Arrival.

My plane hit the landing pad at 4:58 am this morning. I soon discovered that there wasn't much more to the Samoan airport than the landing strip itself - that, and a small indoor baggage claim. As we stepped off the plane, we were greeted warmly by white-lei'd natives and a small band singing and playing ukuleles. Kind of cliche, I know. I told them to switch it up a bit. After making my way through customs I was greeted by To'o, (a local member of the SPBD), who chauffeured me to our small rented home. The drive was beautiful; everything is so green and lush. Fun fact: the Samoan Gov't recently switched the driving lanes from the right side to the left side. Except all their steering wheels are also on the left side. So ya.. as you can imagine, it's weird and makes for a pretty trippy driving experience - I'm glad I'm not driving. Anyways, there I reunited with my friend Russ Tanner, my roommate-to-be and also the chief project coordinator for SPBD. He is american.

This is our place of residence until friday. Then we have to move.

I spent the morning sleeping off some of my jet lag. Our lodgings are nicer than I imagined and are pretty comfortable. I then went into Apia (the capital city/town), and was shown the SPBD offices--which, have air conditioning! yay..

Me loving the air-conditioning in the office.

Then I went grocery shopping, and got to have lunch at a McDonalds! Which, by-the-way, is the nicest restaurant in town. As I was eating, a guy named Pene(spelling?) came and sat by me. He told me his name is the Samoan version of Ben. He also told me he was in one of the southern villages that got hit by the tsunami. He told me he and his family (five kids) were inside when they felt the earthquake. They immediately ran up the hill to some trees, and climbed as high as they could with ropes. He said they then watched as three fifty foot walls of water came in and wiped out their village. His family was safe, but he said he had many friends and extended family that either died or were seriously injured. He is a textile designer, mostly for lavalavas (the skirts everyone wears), and was in Apia to sell them so he could buy food for his family. So mom and sisters, I bought you quite a few.

This was a pretty sobering story, and made me pretty motivated to start some work down in the villages. Tomorrow we'll be traveling there to evaluate some of the damage and decide on some projects.

This is a rooster outside our house, who apparently thinks it's morning ALL day long ha.. What can you do.

So... I definitely won't be able to post like this everyday, but I'll keep you all updated.

I love you and miss you all!