Our new home

Our new home in Samoa

Apia Airport

We finally made it to Apia, Samoa (not our final destination but close).  We arrived at 11:00 A.M. Samoa time and had to go through customs and security once again.  Between USA, New Zealand, and now Samoa, we have been checked, double checked, and triple checked.  In Samoa you get off the plane the old fashion way, down a set of stairs and onto the runway.  In Samoa, they have only one runway, so you can’t get lost. 

One small step for a Samoan, one giant leap for Elder and Sister Budgett

 The Mission President and his wife, several sets of Senior Missionaries (SM), and some Elders greeted us. 

After 14 days we are in Samoa!!!

 They gave us all hugs and hustled us away in vans. We were dropped off at a house where we stayed until leaving for Savaii.  One of the SM couples left food in the house for us to use.  We rested most of the afternoon and then were picked up and taken to the temple for a 6:00 pm session.  According to the locals, the new temple quite different from the one that burned down.  We found it to be very beautiful both inside and out.

Apia, Samoan Temple

After the temple we were treated do dinner by the Mission President and then taken back to our apartment to sleep.

The following morning we had an interview with the Mission President. He is a very soft-spoken, quiet man.  We went downtown where we paid $80.00 USA and got our Samoan drivers license.  No test, just money. The Osborns, a SM couple, showed us around Apia and we visited several markets and bought some food. The market was very interesting and the smells from the meat market were very hard to handle. After lunch and the tour,  we finally got our car and I retrieved the eleven boxes that we had shipped ahead.

Cheryle getting in on the wrong side

 We drove home on the wrong side of the road; they drive on the left side of the road, and got ready for a potluck.  It was a fun evening getting to know the other couples.  The next morning we followed the Osborns to the ferry, about forty minutes from town. The whole drive Cherri had to keep reminding me to drive with the white line on my right shoulder and when turning right to think of a round about. Every time we need to turn, I forget where the signal indicator is and turn on the wipers instead. Everyone here calls that the missionary salute. Needless to say, we have the wipers going instead of a turn signal all the time. We just laugh and say "missionary salute"! The Osborns were nice enough to help us get to our new home.   

Color of the water

The ferry ride was interesting as we watched the locals sleep all over the deck. The ferry trip lasted about 90 minutes.  




 We drove to the College of Vaiola, about 20 minutes from the wharf.  It is about 10 minutes along the coast and then 10 minutes up the side of the mountain.We were introduced to our new home, for the next eighteen months, located in the middle of the campus. In Samoa college means high school. The school here is a K-12. There are about 450 high school students and 160 elementary students. More about the school later.

Entrance

Driveway

Our new home

 Some real upgrades have been done to the house.  We have a new ceramic top free standing stove, new sink and countertops, newly painted cupboards, a new full size fridge, (everyone else has what they call a Barbie one), a new electric hot water heater instead of a solar one, and a new washing machine.  We are the only ones on the grounds that have a washing machine in their home.  Everyone else has to go to a laundry facility on the grounds.  Our dryer is what I call a merry-go-round located out the back door where you hang clothes from metal wire with old fashioned clothespins.  There is no lack of hot sun, which dries things faster than our electric dryer at home.

Living Room

Dining

Our home has a small living/dinning room combination with enough room for a loveseat, stuffed chair, desk, TV, and dinning table with eight chairs.  

Living Room

Kitchen

Bed Room

I don't know who is going to sit on eight chairs.  Maybe we will take turns sitting on a different chair each day.  We have two small bedrooms and a laundry room. 

Laundry

The Osborns showed us where some of the stores were, and how to get around the big metropolis of a town (one street and about two blocks).  It is beautiful here and the colors are unbelievable.  The Osborns spent the night and then left early the next day.  We are here, the only Palagis ( pronounced pah-long-ies)  (people not from Samoa) maybe on the whole island.  We definitely stick out like a sore thumb. Now you can picture where we are.

Lots of adventures to come!!!

Love to all,   Mom and Dad, Elder and Sister Budgett, Cherri and Jim