty good down here.  You aren't yet a god to them, but they want to see how you manage to walk on water.

     Friday I bought a car - here's a photo:

The Batmobile.  Trust me, it looks far better here than in reality.

I call it the Batmobile.  It's what they euphemisticaly call an "island car".  It's really something of a wreck (OK, it's a POS but it runs, mostly).  I got it Friday, it wouldn't start Sunday (battery cable loose), it started today, tomorrow, who knows?  Whether it last 6 months, or I dump it for something else, will have to see.  I miss my Infiniti G35 so much!  But, it did get Kelly (my PD colleague here) and I out to Fagatele Bay.  It came with insurance through September.  Cheap rates, but I don't want to know how little they would pay on a claim.

     Fagatele Bay is near where I live, but on undeveloped family land.  The US Park Service has rights and it's a National Marine Sanctuary.  So we can go out there, but on a trail through private land that requires permission from the guy who lives there.  He quizzed me, but eventually let us through - which he has to do since he gets paid to let people through, but that's a tough argument to make standing out in the middle of god knows where with this guy, his family, a bunch of Samoan dogs snarling, and whatever else around.  I felt vaguely like I was in a scene from Deliverance.  But we got there, here are some photos and the videos are above:

Fagatele Bay from the ridge above

Fagatele Bay from the beach

Ditto, looking straight out

Kelly on the beach.  I'm at one end.  It's tiny.

From above, this is Larson's Bay

Mystery plant, everywhere, not edible, beautiful flowers

Seed pods for Mystery Plant

Orchid in cleft in rock cliff

The trail to beach.  This makes it look easy.  It's steep!

Native wildlife, a tree snail

Fagatele Bay cannot be accessed, other than this tiny beach on the trail that runs about straight downhill, as described.  Boats maybe, but the surf is rough and we saw no one around anywhere.  There's another bay, same kind of access, on the other side of the point, Larson's Bay (those darned Norwegians are everywhere).  I plan to go there soon.  That one can be walked to, by a longer trail, from the Turtle and Shark area.  It has a bigger beach area, and occasionally someone else is there.  But really nice too.  You can usually snorkel there.

     I want to post soon about life here - the people, the churches, and also the legal system.  As to the latter, think about English practice in the mid 1800's and you'll be close, it's pretty medieval.  But I did get my pro hac vice signed, so I can appear in Court (finally) until my formal Bar approval comes through.  Yippee.

     That's it for now.   I'll leave you with last night's sunset:

White wine, or red, to compliment this?

     All for now from American Samoa, about which my new colleague's wife Sarah says: it's the land "where nothing is ever easy."

Sorry, Charlie

     Along the south/eastern shore of American Samoa is a rather large area of undeveloped property. Much of it is owned by the Fuimaono family, who has allowed a portion to become the Fagatele Bay Marine Sanctuary, a National Wildlife Area.   I plan to hike up there soon, perhaps this weekend. There are two scenic bays with reefs, surrounded by cliffs and jungle. Snorkeling is said to be good there. But I did get out to the eastern edge to view the rocky shore with the waves crashing. There are numerous blowholes here. The coral shoreline is full of caves, holes, indentations and weird formations. The waves roll in, pushing water into these spaces with great pressure, so sometimes water comes shooting up like a geyser, or air is blown out. It's pretty spectacular when the seas are active. There are a couple smaller blowholes right where I live. Life is good.

     This area is called Turtle and Shark, after an old legend. There are lots of old legends, so I won't claim to know this one well, but two lovers jumped in and turned into a turtle and a shark hereabouts, I think. I didn't actually see either a turtle or a shark, but I did see some awesome scenery. Here are some photos:

Shoreline at Turtle and Shark

Waves crashing, looking toward Sanctuary area.

Looking out toward the sea.

Cliffs; don't jump!

Can't quite get enough.

