Day 341, Year 1: Rainy Day in Apia
Date: Saturday, September 23, 2006
Weather: Rainy and Cloudy All Day and Evening
Location: Apia Harbor, Upolu Island, Samoa
It was an early rise this morning. We had to return the rental car by 10 am, and we had a few explorations to do before returning the car. We first went to the Fed Ex Office to see if the part for our boom had come in. It was not supposed to be here until Monday, but we were delighted that it was here today and that it was the right part. Hurray! After picking up the part, Mark and I drove around to check out a few places that I would still like to visit. We went to see just how accessible these sites will be without the rental car.
After we figured this out, we returned the rental car and met Justin as he was walking from one internet cafĂ© to another. We all got online for a few minutes at the Green Turtle Traveler’s Lounge to check various things, and then we went to breakfast. Lynn had gone her own way early in the morning and we had made arrangements to meet her either at the vegetable market at 11 am, and if not there, back at the dock by 12 noon. Mark, Justin, and I took a cab to the Maketi Fou, the vegetable market, and observed the Saturday frenzy, but we didn’t find Lynn. It seemed like everyone in Apia was at the market. We did a bit of shopping and soon it was time to head back to the dock.
As the morning progressed into afternoon, the cloudy weather turned into constant rain. The rain continued way into the evening, but as I sit here writing this log, the rain has abated. Earlier in the afternoon, Justin invited Tom and Evi, Samoan fire knife dancers that he has met, to come aboard for a visit. Justin bought a fire knife from Tom and has really enjoyed meeting these guys. Tonight, Kathleen from Quantum Leap joined us for dinner and for music making. She and Justin have been sitting here for the past couple of hours playing their ukuleles. We really enjoy the company and music. After dinner, Justin took Kathleen back to Quantum Leap and he went into town to meet Tom and Evi at a local nightclub. Mark has actually head to bed, so just Lynn and I are still up.
We learned today that Justin and Lynn will be leaving late on Monday night, not on Tuesday, so they have only tomorrow and Monday with us. We’re not sure yet how we will spend the next couple of days, but we will begin by trying to attend a Samaon church service tomorrow morning. The singing is fantastic and we want to hear that if we can. Quantum Leap is probably leaving tomorrow for Tonga, so we might try to get together with Windcastle and Long Tall Sally tomorrow evening after a hike up to Robert Louis Stevenson’s grave site tomorrow afternoon. We read Stevenson’s Treasure Island aloud to Heather and Justin when they were only five and three, and Justin has always credited the reading of that book with his love of words. He loved Long John Silver and his “shiver me timbers”. Heather’s favorite poem when she was little was Stevenson’s “Up in the Swing”. So I think visiting his grave is a most appropriate way to thank him for his wonderful writing.
