Ellen + Kevin = Ofu

So I'd written about 4,000 words on our trip to Ofu and it all got lost. I'm a little frustrated with the BlogSpot layout and I'll just post the pictures, until I can overcome my frustration.

It's not often you read about American Samoa in the National news. I stumbled across an article today that features AmSam. Though, it's not in a good way.

The piece is about the relative expense of internet access and the speed of internet in different rural regions in the United States. Guess who's the slowest and most expensive: American Samoa. Not the number one we're hoping for, sigh. One thing we have to look forward to when Sara and I move home is not paying $150/month for internet that rarely reaches 100 Kps and is frequently down for days at a time.

Halfway

Couldn't believe it, but Monday was my 1 year anniversary of being in American Samoa. I was a little too sick for a celebration, but I'm still in shock that I'm halfway through my 2-year contract. It hasn't felt like anything close to that long. Can't say too much as I'm buried in trial prep, but still needed to note the milestone.

Tofa and Reaping the Spoils

We said goodbye to two attorneys from our office last week. Friday was the last day of work for our immigration attorney and the other civil litigator. We did the traditional farewell, a tofa, meal for them and they were presented with the traditional parting gifts for those leaving the island.

Our immigration attorney is staying on-island, but is going to be acting as her kid's caretaker this summer. The other litigator is heading back to Utah. I'll miss him (not just since I'm taking over his case load until a new attorney is hired and arrives on island), as he was the other member of the office that arrived on the same flight as me and we both carried similar litigation case loads. Hopefully your endeavours back on the mainland treat you well.

One side benefit for when people leave our office is the reallocation of their work and office space. This time around it benefits Sara, as she was the most senior attorney without a window office. With everyone on two year contracts, it doesn't take long to move high up the seniority ladder, both Sara and I are near the top of the Civil Division ranks. As a result, Sara's now been upgraded to a view of Pago Harbor Mount Alava and Rainmaker Mountain. Not too shabby there, Mrs. Sayles.

Sometimes saying goodbye is tough, but it also means you're around to reap the spoils.

A Bad Guy, On The Radio

It's funny being part of this small community on island. Sara and I both occupy relatively public positions with the Office of the Attorney General. We make court appearance on a weekly, sometimes daily, basis. We are involved with several government departments and act on their behalf in public forums and meetings. Our work even ends up in the media.

The media in American Samoa has a difficult job. They have papers to sell, radio news reports to write and not a lot of activity here on-island that generates news. Therefore it is not uncommon for cases the Office of the Attorney General is involved in to be reported. As this is one of the places journalists can go to find information being generated on this little rock we live on.

This morning everyone was mentioning that my name was on the Monica Miller news report that aired during the morning commute today. Turns out the media was reporting on an answer and counterclaim I filed last week in one of my cases. I found the headline particularly funny: "ASG Sues the Family of Man Who Died in Custody." Makes me sounds like a heartless brute. Sometimes that's the cases you get as "the Man."

Beer

Being a beer enthusiast, I was unprepared for the adjustment that came from moving from the beer-rich, micro-brew-loving, West Coast to American Samoa. I didn't realize how spoiled I was living in the Bay Area, Sacramento and Portland the last several years. The variety of unique and different brews was something I took for granted.

It wasn't until I moved to this tiny island in the Pacific that I realized that a variety or beer in a number of unique styles isn't something you can take for granted. In American Samoa, you can regularly find Samoa's own Vailima (both regular and malt liquor grade Special Export), Stienlager, Miller Genuine Draft, Coors Light and Heineken. That's it. Oh, and it's expensive. Along the lines of $8-12 for a six pack or $30 for a case. So unless you have a good friend who has a connection at the troop commissary, where they get exotic brands like Guinness, Budweiser, Mickeys and St. Pauli Girl, you're stuck buying some light lager. This extreme lack of variety does strange things to those of us who are used to overwhelming options. When Sara and I were back in California in October, we had a mini melt-down in Whole Foods. In 30 minutes of shopping we filled our cart to the bring with cheese, wine and beer that is not available within a few thousand miles of American Samoa. To our dismay we had to put most back, as we a were only home for a few short days and on a budget.

The situation in America Samoa is a far cry from the fully stocked beer isle that I would hit up on dog walks at Market of Choice in Portland, sigh. So it's big news when you find anything different to drink. Sara and I were blown away to see the first new beer on-island in the last 10 months; Milwaukee's Best, otherwise know as "the Beast," not for its drinkability, from my college days.

This is still news for us captive beer consuming public of American Samoa. When I posted this photo to Facebook, I had friends requesting to know where it was selling, since we've all drank our fill of the Steinlager, Coors and Vailima several times over during our months on island. I expect the two pallets of cases of Milwaukee's Best will sell out within a few weeks and we may never see the likes of it again.

This lack of variety in beer has driven me to start home-brewing here. The conditions are far from ideal for brewing beer, but desperate measures call for solutions. We've done a few batches, and it's a beacon of hope when you can have something dark, malty, hoppy or just plain different from the mass produced options.

Island Fever

The island has been wearing on Sara and I recently. We haven't been off-island since October. With (relative) stress at work ramping up with trials for both Sara and I pending for next week, we've been feeling the need to get away from paradise.

Late last week, Sara took the initiative and got us tickets to (Western) Samoa, to the island of Savai'i. It is a large, minimally populated island. We're eager to get there.

Especially after the last few days. We sweated our way through another hot, humid few days. Last night, Sara found a mass of fire ants battling with termites in one of our extra bedrooms. After spraying the bugs and only getting a few bites, we were able to fight back the invaders.

This morning, we cleaned and ran some errands. I spent the morning trying to figure out what the ghastly smell in our bedroom was. After cleaning my dresser, closet and bedroom, I started to clear the rugs to our deck, only to find the source of the stink, a rotting rat corpse. It was well along its way to decomposition. After pulling the dead rat from between the deck boards with a long handle garden hoe and hosing off the maggots I was able to chase the stink from our bedroom, with only the slightest amount of dry-heaving.

The rest of Saturday was spent cleaning, on errands and watching a sevens rugby tournament. Yeah, I'm ready to get off-island too. Can't wait until Thursday.