When I first arrived here, getting around Samoa was a rather new and daunting task for me. I don't regularly use public transportation like buses or trains at home, so it was a bit more challenging to do so for the first time in a foreign country! Transportation is relatively easy on the island but it is all about knowing which bus or ferry to catch at what time and where.
Samoa has a communal bus service with buses that drive through all of the villages and through the city of Apia. I take the Lotopa and Alafua buses to get home each day after school. I then walk up a slight hill before I reach my homestay house. There are both a large and small ferry to take people from Samoa's small island of 'Upulo to Savai'i and back again.
I'll admit, I was definitely nervous when I took the bus for the first time. In fact, I was completely lost on my first day and ended up taking a random bus after the Lotopa bus never came! I didn't know that the bus rarely came to the bus depot and that I could have taken the Alafua bus home as well. On my first day, I couldn't even remember where my house was located because there are no street signs in Samoa like there are in the U.S. to help you remember where places are. It takes some getting used to!
