Fa'a Samoa!

On 11/25 Koos and me finally wrapped up our hectic Santa Cruz lives and flew to Apia, the capital of Western Samoa. The main island Upolu is beautiful, green, jungly and HOT. Right when we got off the plane we met some teachers at the bus stop who took us up to their school and gave us coconuts to drink. The high school age kids were all in one classroom singing the Samoan national anthem. It was powerful, loud and very pretty. We helped out with Sports Day, giving out 1st 2nd and 3rd places for races, a crazy coconut relay, volleyball etc. Learned our first Samoan words: faafetai (thank you), faamolemole (please), faafafine (transexual), palangi (whitey), talofa or malo (hello) and tofa soifua (bye).
Riding a Samoan bus is a nutty experience. Smoking and drinking the only local beer (Vailima) is totally allowed, and its common for 60+ people to squeeze on a bus meant to seat less than 20. We could tell this is a community that helps each other out. Kids sit on strangers laps, help each other with bags etc. Every bus has a name and one is called the Oriana (a rare Samoan flower)! The coastal scenery flying by is epic. Palm trees, turqouise water, fales (open air beach huts), churches, really colorful houses (many with tombs in the front yard) and designed open spaces for family meetings and other events in the villages. Lots of smiles and waves and best of all - tiny fat piglets chasing their moms.
We spent 2 days at the Valentine Hotel, getting to know the town of Apia. We walked along the sea wall, drank our first Vailima with some Finnish peeps and took many pics. Apia is pretty small but there are a lot of new things to see so we are entertained as usual. On Thanksgiving we had a delicious dinner and a fun night at the Blue Lagoon Disco (hah!) which was extra funny because I was at the Santa Cruz BL last year on Thanksgiving.... classy. Played pool and danced with funny boys from W. and Amer. Samoa, Papua New Guinea, Fiji, etc. My peacock tattoo is getting a lot of kudos as Samoans are really into ink, although one guy asked if it was a turkey :/
It should also be mentioned that a lot of the Samoan guys are ready and willing to pose for pics throwing gang signs and lookin gangsta - actually most pics turn out the same way. Another fun fact: bleached mullets and rat tails. Enough said.
After hearing from many people that Lalomanu is the best beach, we took another beautiful bus ride to find it at the SE point of Upolu. PARADISE! Beautiful long beach, an island called Nutele, rainbows, the works. Letu at Taufua Beach Fales let us camp in our tent, an almost unheard of choice because everyone stays in the fales and its WAY too hot in a tent.
Made our own food and showered when water was available. Definitely reevaluated my definitions of the words hungry and dirty. Saw our first fiafia (dance show) which means "to be happy". The men dance really dynamically, lots of slapping the body, jumping. Women move in a similar way to hula, but the feet move across the floor like the body is floating. Very lovely. I got up when they asked for volunteers and learned a little. The fire dancing is really impressive - they lick the fire and put the lit ends on the bottom of their feet while laying on their backs. The best one looked like he was only 10 years old.
Still getting used to not working, although its hard to completely relax because its hard to catch up on sleep cuz of the heat. All the sweating and swimming is making my skin feel great tho. On one swim Koos yelled and lifted her foot out of the water - sticky white floss-like stuff was all over it and we were laughing as I tried to scratch it all off. Later found out she had disturbed a sea cuke. Snorkeled and spent a lot of time reading and drawing in an empty fale.
Lots of new people to meet - our faves have been Mike and Matt from Boston; Seba, Gaston and Santiago from Argentina; and Otele Samuelu and his family, who let us pitch the tent on their private beach. He works at the bar/restaurant where they have the fiafias. Tele took good care of us, sneaking us food and taking us in. The snorkeling at his house is unreal - tiny cobalt colored fish, angel fish, zebra striped ones, underwater coral that look like toadstools and brains! Definitely an octopus' garden in the shade.... speaking of which his Dad Sau showed us a rat toy he made out of shells and shiny stuff which you dangle in the water, "make it dance" and pull it up when the octopus grabs it. There is an old myth about an octopus who gives his friend the rat a ride on his head to another island. When they arrive the rat jumps off but he has left a smelly mess on the octopus' head! So the octopus still holds this old grudge and thats why the rat toy is so effective :)
