So I had to wake up at 5:15am in order to make sure I had everything ready to go (even though American Samoa is only like 20 miles away, it's still considered international so I definitely had to bring my Passport) and my cab arrived at 6:30am to take me to the airport. This was my first time driving to the airport in the morning time so as I was leaving people were getting ready to go to school. The funny thing about the day is that I left before the businesses opened and I came back after they closed – so good thing I didn't plan on doing anything in this country today. But anyway, I got to the airport and it was close to being dead. Usually when I'm here (or Peace Corps Volunteers in general are at the airport) it's packed with people but this time there were like 30 people there. It was very strange. Other then that it was pretty much smooth sailing – the only hang up was the fact that I took my day bag and some water with me just to keep me going through the heat of the day, but apparently American Samoa is a magnet for terrorist activities because they told me I couldn't take the water on the plane (they were about to say I couldn't take the bottle, but I wasn't going to have that). If I were going to LA, I would understand this precaution – but going to American Samoa and having this done is a joke. Oh yeah, and I was "randomly" checked as I boarded the plane – felt almost like home again. The plane itself qualifies as the smallest plane I have ever been in – it was a twin rotating-engine plane that could fit about 15-20 people max. I was sitting less then 2 inches away from the actual cockpit of the plane – I could see their navigation console and stuff clear as day, now THAT was pretty cool. As we took off, the plane didn't get as high in the sky as an international flight so I was able to see Samoa from above for the first time (and it's also the first time since I arrived here that I headed/came from the east) and from above you are able to see the full beauty of this place. It was quite a sight to be able to look down and clearly see the places I know in Samoa – this place looks a lot bigger from the sky then it actually is.
I got to American Samoa at about 8:45am and hopped into a cab to head to the hospital (LBJ Tropical Hospital). The first thing I noticed about American Samoa was that the cars look a bit more well kept there and the roads are actually paved like they would be back in the states, which means that when it rains here the roads don't get torn up by the water. As the cab was driving me to the hospital I took notice of the parks that were there (they looked like a city park you might find in Chicago) as well as the MANY trash cans that were available to prevent people from dumping on the ground. After that I noticed the fact that they also have a McDonalds BUT they also have a KFC, Pizza Hut and Checkers – CHECKERS in American Samoa, that was just crazy to me. The route to the hospital took me along the coast of the island and it was quite beautiful to see the rolling hills and all that jazz. It felt like I was being driven around in an American city which had been transported to an island (otherwise known as Hawaii). Before I left, Peace Corps gave me some US dollars to spend and I have to say it was good to finally be working with the greenback again. Now the main island of American Samoa isn't that big so it only took me about 15-20 minutes to get to the hospital from the airport. When I arrived I had to fill out a new patient form and they had some very interesting questions which probably wouldn't appear on a medical form in the US. Questions like "What are your parents names?" , "What religion are you?" and for the first time ever I got a US questionnaire that asked for ethnicity but didn't include African American (but Caucasian was on it). Once I filled that out, I was bounced back and forth between two departments just trying to pay for my stupid visit. The total visit only cost me $15US and I got a snazzy green card out of the deal. They then pointed me to the dental department where I wait for about an hour and a half on a doctor. Once I met the doctor he gave me a check up and then filled one of my cavities and I was done by 12pm – which gave me about 2 hours to kill before I had to be back at the airport.
So being the adventurous person that I am, I left the hospital and got on one of the American Samoan buses which are smaller then the ones in Samoa. They kind of look more like clown cars then actual buses, but since American Samoa isn't that big (there's really only one stretch of road that covers the main part of the island) the buses don't have to hold a lot of people. It only cost me 50 cents (that's right – CENTS – not sene) to get into town which really wasn't a bad deal. So I got to the main town area – Pago Pago Harbor – and there really wasn't that much to see. There were no fast food places that I could see or any big stores that I was hoping to find some stuff at – I could purchase stuff here and not have to worry about the conversion! But there was nothing – although the area itself was kind of pretty. So being the tech guy that I am I asked around to find out where the best place was to buy some DVDs or games and one shop owner told me "Tropik Traders" which is located in Leone. Now the way that they described the distance, I thought it was going to take an hour to get out to the place – by bus it took 20 minutes! So I got out and went into the shop and found the games – they were a bit overpriced for my taste (especially since I didn't have to do the conversion and knew they were all in USdollar) but I was able to hold the Playstation 3 in my hand for the first time. I also saw the Nintendo Wii and Xbox 360 for the first time. So during my tour of Peace Corps Samoa when I was suppose to be out of the technological loop for 2 years I have interacted with/seen the Playstation 3, Xbox 360, Nintendo Wii, Sony PSP, Windows Vista and an Ipod Video. Man, living in a third world country is tough! j/k.
