Getting into the groove

After a 5+ hour flight from Hawaii, we arrived in American Samoa late Monday night.  The air was thick, moist and hot as we climbed down the stairs off the airplane.  Actually the airport is probably about the size of the Chico airport.  Pretty tiny.  We stood in line for a long time under bright lights in a hot, stuffy room to go through customs and baggage claim.  Finally we made our way out of the airport and were greeted by what seemed like the whole town.  The crowd graciously parted for us as we struggled to push our huge luggage carts.  I felt like such an outsider.  We probably couldn't have stood out more if we tried.  The three of us, obviously non-Samoans, pushing what seemed like all our worldly possessions through a crowd of Samoans who seemed to all know each other.  We were not in Kansas anymore. 


Thankfully, Grant had arranged for one of his coworkers from the department of education to meet us with his truck.  He was very friendly, spoke passable English, and helped us load up the truck.  We took about a 5-minute drive from the airport to our house.  I was beyond exhausted.  We pulled up to the house and stepped inside.  It was nice, but except for a couple of couches and two beds upstairs, completely and totally empty.  But I couldn't believe Levi's energy.  It was about 11:00pm and we were still sort of on west coast time, which would've been around 3:00am.  He ran up and down the stairs and was as happy as a clam.  I, on the other hand, felt overwhelmed and completely worn out.  Levi found a baby gecko in his room and was excited about that too.  We put sheets on the bed, tried to get a bedtime routine for Levi to wind down with and go to sleep.  That first night was a little rough.  I had a hard time sleeping, though exhausted, just thinking about this new place and all the things I needed to do in the next couple of days to make it home. 


The next morning I was talking with Grant about all the things we needed to do and I was probably sounding a little stressed out and Levi reassuringly said, "Mom, we're going to make it homey!"  Grant and I both laughed and then I realized I can't be stressed when Levi is so happy. He gives me perspective. It's funny, Levi seems to handle all these changes better than I do.  He loves his big bed (he went from sleeping in a crib in Chico to a queen-size bed in his own room) and seems to love the Samoa house. 


The next day I was busy getting the lay of the land and settling in.  I drove around while Grant pointed out different places that might be of interest to us.  We stopped at a tiny playground, which was right on the water, but quite different from anything you'd find in Chico.  It was more like some two by fours nailed together to form a ladder and fort.  Then we went shopping for house wares and food.  It has been so interesting to see what is available in terms of food here.  Cost U Less is a one of the biggest stores in town (sort of like a mini Costco).  They had a good selection of items (spices, Nature's Harvest granola bars, tea, Quaker oatmeal, organic almond milk, pasta, Classico sauce, even Milton's bread).  We also bought some apples from New Zealand and they are really good.  In fact, I'm noticing lots of items from Australia and New Zealand, since it's just a hop, skip and jump away.  Also, Fiji water is in every store.  I love Fiji water, but usually don't buy it in Chico because it's a little pricey, but here it's almost just as cheap as the Kirkland brand bottled water.  I guess because Fiji is in the neighborhood... 


Today Grant went into work and Levi and I hung out at the house.  We organized a bit, played, mopped the floor, and waited for the Internet/cable guys to come by.  It's been nice being away from Internet and TV for a couple of days, but it's also nice to be plugged in again.  Tonight we went to dinner at a place called Deluxe Cafe.  It was pretty good.  We struck up a conversation with the ladies at the table next to us and discovered that one of the gals went to Chico State and graduated in '97!  It was so crazy to randomly meet a Samoan person who actually knew of Chico!!!  She said she loved it there and went back often.  Her three brothers actually live in Chico now.  Just talking to someone here who knows about Chico made me feel a little closer to home.  So far, whenever I tell people I'm from California they kind of shake their head and say something like "wow, you're a long way from home".  And they certainly have no idea where Chico is.  So it was nice to meet that gal.  I'm sure we'll run into each other again.  It's such a small island and a small world! :)


After dinner we went to KS Mart.  Grant was tipped off to this store today by someone he works with.  It's actually right around the corner from our house.  It is such an amazing, wacky store! I wish I would've brought my camera.  There are definitely some photo-worthy pieces of awesomeness there.  It's a grocery store/clothing & shoe store/drug store/bakery/housewares store/toy store/a little bit of everything.  BUT I was so excited because I found organic soups, Amy's organic canned refried beans, Nutella, garlic, butter and lots of other goodies.  By the way, real butter seems to be hard to come by here.  I've been to about four stores and this is the first one that had butter.  It's butter from New Zealand.


When we got home we relaxed outside a bit.  It's been really nice and breezy and mild today.  Beautiful night.  Grant showed me the Southern Cross constellation.  I guess you can only see it from south of the equator.  Oh that reminds me, we see lots of bats around here.  Big, Batman-type bats.  Kinda crazy.  :)
So far I am liking this place.  It's going to take some getting used to.  I just want us all to stay healthy and I think everything will be fine.  I'm really trying to be extra careful about the water.  Brushing teeth with bottled water and everything.  Levi already has a wet cough and today had some tummy problems, so hopefully he'll quickly fight off whatever he has.  He seems to have no shortage of energy though.  The people seem really nice and I'm happily surprised at the amount of good food I've been able to find so far.  On the downside, I was surprised at the amount of trash everywhere.  So much litter and it's such a shame because it's truly a breathtakingly beautiful place. 


This place sort of reminds me of Mexico.  Nice people, lush tropical setting, but a lot of poverty and run down areas of town.  I think it will truly be an adventure.  I'll keep ya updated......