Only in Samoa

I had one of the craziest most weird nights ever last night. I don't know whether to laugh or cry! Haha! So in order to fly to New Zealand from American Samoa, you have to fly to Apia which is another island of Samoa that is only 30 mins away by plane. When I first arrived to Apia 10 days ago on a layover, I had the pleasure of meeting a taxi driver that drove me to my hotel named, Jerry. Jerry promised that he would remember to pick me up in 10 days for my return flight but I just figured he would forget. Sure enough, when I arrive in Apia, Jerry is standing there waiting for me. "Carol! Carol! " I couldn't believe it. He totally remembered. Haha! I quickly get in his cab and off we go to my hotel so I can get some rest for my flight in the morning. Mind you, it'd pretty late, around 9:45pm.

After a few minutes of small talk, Jerry gets on his phone to make a phone call. He talks quite a bit to someone on the other line in Samoan. I can only pick up a few words: fa'afetai (thank you), and teine  (girl). He gets off the phone in a cheerful mood and announces, "Carol! You're in luck! My Auntie would like for you to stay at her house tonight so you don't have to buy a hotel room!" I immediately think this is a horrible idea for several reasons: 1) I barely even know Jerry! Just met him briefly for a about an hour 10 days ago when  he drove me to  my hotel across town . 2) how uncomfortable! Staying at someone's house you have never met! 3) is this safe?! All sorts of alarms were going off in my head. All pointing to one direction- NO! I quickly start declining the offer. I told him thank you for the offer but I don't want to intrude on his family. He nods and picks up the phone again. I'm assuming he's going to call Auntie that I respectfully declined. He starts talking, all Samoan again. This time I can't pick up any words. All the sudden, he hands me the phone. "Auntie wants to talk to you." I think, uh oh. What do I do now?? I hesitantly grab the phone not knowing what to expect. "Hello..?" It's Auntie and she goes straight into saying that she would love to have me stay. She's Mormon and is here in Apia on a missionary. I tell her I work for DOE in Pago and she says she knows some people I work with and  named a few people I recognized. I'm beginning to feel a little bit better about this. She tells me she won't take no for an answer. So I get off the phone and tell Jerry that she convinced me. Alright. I'm doing it: I'm spending the night at my cab drivers Aunts house. This is seriously really happening.

After I hand back the phone my entire brain is on flight mode. I'm in another country. I have no phone. It's 945pm. I know absolutely no one. A person I have never met is insisting I spent the night. I have no idea where she lives. I have no idea who she is. This is a bad decision.

I immediately start panicking. Whyyy and howww did I get myself in this position? Am I that big of a people pleaser that I couldn't say no to someone I have never met? Or am I seriously just vulnerable to saying yes because I don't know where I am and the person driving me is adamant about me going? Who knows!! All I know in this moment is to plan for the worst. I start thinking of escape routes. Maybe I can jump out of the car and use my backpack as a cushion? Maybe I can use my keys as a weapon if I put them in between my knuckles? I start writing down information on my iPhone under notepad. Street signs, names, big buildings. All the while, Jerry is happy as a clam, whistling the entire way. All the sudden, Jerry says, "look! It's my Aunts house!" It's a beautiful 2 story house, well lit, right on the road. No scary dirt pathway to my doom, no rickety house full of rapists and murderers. I begin to slowly calm myself down from my estranged thoughts.

Auntie greets us at the door. She's this beautiful large Samoan woman who kisses me on the cheek. She offers me food and shows me to my room. It's a cute, clean bedroom with two beds and a fan. She shows me to the bathroom and tells me her house is my house and make myself at home. We talk for a bit in the living room and as it turns out, she really does know a lot of my co-workers! Haha small island! After chatting, I head to my room. The bed is so comfortable!! The pillows are fluffy and smell like lavender. I smile and laugh to myself. I had nothing to worry about all along. Seriously, this would only happen in Samoa!!

In the morning, Auntie hugs and kisses me . She thanked me for doing work in her country helping Samoan children. She said I was special and told me god has blessed me. She told me to call her or Jerry any time I need a place to stay in Samoa. I left her house loving this experience. Total trust in this country and their culture of family and never leaving family behind. Always offering help for one of their own.

Kinda sad that my American brain has trained me to think of the worst. Some may argue that you should always be on your guard no matter how safe you think you are. Maybe that's true or maybe it's just over precautions from years of bad experiences with bad people in this world. Who knows. All I know is that I'd like my kids to grow up feeling safe. Maybe we should all just move to Samoa!! ;)