Adventures in the South Pacific

Savaii

2009-04-28T13:09:00.000-07:00

For my 25th Birthday Ben and I went to Savaii. Savaii is the largest island in the Samoan Archipelago but it has about half of the residents of Tutuila.

There used to be a flight directly from Tutuila to Savaii but it stopped running several years ago. These days you have to fly to Upolu (the main island in Western Samoa) and take a ferry over to Savaii. We landed at 9:30am and rushed to try and catch the 10am ferry. Our taxi driver did everything he could (including running into the ferry terminal to try and get us tickets) but unfortunately we just missed it. We weren't too upset though because it meant we got to go back to Aggie Grey's for a drink by the pool.

The ferry ride over was a little bumpy but it was over fairly quickly. When we got to Savaii we rented a car and headed East. Our first night we stayed at Siufaga on the East side of the island. We had the most incredible lobster dinner at the hotel restaurant. I would strongly recommend stopping here!

On my birthday we headed North to Manase. On the way we stopped at a reserve and went swimming with turtles.

We also went on a short walk through a lava tube. Apparently no one has ever been to the back of the cave but our guide couldn't really explain why.

That night stayed at Jane's Beach Fales. Jane's had a great little beach bar and we had a really yummy dinner prepared at the hotel. After dinner we went to a hotel down the beach for desert.

On our third day we drove around the rest of the island. Our first stop was a church that was destroyed during Hurricane Ofa in 1990. The plaque reads:

With the Village completely destroyed, the villagers swam to Falealupo Primary School to the North. This Church remains a monument to the courage and love to the people of Falealupo.

Further up the coast we stopped at the rock bridge. The waves were spectacular.

We also climbed a giant banyon tree. There used to be a canopy walk but apparently one of the boards broke and someone fell last year so the canopy walk was closed.

On our last night we tried to stay at a surf resort on the west side of the island but they didn't have any availability so we had lunch and headed back to Siufaga. This time we tried the BBQ chicken pizza for dinner and we definitely were not disappointed!

On our last day we went swimming at the waterfall and climbed a crater.

Before we got on the ferry we had a wonderful (albeit rushed) prawn lunch near the port. It was pretty much the best 25th birthday a girl could ask for!

Western Samoa

2009-01-30T12:24:00.000-08:00

Last weekend Ben and I joined the Simonsons on a trip to Western Samoa. We spent one night in town and then headed to the south side of the island for the rest of the weekend. We jumped off water falls, climbed into trenches, dove off piers (ok Ben dove - I belly flopped), ate great meals and relaxed on beautiful beaches. Not a bad way to spend a weekend!

Our fale in Vavau on the south side of the island.

Waterfall with an unbelievably long name on the cross island road.

We had a little (ok a lot) of trouble with this little car. The battery died TWICE (once when we were about an hour and a half from the rental place), and when we got to the airport to trade the car for Ben's passport there was no one there. We called several times and were assured that the drivers were "on their way." Finally 20 minutes before the last flight of the day departed for American Samoa the guy shows up with the passport.

We arrived at this waterfall with just enough time to take some pictures and jump in before it started raining. It was still nice sitting in the open fales watching the waterfall listening to the rain. While it was raining we started talking to a Samoan who was at the falls supervising a group of American teenagers. He told us he worked for the Coral Reef Academy, an off-shore treatment program for troubled teenage boys. We talked to a couple of the guys and they all seemed like pretty decent kids. Amazing what a couple months in the South Pacific can do!

The pier at one of the resorts where we had a very yummy lunch of chicken curry and pineapple pizza before jumping into the ocean.

Pese

2008-12-23T20:39:00.000-08:00

Christmas in American Samoa is truly incredible. My favorite tradition is that every year all government agency performs christmas carols for the Governor in an event called Pese. The three staff from the Fagatele Bay Office joined the American Samoa Department of Commerce to perform three songs - two Samoan christmas carols and a medley of "Rockin' Around the Christmas Tree" and "Jingle Bell Rock." We had practice every day for two weeks leading up to the event to learn the words and related dance moves. The fact that I can't really sing or dance did not seem to matter as much as my enthusiasm for the practices. DOC also provided us with these stylish pulatasis to wear to the performance.

The performances lasted for three days. Several of my friends and neighbors from the Attorney Generals Office performed on the first day. Nearly everyone on the island watches the singing on television and Lisa and Kelly made quite an impression. When I got to work the next day everyone was asking about them and they were recognized all over town.

DOC performed on the second night. Our whole office met early for a final practice and a glass of wine to calm our nerves. Then we headed over to the stage to wait our turn. We were the seventh group to perform that evening so we didn't make it on stage until after 10pm. The performance went great and I actually managed to remember most of the words to the Samoan songs!

ASCC at Fagatele

2008-11-15T20:54:00.001-08:00

My friend Lauren is the head of the Marine Science department at the local community college. This weekend she took two of her classes on a field trip to Fagatele Bay for one of their labs. Alyssa, Lucy and I went along to help supervise and hang out at the Bay. It was a really great group and everyone had a really good time even though it rained most of the time!

Here are some of the students posing on the stairs on the way down to the beach at Fagatele Bay. These kids LOVED posing for pictures but unfortunately my internet is too slow for me to upload too many!

Lauren and Lucy took out groups of students to go snorkeling while Alyssa and I hung out with the rest of the students on the beach. It was so inspiring to see how excited the students were when they returned from snorkeling. Most of them had never been to Fagatele Bay before and some of them had never snorkeled before.

