The sea turtles seem big to me, they are anywhere from two and a half to over three feet. as soon as they see people they come over to see what is to eat (hopefully not fingers).
Some of them climb over others to get to the shore.
Some are pretty big
They love to eat papaya, they will come and eat right out of your hands. Their heads are big and so are their beaks and you wonder if your fingers are going to disappear with the papaya.
Here are some pictures of our lawn mowers. When they are finished they sweep the grass into piles and take it away.
They work in groups and it is always interesting how the grass is so evenly cut.
We had the opportunity to take a tour of Manono Island. There are two islands we pass on our way from Savai'i to Upolu. The first is Apolima Island and the second is Manono Island. It is a 20 minute ride from Upolu to Manono Island in a small boat that holds about 20 people. You sit on both sides of the boat and it is powered by a 40 hp Yamaha. It was a very interesting ride on the way over. We had 3 foot waves and we were going with the waves. We thought that ride was choppy until we came back. We were going into the waves and they were 3 to 4 feet with a lot of whitecaps. You will notice the boats have a partial roof with tarps tied to the roof so you can lower them to keep from getting wet. We lowered them on the way back but many of us still got wet. We were all praying that both we and the boat would survive, as there were no life jackets on boat. So we were glad to make it back safely. After we landed on the island it took us over three hours to walk around the island and then they provided a Samoan dinner for us . An interesting point is that there are no vehicles on the island and they don't have any dogs here which is amazing and the pigs are not allowed to roam freely like they do on Savai'i and Upolu. Here are some pictures from Manono Island.
This is the boat we came out in and it has just unloaded us and is moving out of the way for the second boat. See the partial roof and the rolled up tarps you can let down to protect you from the weather and the splash back as the boat hits the waves.
Here is the other boat coming in and it has about about 18 or 20 people in it as well.
They load the boats up and they take all kinds of goods out to the island on these boats.
These people are all fishermen and that is how they make their living. Its not always an easy life, they have their struggles and trials too.
This is one of their fishing boats, the catamaran style makes the boat much safer in turbulent waters.
This is just a regular boat but notice it has an antennae and radio contact with the shore.
This boat needs a few repairs before it goes out.
This boat tangled with the reef which is out about a mile but it is still very dangerous if you get too close to it.
This one didn't survive the reef and this was what got washed up on shore. You can see the covered long boat next to it.
The Samoans love these long boats and they race them several times a year. Notice that it is covered to protect it from the sun as the sun light will do great damage to the boat.
These boats hold about fifty paddlers and everyone must work in unison. They are very hard to turn and most of the races are a straight line from the starting line to the finish line. The last boat race we watched, a wave pushed one boat into another causing it to veer to the side. They had to bring a motorized dinghy to push it back in line to finish the race.
We see a lot of people out fishing in out-rigger canoes. These take a lot of work to build.
There are many shapes and sizes, some heavy and others much lighter.
This blue one was our favorite one.
This is the grave of an island man who had 99 wives. If you look closely at the picture you can see one block missing which was the one for his 100th wife. An interesting story, I am not sure who one should feel most sorry for; the man, or the 99 wives!!
These trees are the trees that have branches going out every 2 or 3 feet. Didn't know what they were until we saw them here. They are cotton trees. When the pods are ripe like the one you see, they pull out the cotton and use it to make pillows.
This tree, I can't remember the name, but it flowers first before it grows any leaves. It is interesting to see a bare tree with flowers and no leaves. Notice the hot pink roof, they have a flair for colors.
Lots of interesting and beautiful trees and shrubbery
Sister Stonehocker loved the beautiful plants and the flowers below
Pretty flowers!!
We have been looking for a coconut trees where we didn't have to climb to get the coconut and look what we found, a coconut tree at just the right height for us.
This is us sitting in a beach fale
We felt sorry for this little boy, he is quite young and those coconuts are very heavy.
