The Dating Show

The dating show
To make up for missing church a few times from being out of town, I am quickly making up for it by going any day that I can. (Well only on the weekends…I do not want to commit to the 5:30 am service.)
At church on Saturday I went to the evening service and they did the one thing I hate about church. They completely call me out and ask me what my beliefs are. They switch to English and look at me directly and say, “What do you think about this Lili?” I never know how I should respond to this. I usually just do a quick agreement because I do not want to start an argument over religion. I did get to practice my reading in samoan in the Tusi Pa’ia.
I have really enjoyed going to church, and I never thought I would say this. It gives me a time to see my community, enjoy beautiful singing, practice my Samoan, and think about my future.
After the three hours of church on Sunday, I went to to’ogan’i at the faife’au’s house. It was real nice because I talked with his wife and helped his daughter with her math homework. (I love the Momona education system here! They are some of the best teachers it seems like!) When we sat down to eat the faife’au brought over a guest. Throughout the entire meal the faife’au was trying his best to entice me into dating that man. (Did I remember why Momona men are the best? They don’t smoke, drink or beat their wives. It is part of their rules. You cannot trust a man who is of a different religion because he might beat you”) Needless to say it did not make me decide to find a husband, or even a uo at this time.
I stayed there for hours chatting about all different things and it was nice and relaxing. I showed the daughter how to plan before writing to make herself more organized, and her mom was so impressed! They gave me Samoan bananas (they look like a banana who took steroids…. And they taste amazingly!) and vee (similar to an apple) to take back to my family before I returned home (to take my cat urine pill).
I never thought I would enjoy the experiences church gives me.

A Trip to the Doctor

A trip to the doctor
I had an appointment for the doctor in Apia for 11:00…which meant that I had to take either the 6 A.M boat, or the 8A.M one. I know that usually a bus comes in my village around 5:30 that will take me for the 8 A.M boat, but sometimes it shows up late and I will miss the boat. My solution was to take the bus for the 6:00 boat.
I heard rumor that the bus will come anywhere from 1:45 and 2:30 in the morning. Luckily I had my sister Sharlene to travel with so we could figure out the bus together. My alarm went off at 1:30, after only about two hours of sleep. We headed to the bus and it came close to 2 o’clock. We traveled on the bus for awhile, with the bus driver showcasing his chain smoking ways, and finally arrived at the wharf around 4:45 in the morning. (Umi malaga! And it was still just the beginning!) The boat was so crowded that there were no seats at all inside, and outside all the seats were wet from the rain. Sharlene and I found a little corner in the ferry to lie down and take a much needed nap. I woke up my own drool dripping down my bag (it made a great pillow housing clothes for the following day). Shortly after I woke up, tons of people were crowding all around me to try and rush down the stairs to be the first ones off the va’a. There were so many of them that I thought that they were going to fall on me. I kept having flashbacks to my lovely Staten Island ferry, and the announcements they make on every trip to stay off the stairs until the va’a has docked. Here the stairs felt more dangerous, but that did not stop anyone from being on them.
We got on the pasi o va’a and for awhile it felt like it was the express bus because it made very few stops. I decided that sitting on a lap for an hour did not sound like fun, so I stood, surprising many of the Samoans around me. I think I was asked about 100 times during the ride to lap sit.
At the market, I said my goodbye to Sharlene as she headed to our other uso’s house, Sharon. I did some errands and headed to the Peace Corps office to get my ride to the doctor’s office for eleven. I was so tired from such a long day of travelling, but I knew I could not go back to sleep yet even though my day felt like it should have been over already!
My ears have been giving me trouble since November. At first I thought it was just swimmer’s ear, but it just didn’t seem to ever get better. It has been weeks since I have been in the water, and I miss it terribly! I really want to go swimming and scuba diving, so I need this problem fixed ASAP!
I was put on new medication again, and the pills have the worst smell in the world. I took them first in the Peace Corps office, and when I opened the package people began looking for an animal because it smelled like cat urine. Seriously. So when I swallowed the pills I began to smell like cat urine. I brushed my teeth, ate food, but nothing could completely get rid of the smell. To make matters worse I began belching cat urine which tasted just as bad as the original pill.
The good thing about taking this kind of pill is that it will keep any unwanted attention away from me. I know I will not get any unwanted boys coming near me as the smell of me now scared them away! I think they are really the abstinence pill because of that. (Not that I am complaining at all! In the contrary I am completely happy!)
The next day I headed back to my island, ready for another long journey. I got on the pasi o va’a before nine, and so I would make the noon boat. The bus was packed and so I did the Samoan thing and allowed someone to sit on my lap. I don’t think it would have been bad if there were not as many bags on the bus. The ground was full on boxes, buckets, suitcases and many other bags so there was no room to move my feet and they fell asleep quickly.
The girl that sat on my lap quickly became my best friend telling me about her life, and invited me to her boyfriend’s house. I decided…why not? What else did I have to do for the day (besides go to church…). Her boyfriend picked us up from the wafu (wharf) and we drove to his village where I met his family. They ranted and raved about how they knew Phil, the volunteer near them, and how good a person he was.
After our visit, they decided to drive me all the way back to my village (which was like an hour’s drive!). It is amazing how friendly and welcoming every single Samoan I meet is. They are so quick to invite you into their family and allow you to become one of them. It feels like everyone I meet here is quickly becoming a part of my extended Samoan family and I love being able to interact with them! (Especially now that I am starting to understand more and more of what they talk about!)

