Kelcey Chandler-Yates and Jim Yates present...

UnderSeaPhotoVideo.com

Redding Record Searchlight Monthly Article!!

November - American Samoa

Star Princess Almost Too Close to Lady Starlight!!

We awoke one morning last week to find the Star Princess cruise ship pulling right up next to us as she docked at Pago Pago harbor. Needless to say , we were a bit surprised to see this massive ship up close and personal!!! No worry, just one of the oddities of American Samoa, home of everything fast food, cheep medical and all the garbage that goes with it! Unfortunately these people have put many of their local customs on the shelf and taken up the worst of America. The good news is--cheep health care--as long as you only need tests your in like flint!!--the bad-- filthy harbors and garbage strewn streets.

For the past week we have been getting all our medical updates. This included full blood work ups, dental checkups, prostate and gyno checks as well as removal of a few precancerous spots from my arm and abdomen-no Mammogram as the lady who used to do them went back to the states and didn't train anyone!! The hospital is filthy, reminding us of the Redding bus station. Grimy walls and trash littering the floors! For us, with nothing serious involved, we were able to overlook the filth and enjoy keeping money in the bank! All tests, biopsies, smears, prescriptions and doctor visits for the four of us totaled less than $150 dollars. With the 1.4 billion we dump into this place each year we felt good about getting a few of our tax dollars back!

Back in the harbor-----the wind still blows, the tuna factories still stink, the water is still full of floating debris and plastic bags but our new batteries finally arrived after taking a short vacation to New Zealand! The kids, not able to swim in the polluted waters have been finishing tests and watching the new DVDs we have found. Other than wanting to get the heck out of here we are enjoying our time with cokes, hamburgers and chips-a good all American diet-no wonder American health is so cruddy-the Doctor was amazed at how healthy we all were for "middle aged" Americans-he told us to eat more beef as our creatine levels were on the low side.-go figure-too much fish!!

As a closing thought--although we do not have much of a positive view of this American territory and whether we agree with our presence in Iraq or not, we must not forget the sacrifice that the people of American Samoa have made to keep their territory free. Since we have been here, the people of American Samoa have buried four of their sons, who were killed while serving in the US Army in Iraq. With a total population of 70 thousand islanders the death of their youth touches the whole community. These solemn people take great pride in honoring the passing of their people as we witnessed this past weekend with a burial wake. We must not forget that it is not just our youth who are serving and dying in our armed forces, but also those territories that we support and help to remain free.

At the wake, the pandas mats are given to the family of the deceased to show their respect.