Samoan Soccer Federation

Samoan Soccer Federation

I love networking.  It is so great being able to meet new people and find ways to have them help me!  It is also good to find ways for your friends to help you!

My friend Sarai works for the Samoan Football Federation (a funny name because they call it soccer here, just like in America..).  She invited the students from my school for a day of learning skills and playing games at the soccer fields. 

It was amazing the program they put on…especially since the National Under 20’s team assisted in teaching them.  The kids had smiles across their faces the entire time as they ran across the field dribbling the ball between their legs.  It was a complete real game, with kids being carded and ejected from the game for forgetting we were not playing a rough game like rugby, instead of the more tame soccer.

At the end the children were treated to ice pops, and shared a sour sop (so delicious!). 

I hope we get to be invited out there again, because it really was a superb day.  

Some Days....

Some days….

Some days you love your job…and some days you just want to cry.  I am really thankful that I have amazing students that are so lovable, otherwise I would be crying on a plane back to America.

My problem comes with my only teacher on staff (did I ever mention how much I dislike being a principal?).  I noticed she was neglecting to do all of her teaching and I wanted to ensure that the students are getting a well balanced curriculum of English, Math and Samoan (it is difficult for us to get basic science and social science due to our limited resources).  Upon checking up on her to make sure she was teaching what she needed to, she became offended and yelled at me in front of the children calling me bossy.  I explained how I am her supervisor so I need to see what she is teaching, and she didn’t want to listen and kept bad mouthing me.   The worst part of this incident is half the students were still there…and they were standing there with their mouths wide open because of what was coming out of her mouth.

It will get better, how could it not?  I mean I have gotten used to so many hurdles in this job that this one I should be able to jump over.

Peace Corps Family

Peace Corps Family

Being a third year volunteer is strange…I am still a volunteer but sometimes I feel like I am a part of something else.  My Peace Corps family who I had being my strong support is now missing from my life.  The nearest Peace Corps volunteer is now a 45 minute bus ride away, which seems impossible compared to Savaii, where I could run there in 30 minutes.  All of the volunteers are away from the capital, leaving me alone all the time. 

Just as my group was a close family, the group after me is a close family, who sometimes forgets me, their older sister.  I don’t let it bother me too much as I have other things to preoccupy my time.  Being in such a small country for several years I have met so many new people, even in cities where I was not living, so my new friends help me to keep my sanity. 

Mapuifagalele

Mapuifagalele

About a month or two ago the older students from my school joined the Baha’i Youth for a visit to Mapuifagalele, the home for the elderly of Samoa.

It was such a beautiful day as the children sang beautifully and reached out to others, when normally it is the other way around with people reaching to them.  The girls all had tears in their eyes as they talked with the elderly and brought some of them up to siva Samoa, some with wheelchairs and all. 

It was nice to visit Mapuifagalele because I do not know how regular their visitors are, and it is always nice to see someone new greeting you with love.

Mapuifagalele has beautiful grounds and it was nice to make a trip there.

Zumba and Pizza

Zumba and Pizza

Being in my position at work, can cause a lot of frustrations as I try to juggle all of the volunteers, creating curriculum, paperwork, etc, but it also has its advantages.  I have met a lot of amazing people due to what I am doing, and have had the even bigger pleasure of working with many of them.

Today is one of those days I get to work with someone really special.

Several days a week I do Zumba with the children so they can have physical activities, and Zumba is one that they truly enjoy.  It is a lot of fun, for an hour playing music loud on my lawn, while the children take turns leading the group in dance. 

Today, the owners at Giordanios Pizza are sponsoring pizza and Zumba day.  It will be a lot of fun, I am really looking forward to it…especially because their pizza is so delicious!  

I can't wait until the school day is over!

The Battle: Roaches 1 Lillian 0

Roaches

Chasing cockroaches with a butcher knife is not as successful chasing them away with your foot or drowning them in the sink.  Lesson learned…You win today’s battle cockroaches… but I will be more prepared for you tomorrow!

Blood Failure

Blood Failure

Every month the Australian High Commission put on a 3k and 5 k fun run/walk.  It is a lot of fun and they get local volunteer organizations involved.  This past month, it was the Red Cross.  After the run/ walk they would have a blood donation day.  I decided, what the heck, I haven’t done so in awhile…let me donate. 

After getting my exercise, I went to the join the line on donating blood.  The line moved in no order that seemed to make sense, but after registering, I was told that it was great that I was donating because they needed B+ blood. 

What was strange about donating was they have pamphlets (in English only..) telling you who is eligible to donate blood, and who is not…but they never ask you the questions. They don’t test your blood ahead of time, don’t check your blood pressure, it is a get right to it deal.

When it was my time, I warned the person with the needle that sometimes they have difficulties with my veins so I showed both of my arms to see which was better.  He picked the one that was more convenient for where I was sitting.  After the needle was in for awhile, he took it out and I had the worst pain ever!  He apparently got it wrong and my vein was now swollen and full of pain.  He immediately went to the other arm and started successfully the new needle.   

I began to feel faint.  I knew I should have said something but I was too weak to say something.  I just tried to concentrate on being awake.  I woke up with about people around me putting wet cloths around my head and my neck and someone trying to feed me chocolate milk (disgusting!)   They had stopped the donation when I passed out.

I felt like a complete wuss.  I have donated blood so many times in America, but for some reason, my body wasn’t up for it that day.  So many people were looking at me all worried, especially a few who told me it was their first time donating.  I tried to tell them that it was a one time thing, and it normally is not that bad…but I don’t know if they believed me after seeing my ordeal. 

For the rest of my Saturday, I dealt with a horrible pain in my right arm, which continued a little bit into Saturday.  On Monday, my arm was slightly blue in the area of my bad vein.  (I would expect black and blue…but it was a cool blue color…)  I am hoping that it goes away and that is the end of my blood donation drama. 

Maybe I just have to wait for another time where they check blood pressure first to make sure I am completely healthy and ready to donate.  

One Room School House

One Room School House

 

Usually I can get by at school without a problem.  Sure we teach 8 lessons at a time, but there are usually two or three of us to teach making the impossible possible.  One day things felt doomed.

How did people do it in the olden days in one room school houses?  One teacher with so many levels… it just seemed like an impossible task without help. 

But this day I was in that situation.  My other teacher didn’t show up, and my volunteers were all sick.  I was alone.  Luckily my older students feel confident working on their own with the small directions I give them, which made things possible as I was able to have more time with the younger students who need more constant supervision. 

The day felt like the longest day of my life, but I survived my one room school house. 

Teaching at this school is giving me so many new experiences I never thought I would get….