Jan and George

2008-10-08T20:59:00.000-07:00

About a month ago Jan wrote to my boss to ask about arranging a tour of Fagatele Bay. Jan and her husband George work for the Canadian National Park Service and George had been asked to join a Norwegian Cruise to the South Pacific as a guest lecturer in natural sciences. The boat would be stopping in American Samoa for one day and they were very interested in visiting "the only national marine sanctuary south of the equator." Knowing all too well how I jump at any excuse to hike to Fagatele, my boss asked me if I would be interested.

So this morning bright and early I set out to pick up Jan and George from the harbor. I knew very little about them except that Jan would be wearing a white hat. This did me absolutely no good since the average age on the ship was about 55 and white hats seem to be very popular amongst women in their 50s. Fortunately they found me and soon enough we were on our way. The drive from town to Fagatele Bay is incredibly beautiful - particularly if your only expectations come from the Lonely Planet guidebook which has the following to say about American Samoa: "Despite the palm-trees-wafting-in-the-trade-winds image, American Samoa is something of an oddity in the South Pacific. Hastily Americanised in the 1960s, the islands have all the ugly results of commercial an cultural imperialism sticking out from behind the fronds." Now I'm not saying that the McDonalds next to the airport isn't a bit of an eyesore but I think it is a safe assumption that most visitors to American Samoa don't come expecting much and are pleasantly surprised by what they find. Jan and George were no exception. They ooh'ed and ahh'ed all the way to Fagatele while I confirmed (or denied) different rumors they had heard about the island. Is that really the most profitable McDonalds in the world? True. Are there really more churches in American Samoa than households? Basically True. Do the buses really play bad 1980s rap music at six in the morning so loud that you can't hear yourself think? All the time!

The hike to Fagatele was lovely as always. It was a beautiful clear day but unfortunately we did not spot any whales (there have been loads of sightings lately). After the hike Jan and George inquired about a place to purchase binoculars. I wasn't exactly sure where to purchase such an item (I am quite sure we don't have any bird watchers here on island) but when in doubt there is always Cost U Less (the island version of Cosco)! Well they didn't have binoculars but Jan was able to pick up a pair of nifty sunglasses. Next on the trip was snorkeling. We hadn't gone snorkeling at Fagatele Bay because the tide was still pretty low and it can be quite tricky navigating over the coral in a foot of water. However by this time it was a bit later in the day and Jan and George were quite keen to see some fish. After some deliberations we decided to drive to the east side of the island to $2 beach. Jan had recently been in a car accident and didn't want to walk too much and $2 beach is very accessible being right off the road. Plus we would have a chance to drive by the Tuna Canneries and Tisa's Barefoot Bar, two locations the tour director said were must sees (although I cannot possibly think why - at least as far as the canneries are concerned). Fortunately the smell wasn't too bad as we past by and we safely arrived at $2 beach.

My friends live right across the street so we parked in their driveway, chatted with the neighbors and were soon in the water. I am always a little hesitant to take people out snorkeling in American Samoa because very often people are very quick to judge. "I saw more fish in Hawaii" or "the coral cover is much more extensive in Fiji" seem to be some of the first things out of tourists mouths when they snorkel here. Fortunately (for me) Jan and George had not enjoyed snorkeling in Maui at all (due to bad weather and poor visibility) so they were very impressed by the various fish species they spotted. After snorkeling I had to drop off the government truck and then Jan and George treated me to a wonderful Sashimi lunch at Sooks Sushi, my favorite sashimi restaurant on island. The ambiance (christmas lights and large plastic plants) is a little odd but the food is delicious and the portions are huge. After our late lunch we said our goodbyes and they headed back to the ship on foot. Good hike, good snorkeling, good company...just another day on the job in American Samoa!

Fiji Pictures

2008-09-18T19:12:00.001-07:00

Fiji Pictures

Fiji

2008-09-16T18:07:00.000-07:00

Fiji was WONDERFUL! The food, the people, the beaches, everything was beyond anything I could have ever imagined. I was in Fiji to attend a training class at the University of the South Pacific on Marine Protected Areas (MPAs). The class was made up of approximately 40 students from islands throughout the South Pacific including Micronesia, Kiribati, Vanuatu, Tuvalu, Cook Islands, Tahiti, the Solomon Islands, Tonga, Samoa, and American Samoa, amongst others. They represented governments, NGOs (CI, TNC, WWF, etc...), community groups, schools, and a myriad of other organizations. Everyone came with different experiences and perspectives and it was fascinating to learn about successes and challenges facing other island nations.

Perhaps the most inspiring participant was the girl from Tuvalu. Tuvalu completely fascinates me. The country is made up of four reef islands and five atolls and has a total land coverage of 10 sq miles. It is the fourth smallest country in the world (before the Vatican City, Monaco, and Nauru) and fewer than 12,000 people, the third smallest population of any country in the world (before the Vatican city and Nauru). In addition to being really really small, Tuvalu has very low elevation. The highest point is 16 feet, making it extremely vulnerable to rising sea levels. It is for this reason that I first learned about Tuvalu in 2007 while I was working as an intern at the UN in New York.

I was covering the Commission on Sustainable Development and for two weeks the US and China had been bickering over carbon emissions and the meetings had come to a complete standstill. On the last day delegates from the Alliance of Small Island States (AOSIS) were given the opportunity to speak. Most of the delegates gave long speeches detailing the various threats to their islands and asked for help in a way that suggested that they knew that they would not receive any. Then the delegate from Tuvalu stood up. Now keep in mind that the people from Tuvalu are traditionally worriers. They are very large and they are very intimidating. It is no surprise therefore that most armies in the world (including the United States) consider their soldiers with Pacific Island heritage the most valuable and the most courageous. So this huge guy from Tuvulu stands up and very slowly walks to the front of the room. He takes his time to make sure everyone is paying attention to him. Once he is situated he looks out at the room and says in a very calm very reserved manner: "I have just one question. Where are you planning to move my countrymen when you drown my country?" And he turned and walked off the stage. This guy was a total rock star! And ever since then I have been totally rooting for Tuvalu!

