Barbecue with a View

Went to a barbecue yesterday evening. It was for a few departing members of the palangi community here on island. With all the palangi on 6 month, 1 year or 2 year contracts, this is a pretty often occurrence on the island. It's a population of people that is in constant flux, you're often hitting it off with someone new and looking forward to seeing them again and it turns out they are leaving the island for good on the Thursday flight. Not ideal for trying to build a circle of friends.

One thing that came from this barbecue, was an introduction to another of the contract worker enclaves on the island. This one is on a hill, overlooking the Tafuna Plain. These are the views from the deck, looking back east, toward Pago Harbor. The more I get into the high spots on the Rock, the more I'm blown away with the views.

There's also an old crater west of this house that houses the largest fruit bat colony in the territory. In the early evening, when we arrived, they were just starting to take flight for their nightly feeding. We got to hang out with beers on a deck with three-foot-wing-span bats flying all over the evening sky. Kind of kicks ass.