Tooth Nightmare

Teeth

Being in Samoa, you sometimes have weird nightmares.  For example, one of my Peace Corps friends had a dream about a tsunami coming and somehow the country director called upon her to evacuate everyone from the area.  These dreams are scary because we often wake up and wonder if we have something we really need to do urgently.

My latest nightmare goes a few steps back.  While I was still enjoying the amazing American healthcare (I say this because being insured and not having to pay any copayments is such a great feeling!) I went to the dentist.  It was recommended to extract my remaining wisdom teeth (Yes at my age, I still am waiting to be wise).  However, the powers that be decided that that I should wait another year until I reside permanently in the United States. 

About a week after arriving back in Samoa the pain started.  “My teeth are coming in and there is not enough room for them,” I complained to anyone that would listen.  “It is probably just food stuck in your mouth,” I was told in response.  I accepted that maybe I was wrong…

Being in Samoa, you never look in mirrors, and for the first time I actually own a mirror that is bigger than my bike mirror.  It may seem strange to people outside this area, but when you get used to not knowing exactly what you look like, however you get used to it.  When I finally looked, I saw a little white mound emerging in the back of my mouth.  I am not crazy!  Or a ridiculously messy eater who doesn’t know how to take care of her teeth! 

A week later I had my nightmare….I had looked in the mirror and two wisdom teeth were coming in, the one in the bottom was white like I previously saw, but when I angled my head in the mirror, I saw a black mound coming through.  My new tooth was coming in rotted to the core. 

I was so disgusted; I didn’t know what to do.  And now since then, I keep trying to strain my head to make sure my teeth aren’t turning black.

I am not the only one who gets scared by rotting teeth here.  I think it is an epidemic amongst Peace Corps volunteers.  When you see so many rotting teeth all the time, you begin to think of it as a contagious disease that you will somehow get.  I cannot tell you how many times someone has complained to our medical officer because they are afraid of teeth rotting from seeing black, yellow and missing teeth all day long. 

There really isn’t an excuse for it as going to the local dentist is pretty cheap.  However, like many people around the world, many Samoans only go to the doctor or dentist when it is an emergency.  This is why most people only go to get teeth extracted as they wait until a problem worsens and there is nothing a dentist can do to save that tooth.

At least it is just a tooth nightmare, and not real life yet….since I haven’t caught the rotted tooth decay disease…and hopefully I won’t! 

 

Boys Club

Taxi Stand

While I was living in Savai’i I never joined the “boys club” of those sitting on the road (or standing, depending on the village) to ensure everyone is observing the evening curfew or prayer.  I was always a little intimidated. 

I did get a chance however to join the Apia version of the boys club-hanging out at the taxi stand.  I sat there for about an hour and it was such a fun time and I understood why people become taxi drivers.

Some taxi stands have billiards tables, others have television sets…the one I had at had one taxi with a really nice stereo system.

Sitting there on the bench with all the boys talking, and some of them trying to include me as well, it was just a fun time. 

The women’s version of hanging out is sitting around weaving mats.  During that time they gossip, probably a little more than the men, but are usually without other things to entertain them (music, billiards, ava…etc)

I am not quite sure which one I prefer.  I like how the taxi stand has an end to hanging out, as the taxis need to go pick up passengers, instead of when you are at the woman’s committee house, where you can easily find yourself there all day unless you come with an excuse to leave. 

 

What would you do?

What would you do? 

Well I heard it straight from a Samoan’s mouth…what I am doing is wrong and disgusting. 

What happened was a fly fell into my drink.  I did the sensible thing and scooped it out and continued drinking…then a fly fell into the Samoan’s drink….and he refused to fish it out or drink it!  When I asked why, he said it was because flies carry diseases and he didn’t want to get sick.  Although the reasoning made complete sense to me, I still considered it wasteful to waste a perfectly good drink because of one measly fly.  I mean flies are everywhere, you can’t really stop them from landing on your food, unless you have an amazing person to fan the food, how is a drink much different?

