Back to Samoa

Back to Samoa
I was excited to come back to Samoa. I had an amazing trip, but missed my friends and family. It is weird to feel homesick for a country that you knew nothing about just one year prior. Samoa has given me so many remarkable times that no other place compares to it.
I arrived in Samoa around midnight, and decided to wait for the six am boat at the airport. I learned that the Samoan airport is an interesting time during that time of night. A surprise to me was that they had just acquired wifi, and surprisingly my iPod lasted a long time and gave me a lot of entertainment that night.
That night I met many interesting people. I met a person who acted as if I was her daughter. She was heading back to American Samoa that following morning, and made sure I was safe and knew of my whereabouts at all times. The staff at the airport played cards throughout the night, and offered for me to join in.
Shortly after five, I took a cab to the wharf. I bought my boat ticket and went on the little boat and took a much needed nap. A few short hours later, I made it home. Exhausted, but excited, I was happy to be home.
I was so happy to see my Samoan family. I really missed them terribly, and wanted to know all that I missed during the two weeks I had been gone. It was nice to sit down and catch up with my little sister.
I noticed that even though I had only been speaking a little bit of Tongan over the two weeks, I began confusing it was Samoan. The words are similar, but just some of them mean different things. Because of my little slips, I have been accidently teaching people some basic Tongan.
I had a great trip, and the only bad thing I have to look back on, is my cuts that I got while I was in Tonga. Since the trip, I have spots on both legs that have gotten infected. Luckily, my medical kid is full of things to help them.
Also, people keep telling me that I am looking pale. They think that it is because I left a pe’u (boyfriend, or in Tongan, moa) behind. I love how worried people in my village and family get from me being gone. They wanted to make sure I was eating healthy and had a safe place to sleep every night. I feel like I am a part of the largest family ever.
The third term of school has started, and I am excited to get back to work with my students. I love working at Gaga’emalae, and it was nice to get back to my comfortable life in Savai’i.