November 25, 2009

West Samoa

West Samoa is one of those places where tourists should go. There’s many reasons for that, maybe you want to lay on the hot sandy beaches, or surf on the fresh clear waters. Many people are interested in studying the culture of West Samoans. They have a great historical culture from the past and now. Samoans lived for thousands of year. I (Allen Brankovich) would love to go there and study about how the culture lived on, and how it is affected today.

Most Samoans move very slow, and the climate has a lot to do with it. Samoa is closer to the equator then Fiji, Tonga, and Raratonga. The average temperature is 79.1 F. May to October (winter) the days are cooled by the South East to North in the rainy season from November to April, which is summer. Its season is total opposite from Alaska. The seasonal variations are not great, and long periods of Sun are common during the “rainy” months. The rainfall feeds the Samoans many spectacular waterfalls and support the luxuriant vegetation.

West Samoa is very warm; it’s a tropical climate. The heaviest ran falls are between December and April. The very interesting part of West Samoa is that its easier living during the winter, (May to September) are when the moderate South East trade winds change. Then it gets a lot warmer.

The Coral Reef that surrounds the pacific Islands not only ensure that there is beautiful turquoise lagoon in which to swim in, but also contribute to the warmth, health, and safety of those people that live on the Islands. The Coral Reef can be found all around Upolu apart from The North East Coast. Tropical Corals can only live with in a very narrow temperature range. Events such as El Nino and general globe warming lead to increase in surface water temperature, which harmfully the growth of Coral. The Corals die, then many of the fish that live around the reef will disappear and the potential of raising revenue from tourists’ in diving will vanish.
On February 28th, 1998 a reef top survey found that between 60% and 70% of all reef top stage horn Acopora Coral at the Paolo Deep Marine Reserve, Near Apia, was suffering from bleaching. Corals at greater depths were unaffected. At about the same time, the Fagatele Bay National Marine Sanctuary in American Samoa reported, that combination of low temperature (about 30 degrees centigrade) had also lead to bleaching.

In September 30, 2009 there was a magnitude of 8.0 in West Samoa. It brought a tragedy to American Samoan, and Samoa. Samoa was formally Western Samoa and is now independent and simply called “Samoa.” Sean Wooten, 29, donated things that people were in need of. He flew the 5,000 miles, about the distance to Hawaii from West Seattle. He arrived in the Capital of Pago Pago with a first aid kit, a tool kit, and two suit cases of clothes to donate to the people that didn’t have very warm clothes, and also to the people that were homeless fro the tsunami.

The same day September 30, Indonesia had an earthquake on Wednesday. Buildings collapsed causing landslides in Costal Cities, and Towns. Reports from the most affected areas place fatalities at more than 1,115, with hundreds still missing. Even today, November 23, 2009 Fire Fighters, Rescue Teams in Air born, and on the ground are still looking for the missing ones. Families pray, sit, and wait until their loved ones come back, or not.

The Culture and way of life of Samoans are greatly affected by the close contact to the equator. The Samoans move very slowly in contrast to the people of United States, Europe, or any counties that are not close to the equator. Most Samoans use flip-flops, trunks, and tank tops. In the traditional way, the man and woman dress up in Lava lavas. Which is made out of grass for style. As in Eskimos live near the North Pole, and the wear thick Parkas to keep warm in the winter time (August to March.) It would be great living in West Samoa. It’s pretty much summer all year long there. Interesting!