Halloween in the tropics

A couple of photos from last week's Halloween party at the Harty house. Co-clerk and I had safari suits made for ourselves that week so instead of going as a ghost or pirate, we just took the suits out for a spin. Why have a safari suit made for oneself? After seeing the picture, it begs the question: why not have a safari suit made?

Below: a haunted fale
Only in Samoa will somebody bring a live bat to a Halloween party.

Hanging out at the pirate party

The bat after too many Vailimas.

Photos the old fashioned way

Last month my digital camera went the way of the Dodo after the Vatia camping trip. Not sure what happened but I think the little guy succumbed to the humidity. I have since gotten a new digital camera but for a week or two, I only had a Holga camera to take pictures. I had to rig the camera to use 35mm film because there is only one place to develop photos on the island and that's the only film they can handle. Although not sharp photos, I think they have a cool vintage feel to them and are worthy of posting. Above are some kids outside of Tisa's Barefoot Bar and below are some boats at the Yacht Club.


Below is a shot from the Miss South Pacific Pageant parade. I believe this is Miss Tonga. Notable about this picture (besides the fact she rides a paper mache turtle atop a pickup truck) is the man on the left. He is allegedly the second tallest man in the world and also the spokesman for the local cell phone company.


Another yachty shot.


Beach and the Governor's mansion in the distance


Local bus


Coming soon...a very spooky Samoan Halloween.

Employee of the month

A few posts back I mentioned that I had a few mice in my house. To help with this problem, I have solicited this kitten. His name is Daley and he will be living with me for the next year. I have explained to Daley that I am a dog person and that this will be strictly an employer/employee relationship. He catches mice in exchange for food. In honor of his namesake, I expect competent and timely performance. In the last 24 hours he hasn't done much except hide and walk on my keyboard -- his monthly performance evaluation, I predict, will be less than stellar.

(Fun fact: if you look at my left thumb closely, you can see where I got jellyf**ked.)

Tales of the Sea

First Tale: The Tall Team

After two months of practicing, the Tall Team paddling team was finally unleashed on the international paddling circuit. The yacht club held the annual Moso'oi Regatta last weekend and we were able to test our mettle against Samoan, American Samoan, and Tahitian teams. Despite our height advantage we pretty much got smoked. Here is our coach John and our captain Doug discussing our shellacking.
The regatta was Friday and Saturday and consisted of a number of races of varying distances. Below is Tall Team after our 10K on Friday. The look on the faces of #1 and #2 pretty much sums up the race: pain. Despite a lack of first place finishes, we stayed competitive throughout and are looking forward to races in November.
Second Tale: Night of the Living Palolo

I have lived in and visited other tropical islands but never experienced anything quite like the palolo. Let me try to explain the palolo: once a year, the palolo worm, which normally lives quietly in the coral of Samoa, decides to spawn. Around 1:30 in the morning the palolo detaches its backside from its body, the back end of the worm then swims in the water unleashing sperm and eggs. The water basically fills with a swarm of worms, mucous, sperm, and eggs. The Samoan then trek into the water to catch the worms, which are eaten raw or cooked with eggs or served on toast. For a more detailed accounting of the palolo phenomenon, click here. Here's a picture of some palolo hunters:

So myself and other palagis headed to the beach on Tuesday and Wednesday night to catch palolo. Sure enough, the water was full of them. We caught a few but there were people filling up coolers worth of palolo. Supposedly, you can sell them for a pretty penny on the palolo black market. The palolo mating dance:

A weird and wacky two nights. Image I stole from the Internet of a Samoan going to town on a handful of palolo:
Final Tale: Jellyf**ked
Thursday at paddling practice was a "long day" where we take the boat all the way out of the harbor and about a 1/2 to 3/4 mile of the coast. Usually the long day is fun because we get to paddle over larger ocean waves that we don't normally experience just sprinting around the harbor. We made it to the half way point and stopped for a rest. While sitting in the ocean and enjoying the view of the harbor, a wave tipped the outrigger over and poured Tall Team into the ocean. As I went into the water I remembered Dr. Dave saying, as we shoved off, that we didn't have a bailer with us. This wouldn't have been such a big problem if we had been in the still waters of the harbor. So we were going to have to right the boat in the ocean and then bail with our hands.

This also wouldn't be a big problem if we hadn't also tipped the boat into a smack of jellyfish. In the whole of the ocean we tipped right into, what my unscientific research uncovered was, cyanea lamarcki. I have been tickled by jellyfish before in Zanzibar but this was pretty painful: a sharp sting followed by a hot burning feeling. Jumping into the half-submerged boat I had tentacles wrapped around my calf, thumb, and stuck to my back. Removing the tentacles was equally as pleasant as then my fingers were stung. Expletives were shouted and God may have been cursed. The sting was quickly replaced by what felt like second degree burns. I also had fun tentacle griddle marks on me that made me look like a paddling Mayor McCheese, which are still with me today.

So for the next 20 minutes, we bailed the boat with our hands, until a wave swamped the boat again. More hand bailing and a dark trip back to the yacht club. Neptune did not favor the Tall Team that day.

Camping in Vatia

Since the whole island had Columbus Day off, the Palagis decided to camp in the village of Vatia on the north side of the island. We were able to rent fales (huts seen below) for $5 and had the beach to ourselves.


Co-clerk and I got this fale and set up mosquito netting to keep the dengue fever away...
Hanging out on the beach...
Burying dogs...
The next morning on the beach. Good times. Below is another attempt at movie-making with my little digital camera and laptop. Here's Pirate Chris jumping over a fire...sorry the volume on the music is a little loud...