Sinking Boats

Sara and I have been back from New Zealand for over a week, our photos are coming up soon. But some work related stuff couldn't wait.

Since I've been in American Samoa representing the Port, two marine vessels have sunk in the harbor. The problem is American Samoa has no laws dealing with abandoned or derelict marine vessels. Thus its difficult for the government to be proactive about dealing with these problem ships. To help alleviate this situation I drafted a proposed statute that lays out the procedure for noticing, removing and disposing of abandoned boats. The proposed statute is adapted from Alaska's Title 30, Chapter 30. After a bit of lobbying by the Coast Guard, the Director of Marine & Wildlife Resources, the Director of the Department of Port Administration and myself the proposed bill is scheduled for a hearing on Thursday morning.

The Attorney General has asked me to attend and testify on behalf of the Office of the Attorney General. I'm excited to see some action on this issue. With less than two months left on my contract, I'm eager to leave American Samoa with a better legal means of dealing with dangerous ships. I'll give an update after the hearing.

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.

Post-Awful 2

Most mail deliveries to the island go smoothly and without too much of an issue, despite what my last post on the mail suggested. We do recommend using priority mail, as those get sent on the next airplane, parcel post takes a more circuitous route to us. My Mom sent us a few packages for the holiday season. Most arrived in a timely fashion and were able to enrich our holidays. One package that had a few gifts to Sara didn't make it.

It turns out the package didn't disappear, it just took the slowest possible route to our island. It had been sent by parcel post. My Mom shipped it on November 7, 2011 from Lafayette, California it was picked up from the AG's Office's Post Office Box in Fagatogo, American Samoa on January 20, 2012, 2 months and 20 days after it was sent. Thus the Christmas candies and decorations were not very timely. The candies we can still put to use, the decorations will need to go in the closet until next year, sigh. Once again, USPS, you've made island living a little more isolated.

Christmas in June

Sara and I got a nice treat yesterday, our pallet of goods that we shipped out from California arrived. We received a call from the shipping agent that it was arriving on Saturday, but the customs office is only open on weekdays.

Thus we called and talked to the shipping agent on Monday. They said that they were open until 5pm. We headed over there after work on Monday. Turns out the shipping agent is open until 5pm, but the customs office and port are only open to 3:30pm. Thanks for the heads up on that one...

Tuesday morning I dropped Sara and our carpool off at work and headed over to the port. First I needed to get our paperwork from our shipping agent. To get them to give me the paperwork, I needed to pay $78.46. They only take check or cash, so a quick trip to the bank and I was paid up. Sigh. They turned over a few pages of paperwork.

Now, with our Bill of Lading and shipping agent invoice in hand I went into the port. I was directed over to the large warehouse. After trying a few different offices, I eventually found the one I was supposed to start at. They reviewed my forms and said go to the office at the back of the warehouse. Again, the offices were unlabeled at the back of the warehouse and after trying a few, a customs inspector pointed me towards the correct office. Double Sigh. They reviewed my paper work, signed one corner and then sent me to the guys with the forklift, to retrieve my pallet.

Turns out, my pallet was still packed in a shipping container. The container was still stacked somewhere on the pier. The suggested I come back at lunch and they would have my pallet waiting in the warehouse. Triple Sigh.

Since our computer server was down at work (Sigh^4), taking a long lunch to deal with shipping issues, wasn't as much of a wasted day as I would have initially thought. I began by taking my paperwork to the warehouse foreman. He confirmed my stuff had been unloaded and I was shown the pallet by the customs inspector. He cursorily looked at my still wrapped pallet, asked me if I had any firearms and then signed off on the inspection.

I then had to go back to the first office, show them the signed off inspection, pay $5 and they gave me a clearance form. I then had to take the clearance form to the port authority and they signed the clearance form. Sigh x 5. Then I took that stack of paperwork back to the warehouse foreman and he forklifted the pallet over to my car. I then unwrapped the pallet with the assistance of a USDA inspector who had attended my barbecue a few weeks ago and loaded my boxes, coolers and bikes into the car. A trip home and all the items were loaded into our living room. Now we just need to unpack...

Memorial Day Weekend - Friday-Saturday

The weekend was packed, everyday brought a new adventure. Starting out late last week, one of my coworkers informed me that there was a dying tradition for new pulangi arrivals on the island to throw a barbecue within their first week on island. Not being one to deny tradition or refuse a beer fueled event, I accepted the gauntlet. Thursday I sent out emails to the list serv that links the (mostly) contract ex-pat community in Tutuila. On Friday and Saturday, I spent some time day planning and gathering supplies.

Part of the challenge with starting from zero in a household in a new place is not having the basics. Everything you need requires a trip to the store. Your usual routine of stocking up on the items you know you recently ran out of and grabbing one or two special items because they were on sale or specifically needed no longer exists.

This situation gets compounded when even kitchen hardware and gadgets fall into that same situation. For example, I don't have a cooler on island (I shipped two on my pallet, but the pallet is still in transit and likely won't arrive for several weeks). Coolers are expensive in American Samoa. The cost of retail items here is almost directly related to how much they cost to ship here. The biggest driving factor in shipping freight overseas is the volume, not the weight of the cargo. Coolers, being large, bulky items that don't nest or pack close are costly. A standard backyard barbecue friendly cooler costs over $100 here.

Thus being cheap and inventive rather than a solution-focused consumer is often the best solution when making purchases on the island. For this BBQ, the chosen method to keep drinks cold was a plastic bin some my kitchenware set came in. The grill I used was a rusting heap that had remained from a prior tenant on my back porch. A few grocery runs and I'm set to host an event.

We set up at the pool area of my housing complex. I'd been warned people would show up late. With a 6pm start time, no guest who lived outside the housing complex came before 7pm. Everything here happens on "island time" even the pulangi. Despite the late start, approximately twenty people showed up and hung out until around midnight. The BBQ went well and I was glad to meet some more people. Definitely the right way to start off my social gatherings here in American Samoa.

Shipping

It's been a little while since my last post. The rush around packing up, seeing friends and family, and shipping items consumed me prior to leaving. Sara and I packed up a pallet of things that weren't practical to carry on the plane. I loaded the car, drove it down to Oakland and left our precious cargo at the shipping agent's warehouse ready to be sent off to LA and then Pago Pago. We tried to include items that are difficult to obtain or are expensive in American Samoa. Thus the bikes and coolers. Items that take up a large amount of space in a shipping container are prime for being sent by sea. Word is I will see the items three to eight weeks from shipping date. Only 2 to 7 weeks to go...