Samoa Day 2 - Tatiana Motel

We spent out first full day in Samoa in Apia, the capital of Samoa. I don’t even know how I can describe it – I think one of our leaders here summed it up well: hot, dusty, dirty, and busy.

Oh my gosh, is it hot! And humid…so humid it’s almost unbearable in the middle of the day. Our leader Sarah says we’ll get used to it – haha suuure we will.

We went to the flea market today to get lavalavas and souvenirs. Their markets look exactly like the Pike Place Market in Seattle, but much bigger and a lot more crowded. Oh, and the Mc D’s icecream cones were so cheap - $2 tala, which is like 70 cents for us. It was glorious to eat icecream in that heat. :)

Upolu is so pretty, but you can tell thate it is a very poor place. Apia is the biggest and most developed city on the 2 islands, and the flea markets are the main places to go. The city is about as big as Kaikoura, with 1 main road. And it’s so crowded and busy in the city. So many ppl. All the guys call out “hello” to us and want to take a picture or they say I’m beautiful because I’m a typical tall, blond haired, blue eyed American girl lol. And there are a lot of stray dogs and pigs around. A lot of garbage on the streets too. But it’s so amazing that we can walk 10 minutes and reach the ocean! :) so cool.

We went snorkeling after the market today. That was amazing! We spent 3 hours among the coral reefs with all different kinds of tropical fish and eels and sea cucumbers and starfish. It was really sweet. And the fish were so brightly colored too – all different kinds. So cool. I wish I knew the names for them all. And the water was really warm, so it was great to swim in. (thanks anela for these cool underwater pics!)

We met in smallgroups for dinner afterwards. Since Jess isn’t here with us (cuz we don’t need a cook on this trip), Rich, Emma, Nissi, and I were free to do whatever we wanted. We ate on this boat turned into a restaurant and watched the sun set during dinner. So romantic – wish Ralph had been there.


I love it here, but I couldn’t live here or spend much longer than 2 weeks here. Way too hot for me. Since English is an official language along with Samoan, it’s pretty easy to communicate with most of them. I think it’s amazing how much American culture affects the rest of the world – with stores like Nike and Mc D’s, to language, to music – we heard so much American music today. They love it here.

I can’t get over the fact that we’re in Samoa! Sweet. Never thought this day would come. And now I’m living it! :)

Leah