Visiting Savaii (Written 12/30/05)

Olemoe Falls

It has been a while since I updated and I’ve gone on quite a few adventures since Christmas. This past Tuesday, a few of us had planned on meeting at Holly’s house for a little get together dinner to show everyone where Holly lived and as a gathering point for those going to Savaii (Holly and I were going to visit Josh, Bob and Julya while Mari and Andrew were going to a church opening). The buses did not run on Monday because it was the official observation of Christmas – so we knew there were no traveling on that day, but we had planned our event for Tuesday which was not a holiday and the buses still were not running except for the boat buses and they ran sporadically. So I ended up walking all the way down my street (about an hour walk) and catching a taxi with Ryan, Candice and Sara to Holly’s. All the available forms of transportation were taken on that day: biking (John and Bryan), walking in the rain (Mari and Andrew) and taxi. But when we eventually all got there it was a good gathering – the food was great and fulfilling and it was good to talk about the various things that is happening in each of our lives. You could definitely tell that most of us are developing our individual lifestyles, but we still like hanging out together which is a great plus. Holly’s house is huge so everyone had a place to sleep for the night and in the morning while everyone else went back to Apia, Holly and I were the only ones to go to Savaii.

The boat ride over was definitely rougher then my first boat ride over to Savaii. While I don’t think I’m one that gets sick very easily, the fact that I could literally feel the boat rock back and forth was definitely not helping my situation. But we survived and that was the important thing. When we got over to Savaii we had to wait on the bus that specifically went to wear Julya and Bob live and once that was done, we were on our way. This bus in particular had shrine to the Rock and Vin Diesel at the front that I took a picture of and will definitely show once I get my pictures all uploaded. It was quite funny. So after a bit of a journey we arrived at the compound where Julya and Bob live and they were quite surprised to see us – since we were late coming out, they didn’t think we were coming. If there’s anything Holly and I are – we are people of our word. J Before we ate dinner, Bob and Julya showed us where they will be working within the school and both of them have very nice setups – they need a bit of work, but its definitely a manageable situation for both of them. Josh then came over and we had a nice time eating dinner and chatting about the things going on with the volunteers on Savaii and Upolu. On Savaii, it’s easy to feel isolated and out of the loop because you’re away from the majority of the volunteers you’ve been training with but as I quickly learned during my time on this visit – Savaii has a beautiful landscape and the opportunity to learn the Samoan language is so much greater over there then it is over here. So both islands have their ups and downs – no one is better off then anyone else.

On Thursday we went to Olemoe Falls, a waterfall that is basically between where Julya/Bob live and where Josh lives. So we went over to see Josh’s place and it is definitely small but cozy. He has another Peace Corps Volunteer that lives near him and a Japanese (JICA) and Australian volunteer that lives in the same area as he does. Julya and Bob also have a JICA Volunteer at their school. Once we got Josh and walked to the Waterfalls we first tried finding the Pulemelei Mound (which is Polynesia’s largest ancient structure) so we hiked up hill for a good 30-45 minutes looking for this mound but never found it. Instead we got to a clearing where we could see the compound that Julya/Bob live in and the ocean – it was definitely a breath taking view (unfortunately, at that point my breath was already taken away by the hike but it was a good view nonetheless). After that we hiked back down to wear the waterfall was and that was just an amazing site – it was sheer natural beauty. Unfortunately, to get into that natural beauty you have to climb down a very steep rock face to get to it – not for the faint of heart or those that lack balance (like myself) but we all got down safely and enjoyed the waterfall. It was cold but very refreshing – it was cool just hanging out with 4 of my favorite people from training enjoying this beauty that I could not find anywhere else. The good thing about being from the MidWest and the south is that you do not take this kind of beauty for granted when you see it because you don’t see it all that often. So we hung out there for about an hour and then headed back home in the pouring rain. That was a lot of fun, let me tell you. Once we got home and chilled out for a bit, a few JICA volunteers came over to have dinner with us and that was just an awesome experience. Their names were Manabu, Isao, Koichi and Yusaku and they work in different villages around Samoa. It was fun talking to them and finding out how their volunteer program works and how they enjoyed being in Samoa. While not a lot of them get to do it, a few JICA volunteers have scooters and get to ride those around the islands – that’s a lot easier then us lowly Peace Corps having to bike it everywhere. J But as we were talking to them, I was just struck by the fact that for the first time I was in another country talking to another volunteer that was not from America – that was something I had not even thought about before I joined Peace Corps. That’s also an experience that is really unique to Savaii since all the volunteers are more spread out compared to Upolu where a majority of volunteers are in Apia and they stay pretty close to their fellow volunteers. It was a great way of ending the 2 days in Savaii – just doing something that was uniquely Savaii like.

We came back today, the day before New Years, and the boat ride was better but the buses were still on a messed up time schedule. We ended up taking a taxi into Apia and I ended up walking from the main road to my house – just like I did on Tuesday! So my 4 day adventure ended the same way it began: walking that long mile. Ah well, its amazing to think that this time last year I was in Texas celebrating New Years with my friends and now I’m half a world away, about to celebrate New Years with my fellow Peace Corps. My how this year has definitely flown by and things have definitely changed. But the more things change, the more they stay the same – we’ll see. Apparently, I can’t be in the same place twice for New Years so we’ll see what I’m doing next year. I’ll update this again in the New Year, so no matter where you are or what time you celebrate it – Happy New Years!