Talofa Lava from Samoa.  Today is November 4th, 2013.  We know time really doesn't go any faster but sure seems like it is for us.  We are trying to finish up so many things just like the end of any school year.  The students in the Middle School are testing all this week.  They do not take their end of term or semester tests during their regular classes.  They test for one subject for 2 hours and then the students go home.  The teachers are suppose to stay and mark the tests but they seem to disappear as well.  It is hard for us to understand why they can't test during their classes but oh well.

October was a great month. 

On Wednesday October 9th, Christy and Ryan had their new baby girl come into their family.  Her name is Devree and she is beautiful.  Christy had her at 12:38 p.m., weighed 6 pounds 15 ounces and was 20.5 inches long.  We missed the actual delivery because she wasn't suppose to be born until the next day and we were running our errands so we wouldn't miss it.  Nada, of course, cried because she felt like a terrible mother.  Thank goodness for Skype and email.  As soon as we got on we were able to Skype and watch them bathe Devree and make sure Christy and Devree were fine.  Skype is a wonderful blessing for Senior Couples!  Isn't she beautiful?

On Wednesday, October 16th the middle school celebrated World Food Day.

 Year nine students getting ready to start husking coconuts and building the umu.  These girls were sitting around talking not really participating.

 The boys are building the umu to cook the breadfruit and pig.  They start with coconut husks on the bottom then wood and rocks.

 
 









 Usually the boys husk the coconuts but this young lady wanted to give it a try.  She didn't do it quite as fast as the boys but she did do it!  The boy below is shredding the coconut.  They can do this very fast.  They sit on a stool that has a sharp metal piece on the end like a shoe horn with serrated edges.

 Brother Falute with the hat.  The teachers like their pictures taken as much as the students do.

 Sister Leafa cutting open coconuts with a bush knife.  They will shred the coconut, squeeze it to make coconut milk and then mix it with the mashed up bananas to make what they call poi.  It is much better than the poi we have eaten in Hawaii!  Year Seven students.

 Sister Amani cutting up a fish.  They mix this raw fish with cucumbers and coconut milk and it is called Oka..  Reed thinks it is okay but Nada has never even tried it.  Raw fish, No Thanks!

 These students are peeling and mashing the bananas for poi.

 The umu is hot enough and they are starting to add the food.  While cooking they cover the rocks with banana leaves.

 Year Eight students are in charge of plucking and cooking the chickens.  The students don't even hesitate.  They just go right to it.

 These two students brought us some Taufolo, breadfruit pounded and then cooked in coconut milk and sugar and they slightly burn the brown sugar.  It tasted pretty good, like dumplings.  This is a formal way that they would present food to you.  It is on a plate of woven leaves.  Everyone had a good day and no one went hungry!








Saturday, October 19, 2013 was Reed's Birthday.  We had a wonderful day.  Twenty-one of us seniors went to the Island of Manono.  Elder and Sister Roth set it up for us.  We took two different boats over because they are only big enough to hold around 10 - 12 people each.  Reed and Nada had gone over to Manono last year with the Budgetts and Osbrones but we were very excited to go again and do more exploring.

We left the Mission Home at 9:00 a.m. in three different vans.  We headed to Manono Uta (which means inland.)  Most of the islands have a village on the main island of Upolu where they take their boats back and forth to the islands.  It is as far West as you can go on Upolu and took about 50 minutes to get there. We got on the small boats about 10:00 a.m. and headed to Manono.  The water was calm and so clear.

We are on the boat to the right.  It was smoother and faster.  It was a twenty minute ride to Manono Island.  We were greeted by the Arp Family who made this day possible for us.  They told us to explore and then we would eat at noon.  Reed wanted to find the Grave of the Ninety-Nine Stones.  We asked three different people before someone pointed us in the right direction.  We walked for about 30 minutes and finally found it.  We were underwhelmed.  Reed read a lot about it but it was not marked or very well taken care of.

Reed and Nada standing in front of the Grave of the Ninety-Nine Stones.  It is about a High Chief who wanted to marry 100 wives, one from each village.  However, when he approached a certain village they refused to let him have one of their girls for a wife, hence why there are only 99!
On this island they make the women either wear skirts or cover their pants with a lava lava.

 This boy kept following us around blowing this conch shell.  He got some pretty good sound out of it.  We finally gave him a tala and then he walked on.

 This boy is in a mango tree picking mangos and tossing them down to his family or friends.

 The children are so cute and so friendly.  They all say "Hi Palagi" and "Take My Picture!"  We will really miss these adorable children.

 This area was so beautiful.  Manona is a very clean island and not a lot of people live here.  There are no cars and no dogs allowed.  That makes it even nicer.  You can see a small island off to Reed's left.

 The whole group sitting down for lunch.  We all sang Happy Birthday to Reed.  The open fale was very large and nice and cool.  The food was all Samoan but very well done and tasted good.  We love drinking the nius (young coconuts).
 
