Left Auckland in the wee hours of the morning to catch the ferry to Great Barrier Island, 4 hrs from the city. Saw whales spouting up water. A great omen methinks. Arrived in the harbor and already loved the scenery - beautiful blue water, inlets, little mini bays, flowers, 2 thumbs up all around. Got to work at the Pohutukawa Lodge/Currach Irish Pub in Tryphena. Louise and John run it and are super cool. The rest of the employees are twentysomething ladies that make me and Koos look like old nuns. A typical sentence, "yea I slept with a married man once.... I felt bad for a bit, til I slept with his wife!". And other comments too dirty for this blog. They were funny but I started to get sincerely scared after a while, despite my attempts to not look surprised and offend them. One of the their phrases that we will carry on (verbally, not literally) is "sneaky passion" aka getting friendly with other people in the room.
Work was light gardening and dishes in the pub kitchen. One shift involved some promos - aka getting driven around in the Marvey by John, drinking beer, eating lollies and yelling out the sun roof for people to come to the pub to see Sean Kelly and the Irish Flyers. Waved some Irish flags for good measure, and saw quite a bit of the island, and peoples backyards. Also caught a couple exiting their ocean swim in the nude. John proceeded to drive donuts around them. Koos introduced everyone to her famous Mariachi cry. Hard day at the office.
Off hours were spent hitch hiking (its a tiny island so its safe for everyone to hitch) to beautiful beaches. Saw a grom surf comp at Medlands and swam in the mermaid pool (tide pool that is deep and freezing). Caught a ride to the hot pools and lazed about in them, making sure not to get our heads under to avoid amoebic meningitis as the sign warned. A guy we were chatting with dunked his head before he read it. Hopefully hes still alive, as it can be fatal, but he wasn't too stressed about it. Currently reading: Tales of Beedle the Bard and Minds of Murderers.
Musselfest was pretty much the biggest event of the summer on the Barrier, and the Currach girls drove us to Port Fitzroy where we listened to music, drank and met some irie locals. Sean Kelly ended up being a great band, they were our roomies too in the backpackers at the Currach. They covered 500 Miles by the Proclaimers which Koos and me love, and added the line "When I'm wankin, well you know I'm gonna be, I'm gonna be the man who's wanking off to you." Actually in Irish and Scottish accents, even that sounded charming.
Had a fun night with some Barrier Boyz at the Truth Tree, getting silly and free styling jazz songs, laughing, giggling, spilling beer (you're throwin you're piss everywhere!) as they phrase it. One of the boys blew smoke to the other via mouth to mouth. Thought it was just good old fashioned homoeroticism til we learned they were brothers. Kinda weird, but hey, we're on a tiny island..... anything goes. The girls here are strapped for variety when it comes to romance, so they tend to get together with really really old men. Thats fine for them, but the down side for us is that the old men think they have a pretty good shot with all young ladies under 25.....
John bid us farewell at the dock with some cold brews and we saw dolphins playing at the front of the ferry really close. So long Barrier, thanks for the shock, awe and beauty.
Sunday, February 1, 2009
Tuesday, January 27, 2009
Land of the Long White Cloud
Country number 2! Just want to take a minute to first say how lucky we are to see new parts of this wide world, and thanks to all our framily (thats friends and family people) who helped us get here - especially assistance with packing, $, moving and organizing. You da best.
Arrived in Auckland, New Zealand to see a smiling Kit Sidwell, a fellow Camp Kennolyn slave of 2005, who kindly scooped us from the airport and took us to Burgerfuel for epic burgers and kumara chips (sweet potato french fries). Met his flat mates Adam and Karen (also kiwis) and Cecelia (Argentinean). They live on the N. shore in Birkenhead, and the next day we drove to Karekare beach where they filmed the movie The Piano. It was gorgeous.
Christmas was the first for me and Koos both to be away from our respective framilies, and it was weird. We hung our gnome hats upside down as stockings. Missed the traditions but after hearing one million xmas songs in Samoa, we were glad to skip all the hullaballoo (that might be the first time I've ever used that word) and just run around, be merry and have some cocktails. On the 26th came Boxing Day, and Casa de Kit had a lua'u themed barbie including a whole lamb on a spit that Kit spent like 8 hrs roasting. He also made his own coconut bra, polished and all. Met some great kiwis and one drunk S. African guy who explained to me in detail what various things and activities would cost in rand (South African currency) and what that would be in kiwi dollars. Koos saved me from him and we grubbed delish food and got rave reviews on our cali avo bean dip.
Went out one night with Kit and his buddies Nathan and Aitor, who live in the raddest pad ever that was once a convent. Made funky margs, hung out on the balcony overlooking the Sky Tower and the Auckland city lights before walking to P road and going to a couple weird bars. Word to the wise - if Koos ever dares you to dance with a guy who is the only one dancing (somewhat off beat) on a small stage, think twice because he might end up being deaf and you'll feel really bad so you'll just keep dancing with him while your friends think, wow why are you still dancing with that leather jacket guy? Just some friendly advice.........
On the downside all the mossie bites I got in Samoa came back to haunt me - one swelled up to a boil while we were there but eventually went away and is now a pink scar (grrrreat) and another on my upper outside right thigh (specific enough?) started to hurt really bad and increased in size, heat and redness. Ladies and gentleman we have a staph infection. Got some antibiotics that didn't work at all. I toughed it out for awhile but when it started waking me up with the pain, oozing pus and blood right thru the bandages and Cecelia (a nurse) and Koos encouraged another trip to the doc, I went. By this time the swollen red part was the size of a football and the open wound the size of a walnut (hopefully none of you are eating), and it hurt all the time. The nurse had to squeeze the hell out of it and it hurt like whoa. At least I got stronger drugs. Props to Koos for dressing my nasty staph for many many days.
