Airport Beach

On Saturday the 16th we hiked out to Airport Beach which is located on the ocean side of the runway.
The trail from Maliu Mai goes past blowholes and natural arches.

Kailani and Ella hiked pretty well on the way there.

They loved to watch the water spray from the blowholes.

There were two old bunkers along the way.
We finally made it to the beach. There's really no shade, so we had to use umbrellas and lavalavas for shelter. The snorkeling was nice. But the next time we go, we'll leave the kids behind and wear a lot more sunscreen.

The beach was hardly worth the burn. Ouch!

To the Editor

Don't mean to be a downer, but this is pretty crazy. It's a letter to the editor in Samoa News today.

"WOW. JUST WOW"

Dear Editor,

Let me see if I've got this straight.

1 ­ The Governor of American Samoa jumps on a shiny military jet/limousine and is rushed 2,500 miles away because he could not get the necessary care at the hospital a few miles from his home.

2 ­ A few weeks later an American Samoan infant dies after being delayed attempting to get to a hospital 2,500 miles away because his family could not get him the necessary care at the hospital a few miles from their home.

3 - A few days later the Senators of American Samoa pass legislation that allows uncertified "doctors" to continue practicing "medicine" at the "hospital" a few miles from their homes.

Are you kidding me, citizenry of American Samoa?

Why are you putting up with this?

My heart weeps for Baby Futi, and all of you should be in the streets right now demanding that this situation changes today. The status quo is no longer acceptable. Institutionalized mediocrity has resulted in not just a frightening disparity between those who rule and those who are ruled, but also the death of a child.

Signed,

Talkin' about a revolution

Also surprising is how Samoa News doesn't seem to screen letters--they'll publish anything! This is a portion of a different letter.

...Another issue that I just want to "touch" on has to do with police officers. Not all police officers are affected with what I have to say, it's just those small number of officers that give the department a bad name. Some of you act like you all are in the army or some branch of the secret service. I mean seriously, some of you act like jerks. When you walk you put your shoulders up so high that your heads are barely visible. You think you guys are all that. Well I've got news for you, you're not! Try gong to the mainland and enrolling in any police academy there and see how far you're going to get.

There is this one particular police woman that I often see giving tickets to people on the road everyday. I don't have anything against you when you're doing your job lady, just so you do it with some respect
and some dignity. And lady, learn how to smile. And just as a reminder, in case some of you do take up the challenge to go and enroll in a police academy, it's not who you know, its WHAT you know that's going to get you in. And you actually have to PASS the academy.

If I have offended some people in any way please don't take it personally, it's just my opinion and everyone is entitled to have one.

So, "lady, learn how to smile" isn't supposed to be personally offensive? It's a small island. Even I know which officer she's talking about. She'll be smiling now.

What a great place!

Aunu'u

This is the post of our great day in Aunu'u. Those of you who've been there will have the same pictures of the same lovely sites, even same cute village kids. Hope your trip there was as nice as ours.

Aunu'u is a small island off the southeastern coast of Tutuila. We went on Saturday the 9th with our friends Lauren and Scott. The weather was perfect. Here's our "vessel of suspect seaworthiness" the Blue Angel. At only $1/person, it was probably the most enjoyable dollar I've spent.
The boatride takes about 15 minutes. It's really like a bus ride. Many people commute everyday for school and work. Look at that amazing blue water. Samoans call the color lanumoana. This is looking toward Aunu'u.
We waved to a boat making the return trip.
This shows the whole span of the island. It's almost 2 sq. miles.
This is an Aunu'u resident who caught a little tuna off the back of the boat. He gave us the tuna, which we shared later on.
First stop, beautiful beach on the northwestern side, looking back to Tutuila. Here we paused for directions and shade. Isaac somehow upset a big chicken and got scolded (by the chicken).
Here's Lauren practicing Samoan with our young tour guides. We asked the village kids to take us to the palapala mimiki (quicksand), and they followed us around the entire island. There's not much else for them to do on a one-village island. The little boys entertained us by galloping like animals, racing down the trails, posing like rappers, and randomly yelling their mantra: "Go, Go, Power Rangers!"
Ephraim cut open the fish with a stick and cleaned it out. The kids helped Ephraim watch out for the eel in the shorebreak that wanted some fish. They tried some fish, but didn't really like it.
"The Precious will be ours once the hobbitses are dead." (gollum, gollum)
When we reached the quicksand lake, I took a few steps off the path to get a different view, but the girls scolded me. Here's Raiders in his 7 year old glory.
They told us not to continue from there, that we'd need to go with a dog to protect us from the wild pigs that could eat us. We took our chances. And they were happy to follow. Who needs a dog when you've got little boys running around?

We climbed the trail heading up the mountain and at a clearing Ella climbed a banyan tree (with help).
We started the trail that goes to the crater lake, but it was too long and hot for our band so we'll explore that another day.

This is the south shore where we paused for a break.
I asked the girls to sing. They sang one of Ephraim's favorite Vaniah Toloa songs.
Circling north again along the western shore we passed the LDS church. I was hoping to find a drinking fountain there. But, no. I was wearing my CTR ring (Choose the Right) and one of the girls had one too. So we discovered most of them are LDS.
We were happy to get back to the boat dock and eat some lunch. Except that when I pulled out our PB&J, the kids said, "Oh, I love peanut butter. It's my favorite." I said, "Good, go ask your mom to make you a sandwich." Same with water. "Oh, I'm so thirsty!" I said, "Go home and get a drink." Silly kids.

