Christmas Day 2014

 Christmas morning, we all woke up early.  I went out on the back patio and made phone calls to Carlyn and my family from the cell phone (still no access to Skype, but by this time I wasn't really missing it).

Here is a photo of the Broge family in front of their Island Christmas tree.  Pictured from left to right - Matt, Noah, Tangra, Nolan, Linda (Grandma), and Neeli.

 We watched the kids excitedly open their presents....

 I bought the kids a set of Chinese guns that shoot plastic darts - which was awesome. They had a good time shooting each other (and me)... I'm sure their parents were thrilled.

Later that morning, Matt, Tangra, Noah and I decided to go for a swim out beyond the break.  The water was at high tide, so you could swim out beyond the ledge without much difficulty.

It was a bit tricky at first, due to the waves, and there were the occasional cracks in the reef that dropped ?? depth (you couldn't see the bottom).  I was a bit concerned about getting my foot caught in one of these holes while walking out to the break (visions of compound fractures danced in my head as the waves crashed over me), so I treaded slowly.

Once over the break, the reef dropped instantly into the void.  There were huge fish.  The waves were quite large, and we were lifted up and down 15-20 feet like ragdolls.  I attempted to get a video of the waves, but my camera ran out of battery halfway through.  You can still notice the power of the ocean.

 Here is a photo of Matt, Noah and Tangra swimming.  Noah and Tangra had life vests on, which was clearly the smart thing to do.

 Noah acting cool in the water...

It was difficult to conceptualize the depth with the camera (was about 50-75 feet deep).  Here is a photo of Matt swimming about 10 feet below me.

After about 30 minutes, the waves began to get rougher & we noticed the tide was going out.  This was problematic because without the high tide, there is no way to safely get back onto the break.  We swam over to the edge of the wall and literally timed our approach with one of the large waves, which carried us over the wall and crashed us down onto the reef.  I ended up getting my snorkel ripped in half (the bottom was still in my mouth), and I cut my hand and arm on the reef. We managed to get back without any broken bones - it was quite the adventure.  (I can see now why the Samoans have a healthy fear of swimming... I don't think I will swim out past the break again).

Back at the house, we all changed and made preparations for dinner.  The power went out for about 3 hours.  During this time, I decided that I needed to learn how to crack a coconut the "Samoan way".  

Basically, you slam the coconut on top of a sharp, pointed stick.  Eventually you make a big enough hole to rip away the husk so that you can drink the coconut water.

My first attempt was an utter failure... (Matt had a great time poking fun at me. I swore at the time that nobody would ever see these embarrassing photos!)

Eventually, I got the hang of it...

This is me with my mangled coconut. 

 

Which I cracked open and used the coconut scraper to get out the meat. (Much easier than actually cracking the darn thing open)...

Later that evening, once the power came back on, we had dinner and relaxed out on the patio. There was another awesome sunset... truly paradise.

 

Wednesday December 24, 2014 - Amanave and Cape Taputapu

Today, we arrived at the wards for rounds.  I presented my patients to the team - very straight and to the point - but very thorough - which was again a refreshing change from residency (although I do understand the value of anal-retentive rounding with regards to training and safety).

Dr. Marrone was on call the night before, and he admitted another kid < 1 month with concern for sepsis.  He let me do the lumbar puncture by myself this time, which I was surprised to say that I got on the first try! (Dr. Marrone is a great teacher).

After rounding on my patients, I spent the day in clinic until early afternoon.  Afterwards, I went back out to the Broge house.  The weather was warm, about 87 degrees.  The water was absolutely amazing - the clearest I have ever seen.  Even more so than the Caribbean.

Part of the reason why the water is so clear is that there is very little sand on the island.  It is mostly coral and volcanic rock.  The coral is very colorful, and there were more fish in one spot than I have seen anywhere else (including Mexico and the Caribbean).

Prior to coming to American Samoa, I splurged and purchased an underwater camera (Fujifilm Finepix XP70).  I tested it out in the water, and the results were incredible.  Check out this video that I took just 20 feet from the shoreline in about four feet of water:

The water is very shallow for about 50 yards, then it hits the "break", a sharp dropoff of about 50-100 feet that was formed during the volcanic eruptions that formed the island.  The coral is almost razor-sharp, and you cannot go into the water without water shoes designed for coral reefs. (Thank you, Andrew, for your Christmas present - the shoes came in handy!)

Despite my best efforts, I did end up falling and hitting my knee on the coral (hurt like heck).

Matt, Nolan, Noah, and I walked out along the rocks to one of the break points - just below an island called "five palms", named after the five palm trees that grow in the top.

Photo I: Matt and Noah just prior to our trek to the rocks

 Photo II: The view of the 5 palms

Photo III: Balto, the family dog (adopted stray from the island) decided to join us!

Photo IV: Another view of the five palms

Photo V: There were numerous crabs and lizards (too many to count) crawling all over the rocks

Video II: Here is a view from beyond the rocks (really does not do the size of the waves justice... they were huge!)

I spent the night over at their house.  The next day was Christmas, and a holiday - so no clinic!  I had the whole day off.