This was my first trip there; and now I have spent time in each of the six countries in the two Church of the Nazarene fields that we work in: Papua New Guinea, Solomon Islands, Vanuatu, Fiji, Tonga, and Samoa.
Samoa was the only one missing, and we don't want a missing country, now, do we?
Dad went to Samoa for some meetings... and I tagged along, taking notes for the meetings, making myself useful, and getting to see a new country!
We were fed very well... the Samoan umu us very similar to the Fijian lovo (island earth oven) which I have grown up with and have no problem consuming large quantities of.
After the meetings, we took a boat over to the island of Savai'i, which is a beautiful, sleepy little island.
One very unique thing about Samoa is their traditional house, or "fale." Due, I suppose, to the climate of this tropical island country (which could possibly be described as "hot" and "humid"), fales are built with... no walls. There are woven blinds which can be lowered for privacy, but remain up in the day. They are actually very comfortable and cool... I was just about ready to take up residence in one myself, if I couldn't get back to the air-conditioned meeting room!
You know, I do have a note to give here regarding the air in our part of the world. I have visited these places (such as New Mexican mountains, where my mom's from) that pompously claim to have "air." Bah! When you arrive, in full expectation of promised air, you can find no such thing. Oxygen is thinly spread and apportioned in much too small portions for human consumption (in my humble opinion). And you can't feel the air at all! I mean, I like to be able to FEEL my air. And in my part of the world, with a norm of 98% humidity, at 80-90F degrees, right at sea level, you can certainly know beyond a shadow of a doubt that you are surrounded by comforting, thick air. You can almost swim in our air. And that's how it's supposed to be... isn't it?
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