Monday January 5, 2015

This marks the beginning of my final week in American Samoa.  It has been an incredible experience.  I have been pushed and challenged medically with some very difficult patients, and I have also had the opportunity to travel around the island and experience many new things.

This week, I am scheduled back in the nursery and NICU - meaning I am the only doctor in the NICU and the nursery.  It was a busy day with eight new babies to see, most of whom came from mothers without prenatal care and who have lots of risk factors.  Prenatal care is free for all mothers here, so it is interesting that there is still such a challenge to get mothers into clinic.

Tangra was on call today, so she called me in for a couple of cesarian sections for some more practice with resuscitations.

When I finished with my work, it was around 4 o'clock.  I borrowed Tangra's Explorer and drove up to the trailhead of Mt. Alava.  I was hoping to hike the adventure trail, complete with rope ladders and rock staircases (See more Information on Page 7)

The trailhead was located at the top of another very steep road, with sweeping views on either side of the ridge.  My original plan was to be done with work by 2pm and get a headstart - but it was already 4:30pm, so I decided it was probably not the best idea to start a solo 7 mile hike in the jungle right before the sun goes down.  I got back into the car and headed back into town.

That evening, we went to Tapps to get burgers again.  I had the teriyaki burger again, but this time it had thick sliced bacon and jalapeno.  It was delicious.  I told Tapp I was going to nominate his place for Diners Drive-ins and Dives.

Sunday January 4, 2015 - National Park of American Samoa

 On Sunday, we went to church.  The weather was absolutely amazing.  Sitting in the chair during the service and looking out at the mountains, one cannot help but to be in awe of God's creation.  Several times during the sermon, I saw a trio of white birds flying against the green backdrop of the jungle. Beautiful.

After Church, we grabbed a bite to eat and drove over to the National Park on the other side of the island.  The federal government does not technically own the land the park sits on - they have a 100 year lease from the village that oversees the land.

The road over to the national park was an incredibly steep incline.  We arrived at the top at a shelter.  There were several placards around with information on the surroundings.  I snapped a few pictures for future reading:

 

 

Once again, the view from the top was spectacular.

 

There was a small hiking trail out to the cape that we took through the jungle.

Every 100 yards or so, there were signs with information on Samoan culture and history.

The trail ended at an outcropping overlooking the Pacific Ocean.  The water was deep blue.  I was still in my Sunday Samoan shirt (snazzy, I know). Pola island is seen in the background.

 After hiking back to the car, we drove down into the bay.  Pola island is seen here in the distance.  The village looked almost deserted (probably Sunday prayer time), so we turned around and headed back.

 I stopped and snapped this last photo from the side of the road.  (I will probably be framing some of these photos!)

The drive back down the steep road was an adventure.  I could tell Matt was pretty nervous about the vehicle (Ford Explorer).  He had to ride the brakes pretty much the whole way in low gear to keep from slipping down the insane incline.

It was after getting back down that we stopped for ice cream and saw the bats (see my Pago Pago post).  All in all, it was a great day.