Week 3 of School

Week 3 of Aoga
School has been in session for 3 weeks now and I think I have begun to find my nitch in the building. I am going to visit every class in a week, spending more time with the students in the upper grades.
The year 8 teachers are very dedicated to their work, and come in early to teach their students and stay hours and hours after school is dismissed to continue teaching them. The year 8 test is the most important tests that students take in primary school. Although the exam is in the fall (well the northern hemisphere fall), they are preparing now for it. Since they are such hard workers I decided to join their effort and help teach a reading group in the morning. (I also have a reading group in the afternoon. It is all boys who struggle so much, but they are so impressive with how dedicated they are to learning. We have spend the week with the Jack and Jill poem creating summaries, sequencing, answering questions and practicing pronunciation. I never realized how many skills can come out of that little nursery rhyme!)
I teach the year 7 English class daily and my sister is in the class. It makes it a difficult work space because I know I push her buttons by not calling on her for everything, and not allowing her to break the rules, but I think it is starting to come along as she is realizing that I am not only her sister, but her teacher. The class is also beginning to realize my rules in the class (the biggest one is no hitting) and what time out and being separated from the rest of the class is about.
The year 6 class is very smart and I am flip flopping my time with them and other classes. Twice a week in the morning and twice a week in the afternoon. The teacher there is very accommodating and switches to English learning when I arrive. Today I read stories with dozens of kids. (We focused on the book components…I hope they all now know what an author is, and where to find the author on a book.)
The year 5 class I have only been to a handful of times and will only visit twice a week. Right now the teacher is finishing up her degree at University so I am having a good time helping her with whatever she needs. This afternoon we hung around school making games for her students. We are starting with memory, where they have to match the verb in the present tense with the verb in the past tense. I hope it will be a hit!
I will be going to the year 4 class 3 times a week as they are the youngest students to take the national exam. I think I need to work on my Samoan a little bit more to get the most out of working together.
The other classes (1, 2, and 3) I will visit for only half an hour a week. I think I am going to do a read aloud in some classes, sing songs in others, and introduce tpr (total physical response) activities. These little ones are so cute in their uniforms each day. I am excited to work with them.
There are between 30 and 40 kids in a class and although we often have to share resources, everyone seems to make due. I am happy that I am not teaching science, as it seems impossible to do the different experiments without the given materials. The teachers have the same problem with math. When I was with the new teacher, she was told to teach about angles and to have the kids practicing making and measuring angles. However, the only compass and protractor that the school had was the gigantic one made for the classroom chalkboard. I think we decided together to have the kids take turns coming up to the board to practice.
I set up the school computer and printer this week as well. When the computer turned on for the first time it had its message saying it was copyrighted in 1988. At least parts of the computer have been updated so it is not as bad as I first saw and thought. There is no printer software in the school, and there is no internet to find the software. So as of now the printer cannot be used for the school’s computer. I have been bringing in my laptop to print the different documents from that. (My laptop, like most newer computers is so seki’a that it doesn’t need the cd to install the program.)
Things are going well in school though. The difference between teaching in America and teaching in Samoa makes it challenging. But no matter what, you do not want to give up because when you look at your class of students, and you see how excited they are to learn, it makes you day. (Also today…I was staring out the window during lunch and it’s not every place that you can look out your window at work and see lush forests full of coconut trees. You walk to the front of your door and you see the blueness of the Pacific. It’s still hard to believe that I live in such a beautiful place.)
Seki’a Samoa

What Would Jesus Do

What would Jesus Do
Church plays a major role in society here. I have some days where my family has lotu in the morning and in the evening, as well as there have been many weekends where I have gone to multiple church services throughout the weekend. Previously in school the children have had lotu in the morning through hymns and a short prayer. However this year things have changed, and they have added Christian Education into the curriculum. So after morning prayer, the teachers take their classes to their rooms and do Christian education. I never thought I would see it cross this far into public education but I guess a lot of the unexpected has come up from living abroad.
I have also learned that the teachers need to come in early a few days a week for prayer. If the teachers do not show up, or come late they are fined. I have talked to some of the other volunteers and they were told that they will be expected to lead the prayer session at some point. (Which makes some of us up to three lotu per day.)
Because of the lifestyle here, I have decided to use the “What would Jesus Do” technique for behavior modification. Every time I see a student do something they shouldn’t I will ask my student, “Would would Jesus do if he was in school, would he hit his friend? No Jesus would probably be respectful for his peers”. You can use the WWJD technique for all the different problems in the school, and since it has something to do with religion, there is a better chance of it sinking in with them.