I brought this up with some of my fellow family members, Returned Peace Corps Volunteers (RPCV) and asked them what they would do.  They all responded the same way as me as they said it seemed wasteful.

Being a volunteer here we have eaten what feels like every insect under the sun as it somehow falls into our food.  We continue to eat it, because otherwise who knows where our next meal will be.  It isn’t as if the insects really add a flavor to the food and you usually can block it out of your mind.  By the time you are here for a long time, you never question the disgusting (or even spoiled food) things that might be entering your mouth. 

One on the RPCV’s told me that he has been disgusted with the amount of food that falls on the floor and is just thrown away.  It is still perfectly good in his eyes and it just seems wasteful. 

Maybe after several years in a different country with different standards of what is “right” and “wrong” we have become a little warped…

But tell me….

What would you do, if a fly landed in your food or drink?

 

Some Days...

Some Days…

Some days it feels like everything that can go wrong does.  I know working with troubled kids means that your days will be different than others, but for the most part, school runs smoothly.  The children are below average, but again so are most of the children I taught in Savai’i. 

Today started like any other day.  Some of the kids were good, some of the kids were anxious throughout the day (I think this is due to this being their first school setting).  Then at interval, while I was running around doing a few errands and the other teacher was busy with some children, two of the girls left.  It is rough because our school has several entrances, and we cannot guard them all at one time.   Sometimes the children, even though they came from a really abusive situation, they start to really miss their families, and who can really blame them?

I am hoping the girls are found, but most of all are safe because I would hate for them to return to any situation that brought them harm.

To make my day a little worse, I received a message from my first host sister.  Mom has just passed away.  I knew she was sick because she went to New Zealand for treatment, but I was unable to see her in the month that I have been back. 

It just seems like some days anything that can happen does. 

 

Plantation

A trip to the Plantation

The day started with me helping out with cooking.  I was scraping (I guess in the States we would consider it shredding…) the coconut to help make coconut cream.  When asked if I wanted to go with the boys to plantation, I jumped at the chance.  Today’s mission: to collect firewood. 

We started out with our two baskets and quickly chopped down a tree to get an amo (the stick to help you carry the baskets on your shoulders).  When only one was chopped down I kept pestering to get mine too.  I was told not to worry about it…but I really wanted to help…so I kept looking for big tree trunks to carry around myself.  I soon learned what was good firewood and what I should just throw back into the woods. 

I helped carry the baskets of firewood for a little bit when they were half full and they were heavy!  I tried the trick of alternating shoulders by rolling the log back and forth, but I was struggling.  I was happy to give it back and find a new log to carry around without the baskets. 

When the baskets were full, we began heading back.  All of a sudden, clunk, clunk, clunk!  One of the baskets broke and probably one hundred pieces of wood fell out.  With nothing else to do, we doubled up the baskets, and used my lavalava (thank goodness I wear shorts underneath!)  to make a second “basket”.  During the entire hike back from the plantation, the wood showed signs of breaking the other basket bade from coconut leaves.  I was really nervous because there were no other lavalavas and I didn’t want to lose any more clothes!  When some fell out I quickly picked them up, and by the time we reached the car, I had my giant log and at least 10 other pieces of firewood. 

It was a day I will never forget because anything that could go wrong seemed to.  But all in all, I still had a whole lot of fun!

 

Funny Chokers

Funny Chokers

The Laughing Samoans came back, and this time brought with them the best comedy show ever.  They were by far so much funnier than last year (and as a double bonus, I had the pleasure of meeting them when they came to visit my school children).  This year I was sitting in a row of palagis, and the fact that all of them were doubling over laughing made me pretty sure that the comedy wasn’t just me being used to Samoan humor. 

One of their skits was about a Samoan and a palagi dating, it was really funny to hear the “palagi” and the Samoan tell it how it is in Samoa.  At one point he told the “palagi woman” that her salary is theirs, and his salary is for his family.  It seems so true as most Samoans overseas find a way to give as much money as possible to their family in Samoa….I know it is true in many Pacific countries, but here it is a major source of the economy.

