Samoan groceries

Today we went on our first grocery trip of the year. We decided we would start out the shopping trip at Cost U Less. This store is very similar to a Sam’s Club in the states. You can but lots of food in bulk at this store. Since we were unsure of when we would go shopping again we figures this would be a good choice. The name of the store is very deceiving. This store did not cost me less. I spent so much money in this store but all the items I bought I really needed. I remember when we were checking out I looked at Dana and said if I start crying just let it happen. I have never spent this much money in one store before. I did not cry thank goodness! We loaded up our little ford ranger with our groceries and realized we were going to run into a problem real soon. The truck was almost full Virginia and I had to sit in the bed of the truck and we barely had any room. Dana and Shivaun were in the front of the truck with the same problem. We then headed to another store to get more supplies but we barely bought anything because we were all overwhelmed by how much money and stuff we got from the first store. After carefully packing the truck we headed to get our bags from the house we were staying.

Finally, we were headed to our island! We were all so excited to head there and know that we were going to be staying for a while. Virginia and I were sitting in the bed of the truck. More like lying making sure nothing was going to blow out since it was really windy today. I was lying across life jackets and suitcase. Can’t say it was the most comfortable ride I have ever had. I may not have been very comfortable but how can one complain when they can see nothing but ocean on one side and mountains on the other. I don’t even know how to explain the views to you guys. Every time we make the drive to our island I just sit in awe of the beauty of this island. Everything is so green and the water is multiple shades of blue depending on where you are on the island.

Let the fun begin. We arrived at the harbor and had to unload our overstuffed ford ranger onto the boat. Today we got to experience the rough sea. The waves were bigger than normal. I thought the boat ride was quite fun with all the big waves. The only part that made me nervous is I did not want any of our groceries to fall out. Once we got to the harbor I was a little worried about how I was going to carry all this stuff to our house. Well, thanks to the Samoan guys on the island I did not have to worry. They grabbed a wheel barrel and started carrying all of our stuff to our house. We had like five our six of them helping us. It was so nice and we didn’t even ask for any help. They got mad at us when we tried to help them. I have a really hard time with that. I like to do things on my own and that is not how they do it out here.

After getting settled in our house again we were all exhausted. We all went to our rooms and did our own thing. The first thing I did was hang pictures all over the walls in my room. It felt so bare and I really did not want to stare at white walls again. Once it got dark outside we walked around our house to make sure that our curtains were actually working and no one could see in our house at night. We then took a short walk down the beach since it was so nice outside. The view was amazing. You can see the lights from the main island and hear the waves crashing. When you look up at the sky it is just filled with stars. I plan on grabbing a towel and lying on the beach a couple of nights. We then went to the “hangout” spot on the island and got a chance to meet a couple of our students. They seemed super sweet and said they would help us with Samoan. I think I am going to need all the help I can with the language!

With Love,

Abby