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I had a fun trip coming back to Savai’i yesterday. I know I just posted something yesterday, but I thought this adventure was a blast and wanted to share a bit of it with you.

So I decided to aim for the 2pm ferry back to Savai’i. I thought if I leave Holly’s house (who lives aways outside of Apia) around noon I would be fine. It had been raining all day long off and on. It has been pretty overcast these last few days. Usually when there is a lot of rain people get worried a cyclone is coming. But there is a saying in Samoa that if there is thunder and lightning with the rain and wind, then there is no cyclone. The thunder and lightning has subsided, but we are still fine. I think we are out of the path of, but maybe on the edge of a tropical storm because it really has been windy and rainy and yes, a little chilly. (Keep in mind when I say chilly it’s still probably 70 degrees, but that wind and being wet makes it feel nice and cold.) Don’t worry about us when it comes to safety and cyclones or typhoons, the PC takes really great care of us safety wise…

So, went outside in the pouring rain with my huge bag and a bucket with more things to wait for 1 of a couple of different busses that will take me to the wharf. I ended up waiting with another man and his daughter. We started talking and the village they live in is the village I did my volunteer visit in. So we had a few common things to chat about. The bus they were taking would also go to the wharf, so I loaded the bus with them, and let me tell you it was crowded. When you get on a bus and have a lot of things, you leave them up front of the bus. It was already packed. My bags were placed in the isles where people weren’t already standing. The man I was chatting with got to sit down because he is older and they get seats, so he held my bucket for me. I was standing as the bus started taking off and I heard someone call me by my Samoan name (Tala). I turned around and a lady I had met while on the volunteer visit remembered me and told me to sit on her lap for the ride. So I sat down on her lap for the rest of the ride and did lose a good amount of feeling in my legs. Usually when buses get crowded here people start sitting on laps. But, the ride took twice as long as usual. Once we stopped at a gas station to fill up, but that’s pretty usual. Then, the driver stopped the bus and got out and the whole bus got up and went into a grocery store to go shopping. They all got off and got a coke or a few groceries, waited until we were all back on, and then headed off again. The lady whose lap I was sitting on and know had bought me a mango drink and offered it to me to drink later when I was on the boat. So, we started getting close to the wharf and the driver asked if anyone needed to get off there and about 5 people said that yes, Tala needed to get off there. So he drove me right up to the entrance and someone grabbed my bags and placed them by the entrance for me. As I was getting off the bus I had about 10 people say “Fa Tala.” This means bye. It was really cool.

THEN came the fun adventures on the boat. Since I was taking the 2pm boat, it was the smaller boat. This means that there is no upstairs enclosed place away from the cars. We sit in a little overhead covered area on the same deck as the cars. It was a very stormy day already so I knew the ride would be rough. Marques and mom, you wouldn’t have been able to handle it. Good thing you weren’t visiting me today. :) The boat was rocking so much that waves were coming over and things were falling over. Since it was raining, they let down a little tarp in front of us, but the rain was coming in sideways so it didn’t really help all that much. Because the waves were so high and coming over the side of the boat all of our bags that weren’t put in the containers up front got soaked. There was a stream of water on the floor, gushing over our feet getting us wet and our bags soaked. The rain was coming in sideways through the sides of the boats. I want to say windows, but they aren’t. For those of you on Vashon, like the “windows” on the lower deck of the ferry boats. A lady offered the guy sitting closest to the window an umbrella to hold up in front of it to try and block the rain a little bit. I took one of my lavalava’s (wrap around skirt) and wrapped it around my body to stay somewhat dry and to keep myself somewhat warm. It sounds miserable, but it was a blast. Everyone on that boat was laughing or sleeping. Thanks mom and dad and Jenny for sending that long sleeve shirt because it was the only one I had with me on the trip and I ended up putting it on to stay a little warmer.
So that was my fun day. Now I am back and already into the laid back swing of things here. Bob and I are going to go for a bike ride later if it doesn’t rain too much today. Other than that, maybe I will read some Neal Stephenson, try a few new baking recipes I received, or go for the bike ride with Bob.