Off to Western (Mom’s Visit: Saturday)

(From Mom’s trip journal: Told from her perspective)

Today we left for Western Samoa. Our plan was to go straight to the island of Sava’ii and stay for two days then back to Upolo for two days.  Our Polynesian Air flight left at 8:30am, so it was an early morning for us. We taxied to the airport, arriving with plenty of time before our flight. We checked in at the ticket counter and they weighed our luggage and then asked each of us to step on the scale with our carry-on bags. As 8:30 approached and passed, one of the airline guys came by to tell us there would be a 30 minute delay. The extra time came and went and we received another visit from the airline guy; this time he said due to the additional delay they were going to provide us with refreshments in the airport restaurant. We followed him and the other passengers (14 in all, I think) to the restaurant where we all placed orders for breakfast. The plane arrived before our food and everyone started getting up to leave. A Samoan family at the table next to us asked for their food to go and also asked the waitress to take care of our food too.  They were really nice and were making sure we were taken care of.  

So off we go with breakfast in hand to the tarmac to board the 14 seater plane that would take us to Apia, Upolu, Western Samoa. It was a short 30 minute flight from Pago Pago to Apia. We got off the plane and made our way into the tiny airport immigration line. While waiting in line we started talking to our “Samoan Family”. Roy was the guys name and he worked in the EOB (Executive Office Building) in charge of the Office of Youth and Women’s Affairs, and I don’t remember his wife’s name, but they were extremely helpful. Roy took care of finding us a taxi and negotiating the rate for us and also gave us his sister’s phone number in the Apia area in case we needed anything during our visit. We jumped in the taxi and started our journey to the Upolu wharf where we would catch the ferry to Sava’ii. 

The taxi ride was quite long, taking about an hour airport to wharf. We reached the wharf and the taxi driver put us out in front of a dingy looking snack bar. The ticket area for the ferry wasn’t open yet. We had about an hour and a half wait until departure at 2:00pm. There were picnic tables there under a covered area where we waited and during our wait it started to rain. By the time the ticket office / ferry loading area opened it was pouring pretty hard. We trudged across the parking lot with our luggage and I attempted to use my umbrella to stay dry while Jessie just ran for it. (Things you learn to do when living in Samoa) Once in the ticketing area we purchased tickets and by then they started the boarding. Trucks, cars and lots of people made their way on board. There was a place to stow our luggage, then we found a seat toward the back of the seating area on the outer side of the ferry. The rain continued as the ferry made the journey from Upolu to the island of Sava’ii. The rain and spray from the waves soaked us and we were shivering cold. I opened my umbrella and used it as a shield. Jessie thought I was crazy and thought people would think we were weird, but she also enjoyed the warmth the shield from the wind and rain provided. This was the most miserable 1 ½ hour ride.

 At last we arrived at the Sava’ii wharf and followed the crowd off just as we had when we boarded. It was still pouring rain and as we entered the ticketing / boarding building lots of guys were greeting us and yelling, “Taxi, taxi” and trying to take our luggage. We were looking for a bus that would take us to Tanu Beach and finally a guy grabbed our bags and hurried us to a waiting Aiga bus that was already packed to the gills with soaking wet people. He shoved our luggage under a couple of seats and we grabbed the last two seats as the bus started to roll out of the parking lot. I sat right up front next to an old Samoan woman and Jessie sat a bit further back. 

11.21.2009_WesternSamoaWithMom

What a cultural experience riding a local bus. The driver had Samoan tunes blaring and after the rain let up, the windows came down. At one of the stops a woman was getting off who had a fruit basket sitting at my feet. As she took the basket, it caught on the plastic shopping bag of the old woman next to me and her raw chicken went sliding across the bus floor. She scooped it up and stuffed it back into her bag….. Ewwwww! An hour and a half later we arrive at our stop, Tanu Beach Fales. We were greeted at the gate by one of the family members that own the fales. She was a sweet soft spoken Samoan woman with a New Zealand accent. Two teen girls came to carry our luggage and show us to our fale. A fale is a simple structure with a platform raised off the ground and a number of support poles holding up a roof made of palm leaves. The sides between the poles have woven mats in sections that may be raised and lowered for privacy or to allow the breeze in.  We stowed our luggage, changed and headed for the beach for a little dip and relaxation after a long day of travel. When the sun started to set, we returned to our fale to change and then spent some time taking photos before dinner. The dinner bell rings at 7:00pm and all the guests gather around the long tables and eat together. The Tanu family women serve the prepared plates of chicken, slaw salad, bread fruit, pausami (some leaf creamed with coconut). It was ok but nothing I would want to eat again. It’s a Saturday night which at Tanu is Fia Fia night.  Fia Fia is a traditional Samoan cultural show with music, dancing, and fire dancing. The show was put on by all the members of the Tanu family including the smallest kids. One of the little boys, who came out at the beginning of the show, lost his I’e (sarong for men) and was in front of the crowd butt naked. He grabbed it up and ran off to hide. The guys did traditional hoka dances and the women the traditional siva dances. They ended the night with two of the older boys doing fire dances. After the Fia Fia ended they turned music on for dancing and all the family members along with some of the guests danced to popular tunes. There was one little boy who was the “Michael Jackson” of the group and boy could he dance. He was really strutting his stuff. He and a little girl, both around 7 years old, danced until the music stopped. As the dancing went on it started to rain lightly but that didn’t stop the music and dancing! We turned in for the night to our fale which had foam mattresses on the floor and mosquito nets hanging from the ceiling. It was a cool evening from the rain so the sleeping was pretty good.