This past weekend was delightfully long, and since we had an extra day to enjoy we ended up heading out to Tisa's Barefoot Bar out on the eastside, and then staying over at Bobby and Molly's house in Alofa'ou. It was the first time that I had been to the eastside since our Island tour on our first day here. The only downside is that all Saturday and Sunday it was rainy. And concerning Sunday, when I say rainy I mean the tropical rain that you don't understand if you have never been to a tropical area. Imagine the most intense downpour you have seen in the states and then double that and make it last for half a day. Due to the rain the weekend was enjoyable more for savoring each other's company and not so much the beautiful, rugged coasts of the eastside.
On Sunday we hitched a ride back to Pago Pago, where Rosemary, Brigit, and I camped out in McDonalds to wait for friends who were meeting us, and to watch CNN.
Eventually we let to meet people at a Mexican restaurant that we had seen in the guide book they gave us had Sunday movie nights. In classic Samoan form that was no longer the case and the restaurant was actually closed. So we quickly changed gears and headed to our usual Thursday hang out, Rubble's – which says "7 Days a Week" on the door – but of course is also closed on Sunday. Finally we made it to Hong Kong house and scored some Chinese food with John, Cynthia, Thanh, and Ben.
John and Cynthia ended up staying overnight so that we could try to get some hiking and beach time in on Monday if the weather permitted. Now I already had liked John and Cynthia very much, but after Sunday night and Monday Thanh and I have officially agreed that they are ridiculously awesome. Maybe we had just been wowed by the awesome theological discussions, or because John saved Thanh's life on Monday. But I am getting ahead of myself…
Monday dawned, and we realized that it was probably not the best conditions to hike to Fagatele Bay due to the hard rains of the weekend and the amount of sediment in the water. However we figured that we would still head out to Sliding Rock for a while. When we arrive there we found the hugest surf that we had seen since we have been here – even Ben, our resident surfer, was impressed by the size of the waves. For a long time we just sat up on a high area far enough from the water and talked about organ donation and medicine and the like. Later we headed back more towards the road, but decided to sit with our legs in a little tidal pool, about 10 feet from the supratidal zone where we assumed (ha ha…) that we were safe.
If you have been reading this blog, then you know that I have before already learned of the danger of rogue waves at Sliding Rock first hand. And from a previous volunteer almost dying. And from the local response to "we are going to Sliding Rock" which is "lots of people die there". And my department head telling me two students died there on a field trip.
Apparently the lesson had not been reinforced enough.
As we a sitting with our legs in the tide pool we are fine for the first 20 minutes, but then we could see a huge swell coming in. Our response of course was to be excited as we figured we, being far from the water, would just get a little more water added to our pool. One way came and we were fine, but soon the rush of two more waves was added to the first, and before we knew it Thanh was tumbling backwards over rocks and I am holding on to her arm for life as she is getting sucked back in a channel towards the ocean. As the wave increase I loose hold of Thanh as I myself am pitched over the rock I was bracing myself on, but luckily managed to get a firmer grip on the next one. However from my vantage point I can see John, Thanh, and Ben getting swept further out, though luckily Brigit and Cynthia were safely out of the water. John had managed to grab hold of Thanh (who is not a great swimmer) but the force of the water had pushed Ben onto Thanh so that she was sandwiched between him and a rock. Ben realized that he was crushing Thanh and let the current take him (a true gentleman!) but John had thought that Ben had her and let her go.
I obviously don't realize all this is going on while it is happening; I am just seeing Thanh, Ben and John being swept out. At one point I see Ben swept our really far, and I thought it was Thanh so I start thinking that she is totally going to die. Thankfully it was Ben who was swept out the farthest, which isn't a mean thing it is just that he is obviously way more comfortable with the water.
Eventually the rush of water recedes, and the bodies are left stumbling in the sand and rocks. Thanh is so scratched up and even more shook up, Cynthia and John are hugging (they are so adorable) and Ben is swimming back in from the channel he had been suck far out into. After we collected our thoughts, we were laughing at how we almost ended up as the story of the 'stupid palagis who died at Sliding Rock'.
Now I feel as though I have effectively learned to respect the power of the ocean, which I feel I had been inaccurately equating with Lake Erie. Thanh may actually never swim here again. But she had a really good story to tell her students, and I was glad to have another good blog post, although I am sure it will soon have a comment from either of my parents admonishing me for almost dying. Again.
Love it.
Invincibility complex?
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