Welcome!

Hello readers - thanks for viewing my blog. Especially welcome are my beautiful wife Cyndi, our two wonderful children Tom and Lisa, and my siblings Jeff, Mary and Suzy. I posted often from America Samoa while I was there a few years ago. I also post from our past and later travels. Keep checking in, and please leave a comment!

They may not be readers, but our dogs Monte and Zoey have a special page with their own photos. They are involved in many of our trips, and all of our lives.

Click on photos and videos to enlarge and (usually) see them better.

Wednesday, March 30, 2011

Sa'ilele


      Sa'ilele is a small village on the northern coast of American Samoa.  It's main claim to fame, besides what you will shortly see in photos, is that it is the home village of the former Governor.  Sa'ilele can only be reached by driving along the main coast road well east, way past Pago Pago, passing Tisa's, and then you cut north up and over the central mountain ridge of Tutuila. The road winds way up, then way down again, offering views such as these:
Main road on east end of Tutuila, on way to Sa'ilele
Approach to Sa'ilele from road
Same, clear view
Looking west along Tutuila coast
     But then you arrive; first thing to see is the beautiful church (falesa); also here's a photo of the one and only street which runs right along the beach:

Falesa in Sa'ilele
The only road in town

     Cyndi and I drove out here last Saturday with Kelly, her friend Carolyn, Steph and Chris.  We obtained permission to be on the beach; a necessary step as all village property is private.  Then we spent the afternoon on the beach - walking, swimming, snorkeling and yes, finding shells.  It's the best beach for shells yet found.  Here are some pictures of the scene:

Looking east down the beach.
Kelly beachcombing
The beach in Sa'ilele
Cyndi walking along
Palm trees line the edge
Coral rubble on sand
That's Steph and Chris down the beach
Our shade tree
Closer view of nearby islet.
Rocky point at east end of beach and village
Who's that looking for shells?  It's me
Both of us looking for treasures.
Coconut crab in a borrowed home, on the beach.
Past the rocks on the east side is yet another beach, no road to it, just walk over:

View from rocky point.  The good times just never end.
Next beach down.  Quite isolated.

Here's a short video of the beach, looking east:


     The trees offered shade, the beach swimming and shells, and the whole scene was picture-perfect.  On the return trip we stopped at Tisa's to take full advantage, and had one of their famous pina colada drinks whilst sitting on their veranda overlooking the sea.  Pleasant company, great beach, beautiful day.  What a nice way to spend Saturday!  Here's our group:

Cyndi and Rick

Steph and Chris

Carolyn, dancing, and Kelly
     Here's a photo looking west, on the way home.  Also, one of the road going up, back to civilization, such as it is here:
Leaving Sa'ilele, looking west
The road up.  Steeper than the photo appears!
So, just another day in American Samoa.  Sigh.

Saturday, March 26, 2011

Manuia Aso Fanau - - LISA 3/28/86

Manuia Aso Fanau - Happy Birthday in Samoan!  Lisa, even though we are far away, you are always in our hearts.  Have a very happy birthday!!
Lisa and Zoey!
Her favorite pup
With Kyle and friends at a Pats game
Kyle and Lisa on the beach
Showing Dad around Spain, 2007
Cooking with Kyle and Cyndi, Christmas, 2009
 You've done so well in law school, just a couple more months to go!  We are so proud of you and all you have accomplished; you are our pride and joy.

Happy Birthday Lisa!!  See you very soon!!

Friday, March 25, 2011

Magic Circus of Samoa


      Last weekend the Magic Circus of Samoa was in town!  It travels all over the Pacific, this year with a 2 week run in American Samoa.  Cyndi and I went, together with a group of palagi friends and colleagues.  It was small, friendly, and a whole lot of fun.

     It was, sadly, forbidden to photo the acts.  We got a couple videos surreptitiously, and several photos of the attendees.  I'll have to give you a summary.  The acts started with two acrobats, Samoan girls who were able to walk a large ball up & then down a ramp.  They were followed by trapeze artists, a hula hoop twirler, various gymnastic stunts on poles and high wires, and of course a juggler.  He juggled all sorts of objects, many of them, all with speed and dexterity; quite a good act.  Interspersed with the acts was appearances by Toetu the midget clown.  He was quite a character and literally stole the show.  One of the videos shows him doing an audience participation skit with bells; not his best, but fun when seen.  There were magic acts by Bruno the Master of Ceremonies, trampoline acts and much more. 

     Here are some photos and a couple short videos, mostly complements of Jeremy and Ashley Dubyak but also from Steph and Kelly Smith, my fellow PD's:

Rick and Cyndi
Awaiting the opening act
The crowd
Jeremy (AG) and Ashley
Steph and Chris
Genrietta, daughter of law clerk Genevieva
Shawn and Meg
Lainie and husband James Zarones (AG)
Lights dim in anticipation
Bruno - owner, MC and magician; with Nate
 Here is all I have of Toetu the Clown:


Next there is a short video of the Samoan firedancer;


The Magic Circus of Samoa was a very entertaining, and rather inexpensive, night of entertainment.

      The rest of last weekend was devoted to a return to old favorites: Larson's Bay and of course Tisa's.  We learned that "Larson's Bay" is tapu to a real Samoan; it should be Fagalua (Rocky Bay) as it traditionally was.  They don't seem to recognize this Larson fellow, whoever he was.  A low-light of that expedition was the return to our car.  It had been rummaged through by some locals, and was dead as a doornail when I tried to start it.  A look under the hood explained that - no battery, it had just disappeared.  That's how we got to meet the sympathetic local lady who owned the nearby land, and became friends - she gave us bananas and pineapples from her land.  We called Steph and Chris who lived nearby for a ride home.  On the way, Chris and I encountered a small group of guys whom we suspected; as Chris was bold enough to stop, one of them walked over with our battery!  Back into the car it went, and we left with a new determination to be far more careful.  This faa Samoa (Samoan Lifestyle) seems to tolerate what we call "theft" quite readily.

