Drop off Day

We gathered at 5:45 am to begin our big adventure. We were paired up, loaded up in 3 different vehicles and set out for the far reaches of the island. My partner and I, armed with a PC provided lunch, bus fare, and a bootleg map that we were not supposed to have, were the first to be kicked out of the van. We had not been given the name of the village we were supposed to be looking for so we, logically, assumed it was the first one we came to. Our assigned task was to take a picture of the sign with the name of the village and to get a series of 10 questions answered then find our way back to our own village. Seemed simple enough.

The sun was just coming up when we were dropped off so we walked a little ways, took a picture of the sunrise and of the village sign and then began to talk to an elderly (read that - older than me) man who was walking along the road. By the time we reached his home we had almost all of our questions answered and were feeling pretty good about our progress. We walked on a bit looking for an open store so we could buy a drink and when we found one the owner invited us into his house to rest and we chatted with him a while. It was there that we found out we were no longer in the same village so we decided to walk back the way we came and grab the first bus that came by, ride part way back home, then get out and walk the rest of the way. (The island is divided into 3 districts and buses can only run in their assigned ones, so if you need to get to another district you either go into Apia and come back into your own district or you ride part way and then get out and walk as we planned to do.)

It was a grand plan and we were proud of the fact that we had completed our tasks, it was only 8:30am and we were headed home. Pride goeth before the fall!

As we were walking along the road here came the PC van and stopped alongside us. It seems that they had dropped us off in the wrong place and because we had not been given the name of the village we were supposed to go to we didn't know it. So they loaded us in the van despite our protests and drove us another half hour away and let us off again. This time at least we knew where we were going but it was a 3 mile walk to get there. Thankfully it was still early and there was some cloud cover so it wasn't too hot yet. An added benefit was that we were in that part of the island where the volcanic cliffs are right next to the road so I got some good scenery shots. To get to our assigned village we had to pass through a resort town where we had gone for our water safety class and once we finally got there we hooked up with the owner of the dive school who taught our class. We asked him about a bus or taxi to Vailoa and he offered to give us a lift which we gratefully accepted.

When we got to Vailoa we had him drop us off next to a sign for their Primary School because we didn't see an actual village sign, then we walked across the road to an open fale right next to the beach where a woman was sitting (on the floor of course) cutting strips of leaves so she could weave them into floor mats. By now it was 10:50am. We asked her when the next bus to Apia came and she said 12:00 so we settled down and began to talk with her. She spoke fairly good English and my partner speaks pretty good Samoan so it was actually a very pleasant hour wait and she was able to answer all our questions for us. That was absolutely the last pleasant moment of the day!

The bus ride into Apia took 2 1/2 hours, and I have previously described the fine points of bus riding so you can imagine how much fun that was. We missed the connecting bus that would have taken us back to our village and had to wait until 3:30 for the next bus. It was finally time to leave and the driver started the motor only to have a police car pull up, so he shut it off and got out to talk to them. One of the officers got on the bus and looked a while then got off. They talked to the driver a while and then he got back on, started the bus and we were finally on our way at 4:00pm. Mind you, we were supposed to be back in our village at 3:30. Uh, oops!

It took 2 1/2 hours to get home, partly because of the length of the trip and the route this particular bus took, but mostly due to other factors.

1. Stop at the gas station and fill up.

2. Go to the nearest "corner market" and let 15 people get off and buy snacks and wait for them to get back on

3. Get stopped by the police again, at which time they hassle my partner because he is standing too close to the door

4. Stop at the high school and pick up about a dozen kids who are going home for the weekend. Remember, the bus is already full with people lap sitting and standing in the aisle. This little activity took about 15 minutes to get them all packed in. They were standing 2 and 3 deep in the aisle.

5. Stop at another "corner market" and let 20 or so people off to get snacks and bread for dinner.

6. And the grand finale - get stopped by the police again about 5 miles from home and wait while they get on the bus then get off and write the driver a ticket.

We finally arrived home at 6:30pm, 12 hours after we first got out of the PC van in the morning and only 3 hours late. What a fun day we had!!