CherryPopper

After a good sleep in i got up late in the afternoon and decided to head into town. Apon walking through the hotel reception i was greeted by a hotel staff member who put out his hand to shake mine. Now while this wasn't anything out of the ordinary it was the length at which he held on to my hand after we had stopped shaking while we spoke, even when i tried to "pull out" of the hand shake. He was a nice enough bloke but really when the shaking stops so should the grab because then its just two guys holding hands....

After that little awkwardness i walked into the city of Apia for a look around. It's such a small place for a capitol city, well at least what i'm used to anyway. It only takes 10 mins to walk around the whole city and to see the amazing sites such as the bus terminal with all the pimped out busses, McDonald's with the drive/walk through and all the public fale (small huts) on the waterfront. The one thing that stuck out the most about my first outing in Samoa was the friendliness of the people, most would say hello or at least give you a smile. I'm sure it had something to do with me sticking out like a sore thumb being the only palagi (Samoan for white person) in town, so i really looked like a tourist.

I grabbed dinner back at the hotel and on a Thursday night they have a fiafia, which is a meal & show of traditional Samoan dancing, including fire dances. The meal was ok for a buffet but the show was great. They not only showed their more traditional ways but also entertained the crowd by getting them involved & in turn making them attempt to join in and most of the time laughing at their bad timing

My first real day in Samoa was a real eye opener in a lot of ways including the warm friendliness of their people.

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