February 5, 2010 – The day was spent entirely in Apia. From sending and reading e-mails to catching up on news at Internet café, buying tickets for next Friday’s flight to Pago Pago, lunch with the wife’s older sister to buying goods for the wife. The flea market in Apia is the place to get traditional Samoan items from lava lavas, woodcarvings to modern Samoan t-shirts with cute slogans. I bought a pair of lava lavas for the wife along with earrings. I still need to get other items before next Friday so I can mail them from the post office in American Samoa.
I did see a lava lava that caught my eye. However, I thought my wife’s younger sister, who has been a gracious host and one of the hardest working women I have ever encountered, would like it. I wanted to make sure she liked it before buying it. “N” and her husband has two young daughters, cares for the parents, cooks, does the laundry, and took charge in the pecking order after “L” had left with me for America. At nights, her eyes are weary and tired from a day’s work. I asked her what her favorite colors were. I had in mind to take her to town to the flea market and buy that lava lava for her. I have known her since she was a freshly turned 22-year-old “kid” in American Samoa. I have watched her grow during her 20’s and she was the younger sister we never worried about. She could take care of herself quite well. It was several years ago when her current husband was her boyfriend, or it was on and off at the time. “L” and I liked him because he was one of the few men around here who did not drink, not overly religious and was mature and responsible. He has a good job with the phone company and like me works for the government so he gets a good salary with job security. Things have turned out well for “N” and her husband. They have a lovely three-month-old daughter and another daughter who will turn five in April. The soon to be five year old is now my “best pal” and it is going to be hard to leave here again.
The day ended with a visit to the travel agency I am going to use again for tickets to New Zealand as well as America. I wanted to be re-acquainted with the owner and the staff. The owner is a former crewmate’s aunt. “C” and I sailed together on the Ka’imimoana for three years. I got back to the village in the evening and it ended with a movie and off to bed.
February 6, 2010 – “LV” needed a backpack for his stack of books. The books are notes written for different subjects. He is an equivalent to a sophomore in high school in America. Each “notebook” is for accounting, economics, business, mathematics, English, Samoan, and Science. Off we went to Apia to go “shopping.” Except for yesterday, I did not want to leave in an empty SUV so I asked who wanted to go. “N” wanted to go and she has first priority so she had help in finishing the chores, then the niece and my mother-in-law. “LV” came as well as the baby and her older sister. It was a car full. We got to town and found a place that sold good backpacks. We walked into one of the higher priced stores in the city; it would be equal to shopping at Macy’s or Neiman Marcus back home. Looked at the backpacks and saw the same kind I bought in San Francisco last summer. First bag was prices at $85 tala ($34 USD) and told the clerk I was looking for something little less expensive. Showed me another at which tag price was $75 tala ($30 USD) but discounted the price by ten tala to $65 ($26 USD). Same price I paid in San Francisco. I told her I would take it and I thought “N” was going to have a heart attack thinking it was too expensive. I told her that this one should last. It was about average for what I would pay in the US. In addition, several years ago, we bought a backpack based on price and the damn zipper broke that night. You get what you pay for. Did I save anything by going via the cheap? Nah, after calculating time spent shopping and gas, it cost me more to buy another.
To show “N” my appreciation I wanted to get her that lava lava I was looking at the day before. I walked around in the flea market maze and finally found the stand that displayed the lava lava with Samoa written in glitter. I asked her if she liked it and responded yes and then I asked her if she wanted it and she discreetly said yes but it was too expensive. I old her not to be concerned, as she works hard and I appreciated all what she did the past several weeks. She picked out the red lava lava. I do not know if she will ever wear it. We have given her gifts in the past and she would put it away in her keepsake chest only to be seen on occasion.
We stopped off at the fast food Chinese restaurant by the central market in Fugalei and off we went for a cruise to Lalomanu. I wanted to see the damage caused by the tsunami and the progress made towards recovery. The press made it sound as if the entire south coast of Upolu was damaged by the tsunami. When I arrived here, I did see some damage but not to the extent I saw in the southeast portion of the island. In our little village, there were some damage to trees from the salty seawater, but to the structures, damages were minimal. The resorts of Coconut Beach in Maninoa and Sinalei in Siumu suffered damage. The owners of Sinalei according to the local press had lost their lives last September when the tsunami had struck their resort and the coastal portion of their village. The mangroves that shield them from the ocean saved the villages of Fusi and Fausaga.