They also told jokes about the World Cup, such as the lack of supporters from Samoa that came out to greet the team at the airport, since most of the Samoan team resides in New Zealand anyway. 

They also had their sing-along’s and their “series” such as, Island Time and the two children.

If you are living in the Pacific and the Laughing Samoans are showing “Funny Chokers”, you need to go!  It was incredible…words can’t describe….and I know I did a pretty bad describing how amazing it was. 

 

 

 

Waking Up With the Roaches

Waking Up With the Roaches

There are many disgusting ways that I have woken up while in Samoa. From hearing the rat move around my bed, billions of ants crawling all over me, or having a cockroach crawl across my legs.  This morning I had a new disgusting one….or one that should have really repulsed me. 

I felt something in my hair, and it was a cockroach in there.  I just flung it across the room and went back to sleep. 

Upon arriving in Samoa in 2009, I was completely disgusted by all of these bugs, but living here it is not so bad.  Sure they are annoying, and sometimes you feel the need to Mortein them to death, but when it is just a single incident, it really isn’t as bad now. 

Don’t get me wrong, I don’t really want these creatures, and I honestly think there is no better feeling than stepping on one to death (even if it leaves the goo on the ball of your foot).  But there is nothing you can really do to get rid of them.  Your house could be immaculate, and the creepy crawlers will still find the need to show up. Here, you just learn to deal with what you probably would not accept as living conditions (meaning all of the creatures in your house) in other countries you would not accept. 

 

 

 

Locked Out

Locked Out

This is the second time it’s happened, and it just puts a cramp on the day.  Yesterday when I left school my classroom was left unlocked from the inside with all of my teaching materials left inside.  However today, upon my arrival to school I learned that someone decided to lock the door to my classroom.  There really shouldn’t be a problem with locking the classroom, but we are in the old courthouse building and never received all of the keys to this building, and so I am locked out of my classroom. 

I arrived early to mark the children’s work and get their lessons ready for the day, only to find out I can’t get in. 

Last time this happened I was locked out for two days until someone found a way to get in (and then they forgot to lock the outside door, which lead for intruders to come inside the school and raid the supply closet leaving us without a lot of our art materials). 

Teaching shouldn’t be about these kind of building problems.  It is difficult enough teaching a multiability multiage classroom that it is hard to be without our space and supplies. 

 

Being in the Future

Being in the Future

Lately I have noticed how strange it is living in the future.  You never really stop to notice the day difference from a few months ago, until something American comes up.

This time it was Presidents Day.

Our Peace Corps Office and United States Embassy had the day off for Presidents Day, while in the United States they were experiencing a nice quiet Sunday.  Then while everybody here returned back to work on Tuesday, the United States was enjoying their President’s Day.

Then, on the night February 15^th, I was online and my friend sent me a message wishing me a Happy Valentine’s Day.  I asked if it was still Valentine’s Day where he was, and he said it just ended.  It was really confusing to me.

I am 17 hours ahead, or 19 hours ahead, and soon with Daylight Savings it will be even more different and confusing to me.  While we fall back and the Northern Hemisphere springs forward to make it even more confusing. 

It used to confuse me with time zones while living in the mainland alone.  Sometimes this lead to phone calls too early in the morning, or too late at night.  I think the worst was when I spent a summer in Fairbanks, AK….no one could ever quite figure out where I was or what time it was. 

I am sure I will get used to it, but it is just confusing to sit around and what time or day it is at home…

 

Catch Up

Catch up

I am sorry for the lack of writing, but I am just trying to keep up with myself. A lot of you have just heard my complaints about my living situation, but the fact of the matter it is not the ideal situation for anyone.

