The Golden Arches called my name...

I can't believe the weekend is over. It went by so fast, but I loved every second of it. I have made friends with a few of the teachers at the school (really there only are a few teachers total) and every Friday we are going to start going to the KoKo Bean. The KoKo Bean is a relatively trendy place for American Samoa where you can get coke, ice cream, and the most amazing chocolate muffins. It's in the 1 shopping center in Tafuna which is the village where if live. Its a bit of a stretch to say "shopping center" because there are only 4 stores. We shopped around in the stores on Friday because it was dismal and rainy outside, and noticed a very interesting trend. There is a really good athletic store at the back of the shopping center and I went in to try to find some shoes for the beach, but they don't carry my size shoe...EVER. Really they don't carry women's shoes period in that store, but I was willing to get a shoe from the men's dept if the price was right. I wear an 8.5 or a 9 in women's shoes so I thought that I might need a 7.5 or 8 in men's, but they don't ever carry shoes below a size 13. They were the biggest shoes I have ever seen. This brought up a great question...Why do Samoan people have such large feet. Each teacher has their own opinion. I think it is adaptation to slippery rocks. I think they use their feet as a defense against clumsiness, but another teacher believes that because most people always go barefoot or walk around in flip flops their feet have never felt confined, thus, never quit growing. I think it seems a little far fetched but I'm going to do some checking into it.

Saturday was my first real day on the island. I thought it was going to continue to rain but instead it was beautiful. The sun never totally broke out, but it was cool and not raining. We wanted to go to the beach, but it was too cold so instead we went over to Amy and Lukes. Amy is the 3rd/4th grade teacher at Pacific Horizons and her husband Luke is a lawyer with Mr. Ashley. They live a couple of villages over and right on the water so we went to enjoy the view, play games, and eat. They are huge Tech fans, so we all sat around the computer having a "I wish we were in Lubbock tailgating party". The island is a volcanic island so there isn't a beach going into the water in most places. Instead they have large jagged lava rocks. The coolest thing about the rocks is the crabs. When you walk out on the rock they run and hide. It's really neat. Everyone just walked out on the rocks like it was nothing, but being sensible I almost crawled. People just don't understand the damage a lava rock can do, and I fall every chance I get so I am playing it safe.

Today was a rough day. I didn't feel good this morning so I slept in instead of going to church. When I woke up I really wanted to go somewhere but I don't have any transportation so I got a little cranky. I would go as far to say that I was about to either pack and come home, or throw a temper tantum. Which luckily I didn't do either, because my next door neighbors let me take their mini van out on the town. I was cruising along in their automobile, and loving every second of it. I never pictured myself as a mini van person, but I cruised around with the windows down and the wind in my hair. I went to the grocery store and then I picked up a little piece of home. McDonald's. In all honesty I don't LOVE McDonald's, but I think that my coke from the fountain was the best thing I have ever tasted. I smiled the whole way back to the house. It's sad that as Americans we equate home with McDonald's, but I think that Ronald saved my spirit today.