March 10, 2000

Here's a great link Guy Fitzpatrick put together for the local dive club: http://www.geocities.com/pagopagodivers/links.htm It has beautiful local underwater photos.

Terry and I stopped by Jeffrey's, a new restaurant in the old Subway by Cost-U-Less. The lamb was exceptional. Those of you on island might stop in.

This is Siniva's church in Tafuna. Notice the purse seiner (tuna) net protecting the beautiful windows from the cricket game (Samoan: kilikiti) played in the parking lot. Kilikiti is a big sport in Samoa. When we first came on island I wondered why they had short sidewalks that didn't go anywhere. The bat is quite different. It is a three sided club.

Just down the road from Ave Ole Fetuao (Take It to the Lord) church is this matai's (chief) grave. The graves of the matais can be massive monuments.

The fish were biting this week, and Terry has the teethmarks to prove it. We were snorkeling inside the reef at Fatu ma Futi. When I came up Terry called to me in some distress. She was the victim of a fish attack. We were able to save her leg. (Just kidding.) The fish did draw blood.

I mentioned the Queen Elizabeth II, a cruise ship, a few weeks ago. Itís hard to convey a sense of its size. It is big enough it canít turn around in the harbor.

If you are interested in the best of Samoa, you might check out this site: http://pagopago.com Some beautiful wood carvings by Louie The Fish can be found at http://pagopago.com/LouieTheFish/Pendant.htm

Lots of bananas. Some are small, sweet and yellow, but some are sweet when they are green. There is an enormous sweet banana. Then there are the starchy ones for baking.Taro leaves are delicous cooked in coconut cream and spices to make palusami.Taro root is baked somewhat like the potato. Kolio serves it with a curry coconut cream sauce.

The market square at Fogotogo is the Grand Central Station for the Aiga buses. It might cost a $1 to ride from the west end of the island. At Fogotogo you can transfer to a bus going to the east end of the island.

Little pieces of the (popo) coconut husk are braided together to hold the popo together. The husked popo are sold in baskets made from braided cocnut fronds.The ulu (breadfruit) in the foreground is a starchy staple in the Samoan diet. It is really good with the ever present coconut cream. The root behind the ulu is similar to taro.

We've finally been given clearance to share some news. Cheeseman and Paleantologist Sue (Jonathan and Courtney McMillan) are expecting. They would appreciate name suggestions and then we'll vote on the winning name.

A belated tribute to Mr. Lincoln. Terry's class studied what a recent poll named our most beloved president.Davelyn sporting a stovetop hat.Terry helping Danytra.Will the real Mr. Lincoln please stand up. (Davalyn, Danytra, Andrea, Shay, Graeme)