     I later went out to Tisa's with Steph, another lawyer in our PD office. Tisa's is unique; on an island with virtually no tourist industry, Tisa's caters to we palagis quite well. There's a bar, under a thatched roof, open to the sea right in front of you. They make the best pina colada this side of paradise. There's a sandy beach to walk, swim,or snorkel. Best of all, it's open Sunday when almost everything else is closed off.  It was raining and, yes, cold (relatively, I still wore shorts). There are a couple of beach sleeping fales to rent for a night on the beach, if you want. Any questions about Tisa's, or for that matter the island?   You can ask Candyman, the laid-back bartender who is also Mr. Tisa.  Or Tisa herself; they live across the street and are always around.  Since it was raining pretty hard this day I don't have many photos; here's the entrance:

Tisa's on the Beach

     I test drove a car Saturday, may buy it, but that led to the Great Samoan Car Wash Caper. See, I'm driving down the main road in my prospective buggy; I see a bunch of kids, a church group, with a sign advertising a Car Wash – make a donation. Well, I know a couple of the adults there, Samoan neighbors and acquaintances, and they beckon me in for a car wash. So I return the tester and drive up with my boss's car, loaned for the day. I figure, great, I can donate and also return a clean car to her. I pull up, give them $10 and then notice – gee, funny, for a car wash, I don't see any hoses, water, sponges, etc. So I ask – just where is the car supposed to be washed? Then comes the realization that there is of course no car wash, only the donation part is true. This is a church group, wonder how bad it would be if it was something more sinister, like maybe dance line or something?  Big laugh on the palagi, and I laughed too. Had to, it cost me $10.  I drove by a couple more times that day and they beckoned me over, but fool me once and not twice . . .  I later found out that the Great Samoan Car Wash is an institution here, some days you have to run a gauntlet of maybe a half dozen or so. The odd thing is that washing a car is silly here – it's gonna rain in an hour or so anyway. Why bother?

     Last, but certainly not least, is the highlight of any trip to American Samoa, and here it is direct from me to you:

Great taste and tastes great, together at last.

Ground zero, the home of Charlie the Tuna. Sorry, Charlie, you gotta stay here.

     I'm close to getting a car, and my boss has invited me to her family's Samoan Thanksgiving. They have turkey, I think, but also roast a pig. Will post again soon, likely after the weekend. Happy Turkey Day everyone!

The Sporting Life

    Let's take a quick look at sports in American Samoa. Paradoxically, they don't do many water sports here; we palagis will snorkel swim, and there is a bit of surfing. The Samoans do some fishing, mainly with nets from the shore. There is no hunting, since there are no mammals here to hunt. In fact, the only mammals around are huge bats which fly around mainly at dusk. When I say huge, think the size of ducks. These are big bats. But harmless, no vampires here. No snakes either. They do canoe racing, but that's mainly once a year on their Flag Day. These are huge boats with about 50 paddlers. When that happens, I'll be there to watch and my faithful readers will get a full account.

FOOTBALL – that's the Samoan love. You know that they send quite a few players to the NFL; and many more get college scholarships for football. I saw, in a small village still reeling from tsunami damage, a brand new Iowa Hawkeye banner hanging outside a house. Samoans love football; they are built for football, and they are good at football.

     Saturday was the high school football championship game, Tafuna H.S. versus Fagaitua H.S. I went to the stadium and watched. Fagaitua was the Vikings – black horns on red helmets. The stadium was packed. Here's a few photos; the pre-game ceremonies lasted a long time because dignitaries gave speeches, the Samoan and US anthems were sung (by 4 girls who sang beautifully) and true to form the microphone system went bonkers and never really worked well thereafter. I even have a video of the opening kickoff:

Right after the start, it rained. And rained. And then rained some more. Here's the half-time show – the kids were drenched but happy. Note in the video the rather hefty young lady in the red dress way on the other side; she was dancing around and her crowd was loving every moment:

She wasn't a she; she is a fa'afaa – a man raised as a woman. Things are different here. The game wasn't close, Tafuna dominated. But I was impressed by the discipline and the sophistication of the teams; they were darn good. Even in the conditions, which resembled more water gymnastics than anything else:

Pre-game - introduction

Junior ROTC Color Guard

Game action!

