The Palagi Perspective

Samoan 49th Independence Day Run

A couple of weeks ago Adam and I took part in the Samoan Independence annual Marathon /Half Marathon/10 km run. We have been training for this since the start of the year on and off, Adam more seriously than I. We rose at 5 am (yes this is true, even I!!) and headed to the start line in the pitch black of darkness. Bumped into a few other people we knew including some netballers who were running for Rotaract and a few touch rugby players. It was a cool day with a few clouds about which was a good thing and we hoped the torrential rain of the night before would hold off. At 6.30am on the dot the race began. I had to laugh at the two girls who got about 500 metres down the road and then discussed how much they didn't really like running and whether they should stop and walk!! 10km is a long way, made even longer if you feel this way.

The route started near the wharf and followed the main road up past Apia Park and around the coast line to the Head of State's residence and then back. Adam’s goal was to run it in under 55 minutes which he managed to achieve with 51:37 time and about a 5^th place which was only seconds behind the 3^rd and 4^th place getters. Not too bad considering he had only just got back from Canada and hadn't run for more than a week. My goal was to plod the whole way and not stop to walk. I did manage to achieve this and slowly passed many of the other girls along the way. At the turn around I had noticed I was coming about the 4^th girl and surprise, surprise I passed number 3 within a kilometre of the finish line as she seemed to slow down her pace a lot. So I made it home in 3^rd place and won us a voucher to our favourite Italian restaurant – Giordanos!! Yippee. Have to say this is the first and probably the last running award I will win in my lifetime. It’s taken 40 years and it seems that if you want to get a place it’s a good idea to pick the right race to run in!!!

We hung around after this as knew Adam’s friend Slava from Russia was running in the marathon. Low and behold he blitzed the field and came in first, in 3 ½ hours looking fresh as a daisy and as if he could go further!!! Good one Slava very well done. Slava works for the Animal Protection Society in Samoa and it’s good to see him back in the country. After the race and the prize giving we found him jogging home which admittedly was not far, to Aggie Greys, however is the guy mad?!!!!

Homeless Old Man

Our dog, Old Man, has recently taken to sleeping in a card board box and if that is a little uncomfortable he likes to re-arrange it to suit. Never mind the mess that ends up all over the car port!!

Unfortunately he also recently got a bite to the bum and had to be taken to the vet to have it drained. This turned into a 2 person job – one person trying to keep the dog in the back of the car while the other drove. We partly succeeded. Old Man ended up sitting on Adam’s knee on the back seat after climbing over the seats with car in motion! The vet trip was also a little traumatic for all involved what with getting anaesthetics into the dog and draining the abscess then waiting for him to come back around with is tongue hanging out the side of his mouth. Pleased to report however he’s back to his bouncing self and shaved butt is looking much healthier!!

A Date Change for Samoa?

Not only is the side of the road we drive on changed, a change in date and shifting of the international date line is also now in consideration! There is some debate going on about this with regards to tourism and other benefits however personally I think this will be a good thing. Samoa does much of it’s dealing with New Zealand, Australia and for us at USP, Fiji, all of which are a day ahead meaning we are operating when it’s their weekend and vice versa. To me it will be a whole lot simpler and far better to be on the same day as family, friends and colleagues. I still can’t promise to get birthday wishes out on time however and oh dear I won’t have that excuse any more after December when the date change is meant to come into being! So will this mean I lose a day of my life????

Library Association of Samoa AGM 2011

You are looking at the new Vice President of the Library Association of Samoa!

Mt Vaea and the Tomb of Robert Louis Stevenson

We recently took a walk to the top of Mt Vaea in Vailima which is near the Robert Louis Stevenson museum. Even though the walk sounds hard is not too taxing! It took about an hour and 15 minutes to complete the 3km walk to the top. There are two tracks known as the long and the short! We took the longer and less steep track up and the shorter, steeper track involving steps back down.

At the top you can visit Robert Louis Stevenson who was ceremoniously buried here, as a mark of respect, by the local people after his death in 1894. As is customary and accepted in Samoa you can climb onto his grave and sit while you think about the great literary work he produced. From the top you can also see down to the township of Apia and spot other landmarks such as SPREP and the US Embassy.

Savaii, Sunsets, Snorkelling and a Spa

The 3^rd set of visitors in as many months arrived in April for the celebrating of another birthday. A T-shirt gifted to Adam in January again came in handy and summed up just how I felt about it all, however with the help of the parents and the lovely resort Le Lagoto we were staying in on the big island of Savaii the day turned out great. Well not too much can be wrong with starting the day with presents (and Happy Birthday sung in Samoan), swimming with turtles and finishing with a large chocolate cake and icecream?!

The holiday itself incorporated many nights of fantastic sunsets, many happy hours, a lot of swimming and snorkelling, a little bit of running (but it was a bit hot and far too much effort for this really J), a fair bit of reading and relaxing, far too much good food and a handstand that was perfected in the water (by one of the over 60’s!!)

We also discovered another great location in Savaii, the Satuiatua beach fales. We were well looked after and extremely well fed here and enjoyed some days of relaxing in our beach fales. This is also the location of the best ever snorkelling to be found in Samoa. As the area is a protected marine reserve the coral and fish are amazing. No where else have I managed to get 13-15 Moorish Idols in one photo. The coral is also very close to the shore so if you are not a confident snorkeller you can stand on the edge and still see some great fish life.

In addition the BIG 40 was brought on in by friends and a few drinks at YNot where I bumped into Dev who first contacted me via this blog back in 2009 before coming to Samoa and who I seem to see in all manner of drinking spots around town. Nice to know Dev and what a small world we now live in brought closer by technology!