    Steph had a birthday pool and barbeque party thrown by Chris on Saturday eve, the highlight of which was a truckload of Samoan flowers with which he filled her apartment. It was the night of the Super Moon; it is far closer than usual, so seemed very large.  Here's a photo of the moon over American Samoa on a beautiful March evening, courtesy of Kelly Smith:

Super Moon
All for now, who knows what will come next?

Tuesday, March 22, 2011

Land of 10,000 Falesa

First missionary to Samoa
     "Falesa"  means a church in Samoan.  And what churches there are here!  Samoa, including American Samoa, must be among the most religious societies on earth.  Not only are there churches in every village, but the church is your focus of society.  People attend services on Sunday, and other days too.  There are socials, fund raising, the ubiquitous bingo games most nights, youth activities and Sunday School, choir practice and recitals, as well as any other form of sociability under the tropical sun.  Second to family, church is the center of life here, and in fact church and family overlap to a very significant degree.  The family leaders, the matai, as well as other titled men and women, are virtually all heavily involved in the churches where they have responsibilities in addition to their secular ones.

     Among the many legends which permeate Samoan life is one which holds that an ancient Samoan queen foretold the coming of different men carrying a new religion, which was to be embraced by the Samoas.  This legend fit in perfectly with the arrival of the missionaries in the early 1800's.  They were among the first palagi here.  Palagi means, roughly, "men who burst from the sky" which it must have seemed to the old Samoans when their ships appeared from nothing on the horizon.  The first missionary to land was John William (or Ioane Viliamu as he was called in Samoan).  He landed right here in Leone; the top photo shows a memorial to that event.  Here is the memorial in another view, looking towards Leone:


     The Methodist Church gained an early foothold here and is still predominant.  But other religions and sects followed in quick succession - from the Baptists, to the Roman Catholics and also a large presence of the Mormons.  Besides the US military, I'd bet that most people from here who go on to higher education do so by studying divinity, to return as ministers, deacons, and other church officials.  Some do quite well, on a poor island some of the larger church officials live in big houses and drive nice SUV's.

     Cyndi and I have been attending mass on Sunday mornings at the local Catholic Church - Matagaluega Koluse Paia, the Holy Cross Parish.  The priest is a most delightful young man, Patele (Father) Kolio Etuale.  He noted me at first, easy to do since I'm the only palagi there, and made me, and later Cyndi, very welcome.  I was struck by his sermon my first day - he broke out in a song ("It's Now or Never") which morphed into his sermon theme.  Last month he again sang from the pulpit, this time a complete version of a Glen Campbell song which again became his sermon.  Mass on Sunday is great, it's in Samoan with some English, just a little, but much song and participation by the congregation.  I must say (as I have mentioned before) that the singing in church is simply wonderful.  The choirs, most days two of them, practice long and hard with results that show it.  I can't record it to play for you, a pity; I must content myself with a few photos of the Church to show you what it is like:

Koluse Paia on a hot afternoon




Here, decorated for Christmas!
More Christmas decorations, Kolusa Paia.  They love it!
Koluse Paia interior; windows open up & down, cool and breezy
Koluse Paia sacristy
     The other large church in Leone is the Congregationalist, or CCCAS.  That is probably the largest organization here; it runs many churchs and also has a bible study school (Kanana Fou) on its own campus in Tafuna near the airport.  CCCAS owns the property we live upon - I pay them rent!  Here's the CCCAS church in Leone.  The John William memorial is right in front:
CCCAS, Leone, recently repainted, Ioane Viliamu in front

Tile work detail, entryway to CCCAS Leone
     Next are a series of photos of churches from across American Samoa, as well as Samoa (Upolu).  Keep in mind that these often stand in small villages without rich patrons.  The people here are quite poor monetarily, yet each church is decorated, clean, and kept in repair.  In fact, after the terrible tsunami back in 2009, the churches of American Samoa were among the first buildings repaired and restored.  So, without further ado or commentary, here are some falesa of Samoa:
Futiga, AS - the Fuatagavi family falesa
Ili'ili, AS
Pago Pago, AS
Pava'ia'i, AS
Mesepa, AS
Baptist church and seminary (Kanana Fou), Fogagogo, AS
Matu'u, AS; it appears around a bend on the morning commute!
Nu'uuli, AS
Ili'ili, AS
Ili'ili again, full campus
Puapua, AS
Aua, AS
South coast, Western Samoa
Nua, AS
Asili, AS
South coast, Western Samoa
Cross island road, Western Samoa
North coast, Western Samoa
Fagatogo, AS
Mormon (LDS), Pago Pago AS

Fagaitua, AS
Utulei AS Jehovah Witness school
Sa'ilele, AS
Fagasa, AS
Kanana Fou Bible School CCCAS
Kanana Fou, Tafuna AS
Aunu'u AS

Utumea, AS

Alao (not Tula), AS

Alao, Cathedral on hill, AS
Poloa, AS
Taputimu, AS
Near Vailoatai
Malaeloa, near Leone, AS
Bigger falesa in Malaeloa
Aasufou, AS

Keep checking back here - as we explore we'll add more photos to the collection!