The final score

Wet conditions, as you can see

     Now, GOLF! There is a course. I saw it. One course. It's actually not too far from my home. Here's some pictures of their course. They charge $8 for 18 holes of play. I saw men and women playing. I haven't played yet; I saw the rental clubs available; shall we say uff-da? The Samoans love to use the carts. They often run out, then you can't play until a cart comes back. You can walk, but remember it's high 80's and either rainy or so humid it may as well be rainy. Today was rainy. It's been rainy for 4 days in a row. But it's cooler when rainy. Soon I'll play a round and delight my readers with an account of golf, Samoan style. Probably on a Sunday, since Samoans don't do much but church on Sunday. Speaking of which, I walked by a church today and listened to the singing; WOW, it was powerful. During communion, they sang Hallelujah (the song used in Shrek, which I find hauntingly moving) and I was almost in tears listening, it was so fantastic. Anyways, golf:

    

Illiili Country Club

Parking lot, club & pro shop

The First Tee

The Driving Range

       On Saturday, Junior took me to a cricket game. Samoans love cricket too, mainly (I think) because you can stand around a lot. Junior tried to explain cricket, but I was something of a dense audience. All I gathered was that you batted until you made an out, then another guy batted. A few guys seemed to bat forever. Sometimes you would run from one wicket to the other. Mostly, you didn't run. I think you get a point if you ran there. Usually they didn't bother. Sometimes the batter whacked the ball way out over everyone's head, which meant 2 points. If you did that, you didn't have to run. Everyone preferred that. Scores of well over 100 were common. Some guy with a whistle was the umpire. He blew his whistle a lot, and when he did, people moved around a bit. The spectators watched from some nearby fale and liked to comment on good (and bad) plays. They were having a pretty nice afternoon. The best part about this game was the last photo; see, I took the photo of the game, then turned around 180 degrees and stood in exactly the same spot, and took the photo of the ocean. Boredom does have its compensations. Whatever you think of baseball, it's a real big step in the right direction from its origins in cricket:

Cricket on a Saturday afternoon.

Nicely landscaped fale near cricket field.

Photo from same place, turned around.

Next post: Tisa's, Shark & Turtle, and Charlie the Tuna.

In Court

     It now has been 3 days here at work. Let me give you an idea of the court system in AM Samoa. First, it's small. There is District Court, which has 1 courtroom, and handles all misdemeanors as well as felony first appearances. Then there is High Court, which does felonies that have been “bound over” as well as civil cases. High Court has 2 courtrooms. I'm told there is one more courtroom upstairs somewhere, which does mainly juvenile/child protection “Chips” cases. They insure a degree of confidentiality there in a rather simple manner – the courtroom is so small, about the size of a closet, that no spectators could get in if they wanted to. That's all, folks.

     There are 3 main judges, one handles all District Court and the other 2 do High Court. In addition there are the Samoan judges. Every case & hearing has not only the lead judge, but (usually) 2 extra Samoan judges. Since 2 of the 3 lead judges are palagis (foreigners, like me) they add in the two Samoans to help insure that the fa'a Samoa, or Samoan way, is upheld. They never say or do anything in court, sit there and look serious. I think they in fact consult with the main judge when making a sentence, or especially in deciding civil cases. Those often involve land & matai (family leader) issues, which are really big deals here. So when arguing a case, there are 3 judges up there, but only one ever says anything to you. When one case is done and they call the next, especially for sentencings, they have to insure that the correct two Samoan judges are there, the ones when the fellow pled guilty. So they adjourn, get the right judges, then come back in. Many postponements occur because the right Samoan judge isn't there for some reason or another.

     The judges put on a pretty stern appearance. Most of the lawyers are young, here on 2 year contracts, so they can get intimidated by this.  Even I, who has seen quite a bit of judicial attempts at intimidation, still feel it. Will see pretty soon  how things will develop. Looks like I'll get approved to practice by midweek next. The defendants are pretty much the same as at home. Usually young, dumb and there due to excessive drinking and/or drugs. There's a big premium on apologizing to everyone for the trouble they've caused, but they just don't seem to hit the right tone of sincerity very often. There are a few defendants who rise above that level, and they can be a challenge. Almost everyone confesses their crime to the police. Hence all the apologies. Overall, much the same as home.

