Mr & Mrs Kava Bid Ado

All good things must come to an end, which includes our time with Mr. & Mrs. Kava. After two years on the island, Ryan & Cynthia aka Mr. & Mrs. Kava aka The Wild Palagis are heading back to the mainland. Being one of the more senior members of the Palagi Village community and unofficial pulenu'u (village mayor), Ryan & Cynthia have had a major impact on community life. They were the host of many classic parties which sometimes featured chunky jello shots served on a plastic cutting board (didn't say they were classy, just classic). And of course who can forget the Oscar winning, movie stealing performance of Mr. Kava in the Am. Sam. film classic Pisupo?

They will be back in California for a little bit, but then taking a four month trip around the world. Sweet. If any of the international readers of this blog see them in your town, make sure you say hello and invite them for a drink, you will not regret it. Trust me.

The night before they left, most of the community went over to their place to celebrate, reminisce and pick through stuff they were not taking. I showed up a little late, and most of the good stuff was gone already. oh well. I did get a broom. In addition to reminiscing, we also played Samoan Charades. It uses Samoan words or unique Samoan island activities. Good times. We got together again the next night. Because the Hawaiian flights leave at 11:20 pm, a tradition has developed to say good bye to an off-island traveler. While the flight is near midnight, check in starts around 6 pm. To say check-in is a crazy mess is a big understatement. Samoans travel in packs, and when traveling they take huge amounts of luggage, fine mats, large cardboard boxes and my favorite - large, duck taped coolers. Needless to say, checking in all those people and items can take awhile especially when the luggage tags are hand written. Yes, hand written. So, while the traveler goes through check-in, the rest of us head to Rubbles Tavern for some dinner and drinks. The traveler shows up after check-in and normally has a few hours before they have to head back to the airport. Fortunately the airport is less than five minutes away from Rubbles. It is a pretty cool tradition. Ryan and Cynthia's departure was no different, except that I have never seen that many people at Rubbles for a sendoff. This is only about half of the group. It is clear that they will be dearly missed. By the way, Ryan and Cynthia left last night, and it has rained all day today, like Noah's Ark rain. I think the island is also sad that they are gone. Keep on dancing Mr. and Mrs. Kava! Tofa Soifua and Fa'afetai tele for the memories.