Our field team became smaller today. Two team members head to American Samoa and then back to the mainland. It’s been seven days of working from before 7 AM to past 10 PM and we’ve become strongly bonded. It’s sort of a breaking of the “fellowship”.
Blog
November 4, 2009
Last full day of field work in Samoa. We made an early run to the flea market to look at how the tsunami was being commemorated. Tsunami lava lavas (sarongs) and t-shirts were being sold at a brisk clip. We’ve seen 6 variations so far – a simple date, “I survived the tsunami”, “morning of tears”, “tears of sadness”, “Trust in God tsunami”, and “stay away from tsunami”.
November 2, 2009
A morning meeting with the government official who has been overseeing the scientific teams. The Samoan Government, UNESCO and ITIC developed “Terms of Reference” for all research groups working in Samoa to address. We got the ok to work in the country, but were asked to focus on two of the seven tasks defined:
November 2, 2009
Today was a change islands and countries. We flew Polynesian Airlines from Pago Pago to Apia in an 18 passenger prop plane that flew low enough to not need pressurization of air conditioning. No security screening and we can carry as many liquids on board as we wish. Checking in involves getting on a scale with all your luggage so they know the total cargo weight.
October 31, 2009
We’ve become acclimated to life in Alega. The sound of the waves is wonderful to sleep too – although people who experienced the tsunami find it traumatic and few people have returned to living in the harder hit coastal communities even if their home wasn’t damaged.
October 29, 2009
A very full day of interviews and meetings. It rained heavily in the night – knocked out power and interrupted internet service for awhile. The rains pose a health risk. Both dengue fever and Leptisporis are on the rise because of the debris has created many pooling places for stagnant water.
October 28, 2009
Note – no internet for the past day so this is a day late.
October 26, 2009
I’m finally under way again. Four members of our group are waiting in the Honolulu airport for the flight to Pago Pago (pronounced Pango Pango). Due to family emergencies and state bureaucracies our team has been whittled down to 6 – three engineers, an environmental scientist an anthropologist and me. The flight is boarding – hope to find a wifi hotspot tomorrow to update this.
October 25, 2009
The layover in Honolulu has had some positive outcomes. I was able to visit with Chip McCreery, the geophysicist in charge of PTWC and Brian Yanagi of ITIC. I first met Chip in 1997 when I was in Hawaii working on the strategic plan for the National Tsunami Hazard Mitigation Program (NTHMP).
October 23, 2009
Courtesy of United Airlines I’ve had to switch to plan B. Mechanical problems delayed the San Francisco – Honolulu departure for 3.5 hours, so I missed the Pago Pago flight. Unfortunately, the Pago Pago American Samoa flights are only on Thursdays and Sundays so I’m stranded in Honolulu for three days.