Finally we went swimming in the boat wharf. (If you go there, let me warn you that the ramp is slippery. Isaac and I learned that the hard way.)
When the boat came to the wharf the kids climbed up the side and hung on for a ride. They seem so comfortable with all aspects of their little island. We boarded the boat and headed home dirty and tired.
Until next time...

A Pleasant Stroll to the Dumpster

Valentine's Party

Happy Valentine's Day!

A week ago I got a package from my mom containing, basically, a party in a box: plates, napkins, cups, balloons, candy, etc. Just add friends! Since we do have some of those here, we invited them over to celebrate.

We made valentines. We busted a great heart pinata (sorry no photo, I was on pinata-support duty). And we ate snacks.

We were all so excited by the matching party goods. It was sort of a sad reflection of our isolation.
A friend from church has LOTS of fabric from home. She gave me a cute heart print and I made some aprons as a party favor. Can you feel the love?

6 Things

To satisfy my duties as "it" bestowed upon me months ago, I'll share some strange things about us. I may not limit it to 6. We'll see.

1. Melinda- I like cars and can name 9 of 10 cars driving by. Even at night. I'm rarely stumped. So when I ask "What kind of car do you have?" and someone answers "Blue," I'm a little disappointed.

2. Ephraim- He's happiest in life when he doesn't have to spend money. For example, he's quite proud of his vast collection of funky 25 cent neckties and second-hand aloha shirts. The cheaper the clothes, the more he likes them. And YET, this man looks classy in any situation. How many guys can pull off a pink stargazer lily print at a BBQ? Some. How many paid only $2 for their pink stargazer lily print? Ours truly. Call it stingy, cheap, miserly, or frugal. We call it "living on the cool side of poverty."

3. Melinda- Next, watch this:"Now brothers and sisters, listen to me, I'm talkin to you re-li-gious-ly. My Mormon Rap will make you see, I'm as funky as Donny and Marie. When I go to church I'm in a good mood cause they all treat me like a righteous dude. When I watch TV I feel inspired cause I listen to the Mormon Tabernacle Choir..." Need I go on?

4. Ephraim- "Now there may be some of you who know this better (I'm looking at you J+C, I+C) and it's been a while since I read this type of stuff. But you know the big spider in LOTR Return of the King? Yeah, her name is Shelob. Well, she's not the only large spider in the Tolkein universe. Another spider, Ungoliant, an ancestor of Shelob, teamed up with Melkor and travelled to the Undying Lands. There they destroyed one of the Lamps of the Valar when Ungoliant sucked out its light. Oh, and Melkor was Sauron's mentor, creator of balrogs......and dragons. On second thought, you probably all know this, huh?"

5. Melinda- I've had a lot of jobs. My first job was a cashier at EZ-Stop in Union, KY. I wasn't old enough to sell alcohol, so I couldn't push the "BEER" button on the register. The customer usually reached over and pushed it for me. (If he were old enough.) Later I worked ground crew for American Airlines, marshalling in planes and tossing luggage. I also packaged up Barbie dolls and Hot Wheels in a Mattel warehouse, stocked cereal at 3 am at Kroger, waitressed at a Mexican place (I was paid in tacos al pastor), taught ESL to a compadre of Hugo Chavez, ground rocks into fine powder for analysis at a geology lab, and organized socials for all my neighbors in Newport, Oregon. All this to pay for Ephraim's funky tie collection.

6. Ephraim- Ephraim has onion phobia, afro envy, and acrophobia. He's a Mac defender, Bob Dylan enthusiast, and belongs to no political party. His recent excitement: he swam with black tip reef sharks while snorkeling yesterday; after three tries he conquered the land of Catan against the reigning German on island; and he finally finished his bathroom read, Moby Dick.

7. Melinda- I've played piano for most of my life, and still can't play well. Wish I could. Same with tennis. And cooking, and speaking Spanish, and reading long books, and singing, and many other things.

8. Us- Although our lives my appear a "beachy" keen on this blog, they're really normal. We spend a lot of time washing dishes, trying to keep our shabby house together, sweating in boredom, and at wits end with our kids. So really the grass is greener...somewhere else.

There, was that interesting? Was interesting the goal? Is the debt to society paid? Now, we'll get back to sweating in boredom at wits end in our shabby house.

Bruddah Eph

Ephraim recently reached perfection. Before that he was very close. He flosses everyday, contributes the maximum to his IRA, and makes al dente saimin (ramen noodles), which he could eat everyday. He's so good that a girl in high school once told him he only needed one more thing to be perfect: guitar skills.

Yesterday he asked me why girls melt for guys who play guitar, which I thought was pretty obvious--they're just dreamy. We'd just seen Stranger than Fiction and Ephraim was amazed that Will Farrell could just pick up a guitar, strum a few chords, sing a few lines, and get the girl. It is pretty funny how that works. But it's true.

Think back to college. Raise your hand if you DIDN'T try to learn a few guitar chords in college to impress a girl/guy. Well then in high school. See? I attended one beginner guitar class with a friend at BYU. The room was full of romantic hopefuls, hoping to strum their way to romance, hoping that Michael Row Your Boat Ashore would do the trick.

Well, with none of this really in mind, I gave Ephraim an ukulele for Christmas. He's been strumming a few chords and singing a few lines, and we think he's reached perfection. (In an easy Iz Kamakawiwo'ole way. NOT a jumpy Jake Shimabukuro way.)