As a complete aside, I think it is a really interesting twist of fate that the only reason Tuvalu can afford a UN delegation is because they were able to lease their area code (900) and sell their internet domain name (.tv) for $50 million.

So I was really curious to hear what the government of Tuvalu was doing to help protect their own environment. I was not disappointed. One of the girls who was my age talked about the times when she was a child when she would watch elders from her village eat turtles straight from the shell. She told how at a young age she made a promise to herself that she would protect the sea turtles no matter what it took. After attending University in New Zealand she returned to Tuvalu and now works with the government to develop community outreach programs to teach villagers about the ecological value of sea turtles and the importance of protecting the marine environment. She has been extremely instrumental in establishing several community-based marine protected areas throughout Tuvalu and she is committed to continue her work until turtles are no longer consumed in her country. This girl's passion was completely contagious and she captivated the attention of everyone in the room when she told her story - in much the same way that the Tuvalu delegate had in New York.

Anyhow after a week of learning about everyone's experiences and making more poster boards than I ever thought possible (the class was very hands on), it was time to explore Fiji! There are only two flights per week from Fiji to Samoa and so I was "forced" to stay in Fiji through Tuesday. Needless to say very little arm twisting was required. My friend from American Samoa flew out and we drove down the coral coast from Suva to Nandi before hopping aboard a boat for a remote island in the Yasawas. But I'm going to hold off on stories until I get pictures uploaded....

Update

2008-09-04T15:30:00.000-07:00

I can't believe it is already September! My rotation in American Samoa was supposed to end on September 1 (hence the title of my blog) but a number of different factors delayed my study this summer and my rotation has been extended to November 2. I feel really fortunate to have the opportunity to spend more time in American Samoa because I am really enjoying my work here and gaining some really valuable experience.

The last three have been a total whirlwind of activity. Kelsey's last week here on the island overlapped with survey week! Survey week started with a training class for the four volunteers from the American Samoa Community College who would be helping me with survey distribution. After reviewing the survey and going through various scenarios the volunteers divided up the survey villages were ready to go. For the next seven days the volunteers visited households in the villages adjacent to Fagatele Bay and distributed surveys. I was a little apprehensive about people's willingness to respond to the survey but it turned out my concerns were completely unnecessary. The response rate was nearly 100% and in seven days the girls were able to collect nearly 500 surveys! I met with the volunteers throughout the week to discuss their experiences and so I knew that things were going well but I was overwhelmed by the response considering I was only hoping to collect 120 surveys. I suppose the high response rate may have been in part due to the fact that we gave out free pens to anyone who completed a survey. According to one of my volunteers, word got out that we were distributing pens people were tracking her down on her cell phone to ask if they could participate in the study! On Thursday when I went to Cost U Less (American Samoa's take on Cosco) to buy more pens the cashier commmented "Oh are you from the group that is handing out pens in Vaitogi [one of my survey villages]? My mom was talking about you guys. Do you think you could come to my house?"

The only downside of collecting so many surveys is that we now have to enter all the data into a database for analysis! I considered using several programs for data analysis including SPSS and Excel but at the end of the day I settled on Survey Pro, a software program often used for social science research that is frequently used in American Samoa. It is extremely simple to enter data and most of the analysis is done automatically which is very time efficient. I have enlisted the help of Noel, the summer intern, for data entry and I have given her the task of entering all the Samoan surveys, not an easy task since many more people completed the survey in Samoan than in English. She is a total rock star however and I have every confidence in her ability to get them done!

Last week I headed to Kona for the Coral Reef Task Force Meeting, a bi-annual event held to bring together people from different organizations who work on coral reef conservation and management in the United States and in US Territories. Ten people from American Samoa attended the conference including the Governor and his wife, the Director and the Deputy Director of the Department of Commerce, the Superintendant of Fagatele Bay (my boss), and several staff from the Coral Reef Advisory Group (CRAG) and the Department of Marine and Wildlife Resources (DMWR). Also in attendance was the Governor of Guam and the President of Yap and the President of Palau. The conference was a great opportunity to meet with people from other islands to learn about their experiences. I am very inspired by the work that is being done and I hope to have the opportunity to visit some of their sites.

I returned to American Samoa on Sunday and fortunately Monday was a holiday so I had an opportunity to rest before returning to the wonderful world of data entry. I am trying to get as much done as possible this week because tomorrow I am leaving for Fiji for a 6-day training on Marine Protected Area (MPA) capacity building. The course is being help by NOAA and the University of the South Pacific and focuses on coral reef management in the Pacific Islands Region. I will be attending the course with two people from the Coral Reef Advisory Group (CRAG) which is housed in my building in American Samoa. I feel extremely fortunate to have this opportunity to participate in this extraordinary course in such a beautiful location. The training ends on Saturday evening but due to the flight schedule we will not be returning to American Samoa until the following Tuesday. My plan is to rent a car and drive around the island as much as I can. Then it's back to more data entry...

Adventures with Kelsey

2008-08-04T23:37:00.000-07:00

My friend Kelsey is visiting from California for two weeks. We went to undergrad at UCLA together and now she lives in Pismo Beach. Next fall she is going back to school to get her masters in Recreation, Parks, and Tourism so she thought it would be great to get some real world experience before she started school. In addition to helping me with the Fagatele Bay tours, she is also going to be doing marine surveys with a friend who works for the Department of Marine and Wildlife Resources.

