Why I'm famous

Epic blog entry commence. I know I get ramble-y and boring, so I will attempt to write this one in poem form. Was going to rhyme, but it looks like mostly free versing is all I’m capable of…

Our time with our car was over on Thursday evening

We brought the car to the airport for the family we were renting it from to have upon their return

And that meant we had our first experience on the Aiga bus on Friday

These things are rocking, let me tell you

Only a dollar no matter where you go

And they run very regularly during rush hour

In the past we had used our car to go to and from work so Kelly could take it out to her snorkel sites

And AJ could use it for surveying

And because we often stopped to go food shopping and to head to various after work activities

So anyway, I hate this stupid poetry nonsense. Not happening. And completely failing

            So basically we had to start taking busses because we were no longer renting a car. I actually am really digging it, especially now that we’re comfortable with the island and have friends to drive us when we need rides. The only problem is that busses stop running at 6 or 6:30 pm and stop running by early afternoon on Saturday and don’t run on Sundays. We can also taxi when we really need to though. And a lot of the activities we participate in are close to our house (like Tae Bo and Frisbee) so walking or running to and from them isn’t bad at all. Aiga busses are manufactured here, meaning they take the front part of an old car or truck and make a wooden frame to stick on the back of it, pop some little wheels on, and you’re golden. I am flabbergasted they don’t constantly break down. Anyway, they always blast fun music from the CDs they have (there is only one radio station here that isn’t a Christian radio station and we had no other option in our car, and while that station isn’t bad normally, on our way to work they play some really obnoxious morning talk show, along the lines of the Z Morning Zoo but much worse, so you can imagine how bad…) the other thing is that the busses are decorated in such an awesome way on the inside…like the one today had rainbow feather boas and pieces of velvety dolphin blanket lining the inside front and another one the other day had a rubber eagle centerpiece flapping its wings when the bus moved. They also say random things on them and are decorated in a million colors on the outside. Riding in those with the windows down and music pumping, looking out onto the ocean with no responsibilities is the best way to start and end anyone’s day. I love it. They also take random detours and will stop at literally any point along the road, whenever anyone taps on the side or pulls a string attached to a bell type thing.

            Saturday morning we awoke at the crack of early morning light (actually like an hour before it) around 4:45 am to prepare for a day of Samoan Olympic games. Our friend Zach came and picked AJ and me up around five to bring us to the Avena Brothers grocery store where the first event, a 10k to Utule Beach where the rest of the festivities would take place. JJ and I were the only two to run it, and our friend Nyaz made us a sign that said on one side “Go team A-J!” and on the other said “JJ is Sexy”…not that he didn’t earn that statement…Anyway, it was still dark and had started raining, with wind whipping everywhere by a little after six when we started running. Aside from the weather, it was nice and cool, and the route was beautiful along the coastal road, and I had such a nice run. It was just great. I ended up finishing in third with a time of 51 minutes…my first time ever running a race longer than a mile so it was good, and I know I can do better. I got a medal for getting second place out of the girls! They also had Zumba which I participated in for a bit, and then there was a 40 yard dash and weight lifting and then all of the people hanging out with us put together teams of two for beach volleyball which was really fun.

            Then there was beach wrestling. I was really excited to watch the guys, but the ridiculous part was that Nyaz convinced me to do it with her since there were no other girls signed up. Anyway, it gets pretty intense. My one rule was that she couldn’t rip my shirt like one of the guys had done to JJ. It was a real competition, and I had no idea what I was doing. It is also WAY more exhausting than it looks, especially after waking up before 5 am, running 6 miles and playing volleyball…She knocked me on my back in the first round, and that should have been a hands down win, but the ref really wanted to see girls wrestle so he said that didn’t count as an immediate win since I landed on my butt first…anyway I ended up figuring out how to do it and getting the three points to beat her. I thought that was the end of it, but then the ref (who is also a wrestling coach) made me face the winner of the guys…who was a 16 year old shorter than me, all muscle, and heading to the junior Olympics for wrestling. I actually got the first point! But then he kicked my butt…Anyway, most importantly, Nyaz and I wrestling ended up as a HUGE picture in the newspaper!!! I’m basically famous. Don’t worry Mom, I have a copy!!

