Thursday

Pago Pago American Samoa

Up early this morning as I got an extra hour of sleep because the clocks went back an hour last night. Sighted American Samoa shortly before dawn as the ship came around the eastern end of the main island. About an hour later, and 20km, we entered the port of Pago Pago which is on the southern side of the island. Getting into the harbour isn’t as simple as it appears. The ship actually went westward past what appeared to be a straightforward entry point and then turned around and sailed east before swinging north into the harbour. Either the crew had forgotten we were scheduled to call at Pago Pago or we were avoiding some under water obstacle. It is an astonishingly beautiful harbour with high peaks rising almost straight out of the water on every side. Houses and roads cling to a very narrow strip around the shore line although some brave residents have built their houses up the side of the very steep slopes. Every bit of land that isn’t built on is covered by the lushest and greenest tropical vegetation you’ve ever seen.

I was off the boat shortly before 9am and going for a walk along the one road that follows the shore. About 300m later I was opposite the High Court, a modest two story structure. I asked at the door if court was in session and was directed upstairs to court two. A fellow who was obviously a plaintiff lawyer was shepherding his clients into the sequence that they would appear. It turned out that this session of the court was hearing matters at first instance rather than on appeal as I would have expected. Shortly after I sat down three robed judges entered the courtroom. This room was about 15m square with windows on two sides which afforded a fine view of the harbour and the surrounding mountains. The first couple of issues dealt with were fixing dates for hearings. The plaintiff lawyer turned out to be from the local public defender office; he was in collar and tie but was also wearing a sarong and sandals; he wasn’t a local and spoke with a distinct drawl from the southern states of the US. With the procedural matters finished the public gallery cleared of most people and I stuck out rather obviously. The chief judge kept staring at me as though I was a surprise witness or was going to arrest him for malfeasance.

I watched as the next matter was heard. The defendant had been seen driving at 39mph in a 25mph zone and the police gave chase. According to the police statement the defendant drove at more than 60mph, nearly ran over pedestrians and ended up crashing into a banana tree. He was charged with resisting arrest, driving exceeding speed limit and fraudulent use of licence plates. Everything that is said in English is translated by a court official into Samoan. Quite short statements in English seemed to take five minutes to say in Samoan.

The defendant’s lawyer and the prosecutor had done a deal whereby the defendant would plead guilty to the resisting arrest charge and the other charges would be dropped.  Unfortunately the sentencing was deferred until 25 October. The defendant had several supporters in court including one fellow who was about 2m in every dimension; he was cubic and wearing a sarong that must have formerly been a circus tent.

As I was leaving the court this fellow came over to me and introduced himself and asked if I was a lawyer. When I replied that I was he asked me if I thought that his friend the defendant had done the right thing by agreeing to a plea bargain. I said that as his friend had just pleaded guilty to the charge and had not yet been sentenced it was probably a bit early to tell if he’d done the right thing. The maximum sentence ($5000 fine and/or up to 5 year’s jail) could still be imposed by the court; the defendant got no guaranteed discount for pleading guilty. So then I was introduced to the defendant and his other friends and after being encouraged to repeat what I’d just said and then exchanging a few general remarks on the justice system in American Samoa I walked on.

Walking to the end of the harbour there wasn’t much to see except a few decrepit shops and businesses so after about 30 minutes I turned around and retraced my steps. I could see that all the lifeboats from the non-wharf side of the ship were in the water. It’s probably a good idea to check from time to time that they actually float.

I had almost got back to the ship and stopped at the Pago Pago market; if you have just bananas and coconuts on your shopping list then this is the place to come. I was leaving when a passenger from the ship said to some other passengers that he’d just been in a taxi up to a viewing point and could recommend doing it. The taxi was there waiting and a price was agreed. An American couple also got in. It was worth doing although the commentary was lacking somewhat in detail and understandability. The driver answered yes to almost any question put to him and otherwise said things that I could not understand. I did understand when he stopped the car and said ‘photo’ and I quickly hopped out. We saw some stunning views and a perfect beach on the other side of the island. The roads were naturally very steep and I’m sure I could smell the brakes burning on the way back to the ship. This trip took about an hour.

After lunch on the ship (the only other place I saw to get something to eat was MacDonalds) I decided to take another taxi ride but in the opposite direction. At the gate of the wharf there were lots of taxi drivers and I negotiated with one of the smaller ones as I thought his lack of bulk would place less strain on the mechanicals of the vehicle.

This trip took about two hours and we seemed to drive randomly to the west of Pago Pago (I saw one supermarket at least twice). But I saw some of the country side I otherwise wouldn’t have seen. The driver had taken a day off from his regular job at Ace Hardware so he could make some money from the tourists on the ship. Our trip took us to Ace Hardware so the driver could swing into the car park and call out to his friends. I don’t know the Samoan language but it sounded like he was saying “this tourist is a complete idiot”; whatever he said, all his friends laughed.

A Samoan custom I haven’t seen elsewhere is the home burial; it is very common for a house to have several graves in the front yard; some with elaborate headstones. I’m not sure what happens if you sell the house. It would be a bugger of a job for the removalists!

Schools were ending for the day as we came back to the ship. All the pupils wear uniforms; shirt and skirt for girls and shirt and sarong for the boys.

Next stop is Suva in Fiji on Sunday.