I crawled out of the fale this morning just before breakfast and took a stroll on the shore. It was silent and peaceful, as always. Almost every 24 hour day here is pretty quiet once you leave the busy life in Apia. The only sounds you hear are the honks from cars driving by (either saying hello or warning you that they are approaching for behind), the roosters caca-doodle-doodling, or the Samoans hollering a friendly hello from inside their fale. Another funky sound we hear at night is the gecko. Believe it or not, these little fellows are quite loud.
We ate our free breakfast consisting of 2 pieces of toast, with another two pieces combined forming a traditional American grilled cheese (yum), a slice of papaya (which smell bothers me), mango, coconut, and starfruit. Meals were important to load up on because lunch is not included. Since we have put ourselves on a tight budget, we have scavenged any way possible to get around paying tala at lunch hour. In fact as I have done the past two days, a Snickers bar and a piece of fruit has done the job. Lets see its got your calcium, protein, carbs, etc. Haha, I would just rather eat something I know is from America because I am honestly tired of gulping Pepto Bismol after every meal.
After breaky, we showered and scattered off to church. Sunday in Samoa is traditionally a day of rest. Villagers attend mass at 8am-9am (depending on their ministry) and head back to their homes for a large family meal. Shops and markets do not open till the evenings, if even at all. Church was an experience, even though we showed up a little late. The ceremony was conducted in Samoan, but they did have an English translator reciting verses. It was hard to understand at points, but definitely cool comparing it to services I have been to. Women were dressed in all white and work matching hats with veils and ribbon. When researching what to pack for Samoa, they did mention a white garment for Sunday, so luckily I did bring one to wear over my dress. We didn’t realized till afterwards however that it is forbidden for a woman to have bare shoulders and Kristi has worn a tube top dress. Whatever, how were we to know? Whoops!
After church, we took an hour trek up the road to swim with the turtles. Again, you follow beaten up signs down a dirt road with charging pigs (haha) to the head of the village fales and pay the standard five tala. We followed the locals’ directions and headed across handmade bridges. It is an ‘escort-yourself’ service fee, but once you pay you basically can do whatever you’d like on their property. As a matter of fact, I don’t even think they would care if you went skinny dipping with the turtles. I’m not saying I did, come on now! Haha. When we walked out into the natural reservoir, there was very little movement or signs of these ‘so called’ turtles. This didn’t last long, however. Almost instantly after stepping into the waist high pond with an apple in hand, they seemed to pop up everywhere. These turtles were pretty dang big! Dan and Kristi picked them up by their shells as I took pictures, but of course I was slow at making the approach. Those little rascals aren’t as slow as you think once they know they are being chases. I finally grabbed a hold of one but definitely underestimated its size from above because I could barely lift the thing.
We spent about a half an hour with the turtles and then headed back to Tanu. When we arrived back it was still early so we decided to do what the old men do and relax by making jungle juice or a similar concoction with Absolut Mango from the duty free store, pineapple-orange juice, and Sprite. We borrowed a bowl from the kitchen, stirred, and dished out cocktails. As if those drinks weren’t enough, we cleaned the bowl and made some kava. Afternoon activities consisted of a nice little walk up the beach, collecting shells and treasures. I’d say it was a lovely restful Sunday after all!
No comments:
Post a Comment