Apia, Samoa

After the swim meet, we planned to spend a long weekend in Apia, the capital of Samoa. I was so ready for a trip off this island, even if it was just to another island. Island fever is a true affliction and I had gone 327 days (yes, I was counting) since our trip to New Zealand. The city of Apia has about the same population as our entire island. I'm sure to people coming from the mainland it wouldn't seem so, but to me it has that big city feel. Lots of restaurants, markets, tourists and even.... stoplights. Yes, it's true: we do not have a single stoplight in American Samoa!That being said on Sundays Apia pretty much shuts down. Considering Emma's outstanding performance I gave her the choice of renting a car to drive around the island (and therefore staying in a really cheap place) or spending our time in a nice hotel with a swimming pool. You'd think the kid would be tired of swimming, but she opted for Aggie Grey's. Emma was dazzled by the porter carrying our bags to the room and fresh flowers on the bed. We spent Sunday in the pool, taking a walk along Apia's harbor, and entertaining ourselves in the hotel. We had a great girls' time (Paul unfortunately missed out as he was at a work conference in Honolulu).After our relaxing day, we had lots of sights to see on Monday. We started with a major tourist stop in Samoa: Robert Louis Stevenson's house. The Scottish author lived in Samoa in the late 18oos. I once read Treasure Island and Emma loves visiting any kind of historical home so we really enjoyed our visit. As a follow-up to our trip, Emma and I are reading R.L. Stevenson's Kidnapped from our local library.This room was decorated with tapa cloth. I got a feel for what our house will look like someday as Paul bought a tapa in Tonga that is big enough to wallpaper several rooms. I love that Robert Louis Stevenson had faux fireplaces put in the house. I wonder if that would make my island house feel more like home? Next was our whirlwind shopping excursion to Apia's several large markets.One of my biggest complaints about living in American Samoa is the lack of good fruits and vegetables (although I have seen an improvement in the 2 1/2 years we've lived here). The other Samoa doesn't have that problem, as the island is less mountainous and has more available land for agriculture. The food would be nice, but I'm still partial to our island with the striking mountains. We purchased several handmade goods in the flea market. These items are also sold on our island, but for many times the price. There were several men making the traditional intoxicating drink of kava, and even more men drinking it. Kava is made from the roots of a plant similar to pepper. It looks like dirty water, probably is made of dirty water, and tastes about the same. I drank it once and once was enough for me. We had a fresh juice break at the Cappuccino Vineyard. So delicious and I felt like I had really left the islands for a moment as we sat on the umbrella-lined patio, watching the hustle and bustle. Oh wait, people walking by in lavalavas and puletasis... yes, we're still in Samoa. Four days off the island seemed to have helped, at least for now. I think I just might make it until June when I head to the States for a couple of months.