Hello from Genie in American Samoa,
In case some of you couldn't get through to me, my mailbox was filled with anecdotes and jokes and spam that it couldn't handle and I couldn't get to my email for a while because nasty nurse locked the door to the room with the computer in it and then the library said the internet was down on my day off. I love to hear from you all personally. Your letters mean so much as they are most of my social interaction. They were all of my social interaction. I had a guest on Sunday who is the mother of two, is from Grand Junction Colorado and whose husband is a self-employed contractor here. We get along very well. I am having her and about 12 others to my house on Sunday for an "open house". Now that I have my stuff, I can feel more comfortable about inviting people over. I made tsatsiki and cored (de-eyed) the pineapple last night. A pineapple has about 100 eyes that have to be removed one by one. I think that I will make potstickers and serve Bangers with hotdog buns. The bakeries here are good and not too expensive although the one at the corner by the hospital charges 90 cents for a doughnut. Most have loaves of bread, cut and uncut, for a dollar. I will make my Texas sheet cake again for the party. I invited my neighbor and my landlord's wife and kids. The landlord is getting medical care in LA. He is a VietNam vet. There are physician from the Vets hospital from Hawaii all week treating those eliglible for their services. I haven't seen any yet. I am too busy doing my work and getting ready for the party.
Two beautiful Samoan sunrises this am. I really enjoy that. I can see the sky lightening as I rise and watch the whole spectacle while driving east in the morning. I finally got a map of this island called Tutuila. Manua islands are just off of this coast. Tutuila is long, oriented east and west and the west end where I live is fatter. The city of Pago Pago is inset at the base of a bay where ships come in. The island is most narrow there. The cannery (near Pago Pag o)is the main business, owned by StarKist, smells awful, is run by a man whose wife I met at the graduation party of my landlord's daughter. There were only 8 adults there. She is from a small town south of Edinburg and lived for a long time in New Zealand. She was one of the two people besides me who showed up at the Yacht Club for the meeting of the SCUBA club. She is en route to Baja with her husband about now. She teaches English at the Community College here. Samoan women dress very well in their two-piece pule tasi's. They are all custom made and very colorful. I went to see about having one or a muumuu made on my day off. There are so many possibilities for colors and design that it is difficult to chose. I watch them come and go and admire them a lot. Today will be kind of unhappy because only the men that I don't relate to and the nasty nurse are here with me(with a few other paramedical people). I will try to get through without trying to communicate with them but it is difficult.
Miss you all. Love, Genie
|
||