First of all, Pago Pago is pronounced with an "n"......hence, Pango Pango. Ronald Reagan designated a portion of Pago Pago, the largest city on the largest of the American Samoan islands, as a National Park.....hoping to foster tourism....which was not evident!
The sea and the surrounding mountains were stunning.....the harbor where we docked was entirely surrounded by this mountain range.
The tour buses were not air conditioned.....not really even "open air".....each was individually decorated, named and painted and flowered.....or not, as the Island Boy below!
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| Wonder if they card the teens???? |
At the Park Visitor Center we watched an interesting film featuring the vanishing art of weaving the ceremonial mats.....upon which the "chiefs" are sitting.....some of these mats take years to weave and are passed from generation to generation. They are used for all ceremonies: weddings, funerals, birthdays and various holidays. The process of weaving them reminded us very much of the "sweet grass ladies" of Charleston.
Reminders of where we are in the world.....and how their instructions for safety differ rather dramatically from ours.
In our quest for wifi to do this blog, we ran across a hair salon......asked the price....75% LESS than the ship! DEAL! Must admit it took a bit of courage to do so....My hair is a bit short, but nonetheless, I told Lilly that I would be back in April for another one when we return on Holland America.....
Took more persuasion for Tom.....fear or vanity? At the end, he told Lilly he would be back as well. By the time we finished, there were 3 other cruise passengers waiting.....seeing us brave the unknown gave others courage......They were all on the ship for 91 (Yep, ninety-one!!!! days).....
For a moment, we thought we were back home....and the worker bees were tending to our yard....the noise of the weed whacker was even more unpleasant on the Samoan shores of the Pacific.
Aaaah...the soft swoosh of the straw broom
And the peace and quiet of manual labor....which one do you think has the more difficult job?
A job well done.....now time for a coconut break!
Unfortunately, I forgot to ask what the slogan translation is....
School just released for the day....can you tell the boys from the girls?
REAL men wear sarongs!!!! The men wear short ones and the girls wear long ones.
The school buses are not individually decorated.....