Yesterday Kelsey, Jeremy and I went on an adventure to Palagi Beach. The beach is located at the western most point of American Samoa. Barbara pointed out that it is also the western most point of the United States. Although there are other territories that are located further west, they are located on the other side of the the international date line so technically they don't count.

To get to Palagi Beach you either have to hike along some precarious cliffs or wade through the ocean. Since it is only possible to go the water route at low tide and the water was still pretty high when we got there, we took the cliff route on the way to the beach and the water route on the way back. Kelsey and Jeremy took the following pictures at the beach.

Fagatele Bay Tours

2008-08-03T22:30:00.000-07:00

During the Pacific Arts Festival, the National Marine Sanctuaries Office offered guided tours of Fagatele Bay. We take groups of about twenty people on a 4km hike along the ridge above Fagatele Bay and we visit one of the beaches along the bay. If the group decides, we can also arrange for snorkeling after the tour. Last week I led a group of tourists from Maui, Australia, New Zealand, and Austria. This week Kelsey and I led a delegation from Hawaii who were performing in a play for the festival. Tomorrow we are taking out the dancers from the Hawaii delegation. Here are some pictures from the hikes:

Better than Bryant Park

2008-07-29T12:46:00.000-07:00

[For those of you who have never lived in NY, or seen the Sex and the City movie, Project Runway, the Real Housewives of New York, Kimora: Life in the Fab Lane, or anything else on E!, Bryant Park is the location of New York Fashion Week. Oh and it is the best spot in NY for Sunday Brunch!]

Last Saturday, Monday, and Tuesday, the Pacific Arts Festival held Fashion Shows at the auditorium to showcase clothing from different islands in the South Pacific. I missed Saturday but all anyone was talking about the next day was that the Tahitian woman displayed "pre-colonial" clothing that consisted of a grass skirt and little else. So come Monday I decided I had to check this event out for myself. We went early and got seats right up front. Monday's show included Norfolk Islands, Samoa, Palau, and Taiwan. Each island nation interpreted "fashion show" very differently.

Norfolk Islands displayed dresses dyed using natural vegetation for prints:

Samoa put on quite a display, showcasing everything from pre-colonial wear to modern clothing.

Even Celine Dion made an appearance!!

Some girls from Palau performed a traditional dance in modern outfits.

And finally Taiwan...

Night Time Events

2008-07-26T19:35:00.001-07:00

Every evening during the Festival there are performances held all over the island. We've been trying to go to a different venue every night to get a taste of all the different activities going on. Here's a sampling...

On Tuesday night we went to the Tradewinds hotel to watch a band from Rape Nui. Here are Danny, April, and Naomi dancing on the lawn at the show.

On Wednesday Night we went to the Pavillion to see the Solomon Islands, Australia, Papua New Guinea, Rapa Nui, Taiwan, American Samoa, and Kiribati.

Papua New Guinea has 820 indigenous languages and hundreds of different culture groups. I think about 10 different culture groups are being represented at the festival. They all wear very different clothes and perform entirely different dances. Here are Sarah and I with one of the culture groups from PNG.

There are nearly 1000 islands in the Solomon Islands and the residents speak 74 different languages. This information would have been impressive under any other circumstances but unfortunately the Solomon Islands followed PNG and the crowd was still trying to figure out how the PNG government actually managed to function with over ten times that many languages! Here are some dancers from the Solomon Islands.

On Thursday we went to see a play about a Maori soldier fighting in WWII. It managed to be both humorous and really serious and touched upon a lot of important historical events. Unfortunately cameras were not allowed in the auditorium.

On Friday we went to see the show at the stadium. There were dancers from French Polynesia, Fiji, American Samoa, and Papua New Guinea. However the highlight was the World Fire Knife Dance Competition that took place after performances.

Day Time Activities

2008-07-22T21:25:00.000-07:00

The Pacific Arts Festival has been unbelievable. The main festival village is located right outside my office building so every day at lunch I go watch dance performances on the beach and negotiate with the nice man from Papua New Guinea to sell me this beautiful woven basket (large enough for me to fit into comfortably) at a quarter of his asking price...

Anyhow here are some highlights from the festival:

Some dancers from Papua New Guinea before they went on stage. The women are all topless and there was some concern about crowd response. Apparently when the festival was held in Western Samoa 8 years ago some people threw rocks and trash on stage to protest the nudity. Since both Western Samoa and American Samoa are very religious, festival organizers anticipated the same would happen here and ran a radio campaign for a month before the festival reminding people to respect other cultures. It seemed to work because everyone was very respectful!

Barbara, Eric, and Melissa taking a break from work to enjoy the festival.

Posing with some of the guys from fiji.

The guys from Rapa Nui (Easter Island) are definitely a crowd favorite. The guy on the right told me I was very beautiful and asked me if I would marry him and move back to easter island. If you don't hear from me for a while...there is a good chance you can find me there!

Pacific Arts Festival (Part 1 of 4,321,042)

2008-07-22T18:18:00.000-07:00

The Pacific Arts Festival has officially begun! The Pacific Arts Festival is an event held every four years to celebrate artists in the South Pacific. Islands in the South Pacific take turns hosting the event and so it is a huge honor that American Samoa was selected this year. In addition to "National Clean Up Day" people all over the island have been going out of their way to beautify the island. And I have to give everyone credit because it really does look better!

The festivities kicked off with an incredible "Olympic Style" March of Nations. I went with Barbara and some of the Archeology interns on island and somehow we managed to find ourselves sitting in the VIP section three rows behind the Governor!!! Definitely some of the best seats in the house! To our right was a delegate from New Zealand and right in front of us was a delegate from Papua New Guinea. The ceremony began with a speech from the Governor and the Festival Coordinator.

