Fun with technology

I found this program on the Internet that makes posters out of digital photos. Above is a collage of random Samoa photos that haven't made it to the blog yet. Click on the image for a closer inspection.

Flag Day!

April 17 each year marks the anniversary of American Samoa becoming a U.S. Territory and heralds the biggest event on the calendar. It was on this date in 1900 that Captain B. F. Tilley of the U.S. Navy raised the American Flag on Samoan soil and American Samoa as a U.S. Territory was born. The day is marked by different cultural events but the biggest for me were the Fautasi races. About a dozen villages race 45-man row boats in Pago Pago harbor for cash prizes and bragging rights. We watched from one point in the harbor that was occupied by Nu'uuli villagers, supporting their boat the Satani (Satan).

Below, this Satani fan didn't think much of us, notice the stink eye.


Another Satani supporter waiting for his boat to come by. Satani would finish 3rd.


4th place


5th place


Last place, the Seahawk.


Some artsy harbor shots of the boats racing in.



In celebration of Flag Day and the upcoming Earth Day, I'll end with 2 nice nature shots from the territory.

Fijian Ghosts

One of the nights in Fiji we ate at a restaurant that was weird and creepy but was the only place open, yet was devoid of customers. It had a banquet hall straight out of The Shining and so we decided to take ghost photos, here are the results.


The next day we found out Fijians never eat at this place because they actually believe it is haunted...spooky.

Fiji

Last week the paddling team traveled to Fiji for the Wai Tui Fiji Outrigger International. The Pago Pago teams had been practicing for months in preparation for this trip. Getting to Fiji required first flying to Western Samoa in the afternoon. View from the AS Airport.


We arrived in Western Samoa in the evening and had to wait until 1am for our flight to Fiji but we were excited to have fancy food at a good restaurant. I had curry prawns ... not good.


Not so excited when we arrived in Fiji at 3am to board our 3.5 hour bus ride to the city of Suva.


Where we stayed in Fiji.


Although we were pretty tired after the flight, our mascot, Lee, had enough energy for all of us.


We didn't race until the weekend so we saw a little bit of the big city in between practices and meals. Downtown Suva.


There was a huge farmers market in town, American Samoa desperately needs one of these. Not sure what these big root things are though.


Spices too!


On one of our free days we travelled to a national park near Suva that had miles of waterfalls and swimmin' holes




and plants



Included in the paddling races were various cultural events put on by the different representative countries. Here we are in our travelling uniforms. I wanted us to have bad-ass looks for the photo in order to intimidate the other paddlers but Doug and Dave didn't comply.


On the first night, the Fijians put on an elaborate kava ceremony to mark the beginning of the races.


The racing itself was fun but disappointing, my boat came in last for the sprint distances. Below is the Brisbane team entering the water.


Our team prepping for one of the races


and our women's squad heading out to drop the hammer on the competition.


Easter Sunday was spent at a great resort with nice beaches, good food, and rooms with awesome views.


Fiji beach.


On our last race day, the men had the "marathon" 26K race. We finished in 2.5 hours and got 6th out of 8 after a few boats caught us in the last 10 minutes. Exhausting stuff. Here's the men after the race with some of the women's team.


Following the marathon and the end of the tournament, there was one last thing to do ...


Jim, our other mascot, going toe to toe with the Brisbane team during one of their drinking "games".

Overall, a good trip, looking forward to more races in June.

Welcome (back) to the Rock

My tour of the continental United States is over and I am back on the island. The States were great but I only took two photos the whole trip. Above is the Southport Station in Chicago and below is my friend's baby, Alex, and, naturally, on the table is a cool refreshing can of Old Style beer.


After two weeks of cold weather I was ready to return to my island paradise but the island had other ideas and we had 7 straight days of wind and rain. Below, Rainmaker Mountain in the distance, doing what it does best.



On Thursday, the wind really picked up and wreaked havoc on the boats at the Yacht Club.



Lama, contemplating what God hath wrought.

But I leave tomorrow for Fiji and the Wai Tui Fiji Outrigger International, where hopefully the weather is better ...