Gas-No Matter the Car, You Already Know the Price

The gas station in Taga


Jen driving up Le Mafa Pass....a really steep hill-I learned from the relay race.



Everyone loves a car photo.




Cammi and the Cami





Gas
While Jen and Cammi were here I felt spoiled as we had a rental car on a few different occasions. We rented three different ones in total. One was a big SUV, one was a little SUV, and the third was a tiny car. We came up with one conclusion from our experience with the cars.
When going to a petrol station, you can know exactly how much you are going to spend on gas based upon the fuel gauge, no matter the size of the car.
To fill one quarter of a tank it will cost $25 tala;
To fill one half of a tank it will cost $50 tala;
And therefore, to fill a full tank it will cost $100 tala.
It was funny to see this true of every car we entered in Samoa.
While riding around we encountered one problem with gas. Where my village is, it is a 20-40 minute drive to get gas in either direction. One morning after expedition to Falealupo Rainforest and a trip to the pineapple stand, I realized I had dropped my camera outside the pineapple stand. We knew we had enough fuel in the tank to go to our first blood pressure check up in Elisa’s village, and then to the gas station, but we were not sure if we had enough to make it back to the pineapple stand and then to our needed stops, since there was no a gas station nearby.
Cammi was in the back seat aware of the problem and told us to just go drive to a gas station. We laughed as we reminded her we have not passed any gas stations. We enjoyed rolling down all the hills we could. After leaving Elisa’s I kept reassuring Jen and Cammi that we would make it, since I was “positive” that gas tanks had a gallon and a half before the light turned on, although secretly I was nervous and tried not to show it.
When we finally saw the petrol station we were all relieved. The person pumping the gas gave us all a first, as he rocked the car to put the $100 tala worth of petrol inside the tank. Never before had we had someone rock our car as he put gas inside the tank.
We were happy that we made it, and even though I have no clue how far a tank of gas will get you, I now do know how much it will cost you to fill up your tank at the station.