On a less disgusting note we drove down to Raglan Surf Club where Kit's cousin Olly lifeguards. Slept in the first aid room with parts of CPR dummies (adult and infant, both creepy). Beautiful beach with hang gliders flying overhead, windsurfers, etc. New Years Eve was spent at the pub at a Hotel where we rocked out to a great 80's cover band and met a German zimmerman (carpenter) who only has 2 outfits - vun for going out and vun for vorking. See my facebook pics for a shot of him - guy in the top hat. Had fun drinking with Kit, Olly, Jill, Koos as well as many people I'll never see again but will always have drunk pictures with. Oh met 2 brothers from Santa Cruz, one who is a freshman at UCLA! Go Bruins. So... Cheers to 09! Found some safety equipment in Raglan, it being the Santa Cruz of NZ, and frollicked in some meadows. SAweet.
Back in Auckland we got addicted to a TV show (not telling which) and started watching marathons with Adam and Cecelia. Went to Auckland Museum where we saw Sue, the most complete T Rex skeleton, some great Maori art and a cultural show with an impressive haka.
Much appreciation to Kit for adopting us and sharing a lot of fun facts about Kiwiland. Currently reading: Angela's Ashes. Sigh. So sad. With my leg healin up nicely we finally departed for our first Wwoof experience - more updates soon. And thanks for reading - if anyone other than my parents and Gwen are actually checking this from time to time that is just even more super. Hope everyone is off to a fine new year. Much love from Aotearoa.
Arrived in Auckland, New Zealand to see a smiling Kit Sidwell, a fellow Camp Kennolyn slave of 2005, who kindly scooped us from the airport and took us to Burgerfuel for epic burgers and kumara chips (sweet potato french fries). Met his flat mates Adam and Karen (also kiwis) and Cecelia (Argentinean). They live on the N. shore in Birkenhead, and the next day we drove to Karekare beach where they filmed the movie The Piano. It was gorgeous.
Christmas was the first for me and Koos both to be away from our respective framilies, and it was weird. We hung our gnome hats upside down as stockings. Missed the traditions but after hearing one million xmas songs in Samoa, we were glad to skip all the hullaballoo (that might be the first time I've ever used that word) and just run around, be merry and have some cocktails. On the 26th came Boxing Day, and Casa de Kit had a lua'u themed barbie including a whole lamb on a spit that Kit spent like 8 hrs roasting. He also made his own coconut bra, polished and all. Met some great kiwis and one drunk S. African guy who explained to me in detail what various things and activities would cost in rand (South African currency) and what that would be in kiwi dollars. Koos saved me from him and we grubbed delish food and got rave reviews on our cali avo bean dip.
Went out one night with Kit and his buddies Nathan and Aitor, who live in the raddest pad ever that was once a convent. Made funky margs, hung out on the balcony overlooking the Sky Tower and the Auckland city lights before walking to P road and going to a couple weird bars. Word to the wise - if Koos ever dares you to dance with a guy who is the only one dancing (somewhat off beat) on a small stage, think twice because he might end up being deaf and you'll feel really bad so you'll just keep dancing with him while your friends think, wow why are you still dancing with that leather jacket guy? Just some friendly advice.........
On the downside all the mossie bites I got in Samoa came back to haunt me - one swelled up to a boil while we were there but eventually went away and is now a pink scar (grrrreat) and another on my upper outside right thigh (specific enough?) started to hurt really bad and increased in size, heat and redness. Ladies and gentleman we have a staph infection. Got some antibiotics that didn't work at all. I toughed it out for awhile but when it started waking me up with the pain, oozing pus and blood right thru the bandages and Cecelia (a nurse) and Koos encouraged another trip to the doc, I went. By this time the swollen red part was the size of a football and the open wound the size of a walnut (hopefully none of you are eating), and it hurt all the time. The nurse had to squeeze the hell out of it and it hurt like whoa. At least I got stronger drugs. Props to Koos for dressing my nasty staph for many many days.
On a less disgusting note we drove down to Raglan Surf Club where Kit's cousin Olly lifeguards. Slept in the first aid room with parts of CPR dummies (adult and infant, both creepy). Beautiful beach with hang gliders flying overhead, windsurfers, etc. New Years Eve was spent at the pub at a Hotel where we rocked out to a great 80's cover band and met a German zimmerman (carpenter) who only has 2 outfits - vun for going out and vun for vorking. See my facebook pics for a shot of him - guy in the top hat. Had fun drinking with Kit, Olly, Jill, Koos as well as many people I'll never see again but will always have drunk pictures with. Oh met 2 brothers from Santa Cruz, one who is a freshman at UCLA! Go Bruins. So... Cheers to 09! Found some safety equipment in Raglan, it being the Santa Cruz of NZ, and frollicked in some meadows. SAweet.
Back in Auckland we got addicted to a TV show (not telling which) and started watching marathons with Adam and Cecelia. Went to Auckland Museum where we saw Sue, the most complete T Rex skeleton, some great Maori art and a cultural show with an impressive haka.
Much appreciation to Kit for adopting us and sharing a lot of fun facts about Kiwiland. Currently reading: Angela's Ashes. Sigh. So sad. With my leg healin up nicely we finally departed for our first Wwoof experience - more updates soon. And thanks for reading - if anyone other than my parents and Gwen are actually checking this from time to time that is just even more super. Hope everyone is off to a fine new year. Much love from Aotearoa.
Saturday, December 27, 2008
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.
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!
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