Water

My Village Projects-Water
So the overwhelming request was for me to get piped water to my village. I talked to another volunteer who is also trying to get this task and she told me it is a simple process. All I need to do is go to the Samoan Water Authority (SWA) give them some money and ask for them to do a survey and they will find out if it is possible and tell me the costs of this project. It sounded pretty easy and straightforward. My host dad told me that I should bring in a map with me of the houses that needed water but I was told that they have an idea on what the different villages look like.
When I arrived at the SWA I told the woman at the payments counter why I was there and she told me that I really should be at Bluebird Lumber to buy the pipes and find out about my project. She saw my confusion and got a man from the office to go with me.
While we were walking there he explained that he was raised the Samoan way and that was to help out everyone, especially those who are Palagi. It was nice to know that he would be as helpful as possible to me. I asked him if going to the store was what I needed because I was coming as a request to the entire village.
We began to head back into the office because he realized the store was not what I needed. I sat with him in his office for a while to describe the reason for me being there. It sounded like he understood and I began writing notes for him to pass on to someone else.
I was then passed onto someone else so they could get paperwork started for me. Halfway through the paperwork we realized that I should not be filling that out and paying the money. The survey was for each individual family and then they would be paying $250 more to get the water connected. So unless I was to put up the bill for my village, I was in the wrong place. They told me that I should be directing the families to them to help get the paperwork started.
I was also told that there is a village committee that deals with the water. I should talk with them to figure everything out. I guess I will try to talk with either the Matai or the women’s committee this week and see how they want to go about this and to find out if this committee actually does exist.
It seems like it is extremely interesting to get work done here. What may look like an easy simple project, really will turn into a huge one where you are unsure where to go to next.

Hurricane Rene

Hurricane Rene
We warned….through text messages and by those who have watched the news about this hurricane. I was becoming nervous. I didn’t know what to expect. I had a trip to the doctor planned but was unsure if I would make it.
The storm was supposed to start Thursday night, and a little rain and wind came. But by Friday morning when the storm was supposed to be at its worst, the sun was shining as bright as ever. It was safe to at least go to the doctor in the morning and head back as soon as possible.
The doctor is located at the market, and because it is Samoa and they try to make things as difficult as possible the doctor’s phone number was off. When I tried his backup number, again that was disconnected. I did not know what to expect. He could be there, or I could have made the trip for no apparent reason. Luckily, after my search of every shop outside the market, I found his office and after waiting for him to show up for only 45 minutes he showed up.
A few more of us met up and the “hurricane” had started. We were having pretty big winds and a lot of rain. It still did not feel like much compared to the storm we had a few weeks prior. (Where all of us were terrified!)
We had heard that the boats were not running, and judging by how the waves were, I think this was a smart idea. My host dad was in American Samoa, which was in a more direct hit from the storm, and his plane flights were cancelled. Because of all the confusion on the weather, the bus schedule was a little messed up and it took three hours for the bus to show up to go back home.
When I got home I had to laugh because our house was turned upside down to get ready for this cyclone. Furniture was moved, suitcases were packed, candles were ready to be our only source of light, and my family was ready for whatever was necessary. They said it was because of Hurricane Ofa in 1992 that they needed to be prepared, since they lost so much during that storm. Thankfully they now know what to do in case of an emergency.
Don’t worry, the emergency bag is packed and I am ready for whatever is thrown at me.

School

School Days
So school has been in session for two weeks now… and I can say without any kind of doubt that I was lucky to be teaching in America. The resources for American teachers is amazing! Here… you have to be real creative to teach! Not that that is always a bad thing….
I saw a teacher using sea shells as counters for math and it was perfect! He was also using a wooden stool to act like a dry erase board with chalk.
The classrooms have a lack of books, and the teachers find ways to make due. They have stories from their curriculum books that they put on chart paper to teach with. Some schools have a library. My school has several dozen books… but most are the one sentence per page books that we give to kindergarteners in America.
At the thrift store I bought some books to share with my class including a few Dr. Seuss ones. I introduced read aloud to the kids and they seemed to love them. They do not get many books with pictures here…so it was a nice change for them.
The school day here is stressful because of how different it is to what we think of as being normal. I was given the schemes book to teach English…and the last time it was updated was in 1990. So the stories in it are old, and I am not sure are completely relevant to the children anymore. I am trying to make due and teach it as close to what they know of as being normal as possible…
I also taught social sciences the other day when a teacher was out and the schemes book I was given was from 1984. I do not know if Samoa has redone their curriculum since then, but that was all the school had.
Another time that I helped out when a teacher was not there, there was no schemes book, so I just made up the lesson based upon what I thought they students needed to know. (adding and subtracting seems to need help across the board.)
In America we have to bring in supplies for the classroom to make the living environment better for the class. They bring in tissue boxes, paper towels and other small items. Students need to do that here too…only they bring in brooms and mats (both homemade) and their own toilet paper (the bathroom is finally up and running again!)
Hearing about corporal punishment and seeing it are two different things. There is the slight hit….which I received when a student was trying to get my attention. (She did not appreciate me telling her that she should not hit her teachers in any form. ) There are also the slight taps with objects such as brooms. I have also seen the kids dragged into the teachers office to be slapped and once when I was teaching another teacher came into my classroom to hit a few of the boys.
It is mentally frustrating to deal with these issues and I am glad I have the support of others to help me keep my straight.