The highlight was the following quote from the governor:

"If God is the Michelangelo, then the Pacific Islands are his Mona Lisa."

Perhaps funnier than the actual quote however were the reactions of the people around me. The Italian to my right just shook her head and looked dumbfounded. The American archeologist to my right paused, thought about it, and then with a little hesitation said "Wait I thought it was that Da Vinci guy." Meanwhile everyone else around us just nodded their heads approvingly. Classic island moment.

After that came the parade. As each of the countries delegations passed by they performed a traditional song and dance and presented a gift to the Governor's wife. Here are some highlights (pictures courtesy of Barbara):

Waiting for the Parade to start

The Tahitian dancers were phenomenal

The Samoan delegation played conch shells

The women from New Zealand had great tops. The mens costumes (mainly body paint and feathers) were great too but unfortunately they moved around too much to get a good picture.

Unfortunately the delegation from Hawaii did not perform up to our expectations.

Barbara's future husband

Even Jesus made an appearance! If you can't see it the sign in front of Jesus reads "Architecture."

In the News

2008-07-20T22:54:00.000-07:00

The following article was published last Saturday in the American Samoa News and the Western Samoa News. I wrote the paragraph on the NOAA internship program:

ASCC Marine Science Internships Facilitate Hands-on Learning
ASCC Press Release
July 19, 2008

Anyone involved in the sciences, or any of the professions based largely on activity, will tell you that theory will only take you so far without practice. At the American Samoa Community College (ASCC), the Marine Science program seeks to close the gap between theory and practice through internship programs. According to Lauren Wetzell, ASCC Marine Science instructor, “Internship opportunities, where students learn through hands-on experiences, help bridge a gap between academia and the working world. Internships also help them develop skills they can use in future employment. As students follow their interests and apply their skills, they get a sense of whether they might want to pursue a certain career path. During their internships, students build relationships and develop a network of professionals who may assist them in further career development.”

As an example of a student whose experience as an intern enabled him to turn his educational goals into a professional career, University of Hawaii Sea Grant College Program Junior Extension Agent Ephraim Temple refers to recent graduate Francis Leiato. “Francis graduated this past June with a double major in Marine Science and Liberal Arts,” said Temple, “and thanks to his experiences as an intern, he now has a job pursuing his area of interest.” Leiato participated in several internships during his years at ASCC. The Hawaii Institute of Marine Biology (HIMB) funded the most recent of these, through a University of Hawaii partnership with the National Marine Sanctuaries Program-Pacific Region and support from ASCC and UH Sea Grant. Leiato and four other students worked with HIMB researcher Scott Godwin, studying the various groups of marine invertebrates, such as sponges, corals, hydroids, and anemones. They then put their newly acquired scientific training to work here at home by conducting surveys of reef flats in Auto, Asili, and Tisa’s Cove. The findings of Leiato and the other students will form the basis of a booklet due for publication later this year which describes native Samoan sea cucumbers. He also participated in a 2006 aquaculture internship sponsored by a National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) grant awarded to the Pacific Islands Educational Partnership Consortium (PIEPC) to develop faisua farming in American Samoa.

Leiato’s interest in aquaculture (the farming of seafood) eventually led him to successfully apply for a job in the Land Grant/CNR division at ASCC. Today he works at developing an aquaculture demonstration facility for the culture of tilapia and aquarium fish. Local tilapia farmers now use the knowledge passed along by Leiato to produce their own feeds using locally produced products. He works directly with UH Sea Grant extension agent Temple on a number of projects to improve aquaculture capacity in the Territory. “Francis obviously learned valuable academic and job skills from his internship experiences at ASCC. I feel confident in giving him different challenges knowing that he has the practical knowledge of aquaculture systems and can explore and implement solutions on his own,” Temple said. This past June, Leiato received an invitation to represent the ASCC Marine Science department at a National Science Foundation/ Advanced Technological Education-sponsored workshop on coral reef taxonomy held in Palau. Leiato will work with ASCC faculty to integrate information from the workshop into future developments of the College’s Marine Science curriculum.

With the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) and the American Samoa Department of Commerce currently exploring the possibility of developing a national marine sanctuaries network in American Samoa, more internship opportunities could soon open up. NOAA will select candidate sites through a process of biological and socioeconomic assessments conducted at coastal sites throughout the American Samoa archipelago. During the preliminary phase of this project, NOAA and DOC will collaborate with ASCC to conduct a socioeconomic analysis of the villages adjacent to the Fagatele Bay National Marine Sanctuary. Emily Gaskin, a NOAA fellow on detail in American Samoa will run the project in collaboration with Seeseei Toa, a Natural Resource Science student at ASCC. Preliminary work on the project includes conducting interviews and distributing surveys to gather information about stakeholders and users, the extent of their use, and local attitudes towards marine conservation. Upon completion of the study, Gaskin and Toa will prepare a report advising NOAA and DOC about socioeconomic variables that could influence the expansion project.

Collaborations between various agencies and the ASCC Marine Science program this fall semester will result in more than 10 new internship opportunities for qualified students, regardless of their major. The collaborating agencies look to a cross-disciplinary field such as Marine Science to find self-motivated, dependable, and career oriented college students to fill these positions. These unique internship opportunities will give students a chance to explore activities that could lead to careers involving the sustainability of marine natural resources. Anyone seeking more information on Marine Science internships should contact Lauren Wetzell, Marine Science Coordinator, or Ephraim Temple, UH Sea Grant Extension Agent, through the main ASCC switchboard at 699-9155 or by emailing e.temple@amsamoa.edu.

http://www.wsamoa.ws/index.php?m=25&s=&i=7916

Another hurdle overcome!

