Malo from Samoa!

Malo, Blog Readers! (That is Samoan for hello, and talofa means good morning) It is Tuesday morning at about 10 after 10, and it is our final day in Samoa. Of course, I've been stuck on gangway watch, so I can't leave the ship until twelve o'clock. We are thinking of going to the Robert Louis Stevenson Museum and then the natural rock slides after lunch. We've had a pretty good time so far - it is ridiculously hot here. The girls have to wear at least knee length shorts and have sleeves on our shirts. No tank tops or spaghetti straps. Apparently women wear sleeveless shirts and short shorts, but they aren't very respected and have a bad reputation. Samoa is a very religious country - I was surprised at the level of devotion here. Because it was colonized by the Europeans, Christianity is the chief religion. Sunday was a national holiday - White Sunday - so none of the shops or restaurants were open. We went on a port program to the beach, and all along the highway the churchs were packed with people. The villages and houses along the road are really cool - many of them have no walls, only hanging curtains, to increase the air flow, so they will have a bed or a TV in the middle of the hut. Everything is really brightly colored and there are some beautiful flowers. Our day at the beach was a blast - one of the teachers bought a soccer ball, so we played guys against girls beach soccer after lunch. It was pretty nice just chilling on the beach in the sun. I sunburned my back, but I'm getting a pretty good tan. The people are so friendly - everyone waved when we went past in the bus and they are generally very good natured. I went to the Magic Circus of Samoa with my watch group, as well as a lot of other students. It was actually really fun. Not quite Cirque du Soleil, but impressive none the less. I kept thinking about how much I struggled to do one chin up while the acrobats were up on the ropes and rings twirling themselves around. The Samoan people really get into it too. They were cheering and screaming like nothing I've ever seen before. Yesterday we did a hike to Lake Lanoto'o, which is in a national park. It is in the crater of the largest volcano, and they have never found the bottom of the lake. The hike was incredibly muddy - I couldn't even see my feet or legs - so the swim in the lake felt soooo good. The only restaurant open last night was Georgie's Pizza, so pretty much everyone from the boat went there. They actually ran out of pizza near the end. It was delicious - five girls ate about 35 pieces. Halfway through we realized it was Thanksgiving, which was kind of sad. We were eating pizza and coke while the rest of the world had turkey with their families. Whatever. It was kind of like family anyway with everyone there. Then I violated all of my personal principles and got a chocolate sundae from McDonald's. I have to admit, it tasted pretty good. I've really enjoyed Samoa - it is such a cool place, and it is really nice to be away from civilization, even though I would jump at the opportunity to have a real shower and a bowl of popcorn. Apia is actually very modern. Some of the students are going village hopping today, which I would have liked to do. I think they are hitchhiking around the island and hoping to get invited to someone's home to visit. I plan to do the same thing in Fiji if we can join up with a couple of guys. It is sort of sad, but women get a lot of unwanted attention in these kinds of places. It has been a bit difficult to call home, just because it is very expensive to use calling cards, and only some of the phones allow collect calls. So far I haven't been able to place a collect call to Canada, but it worked to the United States. It costs about two dollars a minute. The internet is cheap though, and the best internet cafe has really good ice cream and a pay phone. I'm hoping for wireless internet in Suva - we should be there in about a week. I'm so excited to be able to send emails and call home once a week. I'll do another update from Fiji!