The children in my house are children of my school. They were taken from their families for a variety of reasons. Some of them were sexually abused, some of them were raped, some physically abused, and others were abused in other ways. Some have been living without their families for several months, and at least one has been away for 9 years. They would prefer to be home, but it is not safe for them. Together they formed a nice family in which there are sometimes arguments, but they get along well like sisters and brothers.

The school is going well, there are currently 30 students aged 3-19; six students were recently dropped from enrollment for not attending and one running away. It is strange for me to be the principal since I have never had this role before. I have had to have talks with my staff member about her lesson plans, corporal punishment, and other items of concern that in the past I have zipped my lips on.

Next week (I think) the volunteer teachers will begin coming in. This will be nice because it will allow for smaller group learning. These volunteer teachers are people from the community that just want to help, they are local business people, church members, or anyone from the community that wants to help out by spending some time with these children.

I know everything will get better; it just takes time to get used to everything. I am truly enjoying being with these children because it is amazing how loved they can make you feel.

Housing Woes

Housing Woes

When I was moving to Apia, my expectations for living arrangements were completely different than I got.  It makes me miss my somewhat crazy Samoan family. 

I was expecting a house by myself, and got several teenage roommates.  These aren’t normal roommates, I have 6 girls aged 12-18 and a disabled 11 year old boy.  (Yesterday there was an additional 1 ½ year old baby, I am not sure if that one is a full time roommate.)

We have had our differences from the start, things I guess I should have expected from living with families for over two years, but was not ready for it.  It hit me off guard because they moved in one day while I was not home.  Things my new roommates like to do are: rearrange all of my things, eat all of my food, and be loud enough to keep me awake. 

Living with a family, I understand everything is the community things.  Some days it frustrated me when I was unable to find food in the house, but I knew that family meals were together and so it made sense to give all of the food I went shopping for to the family.  I ate all of my meals with the family which was nice.  Now, I cook for myself (whenever I don’t go over to another friend’s house), and the problem comes when my food is all missing that I wanted to cook.  (In addition, all my American food has been eaten, which is a bigger let down!)

Living in a house full of kids will make it an interesting year, just like family life, it won’t be dull.

 

Valentines Day

This was on the Peace Corps Website....and I thought it was good enough to share:

12 reasons to date a Returned Peace Corps Volunteer:

1. We can woo you in multiple languages. Who else is going to whisper sweet nothings to you in everything from Albanian to Hausa to Quechua to Xhosa? That’s right. Only a Returned Peace Corps Volunteer.
2. We’re pretty good dancers. Yeah, we don’t like to brag, but after 27 months in Latin America or Africa or the South Pacific we know how to move it.
3. We’ll eat anything. Seriously. No matter how bad your cooking, Returned Peace Corps Volunteers have had worse and will eat it with nary a blink. Sheep’s eyeball? Water buffalo gall bladder? Grasshoppers? Bush rat? Bring it.
4. We know all about safe sex, thanks to our very thorough Peace Corps health training. In fact, there’s a chance that we’ve stood unblushingly in front of hundreds of villagers and demonstrated good condom technique with a large wooden phallus.
5. We’ll kill spiders for you. Well, actually, we’ll nonchalantly scoop them up and put them out of sight. Same goes for mice, geckos, frogs, snakes. Critters don’t faze Returned Volunteers.
6. We have great date ideas: wandering a street market, checking out a foreign film, taking in a world music concert, volunteering…. Romantic getaway? Our passport is updated and our suitcase is packed. With us, life is always an adventure.
7. We like you for “you”… not your paycheck. Especially if we are freshly back from service, a local joint with “character” will win out over a pretentious eatery. Living in a group house? No problem. Does it have running hot water? What luxury!
8. You won’t get lost when you’re with a Returned Peace Corps Volunteer. Navigating local markets on four continents, we’ve honed an uncanny sense of direction. Or else we’ll ask for directions. We’re not afraid to talk to “strangers.”
9. Waiting for a late train or bus? Don’t worry, we’ve been there, done that. We can share lots of funny stories about “the bus ride from hell” that will make the time go quickly and put it all into perspective.
10. Our low-maintenance fashion style. Returned Peace Corps Volunteer guys are secure in their manhood and don’t mind rocking a sarong. Women often prefer flip flops to high heels. We don’t spend hours in front of a mirror getting ready to go out.
11. Marry us, and you won’t just get one family — you’ll get two! When we refer to our “brother” or “mom,” you’ll want to be certain we’re talking about our American one or our Peace Corps one. You might even get two wedding ceremonies, one in the U.S. and one back in our Peace Corps country.
12. And last but not least, we aren’t afraid to get dirty.

