Around the Island Part III

I fell right outside a hotel, and one of the workers saw me and invited me inside. They helped with my bike and I limped inside with blood dripping down me. I still had plenty of water so I was trying to wash the rocks out, when a couple from New Zealand saw me. They had just arrived in Samoa, and the woman had a first aid kit and offered to help me while I waited for Matt. We picked out the many tiny rocks and gravel out of my leg, and put different things on it to clean it out, but it still kept bleeding.
Matt arrived with Trent while the woman was helping me. Apparently Trent was just passing by the area and had arrived in the village the same time as me from the opposite direction. I was not ready to leave on my bike yet to go back to Matt’s fale to recover until I felt better to continue my journey or travel back home. So the three of us sat on the deck of the hotel enjoying a nice breeze as we listened to the ocean. Trent is in the group that is leaving in the next month, so it was nice to catch up with him before he goes back to America.
After tafao-ing (hanging out) for close to an hour, we finally decided to leave. We rode slowly, as a few people recognized me in the village, shouting, “Hey Lili,” as I passed. If they didn’t recognize me, Matt shouted to the people who were giving a second glance to me that I was his Peace Corps sister.
Matt lives on the school compound, so when we arrived there was an intense rugby game going on at the malae (field). Matt decided to retire inside, while I sat on a rock to watch the game. Some of the boys shouted “Oka, vea’ai o le teine vai! O ai maua o le tavale? O le teine alu I le fale mai, ” (Of course it may not be directly what was said…and spelled correctly, but roughly translated. Gee golly gosh, look at the girl’s leg! Who has a car? The girl needs to go to the hospital.) I hadn’t cleaned off my leg since the bike ride, and blood was still trickling down. Staining my leg I had a few streams of dried blood which I think worried the boys. I calmed them down, saying I was okay, and I was a teine Samoa. Samoans don’t go to the doctor for something little like this, and I was just like them.
After the game, I raided Matt’s medical kit, which was an ongoing theme for my time there. I picked out the gravel out of the cut on my foot, re-cleaned all the wounds, and bandaged them up.
I learned that Matt is an amazing person to take care of you if you get hurt. He cooked an amazing dinner for me and him and we chatted about life. It had been a month since I saw him last, and we reflected on our ten months in the country.
I think my body was in shock from the fall, that I did not feel much pain. I called my family to let them know what had happened. I told them I was going to decide in the morning if I will continue, or take the bus home. They told me that if I did not feel up for the journey that they will come and pick me up. Since I was feeling fine, I was pretty confident I would continue on, and had Matt consider seeing how far he could bike.
In the evening Matt went to lock up the gate, and called me outside. He asked if I had ever seen the Milky Way, and pointed it out. The sky was so clear we could see thousands of stars. I did my usually game of trying to make shapes out of the different stars I see (like people do with clouds). We each sat there on opposite sides of the cricket slab fascinated with what was above us. We must have seen a few dozen shooting stars each. It was so beautiful.
I fell right to sleep that night on the bed frame with a mat on top of it. But awoke shortly after with horrible pain in my leg. I couldn’t take it. Thankfully I had Panadol in my bag to help relieve some of it. But it still hurt. I could not sleep.
The following day, I awoke to children going to school (the year 8 students work extremely hard in every school.). I hopped outside, sat on the step and read for a few hours.
The good thing about Matt, is you can visit him and still have your space. He does not mind if I were to go off on my own without him. He is a good brother in that way as we have our space from each other, but when we feel the need to talk, we are there for each other. There are now only two men left in my Peace Corps group, and I am so thankful for those boys as they really are amazing brothers, since they are always there for you when you need them.
Matt went about his daily chores, or what he could do of them, (Like my village his piped water gets shut off frequently.) while I relaxed and waiting for my family to pick me up.
Before I left, he fixed an amazing tuna sandwich lunch, with sides to munch on as well. My dad and sister showed up to drive me home. I was once again offered a trip to the hospital, something that I was offered about two dozen more times in the course of the weekend.
As I rode home I felt kind of defeated for not being able to finish my trip around the island and being stopped so early in. But I have come to realize it is just not my time to get this done. I will ride around the island one day, just a time when my body is more prepared.
But for now, I just have my battle scar around my knee and on the side of my foot. Hopefully it won’t stop me from running since I do not want to lose all the training I have done for the relay race (T minus 3 weeks to go).