Pictures from my deployment to the South Pacific, grab a beer

[BlackbirdM3]

An interesting side note, the ship that Robert Lewis Stevenson sailed to Micronesia aboard is still around. It is the Schooner Equator. She is in sad shape, but can be found in Everett Washington. Originally built in Benicia Ca by Matthew Turner in 1888.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Equator_(schooner)


Looks like a fun voyage. Nice pics as well.

Will

[Julien]

great pics!

[flyboyx]

damn! i missed this one the first time around.

my first flying job took me to american samoa for a year. this was back in 1997-1998. all of those photos brought back some really fond memories for me.

a couple of things he talks about are betel nut and kava.

traditionally kava is made by a bunch of people sitting around a big bowl. they have a pile of pepper root laying there on a piece of cloth or paper. all of the family members and friends sit around and chew the pepper root. everyone then spits their "juice" into the communal bowl. once the bowl is pretty full, everyone sits around until the wee hours of the night drinking the bowl full of pepper laced spit. it is pretty fucking gross.

betel nut. as the op mentioned, doing this for an extended period of time fucks the shit out of your teeth. people walk around with orange teeth, horribly receded gums, bad cavities, and black roots(kind of like a meth head). the one he showed in the picture is "green" betel nut. it is much more potent than when it dries out. i tried the green one once. i was able to keep it in my mouth for about 3-4 minutes before i had to spit that shit out! horrible! they all thought i was a big waffleswaffleswaffleswaffleswaffles. at least my teeth aren't fucked.

the samoan's called robert louis stevenson "tusay tahlah". i don't remember the proper spelling, but the translation is "teller of stories". they really held him in high regard.


i really need to digitize my pics from that era of my life and get them posted online.

[delatlanta1281]

old war guns and bunkers, man i wanna go see something like that

Uh huh go north, cross the golden gate, make a left.
OP great pics!

[TimKninja]

Holy
Fuck
I want your job.
Where do i sign up?

[flyboyx]

Holy
Fuck
I want your job.
Where do i sign up?

assuming you are referring to my post, the answer to your question is about 70 grand and pilot training. at least that would get you pointed in the right direction.

[IzzY_325is]

Great pics, looks like a lot of fun was had.

[F34R]

Very nice!

[FL318is]

Thanks for your service.

Thanks for the great pics.

My son lived in Pago Pago for a year as a volunteer teacher. Good to see the place again.