America Samoa

I just wanted to share a little bit of our new home with you.
 When we tell people that we live in American Samoa, people say, "Wow! Now where is that?" SO it is possible that you had the same reaction. Let me give you a little geography lesson. American Samoa is a small (let me stress small) Island in the South Pacific. We are situated the right of Fiji (Fiji is just the right and North of New Zealand and Australia) and about 2000 miles south of Guam and Hawaii, if they were two points on a triangle we would be the tip. The longitude is 13 degrees south of the equator, parallel with the souther part of Peru, if you were judging by South America just how far South we are. (I'm trying to get landmarks that most people would recognize).

It is a very beautiful and wonderful place to live. Here is a beach close to our house. 

  Samoan people are so loving and welcoming, every where we drive we get smiles and waves. I know that this is mostly because we are Palagi (pronounced paalangi) or white so that draws attention but they are such loving people. When we drive through the different villages around the Island I feel like we are living in a modern Mayberry. There are always people sitting outside talking or groups of people playing volleyball. Most people walk, ride in the back of trucks or take the bus so there is always a throng of humanity taking to the streets. After coming from the states where you barley know your neighbor, especially where we were from (a military town where your neighbors change every 6 months) it is so refreshing! 

 So because this a 'getting myself healthier blog' I will share some of my struggles I've ran into while I've been here. One of the biggest difficulty that I've found is getting fresh produce. 90% of the food that is on the Island is imported from other nations. We get a 'boat', more like a freighter once a month and its important to time your shopping around these deliveries, if not forget produce! Even if you time it right a lot of the veggies are going bad at the time of purchase. The other difficulty I've ran into is the prices! Because food is imported the prices are exorbitant! If you want grapes you will pay $12 for a small package, a head of lettuce will go for $7. This makes eating healthy very expensive, I do believe that's why there is such a obesity epidemic here. The junk food is cheap; white bread, chips, white rice, hot dogs and ramen noodles seem to be the staple of most people because they are affordable, especially when you are supporting a family of 6-10 people on a $4.65 a hr. The prices don't equal out to the pay, but that would be another blog. Local produce is very limited, but there is some. There is a big population of Chinese people and they have big gardens which they harvest and sell to the stores but its very hit and miss, when you find them its like finding treasure! 

SO in order to combat these difficulties, my next endeavor is to plant a garden. The rainy season is over and I cleared it with my landlord yesterday! Wish me luck! I'll post pictures of the progress! Also I'll try to post more about the Island and what's been going on in our life!