Go The Manu!

Go the Manu!

As many of you know it is Rugby Season (Well….when is it not rugby season out here….) and the 7’s tournament is in full swing.  I haven’t been expecting much since we have not done too well since winning the World Championships my first year in 2010…but Las Vegas gave me some hope (Isn’t it known for giving at least some people a little luck…I am glad I was on board for it this day!)

Samoa did amazingly well in their first two games-stomping over teams as if they owned them.  (Sorry if there is an Aussie reading this…)  Then came the dreaded New Zealand All Blacks.  While we kept messing up inside the 22, they kept on finding a way to get the ball back.  Instead of us cheering the only Kiwi supporter was doing a little dance around us. 

Yesterday, the Manu made it to the cup round, and they came from behind to beat their Pacific rivals, Fiji.  This happened while I was at work, so I had completely no knowledge of this happening.  Then, at the end of the school day we begin hearing the nearby police shout and holler, then cars start driving past honking their horns in celebration.  All the students knew what that meant, VICTORY!  Samoa had defeated New Zealand and had won the Las Vegas 7’s. 

Samoans show so much pride in their rugby team and it is amazing to be in the country and be a part of it.  Everywhere you look, children were doing the haka (traditional war dance that many Pacific nations do at the start of a rugby match), or reenacting their favorite parts of the game. 

Last night I watched the replay of the games and it truly was an amazing game.  Both teams fought real hard similar to their first game, but in the end it was Samoa performing their victorious Haka instead. 

Go the Manu!

(Picture from http://sifa.ws)

 

In the Dark

In the Dark

I am sitting here at school, wondering what to do.  It is hard to do much since I am in the dark.  Last week was the first week of school, and several mornings I found myself in the dark for one of two reasons:
1. We ran out of pre paid electricity (cash power).
2. The master switch is somewhere that I have yet to locate and only one student knows where it is.

I started my work for my students by writing on the board with a phone as my flashlight in my mouth for light.  I still have books to mark, but it is difficult to find the patience to mark them when it is impossible to see. 

For one and a half days last week the school was completely without power.  It is completely miserable as in one of our classrooms there is only one small window, so the children were fighting each other on who could sit near it so they could see their coursework.  I am hoping today is not one of those days.

Come on, give me some electricity please!

 

Fale

Fale

For two years I lived with a Samoan family…and as many crazy stories I have to share about them, I am sure they have equally as many to tell about me.  I loved living with them because they made my life so simple and easy.  Food was almost always taken care of, the house was always cleaned (or in the process of being so) and there was always people to talk to.  It was real enjoyable. 

Now, I am living on my own (until I can get a lock on the door to my bedroom and then I will have a few roommates).  It is a big house and like all big houses it has a lot of upkeep.   It is nice in some ways to be on my own again, but there is sometimes not enough hours in the day to get everything done.  There aren’t doorknobs on most of the doors, allowing you sometimes to get locked inside a room….A huge problem if you are there by yourself.  Also, mosquitoes swarm into my room, even though there is mosquito wiring on the windows….because I can’t shut my door and there is not mosquito wiring on the other windows. One of the bathrooms currently doesn’t have water for the toilet.  The electricity runs on cash power, in which you put money on the meter to let the electricity run, and when your money runs out, your power also runs out.  And because of having a full size refrigerator, my money goes quickly!  I haven’t been there a week and have already run out of power twice!  (The first day and again today.)  The box to check and see how much power I have left is so high up that I have to climb on the windowsill to check it. 