 
 

 Reed went snorkeling after lunch.  He said there was not much to see but he did swim for about 10 minutes with a Spotted Eagle Ray.  He said it was quite a thrill.  Our underwater camera broke so we are including a picture off the internet that looks just like what Reed was swimming with.  After we got back he looked it up and found out it is very poisonous so good thing he didn't try to touch it!  Reed said that was a great birthday present.

 After Reed snorkeled for a while we decided to walk on the road (it really is mostly just a trail) around the whole island.  We saw beautiful things all the way around.  This is a traditional fale with original pandanus mats.  During stormy weather or for privacy they put these down, otherwise they are up under the roof.

 Breadfruit Tree with the breadfruit growing.  These trees have pretty leaves and they are quite large.

 Beautiful beach and ocean and skiy!

 A little island off of Manono.  The color of the water was just breathtaking.

 Can you believe how gorgeous the water is?  This beach had a lot of lava rocks on it that get slippery when wet.

 It took us one hour and twenty-five minutes to walk around the whole island.  That was not walking real fast and Reed kept  stopping to take pictures.  It was so nice.  Some people just sat around and visited on this deck while the rest of us swam and explored.

We were on the yellow boat again on the way back.  There was quite a bit of wind and you can see that the ocean was not calm.  Some of the waves actually came over the side of the boat.  It was a fun adventure to get back to Upolu.  You can see Upolu in the distance.  We arrived back on Upolu at 4:00 p.m. and loaded into the vans and headed home.  What a wonderful day.  We have been so blessed to serve in such a beautiful area with so many senior missionaries.  Reed said he could not have asked for anything better for his birthday.

Happy Halloween from Samoa.  They really don't talk about it or really celebrate it muich here.  There were a couple of wards that brought their primary children trick or treating.  They have people in their wards that have lived in America that is probably why.  We usually go to the Temple on Thursday evenings but we went on Wednesday, last night, so we would be home to see these darling little trick or treat kids and pass out candy.

 The kids really seemed to have a good time.  Most of them knew how to say Trick or Treat in English.  Below is a picture of Elder and Sister Goodlet that live across the street from us.  They are from Australia and they said this is the first Halloween they have been involved in trick or treating themselves.  Goes to show we are never too old to experience new things!

On Saturday, Nov. 2, 2013, we decided to visit a couple of places we haven't seen yet.  We drove over the Cross Island Road and said goodbye to Papapapaitai Waterfall.  It hasn't rained much lately so there was not very much water in the falls.  Then we drove to the southeast side of Upolu and decided to take the Ma Tree Walk.  It was about 25 minutes in.  The trail was quite good and we enjoyed the quietness and beautiful scenery.  We kept wondering if we would know The Ma Tree when we saw it.  No worries, you could not miss it plus they actually had a sign next to it saying Ma Tree.  The path ran right into the tree and it is enormous.

 You can see the roots of the Ma Tree.  We never even got a picture of the whole tree.  The root on the right went back in about 12 feet.  We thought the grandkids would love to play hide and seek here.  We were just amazed at how many and how tall the roots are.  The way they curve out.  It was amazing and a great surprise. 

The actual tree was probably 60+ feet tall and very large in circumference.   The roots were really the spectacular part of the tree.  You can see how they curve like a scroll.

We are standing next to a bunch of small roots with big ones behind us and to the left of us.  We are so glad we did not miss this area.  We wish there would have been something to tell us about the tree and how old it is or why it grows here.

We then headed to Old Hideaway Beach for the final time.  We ate lunch, Reed snorkeled and Nada walked along the beach and found 30 Sand Dollars right on the beach or barely in the water.  It was low tide and the water was so clear.  This is a great beach for relaxing and enjoying.  Not a good place for snorkeling.  The water is always warm and we are usually here by ourselves or whoever we are with.  We rarely see other tourists or locals on this beach.

 We left Old Hideaway Beach, it is a little hard to say goodbye to these beautiful places with so many memories, and headed to the last piece of main road we've never driven on.  We drove to a couple of little resorts and then headed west.    We stopped and took a couple of pictures looking back where we had come from.  In the distance on the picture below you can see both Manono and Apolima Islands.    It is amazing how much moisture in the air the camera picks up.  We hooked back onto the Main Northern Coastal Road and headed home.

 What a wonderful day.  We saw so much of the island and did some new and fun things.  We love to explore and have tried hard to see every piece of the island we possibly can.  We love Samoa and its beauties and the people.  We will really miss these beautiful scenes.  We are so blessed. 

Now, today back to the real world of teaching and getting the grades in for the SIOP Course we just finished.  Life is great!  We are both well and trying hard to finish up strong.  We love you all and hope you enjoy seeing this Paradise we are blessed to live in for a little while longer.  We will try to post one more time before we leave on December 2nd and then try to post on our adventures on our way home.  Tofa Soifua and much Alofas from Elder and Sister Spencer.