As we entered the southeast coastal area of Upolu, the evidence of a tsunami strike was obvious. In the village of Malaela, debris was still scattered in the area once occupied by fales and churches. There were wrecked automobiles still in place from that day in September. In a village just around the corner from Lalomanu, the only petrol station outside of the capitol city was gone. The only thing left was the concrete slab where pumps once stood. The small hut used by the attendant to keep his cash and himself out of the weather was no longer and only remains piles of rubble. An LDS church was a skeleton with only several walls standing, nothing inside, and no roof. Fales were in ruins and some of the people made homes from tents, tarps or whatever available to protect them from the elements. I have photos of this area I took four years ago when I stayed at Lalomanu for several days. On this day, it looked nothing like the tropical paradise beach resort that was.
The village of Lalomanu itself was no more. Taufua Beach Fales had rebuilt somewhat but the neighboring resorts and fales were gone. Fales across the highway from the beach as well as shower rooms and restrooms disappeared. There were construction activities and the New Zealand branch of Houses for Humanity was involved in re-building homes. Four months after the disaster, it seems like recovery was going at a snails pace. In the neighboring village of Saleapaga was another ghost town. The Boomerang restaurant and hotel was gone and all left were debris from it’s fales on the beachfront and skeletal remains of the main restaurants and cottages. The fales located on the beach that you can rent from locals washed away and once white sandy pristine beaches were littered with debris. There were no escape routes to higher ground in these villages. Behind Lalomanu and Saleapaga are mountains whose cliffs are at 90-degree angles not allowing anyone who could not climb up a high tree to escape. Dead trees from salt water were abundant as well as sick looking coconut trees. You could see fresh graves in villages where victims are buried once the recovery process began. Sadly, majority of the victims were small children on their way to school or older ones waiting for buses to take them to high school or college. The Samoa visitor map still displays advertisements from resorts that were destroyed or damaged. Dates are from October of 2009 to October of 2010. Obviously, it was in print when the tsunami struck and no time for retraction.
It is a shock to see aftermath of a disaster such as this. Back home you see it on TV and after the fundraisers or accusations of who was at fault for not responding, things are forgotten unless it is in your own backyard. Many would say it could never happen in America as we are better prepared for such disasters. If Katrina was any indication, you had better think again. I recall the day the tsunami struck my adopted islands. It was on September 29 and I was coming to the bridge to do my daily inspections when the CO told me that a tsunami had struck Samoa after a large earthquake. I asked him what time as he read the message and he looked at the message and at his watch and told me “twenty minutes ago.” Initial reports were vague and there were no reports of casualties as it was pending. I went back to the stateroom and called the wife. She was at school when I told her the news. I tried calling the family here with no avail and she had the same results for nearly twelve hours. I kept getting detailed reports as the day went. We were sailing in the Northwest Hawaiian Islands and I believe we were near Midway at the time. My first hint that the south coast of Upolu was hit was from a photo of the village of Siiumu, which is seven miles east of here. I called my wife again and told her the photos did not look good, as we still could not contact the family. As ops ended for the divers, the ship was recovering small boats; I had the two-way radio on. I remember vividly Mr. “S” talking to the returning boats. He reminded the crew and divers that an earthquake struck the South Pacific this morning and a tsunami hit Samoa twenty minutes later. When you get back tonight, “think of it “is how he ended his eulogy.
We returned to the village and as night fell, quiet came across. In the backdrop, you can hear the waves pound the beach. That is how close we are to the ocean but this portion of the village is further inland and thankfully, there are mangroves to protect us.
February 7, 2010 – Much like last week, smoke drifted over the village from villagers cooking umu. It is Sunday and church day for the villagers. You can hear the angelic voices of the choir from the Methodist church across the street. As the day progressed, it remained cloudy with on and off rain. It reminds me of Seattle without the cold air. Nothing planned and did not go to the beach due to the weather. Oh yes, I completely forgot, it is Super Bowl Sunday back in the US of A. It means absolutely nothing here and the only sports bar in town is not open. No one talks about it here. Maybe over in American Samoa there is excitement, but here, lucky if you can get an eyebrow raised. I think majority of the world feels that way and the notion that the whole world is watching is an Ameri-centric thought. You always hear from the announcers about where the game is telecasted. There was more excitement the other night over the Samoa Sevens Rugby telecast as they beat New Zealand while England lost to Fiji. Then the championship game was played on the same day and Fiji beat Samoa. It was funny as the interest waned when Samoa was losing. You start seeing people going back to what they were doing.
Today consists of reading books and I am in a mood for a novel. After two consecutive books on military history, the American Civil War and Vietnam, a dose of fiction would change the pace. QBVII by Leon Uris is next. Then time to write for the blog while I hear the rain outside pat the ground.
After today there is four full days left before heading back to work. As I look across the room and little chick keeps coming into the house. She was the same one who was in my bedroom the other day.
First thing I will do when I get to the ship, take a hot shower.
Talofa from Samoa
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