There is a nice sense of camaraderie and sharing among travelers since we're all in the same boat. Definitely feel like we all have each others back.
Met some hyper kids who taught us a funny game and showed us how to make a shhhh sound like the ocean to make hermit crabs peak out of their shell!
Went to the old house of Scottish author Robert Louis Stevenson and hiked a steep jungle trail to see his tomb overlooking Apia and the coast. Koos spotted a stinkhorn mushroom!! as well as a delicious mango on the forest floor that we muched immediately. RLS' house is now a musuem of the oldest photos of Samoa. One of a young girl said "the merriest, sauciest little maid"!
On the bus back to Lalomanu we saw a car on its side in the gutter (no one was hurt) and a bunch of guys hopped off our bus and flipped it back onto its wheels. Yikes! The music on the bus is a bit heavy on the xmas songs - island influenced remixes! Secular music is also much more irie - be it Top 40, Jason Mraz, etc. Taufua had a huge wedding party come - palangi guy marrying a Samoan girl, and we were all allowed to come party for the fiafia part after the ceremony and dinner. It was a grand old time.
However even paradise has its low points: after some days of heavy rain, getting sick, getting bitten to death by mossies and flies (the flies land on open sores and you have to flick them off really hard... EW), and dealing with a little village gossip/drama, we decided to head back to Apia where I had the further misfortune to get my camera stolen. Ouch. Took of for Savaii, the other island, which is much quieter. Rented bikes, swam with turtles, drank Vailima, saw lava fields and felt super fancy staying in our very own FALE! My favorite part of Savaii was Afu A'au - a series of waterfalls. The biggest was surrounded by ferns and hanging vines. Perfect swimming hole. The only bad things about Afu A'au were : there was a weird guy hiding behind a tree with a machete and Koos' camera broke. Clearly seeing that we needed a pick-me-up, the universe sent us three gnomes that were sitting on a gravestone. Thanks universe. Currently reading: The Book Thief. Its amazing. Read it.
After a few relaxing days we went back to Apia, which started to feel like home base (we know our way around pretty good) to grab groceries and hop on a bus to Siumu. On the ride we met B, short for Beyonce, after her favorite celebrity! B is a hilarious dancer, student and faafafine (its really common for boys to be raised as girls in Samoa) who told us to stay at Maninoa Surf Camp near Aganoa black sand beach. They let us pitch our tent and we enjoyed a few great days. Maninoa is pretty low key but sandwiched between two fancy places. We went to the bar at one and Koos requested Bob Marley from the Samoan band. Instead of the line "No Woman No Cry" they sang "No Jesus No Life". Teehee. The other one, Coconuts, is one of the shmanciest places in Samoa. They have a swimming pool shaped like a gecko! The best parts of this place were: the deep swim hole at the end of the pier - spent "heaps" time jumping off; the cool Irish couple Carl and Claire; Farani and his friend Thanksgiving (no it really is his name) who work at Maninoa; and staying in a fale one night after our tent died due to a crazy drunk guy falling on it (while Koos was sleeping inside!) and breaking the poles/ripping the rain fly. We spent a whole day dealing with his shennanigans and holding his passport hostage until he payed us for the tent and paid Maninoa (they had beef with him too). Sleeping in a fale is breezy and glorious, we feel like we are in princess canopy beds with the mosquito net, especially when it shimmers in the moonlight. Sad to leave Farani in particular but we had to move on. Currently reading: When the Wind Blows. Really exciting.

Went back to Lalomanu for a couple nights and had a really relaxing time. Good to see our homies again - we surprised Tele at work and he was stoked - and again sad to say bye especially when you logically know you probably won't be seeing them ever again :(

Back in Apia we met up with Farani (hooray!) who took us to the sliding rocks. They were awesome natural slides you go down on your bum (or if you are the local boyz on your feet, stomach etc). Its impossible to look cool going down even the smaller ones cuz its a BUMPY ride! We were crackin up, and Koos finally harnessed her chi and decided she was brave enough to do the big one. I did it too - scary from the top but over pretty fast. Had a fun last night with Farani and left Samoa reluctantly but happily too. All in all we had an incredible time, but it was also traveling boot camp in many ways. Hopefully we're well prepared for the ups and downs ahead in the many months to come. I'll never forget the fa'a Samoa - faafetai and tofa soifua!