Pacific Odyssey - Leg 3

It is quiet on the boat, life ashore continues.  We´ve had especially hot weather the past 2 days; the boat is very warm below and unless you find a spot under the tarp, in the shade, you soon feel the intensity of the sun´s heat.  As soon as we could, we set up all 3 tarps.  Yesterday we arrived at Apia Harbour about noon, but it took until 1500hrs until we were tied up and we had the clearance we needed to go ashore.  We need a shipping agent in Samoa, which the Port Captain helped us with.  Skipper had quite a few meetings with various people at different places, discussing, presenting papers, making copies, paying fees, and collecting forms and customs declarations filled out by everyone on board.  Nearly everyone had a chance to go ashore and do the initial exploring; I like to take the kids on a walk and just look, notice things.  The people are very friendly and we´ve taught ourselves ´hello, good-bye,´ and ´thank you´ in Samoan.  The languages here are English and Samoan, everyone speaks English.  In earlier years Samoa has had a stronger link with New Zealand; one still sees remnants.  The town of Apia is relatively big, stores have interesting combinations of items for sale, and some of the buses and buildings are painted in bright colours.  All along the harbour is a beautiful walkway with no shops.  They use the coconut husks broken up like we use sawdust or woodchips on trails and around plants in a garden.  The dress code is more conservative here; we´ve decided that the girls on the ship should wear knee-length skirts and T-shirts, while the guys are wearing longer shorts, and T-shirts as well.  Many of the men here wear the lava lava, or sarong.  The kids we see coming out of school are also all wearing uniform lava lavas.  It looks quite smart actually; the men are often wearing a tapa patterned short-sleeved shirt and the women wear beautifully coloured, floral and tapa patterned dresses and skirts.  We are on a commercial dock, similar to Hilo, Hawaii.  There is no hose but there are 2 showers we are sharing with the cockroaches.  Cockroaches are harmless though, somehow they´ve been given a bad name; they really do no harm to us, just skitter away when we turn on the light.  The showers have good pressure and you can lock the door.  Yes, they are cold, but here . . . who wants a hot shower?  Many of the trainees have gone to the cinema to watch The Bourne Identity #3.  It´s always strange to see a North American film in a foreign country.  You forget where you are; when you emerge from the blackness and the ´American-ess´ of the last 2 hours, you feel a bit transposed initially.  Tonight, a group of trainees and crew went to a Fire Dance Show, which includes dinner.  Our shipping agent suggested it and provided the details.  A few of them have returned and they are ecstatic about what they saw.  Many different things were seen and experienced by crew and trainees today.  A few girls got up early and went to the market, the ´maketi fou,´ which is said to have the "biggest and best selection of fresh produce, as well as the lowest prices in the South Pacific.  It is busy 24hrs a day and to have a stall there is so prestigious that family members take turns staying the night in order not to lose their privileged spots (Lonely Planet)."  They tried some of the ´koko samoa;´ a hot drink made from Samoan cocoa beans.  It is quite good.  Many of the rest of us went to the market later in the day, it really was quite something.  It´s all housed under a large tent, about the size of a football field.  There are tables and tables of vegetables, cooked food, wooden bowls and other wooden products, wicker products, jewellry, clothing . . . the list continues, as did the tables and the women and men manning them.  Gillian, Skipper and I had a fun exchange with a woman who was ready to ´give us a great deal.´  We ended up chatting with her about the ava bowls and how they were made, the process for colouring them, who makes them etc. She also sold vegetables and gave the boys a big bunch of the delicious small bananas they love.  Tavish found a great park and settled to write some letters but found that people would come up to him and ask if he was okay, and when he answered ´yes,´ they would stay and chat for awhile.  A busload of children from a nearby orphanage also came for their weekly play at the park and Tav found himself playing along with them too.  So, not much writing, but he was excited about the time he spent there.  Bec, Tristan and Elske were given a tour of one of the larger churches by the concierge and he took them all the way up one of the 2 towers to the bell tower.  The view was amazing, they said.  Many trainees caught up on email and laundry.  Jose and Antony did some work on the propeller which involved several hours of scuba diving.  Jordan has a list of jobs that need attention and spent the day working through some of them.  We went to Robert Louis Stevenson´s house which is now a museum.  We had an excellent tour by a Samoan man, who had a great knowledge of Stevenson, his family, his writing, and the history of his home since his death. The house is situated high on a hill, it´s a beautiful house, beautifully built with wood from California (his wife was from there), large windows, high ceilings, simple and tasteful in design.  Stevenson only spent 4 years in Samoa before he died, he suffered from TB and his sickness was the reason for them leaving Scotland and building a home for his family in Samoa; Samoan weather agreed with.  He was a big advocate for the Samoan people and spoke up and fought for them during the years he was alive.  Samoans loved him and bestowed honours on him as if he was royalty.  We hiked up the mountain to where he is buried, a beautiful, steep climb to an amazing view.  His story here in Samoa is a wonderful one and I feel enriched by having learned of him today.  Many of us are still humming the dance song we learned at Palmerston, the dance the girls were taught.  I have written enough for tonight, but I will share the words with you another night.  I hope we keep practicing so we have something to show you when we return.  Gillian found out tonight that her dad is joining us for a week in Fiji; she is so happy.  It´s always fantastic when someone we know comes to visit in a foreign port.  Chase´s parents and brother, as well as Jaimie´s boyfriend Rob, are also coming.  Very exciting.  This is it, most of us are sleeping up on deck as it is so hot below. There are mosquitoes but we have insect repellant.  Until tomorrow, good night, Bonice.