American Samoa -- Pago Pago

So I discovered today that all this time I have not been in Pago Pago. I have been west of there. So, late this morning I went to the bus stop to go exploring. Here is a bus stop:

After awhile a bus came a long:

Just like in Alice in Wonderland, since I didn't know where I was going, I didn't think it mattered which direction I went. However, after about a quarter of a mile, the bus driver told me he was finished working for the day. Sorry, ride over. Okay. So I got off and found another bus headed the other direction.

Here are some photos from the ride. Sorry some are blurry, I was hanging out the side of a bus.

Here is downtown Pago Pago:

On the way home I stopped at McDonalds for lunch. Apparently it is graduation week here in American Samoa and everyone goes out for fast food to celebrate. Very long story short, I waited for over a half hour in line to get my Asian Salad (too much fast food this week and not enough vegetables). Now, I have seen a lot of amazing things since I have been here in American Samoa -- amazing senery, rain the size of silver dollars, super friendly people who like to talk about religion -- but by far the most unbelieveable thing I have seen in my two and a half days here is a family that spent $150 at McDonalds. Now I admit it was a large family, both in number and girth, but I would have guessed $75 at the most. The bags of food just kept coming, and I kept waiting. Wow. Incredible.

It was stake conference here today, so I went to the priesthood session and the general session (back to back 4:00 and 6:00). Most of the talks were in Samoan, so I didn't get much out of it; however, I have never heard better singing anywhere in the church. Everyone sings, and everyone sings well. Hearing the music alone (the choir and even just the congretation) was worth listening to the hours of uninteligable vowels streaming out of the speakers' mouths. The singing was powerful both in volume and spirit. I look foward to two years of listening to these beautiful voices.

One last thing, I woke up with the first pinch of a sore throat this morning. Did I sleep with my mouth open? Is it a common cold? Have I been infected with the recent E. Coli outbreak on the island? I don't know but it's fun to speculate.

One last photo for the kids, I believe these are vines for swinging - Tarzan-style: