Here are some pictures from Samoa that we have mentioned in our letters so that you will have an idea of what we are talking about. this first set is of our main airport.
This is from the parking lot. The airport is totally open to the outside. There is only one air conditioned part and that is the security area where you check in to leave.
This is the name and you can see right into the airport.
This is inside and the arriving area where all the incoming people come. This is one of their mobile phone services that rip you off like crazy. I wonder how they are still surviving.
This is some of the wood sculptures in the airport.
This is our plane to New Zealand. Once they see you ticket and passport you walk out and board the plane.
This next set of pictures shows our friendly bugs in Samoa. There are no pictures of centipedes and millipedes this time.
These are our friendly little gecko's and they are all over. Thank goodness they eat all the little bugs or they would drive you crazy. In the house we catch them and put them outside. I don't know how many we have inside but we have put many outside and there are still plenty inside. It seems like a losing battle.
The bigger ones have to watch out for the cats and the birds who both like to feast on gecko's. The cats race up our screen door trying to catch them and it makes a big racket. It scared us the couple of times it happened.
Here are the lizards that came calling while we were eating lunch. They would come and eat anything that was dropped.
They actually came pretty close. It is always interesting to watch them move around. They are very fast.
This is a little lizard that invade our office. I tried to catch him but with no success.
The roaches are every where. They get into places too small for them and when they come out it scares the heck out of you. They are very fast and I only get them about half the time.
This one came out of a back corner by my computer. When I took the picture I was too slow to get it so it is still somewhere around my workspace.
These are the African snails and they are a big pest around here. When I go walking every morning I stomp on as many as I can. My highest record was 225 on one walk. They cause all kinds of damage and they crawl up every where.
They crawl up the palm trees and up the sides of houses and create a real mess. They climb up garbage cans and water barrels. They cause a lot of damage.
The spider doesn't look so big in the picture but he was big enough to worry Sister Stonehocker a lot.
This is one that comes in the bananas and drives Sister Stonehocker wild. I don't even like to get too close. Everyone says they are dangerous but they still make you cringe.
These are pictures of our cafeteria for the dorm students
Our dorm students eat three meals a day. It is also used as a classroom
Notice the girls on one side and the boys on the other side generally speaking.
But some boys enjoy eating with the girls. Interesting meals.
This is the kitchen area. The dorm students are divided into team and each team has a schedule of when they are to help with the meals.
This is my first attempt of knowing eating octopus that I bought at an open market.
It doesn't look all that good but it actually tasted pretty good. Elder Layne tasted a little with me but I had to do a lot of talking to get Sister Stonehocker and Sister Layne to try some. They had a little piece and I got to eat the rest.
Looks bad but tastes yummy.
The next pictures are of a coconut cookhouse. As you drive around Savai'i you will see piles of coconuts along the road. You can buy 100 coconuts (in the husk) for about 14 tala or $7. They built a cookhouse on the road from Vaiola to Fusi where they cook the coconut meat. The coconuts are husked and the coconut is cut in half. They cook about 2000 or 3000 half shells for 1 to 2 days. They take out the meat and put it in a big cloth bag which holds the meat from 40 or 50 coconuts and then they sell the big bag for about 100 tala. This allows them to make money but there is a lot of work and manpower involved so it is not as lucrative as it first seem but it still gives them a good return. It is pretty crucial to watch the process carefully because if they cook it too long the oil from the coconuts begins to drop down on the fire and it is not uncommon to have a coconut cookhouse burn down. Here are the pictures from building the building to the finished product.
The bottom walls are 2 feet thick and over 5 feet tall.
Walls are made of rocks and cement
The start of the building on top.
This is the floor supports in the basement. This is where they start there fire to cook the coconuts.
This is the floor. The holes are drilled so the heat penetrates all the coconut husks that are piled on top.
This is the coconut cookhouse mostly finished.
Another picture of the holes in the floor.
This is where they will build their fire. The fire will be made from the coconut shells
This is a picture of the floor from on top. They have built this big box that they will fill with coconut shells cut in half. You can see the holes that will let the heat through to cook the coconut. They will cook for 1 to 2 days.
This is how they fill the box, one wheel barrow full at a time.
This is a ramp they made up and the size of the cloth bag they are going to fill with cooked coconut meat.
A better picture of the ramp so they can hall the coconuts up and down.
They are cutting the coconuts in half getting ready to be cooked.
These are the coconut half shells
He is taking the half shells up to the box in the cookhouse.
Here they are cracking the coconuts and letting the juice run onto the ground.
These next two pictures show the box full of coconut shells and they are ready to start cooking.
They are getting ready to set the fires to start cooking.
This is where they are going to put the fires.
Cutting the cooked coconut meat out of the shell.
This is what the cooked coconuts look like after they have been cooked for 1 to 2 days.
These are bags of cooked coconut meat that will be taken and sold to the factory that will use them to make coconut oil.
For each one of these bags they get 100 tala
This next section is looking at Samoan fruit that we find and use on a daily basis.
This is a papaya tree. It is in the service center complex just behind the temple where the temple housing for the temple workers is located. This is just out the front door of House 7 where we have stayed several times. These papayas are huge and they are good to eat.
These are our little bananas and they are very sweet and tasty. The others are two mangoes which are the best kind of mangoes to eat. They are very delicious and tangy.
These are local lemons. Look at the size of them compared to the apple in the middle. They are huge and they make great lemon juice.
This is a picture of the lemon tree on the side of the road by the girls dorm. The story goes that when this tree was planted it was blessed to be ever-producing and it has been. We have been here 17 months and it has always had lots of fruit. They will often make lemonade for the students and the tree just keeps on producing. It is truly amazing.
This is Lychee fruit and it is very delicious. You peel the outside covering and the fruit is very good.
Here is a better picture of our sweet bananas.
This is the end of section 1. Section 2 will follow shortly.
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