Honiara, SOLOMON ISLANDS — “Welkam to the Solomon Islands!” a big colorful sign splashed onto the wall of the Honiara International Airport arrival lounge greeted the tired but excited Team American Samoa, as they gratefully stretched their cramped leg muscles after the four and a half-hour flight.

It was a surreal experience for most of the team who had not ventured to this part of the Pacific region before and were used either to travel to Samoa, or the other way to Hawaii and on to the mainland.

The change of scenery in the heartland of Melanesia from the smiling black faces of its inhabitants, to the sing-song sound of pidgin English they communicate in and the sprawling metropolitan in downtown Honiara complemented with vast green landscapes.

It was a far cry from the scenery they were used to before they left Tutuila island.

Before the Solomon Islands Airways charter flight left Pago Pago International Airport, American Samoa’s national sports delegation to the 17th Pacific Games who were all seated and ready for the journey, were pleasantly surprised when Governor Lemanu P.S. Mauga and the First Lady entered the cabin to wish them a safe flight and good luck in the Games.

“Remember, you are carrying your parents’ and family’s name, your village and especially your country’s name,” Governor Lemanu reminded. “So please keep that in mind. When you compete, strive for the best. There must be no fighting. As the Samoan saying goes, ‘May your bodies be dark and your eyes shine with light.’ Go with God!”

The flight was smooth and uneventful with many dozing off until it touched down at approximately 10:30pm Honiara time.

Awaiting the more than 140 Team American Samoa was Chef de Mission, Trevor Kaitu’u and his wife Trisha who are both Solomon Islanders but have lived and worked in the Territory for more than 10 years.

However, if one didn’t know that fact, one would mistake them for Samoans as they are from one of the Polynesian outliers of the Solomon Islands.

After a quick check with Immigration, Customs and Agriculture officials, the team was transported by buses to the athletes village where they are staying about 15 minutes from the airport,

The facilities are brand new and the team are housed in two-story dormitories with all the basic necessary facilities.

On arrival at their temporary home for the next three weeks, Team American Samoa was reunited with members of the men’s and women’s national rugby sevens teams that competed in the Oceania Olympic Qualifier Tournament in Brisbane, Australia who had traveled straight from Brisbane to Honiara and arrived a day earlier.

Some of the women’s team off-island players that created history by defeating the Cook Islands and Kiribati to secure an unprecedented seventh placed ranking in the Oceania Rugby Federation, returned to the States because of schooling and work commitments.

The team settled in for the night as exhaustion caught up.

General Secretary of the American Samoa National Olympic Committee (ASNOC) Ethan Lake, who is the team manager gave a moving presentation in a team meeting yesterday morning as he urged all the members, athletes and officials to work together and support each other as the Games progresses.

He emphasized that this was not a vacation and that everyone should have one mindset and not complain over small and insignificant matters like facilities.

“We are not here on a vacation,” Lake said. “It’s true the facilities of the places where we are staying are not Hilton standard, but hey, they’re brand new, clean and safe! We should be grateful and appreciative of the effort these people have put in hosting us. If you things aren’t to your liking, suck it up and focus on why we are here!”

Starting today, Team American Samoa will start every day with a devotional service at 5:30am to be followed by breakfast and then each sports team will begin their own preparations.

The women’s soccer team are scheduled to take to the field tomorrow against Samoa before the Opening Ceremony on Sunday.

The last time the two teams met was during the 2019 Pacific Games in Samoa where it ended in a 1-all draw and everyone is anticipating a tough and action-packed game.

Details of that game tomorrow — God willing.

This reporter would like to acknowledge with thanks the generous sponsorship of Paramount Builders, Inc. and ASNOC.

As they say here in the Solomon Islands, “Lukim Yu Tomorrow!”