            The other highlight of our weekend was instigated by a guy named Nico. On Saturday night we went out with our Coast Guard friends to a BBQ at the house of the family that owns an oil response team and has been working with the Coast Guard on the boats that have sank and leaked oil into the harbor. Anyway, one of the Coast Guard guys, Seth, has a sleeve and a half of tattoos and is adding to it with a Samoan tattoo while here. He met one of the family members, Nico, who is a tattoo artist, and planned to get a tattoo done by him. We were talking to him and one of our friends had been planning to get a tattoo while here and had originally wanted to do it in the traditional tapping method by the only guy on the island who does it, Wilson. But Wilson is off island, and so he’s been looking for someone else. I, of course, got to talking with Nico and my friend and worked out him coming over to our house the following day (Sunday) and doing the tattoo. The crazy thing was that he actually remembered and called us up and came over yesterday and did the tattoo with my pretty preppy and clean-cut friend sprawled out on our couch on a garbage bag, getting a shark tattoo on his upper thigh. Nico just shows up at our house with his brother and a tattoo gun, takes off his shirt (exposing a tattoo-covered 300 pound physique), makes an inappropriate comment about Kelly being a white girl but having a butt and the fact that our friend better not get excited while he’s touching his thigh, and goes to town. (This guy even had two tattoos on his wrist done by his daughters, who he had instructed to give him tattoos of their names when they were three and five years old). He drew out a basic outline with sharpie first and then completely free handed with the gun afterwards. It looks AWESOME and our friend barely even flinched. Then Nico ceremoniously washed his leg off and massaged it a bit in a gesture that is thought of traditionally as apologizing for putting the person through pain and voila.

            Then on Sunday we went back to our favorite spot, Tisa’s, and met a cool dude with dreads who had been in the Navy for ten years and is now working for the Forestry Service who is actually housemates with another Hollings scholar in Hilo, Hawaii. He wants to study in Costa Rica! We also met a woman who has been sailing around the world for 20 years who was with her French boyfriend. She wanted to study at my university in Costa Rica because she was looking to settle down a bit. She was looking for a place that was “Boho chique” and did not actually speak Spanish, but figured she’d pick it up since she spoke French and Italian. She was really interesting, but I had to give her a bit of a reality check in terms of Costa Rica. Of course I absolutely fell in love with it, but the Universidad Nacional is not exactly the most organized of places, nor is it of the same academic caliber as universities in the states or Europe…and I wouldn’t exactly describe it as “boho chique”…actually I wouldn’t at all describe it as that. Not even close. But she was so fascinating, and we talked about indigenous communities for a while and what determines “progress” and “happiness” and if “development” is necessarily a good thing and to what extent…and what “quality of life” translates to…

            Then there were a bunch of eels that came up really close to shore, actually pretty much on shore at our feet when Tisa threw some old fish into the water. There was even a reef shark! And today when I was out snorkeling at Airport beach on our way back we saw 2 sting rays then 16 eagle rays and a turtle! It was spectacular!

            Also, at the Olympics I met the retired Land Grant horticulturist, Larry, who is super awesome. He was drafted into the army and served in Vietnam back in the day, and he told me the first few months all he did was “smoke dope” literally all the time and then thought to himself, “what am I doing with my life?” then the guys realized he had a degree in agriculture and sent him to do some agricultural research, helping to figure out how to grow plants on land that was not very fertile, in the middle of nowhere, far away from the battlefield. He says he had an amazing time and has no idea what PTSD is like. He then searched for somewhere to go that reminded him of what his home used to look like (he was born and raised on Oahu in Hawaii and it obviously has changed a lot over the recent decades) and found here and fell in love with it. He worked in agriculture for 30 years, raised his five kids here, and is so content. Oh, and he also did the Peace Core in Thailand for five years either right before or right after Vietnam. Ironic much? We talked about passion, and he advised me to find something I really love and do it, not to think about how much money I will make. We talked about how many people seek educations and jobs solely to find high paying jobs and how empty that is because of how much of your life your job ends up being. He also agreed with my statement that your job is your main way of making an impact on the world. He is now retired and has no idea how anyone could be bored being retired since there are so many things to do, especially when you can grow your own food and have the satisfaction to know you created it, and when you can be outside. He is such a peaceful, genuinely content, easygoing and caring person. He also seems quite spiritual.