Island’s nights are easy, relaxing. Sitting on a porch, sipping Vailima (the local beer), “hanging out” (as Americans say) and enjoying the breeze after a hot hard day of intense work (this last line is actually a joke). Not much going on in general… there is a (one) cinema, and few bars widely stretched across the island… usually too much driving on broken roads…
But something special happens on this island every Thursday and Sunday. In many other countries it is something taken for granted, but here it is a real special event: the Hawaiian airline plane flight HA465 lands on this rock in the middle of the Pacific. It comes and it takes all the landing strip to land, downloads its precious cargo (lots of Samoans, a few Palagis, food and the bi-weekly mail delivery!!!), gets loaded again and takes off the same night, as if it would get lost (or stolen) if it spent the night here. After all, this is Neverland.
Suddenly the airport becomes the main attraction on island, THE PLACE to be to see who is leaving and who is coming, to meet friends, and why not, even to distribute the filariasis medicines that everybody living in this island is supposed to take once a year. Once there was a dancing show at the airport’s fale (the traditional Samoan house), pretty girls were dancing happily spinning around big knives the size of machetes. Security at the airport is not an issue here.
There are people everywhere, with their colorful and flowered cloths, chatting, laughing (there is always somebody loudly laughing somewhere), selling lais (necklaces made of flowers) underneath the fale and there are kids, tons of kids, running all over the place.
The queue to check in starts at 6.00pm and it last until a few minutes before the plane is supposed to take off, about 10.30. Passengers coming from Hawaii keep on pouring out of customs until 11.30, and sometimes later, there are always some bags that are lost…
Suddenly the airport becomes the main attraction on island, THE PLACE to be to see who is leaving and who is coming, to meet friends, and why not, even to distribute the filariasis medicines that everybody living in this island is supposed to take once a year. Once there was a dancing show at the airport’s fale (the traditional Samoan house), pretty girls were dancing happily spinning around big knives the size of machetes. Security at the airport is not an issue here.
There are people everywhere, with their colorful and flowered cloths, chatting, laughing (there is always somebody loudly laughing somewhere), selling lais (necklaces made of flowers) underneath the fale and there are kids, tons of kids, running all over the place.
The queue to check in starts at 6.00pm and it last until a few minutes before the plane is supposed to take off, about 10.30. Passengers coming from Hawaii keep on pouring out of customs until 11.30, and sometimes later, there are always some bags that are lost…
This makes at least 5 full hours of intense life in the airport: all for just ONE flight.
We do get other planes too, but they are only 8 to 20 passenger planes that fly between the other Samoan islands. On Wednesdays we get the weekly cargo plane loaded with food or orders for shops on island. Any other big plane flying not on thrusday or Sunday night is considered a U.F.O. (Unidentified Flight Observed). Usually it turns out to be the FBI plane, and that means that somebody in the government is in trouble once again… (actually I saw one today, eyes on the news!!!)
This Thursday the Hawaiian airline plane stole something precious from the island, but also brought me a present.
Edna, my boss, finished her contract and she was leaving with her husband Peter to go to Australia. She has been much more than a boss to me, a friend, a mom, and I am going to miss her terribly. Her shoulders were covered with lais, gifts from friends wishing her farewell. In Samoa P.D.A. (Public Display of Affection) is generally not accepted, but Pago Pago airport is that special place where all hugs and stolen kisses just feel so right. I stayed with Edna and Peter until they went through security, and then I walked to the fale waiting for my present to come out from customs.
The present that this Thursday flight delivered to me was my friend Stephanie, from my Oregonian days, about 4 to 2 years ago. It is just wonderful receiving visits from the outside world. They brings news, excitement, memories from the old days, and gifts like milk chocolate, tea, or hummm, parmigiano, polenta, olive oil…. (these are hints for you readers that will come to visit me! ; ) )
When the plane lands, it drives all the way to the front of the passenger waiting area, where stairs are attached to the plane’s door. The temperature inside the plane is so ridiculously cold that when the passengers walk out the door, the humidity and the heat of the island simply slaps them in the face, one by one, and they start breathing like fish out of water. And finally you realize the uniqueness of this island when you pass underneath the "terminating passengers" sign as you walk to reach costums.
When the plane lands, it drives all the way to the front of the passenger waiting area, where stairs are attached to the plane’s door. The temperature inside the plane is so ridiculously cold that when the passengers walk out the door, the humidity and the heat of the island simply slaps them in the face, one by one, and they start breathing like fish out of water. And finally you realize the uniqueness of this island when you pass underneath the "terminating passengers" sign as you walk to reach costums. This is your second truly Samoan experience. The first one is actually the check-in in Honolulu, when you think you have 5 people ahead of you in the queue, and then you realize that each person actually represents a whole family, sitting somewhere behind you, just waiting for a sign to run at the desk. Then you see the colossal amount of staff that they check in (yes, I am happy with chocolate and polenta, but they can check in television, fridges… all sort of staff that is very expensive on island and cheaper outside). Or in the plane, when the hostess justifies the delay because they ran out of seat belt extensions (for big people) and they are waiting to get some more.
So, Stephanie is here, very happy and very excited, all ready to explore this beautiful island. She loved riding in my flaming Ferrari and she got settled in my mansion with a view of the sea. And most importantly, she came with a huge quantity of tea that will last half a year! Tea is something that Alyssa and I love, but there is not much of a choice here.
The next thing I requested from off-island is a fan belt for my other Ferrari, because it seems like there is another one of those particular island shortages of this particular item….
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