Since I can get better prices in the states on all the stuff in the shop (oddly enough DVD and CDs were priced the same as they would be in the states) I left empty handed and headed back to the airport. This time I took the bus instead of a taxi which was cheaper and allowed me to have a fuller American Samoan experience. When I arrived at the airport, the check in counter wasn't open yet so I left to get some lunch. I walked to the McDonald's (I wanted to go to Checkers, but it was to far away) and had a reasonably price meal ($6.30USD for a Value Meal in a American Samoa compared to $15WST for the same meal in Samoa; I know the Samoan meal is cheaper but its expensive when you're working in WST). So I have now had McDonald's in all 3 of the countries I have visited during my Peace Corps tour – NZ, Western Samoa and American Samoa. And you know the one similarity I have found among all 3 – the McDonald hamburgers are small in every single one of those countries. Every time I get one I'm hoping for a huge burger only to be disappointed – 3 times folks in 3 different countries! Anyway, after getting my fill I headed back to the airport and checked in. For the first time this year I was able to watch AFN (Armed Forces Network) with a clear screen (in Samoa, the channel is scrambled for some reason) and I saw the Cavs hand a beatdown to the Nets (and also found out my Bulls are tied for the 2nd best record in the east – Yeah! Now if only the Cubs could be as good as the Bears, Bulls and White Sox, Chicago would be happy for decades to come). There really wasn't any security screening for entering Samoa (apparently, they're not afraid of drinking water like the TSA is) and I got on the exact same plane I arrived in earlier in the day. The only difference were the pilots – one of them, Richard Best, I know really well because we go to the same church in Samoa and we're in the same bible study. I was hoping to have him on the flight to American Samoa – he could've told me the best place to shop for stuff – but it was still cool finally flying with him.
As we flew over American Samoa, I took some shots and then took a quick power nap. Apparently even though we weren't at a very high elevation, your ears still need to be popped when flying because I was awakened from my nap by the feeling that my head was being crushed. I had to quickly pop my ears or risk screaming in pain – lesson learned! The route back to Samoa took us around the southern side of the Upolu and I got to see the parts of Upolu I haven't been able to see yet (either by bike or car) which was pretty sweet – apparently there's a big stretch of island off the east coast the I didn't know existed until we flew over it. The worst part of any flight is always the landing and Richard took his time on it – we were hovering over the ground for a long stretch, I thought we were going to run out of ground. Pilots have a crazy sense of humor. Anyway, when I got back there still weren't a lot of people like there have been before – now that was a nice kind of strange – which meant I didn't have to push my way through a throng of people. I then hopped into a cab and was driven home.
For the most part, American Samoa was really nice – a bit small for my taste but being able to use the US dollar there is a huge plus (plus you can mail stuff from there and you get the US postal rates!). It basically felt like a small American town in the country. It's just kind of strange how something that reminds me of America is only 20 something miles away and yet they feel like they're worlds apart. Ah well – at last the trilogy is complete and I have visited all 3 main islands of Samoa. Another goal on my 2 year to do list is completed, my cavity has been taken care of and I got to hole a PS3….all is right with the world. L8r.
BTW, if you're wondering why the title of this post is 'The Others' it refers to the characters on LOST who are watching the crash survivors from another island. They seem to be better prepared and have a higher quality of life then the survivors from the Oceanic crash - so that's how it connects with my trip to American Samoa.
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