September 16, 2024
Catching up with the Scrappers in Need!
The best group of Ladies a gal can have! I love my Crafty Scrapper Friends! We have been together for years, through thick and thin, births and deaths, aging and parenting. You name it, no topic is sacred, we talk, laugh and even cry through it all! I so respect our "Chinese Walls" and have leaned on this group through so much and have hopefully given, as much as I have received! They are truly the best of the best and I cherish them dearly! Hugs Sheri, Debra, Lorise, Cousin Cathy, Mel, and newbie Kristin and we miss u Peggy!
Making coconut cream is such a big part of the Samoan culture I feel compelled to share the 4 step process we were so nicely shown. Every Samoan young and old takes part in this tradition, it is an intrigue part of their everyday lives.
The tour today was focused on the National Park but we also got a lot of insight into American Samoa's history and current day life. Our guide was Nini and she is a college student studying accounting and finance and works as a part-time guide.
Today we took the National Park of American Samoa Tour. It's a unique park - the only one south of the equator and where the U.S. Government doesn't own the land. Efforts to establish the Park go back to mid 1980 over concern about the decline of fruit bats and wanting to protect the tropical rainforests. On October 31, 1988 Congress established the NP of American Samoa. In 1993, a complex arrangement for a 50 year land lease years with seven villages and the Samoa government was signed. We got lucky with our tour - we were expecting an open air bus, but because we were a small group, we got a plush air conditioned van!