The other difficult problem I am having is that I loved half of my stuff into my new house the day I arrived, but because the Peace Corps office hours and my office hours conflict with each other, I have been unable to retrieve my boxes.  

But the worst of my problems is in my kitchen.  I currently have a giant slip and slide there….and no one can figure out while.  Each day it looks as if several gallons of water have been spilled on the floor and as many times as I try to mop it up, more and more water shows up.  It seems strange because it is coming from under the carpet (not real carpet, Samoan carpet!)  I have had so many days of sliding around almost falling.

With all of these problems to start off, it makes me miss having a nice stable family.

 

My New Fale

Fale

For two years I lived with a Samoan family…and as many crazy stories I have to share about them, I am sure they have equally as many to tell about me.  I loved living with them because they made my life so simple and easy.  Food was almost always taken care of, the house was always cleaned (or in the process of being so) and there was always people to talk to.  It was real enjoyable. 

Now, I am living on my own (until I can get a lock on the door to my bedroom and then I will have a few roommates).  It is a big house and like all big houses it has a lot of upkeep.   It is nice in some ways to be on my own again, but there is sometimes not enough hours in the day to get everything done.  There aren’t doorknobs on most of the doors, allowing you sometimes to get locked inside a room….A huge problem if you are there by yourself.  Also, mosquitoes swarm into my room, even though there is mosquito wiring on the windows….because I can’t shut my door and there is not mosquito wiring on the other windows. One of the bathrooms currently doesn’t have water for the toilet.  The electricity runs on cash power, in which you put money on the meter to let the electricity run, and when your money runs out, your power also runs out.  And because of having a full size refrigerator, my money goes quickly!  I haven’t been there a week and have already run out of power twice!  (The first day and again today.)  The box to check and see how much power I have left is so high up that I have to climb on the windowsill to check it. 

The other difficult problem I am having is that I loved half of my stuff into my new house the day I arrived, but because the Peace Corps office hours and my office hours conflict with each other, I have been unable to retrieve my boxes.  

But the worst of my problems is in my kitchen.  I currently have a giant slip and slide there….and no one can figure out while.  Each day it looks as if several gallons of water have been spilled on the floor and as many times as I try to mop it up, more and more water shows up.  It seems strange because it is coming from under the carpet (not real carpet, Samoan carpet!)  I have had so many days of sliding around almost falling.

With all of these problems to start off, it makes me miss having a nice stable family.

 

Water, Water Everywhere,,,,But Here

Water

When you start to have water issues is when you start to miss home and the conveniences of “modern life”. I’ve already dealt with no electricity, so it makes sense on my one week benchmark back in the country to have no water.

The girls from the shelter had come over to help me clean, and since there was no running water, they used my filtered water for cleaning. I wasn’t too worried because I was used to in that part of Apia the water going out from 5 at night until the next morning, and since it was morning, I figured the water would be back on. By the end of the cleaning session I was left with about one bottle of water….. and the water didn’t look like it was going to turn on all day! Thirsty, irritated and headachy I went to bed.

I was awakened at two in the morning to the sound of a downpour. I quickly jumped out of bed, grabbed any bucket, pot, bowl, container-basically anything that I could get my hand on that could collect water and ran outside. I began running back and forth to my water filter with these pots. I then went to filling up the toilet tank, which desperately needed water after so many people in the house using it without. (Think porter potty, that’s the smell that was taking over.) I continued running around with the rain until about 4 am. When the rain ceased, and I left my pots out there in case it started up again.

The next day I awoke, expecting the tap to be on, and it wasn’t. I also realized out of the two bathrooms in my house (one toilet doesn’t work and the other did), the person who is fixing my house, tried fixing the toilet that worked…..and now I have two broken toilets, The water leaks from the toilet, and so my swimming pool moved from the kitchen to the bathroom.