2008-07-16T17:50:00.000-07:00

Things have a mysterious way of working themselves out on this island. I've tried very hard to avoid making the obvious comparisons to the TV show "Lost" but lately I have been feeling quite a bit like John Locke. No matter what challenges present themselves, they always seem to get resolved in the most incredible ways. Case in point, Noel Afalava, my new intern! Noel contacted me earlier this week about the internship position. She is a health sciences student at ASCC and has considerable experience doing environmental projects in American Samoa. Noel is Samoan but was born and raised in California and she moved to American Samoa for High School. She seems very bright and motivated and I am sure I will be able to bring her up to speed very quickly. Huge relief!!

Now if I could just find my camera...

Adventures in the South Pacific

2008-07-15T12:42:00.000-07:00

Life in the South Pacific is an adventure. One thing you can be sure of is that no two days will ever be the same. In fact, there is probably cause for concern if you make it through an entire day and some crisis has not occurred that day. That being said, you quickly learn to laugh at everything. After all every crisis can be solved with a little patience (and the help of a couple of the friendliest people I have ever come across). Here is a sampling of the events that have occurred in the past couple weeks:

The Car
Three weeks to the day after purchasing my first car, I was driving to work along the coastal road and my car decided to stop driving. Mind you, this wasn't a gradual slow down. One moment I was driving along the road at a casual 25mph (the local speed limit) and the next minute nothing. Fortunately since most cars drive well below the speed limit I was in no danger so I sat there for a couple minutes debating my next move. After calling everyone in my phone and learning that everyone was already at work (at 7:15 in the morning...who said people don't work here??) I got out of my car and stood there hopelessly for a couple minutes. Low and behold within 5 minutes half a dozen cars had pulled over and several very large Samoan men came to my rescue and pushed my car a considerable distance down the road to the closest pull off area where I could wait for a tow truck. When the tow truck came I was quoted a price of $85, which I did not have on me and so I offered to stop off at the bank on the way to the mechanic. Turns out the ATM was out of money (very common on this island) and since there are only two ATMs on Tutuila that take my off-island ATM card all I could do was offer them the $25 that I had in my purse (about $4 in quarters) and a box of chocolate my boss had brought back from Hawaii the previous day. And it worked!! Chocolate works miracles on this island I have discovered and tow truck drivers seemed very satisfied by the deal. Anyhow to sum up, it turned out my radiator was broken and the car dealership offered to pay for a majority of the replacement costs. Success!

The Flood
A couple day later I was trying to figure out why I only got hot water sporadically in my house. Now I would like to believe that I am an independent modern type of girl but really when it comes to anything technological/plumbing related I really should know by now that I am completely useless. Nevertheless I decided that this time I was going to solve the problem myself and braved the hot water heater in my back closet. I turned a couple knobs and switched a couple switches and everything seemed to be going all right until I found the red handle. Now it made perfect sense to me to turn the red handle. After all red is often associated with heat and maybe this was the problem. IT WAS NOT. I hadn't turned the thing more than a quarter inch when it popped off in my hand and water went flying EVERYWHERE. And this wasn't your normal trickle of water either. This was a major flood of water that was quickly distributing itself all over my house! I panicked and pushed my entire body up against the water cooler to temporarily stop the flow. This kind of worked and I was eventually able to force the knob back in long enough to get a plumber out to the house. By the time I got back from work that day the heater had been replaced and I am pleased to announce that I know have hot water! Never mind the damp floor...

The Intern
Later that week I got some truly terrible news. My intern, Seeseei Toa, recently had to leave the internship. Seeseei is a Natural Resource Management student at the American Samoa Community College (ASCC). She has been helping me to identify key informants, gather contact information, translate documents, and identify cultural nuances that could impact our data collection. In addition, she was planning on assisting with informal interviews, focus groups, and surveys. Since I do not speak Samoan, it is essential that I work with a native speaker on site visits. Although most Samoans do speak English, it is a cultural sensitivity to visit villages only when accompanied by a local resident. In addition, federal restrictions limit the number of surveys that I am allowed to collect as a federal employee. By working with Seeseei and ASCC I am be able to collect more surveys without violating any federal regulations.

Unfortunately, Seeseei recently received news that her eight year old sister was diagnosed with Leukemia and would have to leave for Hawaii to receive treatment. Seeseei was chosen to accompany her sister to Hawaii for the duration of her treatment. We all wish Seeseei’s sister a speedy recovery but unfortunately it could be months before she is able to return to American Samoa. Regrettably Seeseei had to quit the internship program one week before we were planned to begin our interviews and I am unable to proceed as scheduled. I have contacted ASCC but given that the summer is already half way over and most people already have plans, it is proving to be really difficult to find another replacement. Even when a replacement intern is found, I will then need to begin training them on the survey and interview process. Hopefully I will have this latest problem cleared up shortly!!

In other news...
The Pacific Arts Festival begins this week. Many many many stories to come...

The case of the missing camera...

2008-07-11T19:16:00.000-07:00

In other news, the host of the party where I misplaced my camera last weekend was going through his pictures and found a picture of someone using my camera! He's not sure who the kid is but he thinks he's a friend of his daughters and hopefully he can track him down. My camera is the nikon coolpix 3200 in the back right side of the picture. If anyone knows this guy and can get my camera back it would be GREATLY appreciated!!

National Clean Up Day!