This is the set-up for our Samoan meal
This is my plate, it is a traditional plate and served how the Samoans would eat their food if they didn't have plates. The meal was very good.
This is Sister Stonehocker's plate
Sister Stonehocker and I helped coach the high school kids and get them ready for track meet. Here are some pictures we took of our zone track meet in the village of Puapua, and then of the national tract meet, "The Champ of Champs" in Apia. In Puapua there were 10 schools participating of which we were one of the smaller schools and at the end of the meet athletes were selected for the zone team. Our school won 1st place with 618 points, the 2nd place school had 186 points so our athletes did very well. Counting all the relay teams and substitutes there were about 300 spots to fill for the zone team. We took 69 players and filled 109 slots. There were 4 zones going to compete in the Nationals in Apia. One zone from Savai'i and 3 zones from Upolu. Our school did very well in the nationals as as well.
These pictures are from the track meet at Puapua.
Some of Sister Stonehockers' high jumpers
One of our relay teams waiting for their event.
One of our shot-putters getting ready to throw.
This is Angel, our counselors daughter, throwing the javelin. She won this event.
Our school tent is not big enough for everyone so some are sitting out in the sun and using whatever they have handy to cover their heads.
This is inside the school tent. They keep all the first aid supplies and other equipment we brought here.
Sister Stonehocker's high jumpers .
Rani Taleni, our principal's daughter. She won discuss and javelin to advance on.
This is another of Sister Stonehocker's high jumpers, Tyrone Taleni, the principal's son, he tied in the high jump and went on in the discuss and shot events.
Inside our school tent.
Inside our school tent. The kids are so interesting and polite. Whenever we or a teacher goes into the tent, the student jumps out of the chair and brings it over to us. The teachers expect that but we always feel bad that they have to give up their chair. If there is none available they will go find one for us. They are fun and we certainly enjoy being around them.
This is another 4x100 (senior) relay team and they won their event.
This is the opening exercises where village chief, the congregational minister for the village, and the zone chair-people speak to the kids and welcomes them to the event. There were 10 schools here and 3 more school came after I took this picture, so there are a lot of athletes here at this event.
These next pictures are from the "Champ of Champs", the Samoan National High School Track Meet. The stands are full students cheering and it is difficult to get a good seat. All the track events are held in the stadium along with the triple jump, the long jump and the high jump. All the throwing events and practice area are held behind the old bleacher seats. It was a great event that created a lot of interest.
This is the new seating for the stadium and it is full of student spectators. We are looking across the track at the high jump pits and the new stands.
This is the old seating 
More of the stadium from the other side. The triple and long jump pits are in front of the stadium between the stadium and the track
Two of our runners and their coaches.
Some of the girls in the field events
High jumping pits with one of our girls going in to jump. The bleachers on the right are the old stands. The throwing events are behind them.
Sister Stonehocker's high jumpers at Nationals
Here is a collection of pictures of our different students in different grades.
This is one of the assemblies they have every week. The boys sit on one side and the girls on the other side. Younger kids sit in the front with older ones at the back.
Some kids sitting waiting for the bus to come.
Sitting in front of the office. They too, are waiting for the bus or the van to come back.
They can sleep anywhere even on the hard cement.
This is a high school math class.
An elementary class, grade 1's.
An assembly from the back where we sit.
Waiting for a ride in the bus.
One of our small school buses that is loaded.
Students heading for their bus. The picture above is after they get on the bus. I am surprised at how many they can fit on a bus.
Waiting for the bus but more daring, out in the open by our school sign with no protection.
This is what a typical wooden bus in Samoa looks like. I will show you some pictures from one of the buses that comes to our school.
This is what the inside looks like. The insides are different than the ones at home.
This is the students in the bus ready to go home.
This is a picture from outside the bus as it leaves.
Samoa certainly has some interesting characteristics that make it "Just Samoan". It is something you have to see and feel if you want to understand and appreciate it.
