Super Bowl

Just like on the mainland, Sunday was set aside for the Super Bowl. The Coast Guard Lieutenant hosted a barbecue at his house for the game. He rotisseried two pigs (that had been hanging out the previous day) and otherwise welcomed us for general revelry. We'd hoped to spend the day outside and watch the game with the benefit of a friend's projector, but the rain and wind conspired to keep us bottled by in the apartment.

After a half of jockeying for position to see the game, Sara and I bumped over to some friends of ours who were neighbors and opted to watch the rest of the game in the comfort of the couch.

One abnormality is that none of the TV station we receive in American Samoa have commercial access to the Super Bowl feed. Instead they mooch off the military feed for the game. This is great except for one unanticipated aspect: we don't get the commercials. The military feed has a number of military specific public service announcements in place of the commercials, think "loose lips sink ships" and the ilk. These are not allowed to be shown on civilian broadcasts, so instead American Samoa gets video feed from various churches during the commercial breaks. This seems to be the best alternative the broadcasters on the island could come up with.

As a person that does not go to church, this is a nice reminder as to why I prefer to spend my Sunday doing outdoor activities. Every image that is shown from these churches is people falling asleep in the pews or looking deathly bored. There's occasionally shots of the priest or preacher talking, but no sound comes through and they usually quickly pan to people dressed up in their finest outfits, sweating their way through Sunday. It's truly a testament to how much sway the churches hold here, that the local population all go to church and spend their Sundays looking insanely bored.

Glad I only have to experience during commercial breaks during the Super Bowl. But it also means I need to waste time later in the evening tracking down the commercials online.