Wednesday Afternoon

My dad and I returned from our snorkeling outing to find Emma with her Nana, enjoying our balcony, watching birds and playing games. It sounds like they had some nice grandma time while we were gone. They took a walk, went to a shop, played, ate, and decorated cupcakes for Em’s pre-birthday celebration. They had a funny story to tell about 2 missing cupcakes. It turns out that there was a rather large gecko that ate the two cupcakes. As Emma and her Nana told it, the gecko was even caught in the act with frosting around his lips. Hmm, sounds a bit suspicious to me.

We then decided to go to one of our most visited places on the island: the library. The Feleti Barstow Public Library seems to be one of the few places on the island where the grant money from the U.S. is actually being used efficiently for the common good. The library is housed in a very new, modern building (air conditioning and all). Although lacking in a large adult nonfiction collection, the library boasts a great selection of kid’s books, adult novels, and a computer room with 25 new computers connected to the internet. As with each place we’ve lived, Emma and I spend a couple hours a week at our local library. I am so thankful that we can maintain this tradition in American Samoa. Emma heads straight to the children’s room each time we visit. We are only allowed to check out 10 books per library card, but I cheat and let her use part of my allotment. Emma typically checks out about 15 books every week. The librarians are always amazed to find out that she actually reads all these books (minus the couple that don’t live up to Em’s expectations).

Later in the evening, we had some friends over to meet my parents and to celebrate Emma’s 10th birthday a bit early. Our various friends were getting ready to leave the island, either temporarily for vacations or permanently as their contracts are up. It is strange that in our year plus here, we have seen a full turnover of people. Being so far away from family and familiar surroundings seems to make friendships grow close much more quickly that usual. I love my friends here and it gets harder and harder to see them leave.