Serving In Savai'i Samoa: Hello from Savai'i

This is the second section today and there will be a 3rd section today or tomorrow. The first pictures are of FSY (For Strength of Youth). we had about 450 youth with another 200 YSA to act as counselors and it turned out very well. It was the first one in Savai'i and they are planning another one in 2 years.

These are the buses that brought the youth to FSY

They are packed in with many students left standing during the ride.

This was just one of many buses that brought the youth and the YSA's to Vaiola

They were formed into companies and this was one of 10 companies

The counselors are all wearing white t-shirts

Four counselors who had to organize everything so it went smoothly. They did a great job.

This is their breakfast table, their lunch tables and their supper tables. They usually had four lines going to handle the rush. The students and the counselors had a great experience and there were many tears on Saturday morning when everyone left.

This section has to do with our principal's conference in New Zealand at the Area Office. They took us on a harbor tour and we were able to see why Auckland was called the "City of Sails". One marina we went past had over 2000 slips available. This was on of 3 or 4 different marinas. The tour was interesting and informative.

This is a big bridge we passed under and they have a bungee jump station built under the bridge. You can see it more clearly in the next two pictures.

Now you can see it better.

This yacht belongs to a Russian billionaire. It cost him between $600 000 000 and $700 000 000 to build. To come from Russia to New Zealand it took $1 000 000 in fuel costs. It has a permanent crew of about 60 people. The yacht has been here for over a month and will be here for at least one year. The harbor fees are about $5000 a month.

The owner will fly down 3 or 4 times a year to spend a little time away from Russia. The yacht is registered in one of the Pacific Islands so he won't have to pay the Russian taxes.

The yacht has a cabin cruiser tucked away inside the back corner. The crew are constantly washing and making sure the yacht is ready at anytime for departure It certainly is an amazing boat. They told us it is the biggest private yacht in the world and it certainly looks like it could be.

Some more pictures of the yacht

Here you can see the crew members washing and cleaning the outside.

The white was supposed to be a big yacht but it got slightly over-shadowed.

Here is a frontal view, a beautiful boat. How can you tell we are from "land-locked" Alberta?

They have more ferry's here than you can count and they are going in all different directions.

Most of them are closed in for bad weather.

Here is a baby tugboat getting ready to work.

Here is the mama tug waiting for something to happen.

Ferries moving in all directions.

Moving a little faster.

Barnacles and oysters were all over the cement pylons. They had all kinds of buildings above these pylons. It makes me wonder just how sturdy they are.

When I first saw them I thought they were corrosion but the others in the boat said they were barnacles and oysters. I told them I liked oysters but I don't think I would be eating any of those.

A lot of the harbor was built on these kinds of pylons.

They cover everything.

Last year we were playing volleyball and basketball at this time but this year we are playing Samoan cricket. I got a chance to practice a few time and then to play in a couple of tournaments. It was very interesting and I didn't do very well. There are two teams of 20 players. One team is up to bat and stays up till all 20 players are out. Then the next team bats and if they score one more run than the opposition then they win. They have some different rules for the game and it takes a while to catch on but it was fun for me. Sister Stonehocker watched the first game for a while and said it was like watching paint dry, she wasn't too impressed.

These are the cricket bats and balls they used. They are much heavier and can swing you off the pad if you are not careful

The balls are hard and made of some kind of plant material

The bats have a funny shape and you hit with the rounded part so you never know where it is going to go.

Brother Fafai with his bats. He is the counselor at the high school.

This is a cricket field. When you are batting you can't step off the pad or touch the ground with your bat

It seems to always rain so everything gets very muddy.

If the ball hits the wicket, you are out.

Here we are snorkeling at one of the beaches here in Savai'i

This is mom

This is a cool rock of some sort.

This is me.

This is coral with the sunlight splayed out on the sand.

some interesting ocean life

Again the sun coming through and there are lots of pretty fish.

This is a trigger fish. It is very small but it is kind of aggressive and it will come right at you and then dodge away. Very interesting and very pretty.