2008 February 6: We have jobs in American Samoa
Pago Pago harbor in American Samoa is pronounced “Pango Pango”. Two consonants together are not found in the linguistics of Samoan, you can find two and sometimes three vowels in a row in Samoan words, but not two consonants like “ng”(so Pago Pago is not spelled Pango Pango but pronounced Pango Pango). In addition, the ‘n’ sound is not found in the language and the ‘g’ sound is not a hard ‘g’ as in English but a ‘ng’ like in the Asian pronouciation of ‘eng’. Somewhere I had read that centuries ago, a printing press did not have a working “n” so the name was misspelled and forever more, this major port of call was mispronounced and misspelled, however according to my librarian friends this is totally wrong. Now, I have to find the source of my misunderstanding and see if it can be corrected. In everyday conversations, the Samoans are too polite to correct you if you misspeak so if you want to seem knowledgeable, say “Pango Pango” not “Pago Pago”.
This is the start of our fourth month in American Samoa. And our new news is that after our many months of residency, we could no longer hide our skills and abilities.
John was offered a job at the shipyard. Three months ago, the President of the shipyard, Bob Wiehe, approached John to tease him with a employment. John misunderstood the tease and ignored it. Six weeks later, Bob approached John more directly to say, “Why haven’t you applied for the machinist job?” (More bantering occurred, ending with Bob saying, “Then, I’ll see you on Monday morning.” So, on Monday, John went to work as a machinist at the shipyard. He is working with Samoans on machinery that are three times the size of what he is use to working with. At the shipyard, they are machining parts for the very large ships, fishing boats and container ships that come to the port of American Samoa from New Zealand, Korea, and Taiwan. As you know, John is good at fixing and building so the basics of the job are not a challenge. And he is a good-natured guy so his getting along with his Samoan co-workers won’t be a problem.
However, what he discovered is something that occurs on many island societies, the maintenance and care of capital equipment is not an established practice, so most of the equipment is marginally maintained. Before he can produce anything on the giant lathes or other machines, he has to get them working. That’s a major challenge. And since we will only be here for a few more months, Bob has great hopes that John can establish practices, so the other crew will not only use the machines (which they do with competency), but also realize the importance of maintaining the machines. John is not the shop manager, but his presence will surely assist the manager.
Yesterday, John had to ask three times for a bucket of oil before anyone complied with his need. It isn’t that the people are incompetent, but in the past there has been so much in capital funds that if something didn’t work, they just went out and bought a new one. Sounds like a typical western response. Can’t do that for long before a shipyard has more relics than working equipment. It is an attitude adjustment that we hear about not only in the shipyard but all over the island.
By the end of day one, John came home with a nickel raise, making barely minimal wage, all money is green and a favorable contribution to the coffers. Obviously, he is over qualified for the job, but that is irrelevant. He has received three paychecks, and like the other shipyard workers, he works six days a week from 7:30 AM until 4:PM. He wonders when any of them even get to the bank to deposit or cash their paychecks. He motors home for his half hour lunch. I have ready a quick lunch and he is off again. We’ve settled into a family routine to make lunchtime our family time.
As I write, John has left for the job. He has to set an alarm clock, which is a very foreign sound to us in the morning. So far he has made bushings, bolts, as well as removed from the bowels of the Tuna boats propeller shafts. . Now if you are imagining bolts the size you use in your garage at home then you need to think BIGGER. He machined a 1” by 4” bolt to custom fit the boat. His is a dirty job and an exhausting one. All his boat work clothes came back looking like disposable oil rags.
Thus, for the last two weeks, I concentrated my attentions on making John shipyard work shirts. Old T-shirts and button down shirts could have worked, but after a week of these, the shirts were grimy, greasy and stunk like hogs heaven. The only place for them was the garbage bin. This is no white collar or polo shirt and jeans type job. Instead, after a few days of living with the stinky Captain, I decided to design him some work jerseys. They are styled like a hospital orderly’s shirts, slipover the head, short sleeved, and with a pocket for his over 40 glasses and a pen.
Sami watched with a grin and her quick wit as her mother designed several shirts and then cut a full size pattern from her precious and only copy of the Sunday New York Times newspaper. Sami and Gaby especially enjoyed watching the fitting session, when like a designer fitting a custom gown for a celebrity; these newspaper cutouts were fitted and draped over their father’s hulking form. Even though there are abundant fabric stores in town, my choice of fabrics were limited to poplins and mixed cottons with Polynescian print or satins, and laces. In addition, there were a few bolts of butcher’s linen and puro italiano lino. We have been told that if the weave is open enough, the linen cloth can breathe well in this tropical sweat zone. There were no bolts of 100% cotton or Thai silks as we found in Latin America. I finally selected several colors of the butcher’s linen and a navy blue from the puro italiano linen. The butcher’s linen is stiffer and rougher to the touch compared to the “Puro Italiano Lino” and a bit less expensive. We are told that over time and with several washings, the butcher’s linen will soften up. I made shirts of both fabrics and they will do. Although for the “sensitive skin” of our Captain, his preference is the Italiano lino. The design cut of the shirt is loose fitting, thereby allowing John ease of movement and plenty of air circulation. As you might expect, with the completion of each shirt there are improvements to the design and production process. By the time I make the final shirt, this “sweat shop” (I am literally sweating in this heat as I cut and sew) will have figured out all the nuances for a perfect shipyard work shirt. A navy blue color was chosen to mask the dirt and grease that inevitable gravitates to his clothes. Four shirts have been sewn; the last two are ready to be sewn. We figured that I could sew tags on them for each days of the week: Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, Friday, and Saturday. The stinky Captain will have a clean shirt everyday of the week and hopefully he won’t need to holler, “Where’s Tuesday? I can’t find Tuesday.” Now, should I do the same for trousers? By the time we figure his wardrobe out, it will be time to quit.
