Samoa

As we get all the photos from the tsunami, I want to take a moment to put these images in your head of what the islands look like on a normal day. The contrast of these images as compared to what we are seeing now only shows the stretch of the devastation. The thing is, parts of the islands still look exactly like this as other parts are gone. A strange contrast.
I watch the Pago Pago harbor and put the devastation in context of how I'm used to seeing it. When the national park service talks about their visitor center being gone, I know how far in the water went. I think about everything in terms of the people there. Family and friends missing, homes gone and lives disrupted. I think in irony now how everyone knows where Samoa is and from now on when I mention I'm going there, people will not have to ask me where it is. Instead, tsunami will be the topic. People can finally pronounce Pago Pago correctly.

To everyone there right now, I and many others are thinking of you and wishing you the best.