Overdue update

Let's see, its been a while. Since before Pololo. Pololo are worms or something like worms that come out of something (the reef I guess) on one or two nights on the full moon after Halloween. Everyone goes out to catch them and then eat them. It is kind of like a smelt run how everyone is out going crazy for something that (probably) is not actually very good to eat, but the locals convince themselves it is. So a bunch of us went out to try to get Palolo.

It was pouring down rain on a Wednesday night and the pololo was supposed to come out at about 130am. But the thing is that Pololo comes out kind of at the full moon. So we were up til 2, but the Pololo didn't actually come until the next day. Two days in a row out that late on a school night doesn't work. So I missed out on the supposed deliciousness of pololo.

Part of living in Lions Park is that yard service comes with your rent.
I came back the other day and it was a miracle: Yards were mowed. The housing guys don't really like to mow lawns or do anything except drink Vailima and not come to work usually (I'm just guessing this, but it is an educated guess).

They got tired before getting to my yard though:



Out by sliding rock is maybe the nicest setting for a basketball court in the world:


Here's the view from the edge:


Guess what made me so unhappy:



Yup, another electrocuted and rotting rat. Wonderful!
rat

This was a big one. Incredibly disgusting.

We had another big loss to the Association. Sharon left the island. But, she did give me a cure to my rat problem:

cat

I have a cat now.

This Saturday, a bunch of us went to a fa'fafine pageant. It was at the new Rex Lee Auditorium, the best venue in the Territory. It is even air conditioned- which alone makes it superior to every other venue on the island.

Fa'fafines are guys who were raised as women. This is very common here. The pageant was a big deal. The contestants easily put more work into their costumes and routines than I have seen anyone put into anything here.

Some pictures:








Shane, check this out: Lately they have been getting fresh ahi in stores. It is incredibly fresh and good.


Notice the size and price?


It is the best I've ever had (tied with some sashimi I had in Western Samoa)- just superb.

Pineapples are in season now. I bought a couple on the side of the road on the way home today. I cut one little one up so far and ate part and it is the best pineapple I have ever tasted. It is so sweet it tastes almost fake. I just took part of the pineapple and mixed it with fresh coconut juice and meat from a coconut that I just split open. Really, really, good.

I hear you are having some flooding in Washington eh? I saw pictures of Centralia. It looks almost as bad as the flooding that happened while I was in college. Is it?