I went about my day finished cleaning the house, and moving the things from the room I moved into to a spare room so they can continue renovating the house. I stopped for a break to talk to a few of my group members on the phone (I miss my group 82 family!) and had to hang up on one of them when I heard the rain start up again.

Finally in the afternoon, the water turned on again. It was nice to not have to worry about wasting whatever little water I had left on things like washing dishes, doing bucket laundry, and showering.

It is strange because water is something you always take for granted. Even in Savaii, while I was to the piped water being shut off for periods of time, we always had the water tank with our collected rainwater to get us by. Now, if my water shuts off, I am screwed if I didn’t save up enough water.

People often say that Apia is the easier life than rural living, based on water quality, I so far don’t agree.

Water, Water Everywhere,,,,But Here

Water

When you start to have water issues is when you start to miss home and the conveniences of “modern life”. I’ve already dealt with no electricity, so it makes sense on my one week benchmark back in the country to have no water.

The girls from the shelter had come over to help me clean, and since there was no running water, they used my filtered water for cleaning. I wasn’t too worried because I was used to in that part of Apia the water going out from 5 at night until the next morning, and since it was morning, I figured the water would be back on. By the end of the cleaning session I was left with about one bottle of water….. and the water didn’t look like it was going to turn on all day! Thirsty, irritated and headachy I went to bed.

I was awakened at two in the morning to the sound of a downpour. I quickly jumped out of bed, grabbed any bucket, pot, bowl, container-basically anything that I could get my hand on that could collect water and ran outside. I began running back and forth to my water filter with these pots. I then went to filling up the toilet tank, which desperately needed water after so many people in the house using it without. (Think porter potty, that’s the smell that was taking over.) I continued running around with the rain until about 4 am. When the rain ceased, and I left my pots out there in case it started up again.

The next day I awoke, expecting the tap to be on, and it wasn’t. I also realized out of the two bathrooms in my house (one toilet doesn’t work and the other did), the person who is fixing my house, tried fixing the toilet that worked…..and now I have two broken toilets, The water leaks from the toilet, and so my swimming pool moved from the kitchen to the bathroom.

I went about my day finished cleaning the house, and moving the things from the room I moved into to a spare room so they can continue renovating the house. I stopped for a break to talk to a few of my group members on the phone (I miss my group 82 family!) and had to hang up on one of them when I heard the rain start up again.

Finally in the afternoon, the water turned on again. It was nice to not have to worry about wasting whatever little water I had left on things like washing dishes, doing bucket laundry, and showering.

It is strange because water is something you always take for granted. Even in Savaii, while I was to the piped water being shut off for periods of time, we always had the water tank with our collected rainwater to get us by. Now, if my water shuts off, I am screwed if I didn’t save up enough water.

People often say that Apia is the easier life than rural living, based on water quality, I so far don’t agree.

Famous

Truly Famous

Yesterday while meeting up with some of my Samoan friends, I learned that my friend’s brother had watched me on the news.  I usually talk in English to my Apia friends because that is basically all I knew when I met them.  It was really funny because his brother was impressed that I knew the language, and was understandable from my interview.  It was nice for my more English speaking friends to see what I can do.  (It would have been nice to have a television to watch it on….)

Also he told me that before the dateline change,  my friends from group 82 and I (and some from 81 and 79) had our picture in the paper.  It was about how Samoa was switching from the last sunset in the world to the first sunrise in the world.  The picture was us in Falealupo enjoying the last sunset of 2009. 

My mission is to see if I can still find a copy of the article. 

 

 

 

Coral Reef Academy

Coral Reef Academy

 

You seem them around town, and can be amazed at what these kids can do.  The Coral Reef Academy is a program for “troubled” children in the US, in which they come to Samoa to learn coping mechanisms.  Hearing what they are, first gave me the impression of ulavale, horrible teenagers, but it is far from the truth.  The children that attend school there always put their best foot forward and show the best mannerisms.

