Weddings, coconuts, and too many piña coladas...

 Wowzers, how has it been five months since I got back from Samoa? Over the spring school holidays, I took a spontaneous trip to Samoa with the "wifey." One of her friends was getting married in Apia and I decided to tag along for an adventure.

Getting there was pretty crazy... It was one of those rare and stressful occasions where it's a matter of minutes between missing or making the flight. (Curse you, Auckland road construction!!!!) Definitely think Xanax and wine should be complimentary on flights. Just saying.

This past winter in Auckland was in the record books for one of the coldest and wettest winters in history. When I stepped off the plane, I almost peed myself from excitement of being in 80 degree weather. (You think I'm kidding or exaggerating things a little bit, but I can assure you I am not.)

The cathedral in Apia is pretty spectacular, actually... 

At some point that night we made it to our hotel. You know those times you're so tired that you're only just vaguely aware of what's happening? That was me. The road from the airport into Apia is long and windy and I think I may have actually fallen asleep to avoid getting carsick and throwing up all over a stranger's car which really would have been less than ideal, ya know?

The wedding was the next day. We were staying at the same hotel as the bride. She hired a hair and makeup artist for her wedding party and invited us to get glammed which was pretty cool. Not too much you can do with curly half-fro hair in the tropics, but hey, just add a little Samoan flower clip and you're good as!

Me & Wifey!

The wedding was amazing in so many ways. First of all, the bride was beautiful. She's such a wonderful lady and I'm glad I was able to tag along on her special day. So when we got there, the table was set up with a bottle of wine per person (hell yeah) and some waiters greeted us with a menu of free cocktails (super hell yeah). Soon after platters piled high with fresh seafood were placed in front of us. It took a while before we realized that these were just the appetizers.

So I actually have this thing with shellfish where I'm half allergic? I'm fine if I eat a few pieces of shrimp, but anything more than that and I spend the evening in stomach SOS mode. I'd say that's pretty much what happened halfway through the night. I chilled by the porta potties for a good hour or so until I felt marginal again. (Samoans are so kind, guys... Almost everyone that went pee stopped and asked if I was okay. If I was in the US, I could be curled up in a ball dying and I might get a sympathetic nod. Arizonans are SO MEAN.)

I think there must have been at least 500 people there... The bride was expecting nearly 700. (How???) There were even pictures of the event in the local magazines the next day. Now that's some feat if ya ask me!

I guess at some point we made it back to the hotel and passed out... Little fuzzy on the details. The next day we had an awesome brunch and then zipped over to the other side of the island for a week of tropical island bliss.

Samoan weddings are pretty awesome. Highly recommend.

Too many cocktails in to take a crisp picture of yummy food apparently...

Some Midweek Poetry

I think I mentioned that I'm taking a poetry class through my college back in Arizona? Here's a little gem I wrote for my friend from a couple of weeks ago:

A Lady Named Kate

There was a fine lady named Kate

Who wanted a nice tinder date

So she stalked a hot guy

And they shared a mai tai

But it turned out he wasn’t straight