The Blogger is Willing but the wiFi is Weak

The Blogger is Willing but the Wi Fi is weak

It seems a very long time since we left the Big Island on the 14th Jan. Now we're in Western Samoa and, despite tropical rain, we're loving it. We do see the sun at some point in each day and are never cold. The temperature ranges from 27-30ish degrees C and the humidity is high (I've never had such voluminous wavy hair!) The place is lush and abundant...in everything but wi fi.

Following the theme of angels ( as in day one of this blog) we seem to have our own guardian angel here. We'd booked only one night of our 8 night stay in 'the' hotel in Samoa- Aggie Grey's - and knew we really didn't want posh hotel living but hoped we'd find something suitable on spec.
As we were waiting to get off the plane at Faleolo International Airport ( spot the difference between it and a field) we struck up a conversation with a Samoan lady - Maria. Suffice it to say that between plane and baggage carousel (where we were serenaded by a Samoan quartet) we had been offered a house to stay in. And that's where we are now - in a place in the hills, big enough to sleep 10.
This is the friendliest place on earth. We strayed on to a beach on Saturday (aptly called Paradise Beach) and the extended Samoan family who were barbecuing there, invited us to share their food.
On Sunday I was welcomed to a Catholic Samoan service at Maria's church and the choir was out of this world (think Polynesian harmonies) After church David and I were fed royally on breadfruit, yam, taro root, smoked fish and palu sami - a delicious confection of taro leaves
(like spinach) and coconut milk at Maria's family 'bake'.
Apart from lovely people, this island is a visual delight...even grey clouds and rain can't make it look drab. There's a great pride in their homes, they paint them in marvellous colour combinations; orange and pink, limes and yellows, sanguine and black... and the garden planting is also dynamic, to say the least. We 're lucky to have Maria's sister, a teacher and a village chief, to tell us about Samoan culture but I know this is why we're enjoying this part of our trip so much- because the Samoans do have such a strong culture and we are able to share it. Tourism here has an exciting edge...I've been a little 'thrilled' a couple of times, particularly when we were guided to the very top of a 500 foot waterfall, wearing only very slippery flip-flops, by a couple of small children!
I'm aware we are living in a bubble to some extent -especially as we don't plug into the Internet each day- so we have only heard vague things about the floods in Queensland or the Brazilian earthquake; what news we've caught has been very local...and that's a relief in some ways. Just to be able to wake up each morning and react to the weather or our mood is a blessing. We're here until Saturday when we move on to New Zealand and I'm not sure when I'll be able to blog again so will sign off until next time. (ps...there were meant to be pix with this but the Internet is so slooooow...I'll try another time)