Today, they came to visit my school, and put on such a nice musical performance.  It was wonderful, because they brought a piece of their own cultures, which showed the children the diversity that lives in America.  It was truly beautiful as all of the Coral Reef kids were of different races.  Most of the people here think that if you come from America you are white and it is nice that they are able to go around showcasing the cultural diversity in the United States.  They also shared some of the different musical styles in the US, and even had the children from my school join in with them. 

Without them realizing it, they are helping the Peace Corps out tremendously with our goals of showing Samoans what the people in the United States are like.  Fa’afetai Coral Reef!

 

Malaga+falavelave=vacation

Malaga+falavelave=vacation

I left Colorado on a snowy Sunday morning.  It was weird to see snow, since the previous day I was walking around in just a t-shirt, since it was so warm.  I was ready for my four flights and day and a half of traveling so I can arrive on my new island in Samoa. 

My first flight left without a problem and I landed in Salt Lake City, which also had their mountains covered in snow.  I waited for my flight, and when the flight was supposed to board, we were notified about a problem.  The maintenance crew was onboard fixing something and they said they had to wait for a part to come in from Atlanta.  We were delayed by a few hours.  The good news was that I would be able to watch some of the NFL playoff game on TV (They switched off CNN news for it!), but the bad news was I was going to miss my connecting flight in Hawaii. 

The problem with heading to this area, is there are not many flights a week.  To get to American Samoa there are only two flights a week.  Sunday and Thursday.  I was told that while I waited for the next flight I would be put up in a hotel in Waikiki Beach.  So my falavelave allowed me to have a little mini vacation in Hawaii.

I tried to make the most of my time there, since it isn’t everyday that you are FORCED to vacation in Hawaii.  I did everything I possibly could fit in during that time period.  I went to the USS Arizona, which is always an interesting place with a great museum.  The following day I decided to scuba dive and explored a shipwreck.  The shipwreck was awesome as we were able to swim through the inside of the ship.  There were also the friendliest turtles on the ship.  They just swam right next to our shoulders and hung out with us.  After diving, I decided there was still plenty of time to do something else, so I went to the zoo.  The Honolulu Zoo is pretty nice, but my highlight there was spending time with the goats in the children’s petting zoo.  The following day I awoke before sunrise to hike Diamond Head.  Diamond Head is a beautiful hike that was carved into the mountain, making the ground completely uneven and rocky.  I should have been smart and brought my flashlight, but for some reason I went against my better judgment.   It was fun having the stars to guide me as I hiked the trail.  It was beautiful at the top and the sunrise was nice.  Afterwards, instead of resting in my nice, comfortable hotel room, I went to Sea Life Park.  At Sea Life Park, besides having amazing aquatic life, they have the world’s only wholphin.  The wholphin’s dad was a 2,000 pound killer whale and the mom was an ordinary dolphin.  They created a huge 900 pound wholphin.  She looks like a normal dolphin, just much bigger and stronger.  The dolphins and the wholpin seem friendly and are extremely talented in basketball.  I also got to spend time with my cousin whom I barely see because of geographical reasons.   

When my flight was finally ready to take off, I was “adopted” by a Samoan family, who had me stay with them the entire time at the airport.  When I got on the plane, I was fortunate enough to get two seats to myself…My adopted family saw this, and the little 8 year old girl decided to join me…and talk to me for the entire 5 ½  hour flight.  I went through customs with my new family but said my goodbyes as we parted ways..me to another hotel, and them to their family’s house.  That flight was such a great experience as I got to review my Samoan and met so many friendly people.  A had many offers for rides while I was there. 

The following day I was off again.  Back through customs, I was ready to arrive in Samoa.  Although I left on Friday, I arrived in Samoa on Saturday.  It was strange how one short half hour flight is the difference between a work day and the weekend.

Although I am in a new setting, it is nice to be back to the country that has provided me with a nice home for the past 2+years.  It’s good to be back.