The “Malama Kai” – take care of the ocean – sadly – has not made the journey to American Samoa. I shouldn’t have been surprised. Polynesia is notoriously trashy. But, I had hoped for better from AMERICAN Samoa. If for 3,000 years you wrapped your lunch up in a banana leaf and just left the banana leaf when you were done – why wouldn’t you do the same with your plastic plate? A culture/technology clash that isn’t pretty. But, culture/technology clashes are never pretty.
Enough with bitching about the litter. Let me tell you what I did NOT see. I saw no homeless people. Not one. And, it wasn’t like the Pago Pago city fathers were hiding them. There were no homeless people. And, I saw no one wandering around wacked out on drugs. I rode all around the island on crowded buses and was always treated with utmost respect. I was always given a “good” seat up front. And this same courtesy was extended to elderly locals as well. The Samoans get an “F” for Malama the aina – but an “A” for malama the people on the aina.
So, today, I exhausted myself by 9AM. With walking and yoga. That left me in great shape to do my New Year’s correspondence. Tomorrow – I’ll tackle start of 2016 bookkeeping.
And a real macro-ish shot from this morning’s walk.