     They do have funny ideas of security in court. On my first day, I saw the District Court morning pull; about a half dozen guys in orange jumpsuits. Sitting in the courtroom. No deputy around, he was outside in the hallway. The prisoners mingled with girlfriends, spectators, whoever was around, until the judge came out. One guy, in custody, wasn't there when they called his name. He had stepped outside, was chatting with a friend and smoking. He ran back in when told he was up. No one seemed to think this odd at all. Today I was at High Court; here's a photo from right outside the main door:

American Samoa High Court

The guys in orange suits are the prisoners; these are felony charges. They are just hanging outside during a break. Everyone else are court personnel, out for a smoke. Notice the small pile of flowers on the grass (near prisoner); that's where a police officer was shot and killed last summer, by an upset family member who had a beef with the officer. The paddy wagon van is parked in the lot. Later, the deputies told their prisoners to get in for the ride back to the jail. They all did. Guess that's what life is like on an island. Where would they run to? I think I'll send this photo to Pete Sichko.

     I'm assigned an appeal to write (I found a good issue!) and a trial next February. Also some other research type tasks. I'll likely be in Court after Thanksgiving. I hope. Things go slowly here.

     A funny story: I had to go get my fingerprints taken at the local PD, for them to do a record check. So they get the prints, and that print card with the record check form attached goes straight to the front desk (no detours anywhere else), where the clerk there checks “no record” and hands it back to me. She collects their $2 fee for this service. I bring all this back to personnel and give it to them. So now I officially have been proven to be without a criminal record.

     I went to the jail the other day to get introduced and help interview clients. No photos yet, discretion is better right now. To get in, you walk up to a door in the chain link fence, open it, and walk on up to the small guard building. Remember to close the door; it's just a sliding deadbolt. No lock. They bring the prisoners up to an outside area with picnic tables & chairs. It's under a fale of sorts. They lounge around while you talk to them one at a time, outside, in the shade, breeze blowing. When you're done you say goodbye to the guard and let yourself out. Try to remember to latch the door behind you.

     My trial is an escape from there. The fellow is charged with getting out at night, doing a burglary, then coming back in. Jail records show him present at all times. His fellow cellmates snitched him off. Or so they say; their case is a bunch of inmates vs. him. One of those fine witnesses got his girlfriend PG while he was supposedly in jail at about that time. I think this could be a pretty amusing trial.

     Here's a photo of our office; this is it, the central area, there's only a small reception room leading here and about 4 small offices. I share one of them:

Am Sam Public Defenders office

The young lady there is Steph Berens; her step-mother is Judge Terri Stoneburner of our Court of Appeals. Steph has been here a year & a half now. She's great!

     Here's a few photos of Utulei, where our office is located. That is Pago Pago Harbor, very beautiful, right across the street from us. The mountain is Mt. Poia, the “Rainmaker” and yes, it is raining today. Our offices, sad to say, overlook the parking lot in back. PD's everywhere get the same lack of respect.

EOB, Government offices.  Us.

Pago Pago Harbor, across street from EOB

Pago Pago Harbor, looking out toward the ocean.

Mt. Poia, "The Rainmaker" across the harbor.

Utulei & harbor from EOB.

Utulei again, buses are all over the place.

I haven't ridden one of the buses yet.  Will update when I do.  Gotta go to work & write a brief now.

A few more Samoa photos

More photos, including a short video from my front yard:

Matafao, highest on island.  It can be climbed, but not easily.

Flower.  Flowers are everywhere.

Leone Bay, my home village.

Small island just off the shore; see coral reef too.

Pictures from Am Sam

Here's a first batch:

 

Sunset from my home front yard

Beach at Fagamalo, end of the road.  I sat here an hour. Exquisite.

Fagamalo from the road.

Large fale, note grave in front.

Flower by the road.

Amanave and Rocky Point

Ocean outside my front door.

My home.  Fifty steps to the above.  What can I say?