faofao's shopping trip finds coconut starfields

in the pics: these small plants are open, until you touch them, then close up...I forgot the name of them; a view of the ocean from inside a beach fale at FaoFao. very nice.

8/4
A good weekend at “Fao Fao” beach fales. The weather could have been better—strong wind and some rain, intermittent sun. the water seemed cold. But it was nice to get away for a few days and talk to some other PCVs from our group.

The Sunday shopping trip to Farmer Joe. Gosh the money goes bye bye fast! Total $81.75 (tala). 4 rolls toilet paper $14.60. Packet of (5) cucumbers $5.50. Pringles $5.25. Pam’s Boysenberry jam $6.95. large skippy creamy p-nut butter: $16.30. large Colby cheese $16.00. lamb sausages (a recent yummy yummy find) $8.90. bag of 5 oranges $8.25. this is my palagi mea ai (food) stash. Of which a few things require a refrigerator. Electric prices are really going up. My principal told me tonight that the surcharge is now 45%. That seems really high. That’s going to make people poorer. I wonder how many people will use less electricity. She told me I need to turn off my frig over the weekend. No. my food will not go bad. No resolution yet. I have not told her that the school is required to pay for 70 units of electricity (about $100 tala I think) . I’m happy to pay for anything above that. But I don’t really think that my room’s electricity is 40% of the last $250tala power bill.


Coconut starfield
My sandles have molded to my feet
Walking through night shadows
I see the outline of coconut
Tree above
Like a silent friend, or until it drops
One on my head. Wide leaves hiding
The field (above).

Far above, stars peek out through
Darkness; blanket of white pricks
Surrounding blackness.

Too many to count.
A few shooting to places unknown.
All together a beauty city dwellers
Seldom see.
Lucky me.

Mataio 4/23/08