Busses, Turtles, and Supo Moa

A day with Lasela

It had been awhile since Lasela and I both hung out since we were both so busy in our village, so we decided to do something about it.
The day started off with an early bus to Salelologa. I always know the day is going to be ad adventure when the bus ride starts out interesting. With 4 people to a seat, meaning a lot of lap sitting, I was ready for whatever the day entailed.
When I got to Salelologa, I had no clue when the next bus for my journey mould be, and I did not want to miss it. I waited around the office for awhile, and realized that the ferry that normally comes at that time did not show up (Fa’aSamoa). The busses on my island go off of the ferry schedule, so when there is no boat, that could mean that you can wait for a bus for another few hours, or that the bus will show up whenever it feels like it.
I waited, and waited, and waited some more, until I finally got bored of waiting. I decided to do something productive, like go to the post office. While I was walking there, the beautiful Sasina bus rolled up. I ran as fast as I could to make sure it would stop for me, and thankfully it did.
I found a seat on the bus..and in typical Samoan fashion, many more people were also coming on the bus. I tried to do the “fa’aSamoan thing by letting people sit on my lap; however, I think some Samoans are scared they might crush a Palagi, so very few people ever take me up on it. The bus then pulls next to a shelter full of older men and women. Being the good Samoan citizen I am, I gave up my seat and stood awkwardly.
If you don’t know about Samoan busses, riding them is always an adventure. I don’t even think the bus driver ever really knows what is in store for him each day. On this particular day, the bus driver was carrying plenty of gigantic sacks of sugar, stopped at the hardware store for gigantic corner beams and pvc piping, as well as stopping to pick of several big cans of gas. This is on top of having between 3 or 4 people to those little seats and many people standing. The bus can go fast (Samoan fast), then stop short to go over the speed bump, making standing on the busses when there is little room for your feet interesting. I was thankfully able to grab a hold of the only pole on the bus, however I could only reach it with my bad hand (still hurting from the bike accident) making the ride painful.
Rachel and I decided to swim with turtles, so she rode her bike and met me in that village. Since the bus times are unreliable (and we made several unexpected stops, like visiting villages that normally aren’t on the bus route) she beat me there and spent her time talking to the people who run the turtle area.
I don’t know if Rachel is trying to test me, but her way to have the boys stop trying to ask her to date her or marry her is to bring them on me. So before I got there, the man knew my name, my village and leai se pe’u (no boyfriend), basically all of the essentials for dating a girl.
The man who worked there gave up papaya to feed the turtles and they immediately swam right to us. Pushing against us and starting little turtle wars. It was so amazing watching them nibble the food we gave them.
We began naming them…but were never sure if we were giving the same turtle two names, so only one named stuck, Mamba Jamba. Mamba Jamba was the biggest turtle there, and whenever he saw us with papaya, he came rushing towards us. We tried to give him a little piece, but he always snatched the rest of it away.
It began to rain, but we didn’t mind as we were having the time of our lives. I don’t know if some of the turtles thought we had more food, or if they were hungry and turning carnivorous, but a few of them tried to bite my clothes and the rest of my body. Shortly after the bites kept occurring, we decided it was time for us to leave.
We decided to walk to the next village to have lunch at Le Lagoto. It is such a beautiful resort, with amazing food (and an affordable lunch menu!) Eating our lunch (or lunches) and talking to the staff there made us realize even more the great thing about Peace Corps. It really helps bring the world together. They reminisced with us about the Peace Corps they have known throughout their life and shared many stories of how they touched their lives. It is so great to hear how those people made a difference to them, and it made me hope that someday someone will say half as nice things about me.
When we finished eating I began waiting for the bus to go back to Salelologa, so I could catch my bus home. But it being Samoa, the bus did not show. After waiting for quite some time, a bus arrived, that was going to Rachel’s village. Realizing that there was no way for me to go home, I opted for that option.
At Rachel’s house we cooked supo moa and then went to the family across the street for dinner. They eat in their Samoan style house which meant that if we were not covered in bug spray we would have been covered in mosquitoes. The family who lives across the street is extremely nice and we had such an enjoyable meal chatting about villages and work.
The next morning I awoke and left the house in the rain at 3:45 to ensure I would catch the bus. A man in the village saw me and ran over. He was heading over to the 6 am boat, and offered me a lift to the wharf. I gladly accepted.
We headed over to his fale, and being a Palagi everyone had to wake up to meet me. I felt bad for it being so early and them waking up for that. Nevertheless, we still had a good conversation. They drove me the wharf, while the father told me about all the available men in his family. It is entertaining how many men here want to date a Palagi. I am getting used to finding new ways to say no. Rejecting this all the time makes me think of DARE and the ways they tell you to say no.
The adventure was long, but the experience was worth it.