2008-07-11T18:55:00.000-07:00

In preparation for the Pacific Arts Festival later this month, the governor issued a territory-wide clean up day in American Samoa. All government agencies were assigned a specific stretch of road or beach to clean. Since the National Marine Sanctuary Office is housed in the Department of Commerce, I had the pleasure of spending the day cleaning Utulei Beach, located directly accross the street from none other than the sewage plant! Fortunately the smells weren't too bad but the rain and wind did present a bit of a hurdle. Nevertheless everyone really pitched in, collecting garbage (mostly beer bottles and soda cans), mowing the lawn, pulling weeds, etc...and by the end of the day our section looked really great. Our success may have been in part due to our fabulous matching blue t-shirts, which came in XL, XXL, and XXXL and read: D.O.C in huge letters on the back. However on our way home we noticed that the Office of Public Works (who really should have been responsible for the entire clean up in the first place) had decided to bull doze the beach in their assigned area. I conveniently happened to be driving with the one person on the island who issues permits for such things and as it turned out they had had not received any type of clearance to do anything other than "clean the beach" (hence national clean up day). So we pulled over to issue a stop order to save what little remained of the haphazardly bull dozed beach only to learn that the Governor not only approved of the project but he had actually requested the destruction ensue. Apparently the Governor doesn't need a permit!

Celebrating the Fourth of July in American Samoa with an Argentinean Asado

2008-07-07T12:14:00.000-07:00

This weekend the resident Argentinean/Peruvian family in American Samoa hosted an Argentinean Asado (complete with a roasted pig) to send off their daughter who is leaving for Japan to dance professionally for the summer. The theme of the event was "polynesian dance" and everyone came decked out in the latest traditional fashions. Those who tried to avoid wearing costumes were promptly dressed by the host upon arrival. Everything from grass skirts and coconut bras, to the more traditional samoan styles could be seen throughout the party. There was even a samoan singing group who performed periodically throughout the evening. Unfortunately as I was running around taking pictures of everyone I managed to misplace my camera! No surprise there (those who have travelled with me know how talented I am at misplacing cameras) but it means I don't have any pictures of the event. I'll try to track down some photos from other people and post them shortly...

Weekend Adventures

2008-06-30T14:07:00.000-07:00

This weekend a group of us went to Aunu'u, a small island 3km off the southern coast of Tutuila.

The ferries that go back and both between the islands. Tutuila is in the background.

The Brownies on the boat over to Aunu'u:

Oscar (the Argentinean), Liz (the Australian), and my old roomie:

American Samoa has more churches than anywhere I have ever been. Even Aunu'u which is home to about 50 people has a church!

Our first view of Aunu'u:

This trail goes around the entire island:

We took a wrong turn and discovered this:

And then on our way back to the trail we found this:

And then we went swimming:

Update

2008-06-24T17:37:00.000-07:00

I have completely fallen behind on updating this mainly because I recently moved and I am still waiting for the internet to be installed at my new house. I absolutely loved my little house up in the mountains but unfortunately my roommates had three cats and in the end my allergies got the best of me and I realized I needed to move. I am now living in an adorable little yellow house down by the water. Almost all of my neighbors are either people I work with or people I knew prior to my move so it's been a really easy transition. I am going to miss my roommates but in the end I think this is going to be for the best. Plus now I get to share my house with bats, mice, ants, and about a million geckos that like to fall from the ceiling into the sink while I am brushing my teeth! If anything will wake you up in the morning it is a gecko staring at you as you reach to rinse off your toothbrush. I have also heard stories about the infamous giant centipedes but fortunately I have not had any encounters...yet!

In other news, this week I got to spend a day at the environmental summer camp being hosted by several environmental agencies on the island. Both SeeSeei and Alyssa were helping to run free workshops for children 8-14 to educate them about environmental threats to American Samoa. Here are some pictures from the camp:

A junior counselor who has attended the camp in years past teaching campers about Fagatele Bay National Marine Sanctuary (where I work):

SeeSeei and Sole (a colleague from work) using a chocolate cake with M&Ms to tech campers about the effect of depositing garbage in wetlands:

Alyssa and me:

Alyssa (playing "the ocean") and Derek demonstrating how polyps eat by throwing cereal at children (playing a "coral reef"):

Church, Samoan Style

2008-06-15T18:42:00.000-07:00

This morning I had one of the most incredible experiences of my entire life, I attended a Samoan Baptist Church Service with SeeSeei and her family. Everything in Samoa is closed on Sunday so you basically have two choices: stay home or go to church. I chose the latter. When I arrived at the church, the entire congregation was on their feet singing and dancing to electronic guitar, synthesizer, and drum play traditional music...I could tell right away this was going to be my kind of thing. There was a brief sermon but for the most part it was all about the music. Everyone was dressed to the nine in their newest pulatasi's (traditional dresses). SeeSeei and I even had matching dresses made for the occasion! The entire event was one big celebration of friends, family, and life and I felt so fortunate to be a part of it! After church there was an enormous feast to celebrate the recent high school graduates and father's day. Here are some pictures from the event:

Catrina, Jen, this one's for you:

The kids are trying to teach me to count to ten in Samoan:

Group shot:

Chillin in the kitchen:

The graduates:

SeeSeei and I:

Eating:

A word about my job...

2008-06-11T23:13:00.000-07:00

I realized I haven't really written much about my job here. I am working for NOAA's National Marine Sanctuary program as a fellow. Currently there is only one National Marine Sanctuary in American Samoa located on the island of Tutuila. NOAA is interested in developing a National Marine Sanctuary Network that extends throughout the American Samoan Archipelago. My job is to conduct a socioeconomic analysis to identify the variables that would could impact the success of this expansion. I will work with SeeSeei to develop a survey to distribute to local villages. Since my Samoan has not accelerated quite as quickly as I had hoped (i'm only up to about 10 words!) SeeSeei will mainly be responsible for the village visits and I will focus on the statistical analysis (which would be a lot easier if Matt had ever given me his book!). Thank goodness for Aimee Barnes and her wise insight into the daunting world of survey analysis last year! Other than that I help out with a lot of things around the office and eat far too much of my boss's wonderful baking (today we had banana bread!). We share an office with the coastal management program and we are located in the executive office building in downtown Pago Pago (the same building as the Governor!). Most importantly however, I work right across from the boat house where I go out paddling on outrigger canoes in the afternoon. Life is good!

