This past week, our group flew in an 18 seater Polynesian Airlines plane to American Samoa. Going in to another home stay, I was hesitant thinking there was no way I would get so lucky with my families twice in a row. I, once again, was in for a wonderful surprise. We were greeted by a group of American Samoa Community College students who are some of the most caring, thoughtful, and welcoming people I have ever met. My home stay student, Uila, came to be one of the most amazing people I have ever met, in the 5 short days I spent with her. Every ride home, I got to see the harbor that was used by the Americans in WWII. The beautiful little island, that I didn’t even know existed, has more military members per capita than any other US territory. These students were all so proud to be considered both American and Samoan. I found myself so comforted by the familiarity of these students and even the material products of brands that I actually recognized in the shops. Spending 5 short days in American Samoa was so refreshing and reminded me of home in a way that I thought I would never find, halfway around the globe in the Pacific. In our time there, we visited cannons that were used in WWII, swam in the harbor off another even smaller island that we travelled to by boat, went to an American movie in the theatres, sat in on classes at the ASCC, and celebrated my birthday one month early with my new found family to which I could never fully express my gratitude. Looking forward, we have one week before we jet off again to Fiji and the days here in Samoa are slowly decreasing. I will never forget my new family here from American Samoa.