By the way, the shirts have become so popular with the Captain, that I have been requested to make a set as underway attire while sailing, not in navy blue, but perhaps in puro Italian lino cream, taupe, teal or peach. John draped in peach???? Sewing is not one of my favorite hobbies; I do it out of cruising necessity so we will see if these work shirts don’t become part of the “Sami Sac” line of products and I can “delegate it to the other crew??? A cruiser here has learned that I sewed the dinghy cover, the life preserver cover, life raft cover and cushions on the boat and he would like to hire me to make him a few boat covers. I’m not sure I’m motivated to a career as a canvas seamstress, but alas, if one needed a job, there is one to be had. Next trip, we are buying a heavier duty machine so I can do more boat work projects. I love my little Kenmore lite as it has done wonders on this trip, however, it is a stretch for it to do heavy canvas work or sail repairs. One advantage of living on a big boat is that the Captain thinks we can afford the space for having two machines aboard!! Whoa. Guess, I better learn how to mend sails and canvas work.
In addition to John’s employment, I too have a job. Since our arrival, I have visited the F. Barstow Public Library often. I’ve befriended the circulation desk librarian (Lily) and she has bent the rules to allow me to take out four books instead of the normal two books/guest card. In any case, one day I saw a book on the Reference Shelf called 1001 Books One Must Read before you Die. I thought this would be a wonderful book to browse through and share with the family. As we all know, reference books are for in-house use only. However, I decided that there would no harm asking if I might borrow the book overnight or maybe even for a week. Of course this wasn’t a decision that the Circulation Librarian could make so she sent me to ask the Head Librarian, Cheryl. I tapped on Cheryl’s door and was invited into her office. A classic librarian’s office full of stacks and stacks of books and papers surrounded us as we chatted for ten minutes about the great adventures of the Amberchan’s voyage. She had no problem loaning me the book for the week. And then as I was leaving her office, she asked, “Are you an USA citizen?” “We could use some help on Saturdays? We’ve been looking for someone with your enthusiasm for libraries to help us at our circulation desk. Would you like a job?” Of course I agreed. Working in libraries has been a job I’ve always thought would be such a blast. So, on Saturdays, I go to work and helped out at the circulation desk; checking books in and out, helping children with making copies for their research projects, shelving books and stowing backpacks brought into the library. I help with very typical library activities. I am told that Saturdays are typically their busiest day of the week. Users attending the library on a Saturday often reach up to 300 persons. One Saturday in December they calculated that they had 500 visitors in 4 hours.
At the day’s end, we were all congregated around the circulation deck when they asked me about Gaby and Sami. I shared that Gaby was interested in a future career working either as a Chef or with children. She considered being a Pediatrician but in these modern times, doctors often don’t get much quality time with their patients. That’s when a staff member piped up and said, “Would she like to work here on Saturdays and help me in the Children’s section?” On Saturday’s there is a special Children’s program at the library. Returning to the boat, I asked Gaby and she agreed that it would be a fun to volunteer and help at the library.
After her first day of work, Gaby’s feet hurt. She spent nearly the entire five hours shelving books. There is a relaxed atmosphere in the library and the staff encouraged her to use the Internet access to check her email and take a break to browse the shelves. She had a wonderful time reading some of her old time favorite children’s books. Shy Gaby was encouraged to read aloud to the children, so she did. She read aloud “Soggy Saturday” to two-four year old children which brought grins to their attentive little faces. I wish I had had a camera for that memorable moment. Gaby is re-organizing her schoolwork so she can work on Saturdays instead of following her set school schedule. We are really impressed with her ability to jug her schoolwork, the job and remain upbeat and relaxed about it all. Juggling and time management remain fun to her. Proud parental moment!
Only Sami’s life hasn’t changed in these last few weeks. But one never knows…maybe she’ll find some job working with an Internet provider or computer game designer. One never knows what might happen in a small island society of 60,000 people.
Alas, you might wonder why this happened and why here? Well, all the job opportunities came to us. We weren’t looking for jobs since we knew we would be departing in the spring. On islands societies skilled and competent professionals are a limited resource. Anyone who can assist on a part time basis is welcomed. And of course there is just the fact of right fit, timing and always--whom one knows. It never hurts to be open for the unexpected offer. Not everything follows a preconceived plan or strict structure.
Why here? As citizens of the USA we could not work in Latin America or the French Polynescian Islands. American Samoa is a protectorate of the USA and American citizens can work here. Our wages are applied to our social security contributions and “yes” we will pay Federal Taxes on our wages. As they say, no escaping death or taxes. These aren’t jobs of great monetary substance or titles with bragging rights, but they are jobs that will lend us opportunities to see the island and island life from a different perspective than the mere bystander or roving tourist. The value and worth of the experience exceeds our expectations and is priceless. And the wages, they help to defer the cost of our unexpected boat repairs, John’s recent trip to the USA, and a few bags of groceries. Our jobs remain in their honeymoon stage. After not working for five years, work is a novelty. I’m sure charm and novelty will wear off, but for the moment we’ll enjoy this adventure in American Samoa.