Pictures!

2008-06-08T16:39:00.001-07:00

This is my house. I live with two girls. Alyssa did the peace corps in Namibia and works at the Coral Reef Advisory Group in my building. Barbara is italian and works at the EPA as a GIS specialist studying water issues.

This is the view from my window. We live about half way up a hill overlooking the ocean. The area is full of vegetation and the views are breathtaking.

This is my bedroom. Right before I moved in, Barbara attempted to paint the room "sea harbor blue" because the name appealed to her. She now affectionately refers to the color as "smurf blue." I don't care what it's called...I think it's great!

And this is my new car!! It's a 1999 Ford Contour but I keep forgetting so when people ask me what kind of car I have I answer "silver!" I am absolutely in love!!

One Week Anniversary

2008-06-07T21:19:00.000-07:00

My first week has been absolutely incredible. It would take me entirely too long to recount everything that I have done so for now I'll leave you with this. SeeSeei and I have been exploring the island and visiting sites to gain a better understanding of the coastal areas. On wednesday we were returning from the east end of the island and stopped by her brother's high school graduation party. This past week was "graduation week" in American Samoa and all of the schools hosted extremely elaborate ceremonies. Most of the graduations were broadcasted on television and the governor spoke at all of the events. The "graduation party" was a BBQ on the beach with her entire extended family. I was a little startled when I was handed a plate with 2 jumbo sized hotdogs, 4 large pieces of chicken, 2 very large pieces of turkey, 2 pieces of fried pork fat, fried rice with an egg on top, rice noodles with pork, 2 slices of pizza hut pizza, and an enormous serving of rice! I couldn't believe my eyes. The whole graduation party was watching me enthusiastically to ensure that I enjoyed every bite and so as not to disappoint, I proceeded to eat my entire plate of food. This wasn't actually that difficult since everything tasted phenomenal! However just as I was eating my last bite, SeeSeei's mother put another piece of chicken on my plate. At this point I completely panicked and SeeSeei must have seen the fear in my eyes because she took the opportunity to tell me that it was ok to take the food home. Apparently it is customary to send people home with food that they can give to their families. Turns out I was never expected to finish my first portion and they were only giving me more food to make sure I had enough to bring home!! Needless to say I felt a little silly!

The first 48 hours...

2008-06-03T19:12:00.000-07:00

It has been two days since my wonderful Italian roommate picked me up at Pago Pago International Airport and I cannot believe how much has happened. In addition to finally getting my drivers license, I have met dozens of people, written a project proposal, gone canoeing withe the EPA canoe team, moved into my adorable house, gone on about a million errands, and eaten some great food! While I am here, I will be working with a local Samoan College student named Seeseei to review past interviews, distribute surveys, and write socioeconomic valuation of the marine sanctuary. She has promised to help me learn to speak Samoan but so far my vocabulary is limited to talofa (hello), fa'amolemole (please), and fa'afetai (thank you). The girl sitting next to me on the airplane told me that if I mispronounce fa'afetai I am actually saying something rude. I'm not sure if she was telling me the truth but so far I have avoided saying thank you in Samoan! This Friday several people from my office are going on a sight tour to Fagatele Bay. Hopefully I can remember to take my camera...

Makapu Light House

2008-05-31T17:28:00.000-07:00

This morning I went on a hike to Makapu Light House. Here are some pictures from the hike:

Hawaii Pictures

2008-05-29T09:52:00.000-07:00

American Samoa in the Honolulu Advertiser!

2008-05-28T19:13:00.000-07:00

The following appeared today in the Honolulu Advertiser...

"L&L Drive-Inn has cooked up a new plate lunch special: a three pond dish with three scoops of rice, two scoops of macaroni salad, BBQ beef and a choice of BBQ chicken or chicken katsu. The dish, essentially a combination of a regular plate and a mini plate, is being rolled out at L&L restaurants statewide to celebrate the opening of the chain's first restaurant outside the United States last week in Pago Pago, American Samoa. L&L said the new restaurant attracted 1,000 customers and ran out of food six hours after opening on its first day."

I suppose this is fitting considering the local McDonalds is rumored to have the highest sales of any McDonalds in the world and the local Carls Jr. broke opening day sales records. But I'm terrified a) that there are people who can consume that much food and b) that the restaurant RAN OUT OF FOOD!

And I'm Off!

2008-05-28T10:25:00.000-07:00

Last Saturday I boarded a plane in Washington DC en route to my summer rotation with the Fagatele Bay National Marine Sanctuary in American Samoa! After two easy flights, and a short layover in Dallas, I landed in Honolulu where I will be spending a week visiting family. I am looking forward to a little R&R before I start my new job! While I'm in Hawaii, I will be meeting with several NOAA staff from the National Weather Service, the National Marine Fisheries Service, and the National Ocean Service. This afternoon I am going to visit Jason Gilbert at NWS. He had my Budget Analyst job several years ago so hopefully he will provide me with some insight into the position. We worked together briefly when I first started at NOAA in October but he has since relocated to Honolulu. Tomorrow I am visiting with several scientists who are currently working on projects in American Samoa. My job will be to design and carry out a socioeconomic study that contributes to their research. On Friday I'm going to check out the Tsunami Warning Center in Ewa Beach. And finally on Sunday I am off to American Samoa and my new home...