Grass grows, and sooner or later in needs to be cut. Lawnmowers are rarely used as people do not have the finances to afford them, so machetes are used as replacements. I love watching the cut the grass as they do it with such ease.
As I have mentioned before, I hate cutting the grass. I really do not know how to. The lawnmower we had was always too heavy, and the little ones made me scared I was going to lose a toe. Luckily I had an amazing neighbor who was willing to help me out with this dreadful chore.
At school, the men from the villages cut the malae (playing field) in front of the building, while the children cut the grass on the sides on the road leading to the school building. It is usually the children in the upper grades as the younger ones pulls weeds and do other little chores around the school building.
A few weeks ago on my run, I saw a two year old with the machete cutting the grass. I was shell shocked to see this. This two year old was doing an amazing job, much better than I know I could have done. He was fearless of the machete and I think it helped him.
I am still full of fear when doing things with a machete and I think it really hinders my ability to do things appropriately. I am just fearful of the knife slipping away and hitting someone.
Hopefully by the time I leave I will be fearless of the machete and offering to cut my neighbor Mike’s grass, instead of the other way around!
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Tuesday, July 6, 2010
Independence Day Part IV
Independence Day was on a Sunday, which meant that people in America had the day off on Monday, and we felt as though we should be included in this as well. I had plenty of errands to run in town, and there was no time to do them earlier during the weekend.
I continued my tradition of eating chili cheese hot dogs for the weekend, and it was delicious!
We decided to stay for the hash run that evening and were glad that we made the right decision. The hare who set up the route, I think forgot to do it ahead of time, because as we were running up and down the hills of the Cross Island Road, I saw someone dropping the pieces of shredded paper all about the side of the road.
Training for the relay is really helping out and I am feeling as strong as ever. The hills did not bother me quite as much as they did a few weeks ago which made me happy.
In the spirit of Independence Day, I kept my flag flying high in the sky as I ran around in what felt like circles. Many people were laughing, but I felt proud to be an American.
The next morning, we headed back to reality. We awoke early, hopped in a cab at 4:45 to catch the first boat to Savai’i. (I had lost the key to my house over the long weekend, and I had a spare in our office. So I really needed to make sure I had time to make it there.)
I was tapped on the shoulder as soon as we boarded the boat. I ran in to Aussie Andy, a volunteer who is working on developing cricket in the villages. He was heading to Savaii to work with the youth in a few different villages.
He invited us to spend time with them on the boat, and since there were no free chairs, we were eager to take him up on his invitation. The back of the pickup was filled with bags of cricket equipment. I crawled in, found a little nook to lie in and took a nap. When I woke up, Andrew was laughing and told me I have become a true Samoan, able to sleep anywhere.
This leads me to the present where I am sitting in the office, watching the rain and wondering when my bus will show up to take me to work and home. Today is Tuesday, and the ferry runs a random route today, so I am clueless as to when the busses come, since the ferry might not arrive for hours.
Sooner or later, I will get home and be able to relax and enjoy my loveable Samoan family.
I continued my tradition of eating chili cheese hot dogs for the weekend, and it was delicious!
We decided to stay for the hash run that evening and were glad that we made the right decision. The hare who set up the route, I think forgot to do it ahead of time, because as we were running up and down the hills of the Cross Island Road, I saw someone dropping the pieces of shredded paper all about the side of the road.
Training for the relay is really helping out and I am feeling as strong as ever. The hills did not bother me quite as much as they did a few weeks ago which made me happy.
In the spirit of Independence Day, I kept my flag flying high in the sky as I ran around in what felt like circles. Many people were laughing, but I felt proud to be an American.
The next morning, we headed back to reality. We awoke early, hopped in a cab at 4:45 to catch the first boat to Savai’i. (I had lost the key to my house over the long weekend, and I had a spare in our office. So I really needed to make sure I had time to make it there.)
I was tapped on the shoulder as soon as we boarded the boat. I ran in to Aussie Andy, a volunteer who is working on developing cricket in the villages. He was heading to Savaii to work with the youth in a few different villages.
He invited us to spend time with them on the boat, and since there were no free chairs, we were eager to take him up on his invitation. The back of the pickup was filled with bags of cricket equipment. I crawled in, found a little nook to lie in and took a nap. When I woke up, Andrew was laughing and told me I have become a true Samoan, able to sleep anywhere.
This leads me to the present where I am sitting in the office, watching the rain and wondering when my bus will show up to take me to work and home. Today is Tuesday, and the ferry runs a random route today, so I am clueless as to when the busses come, since the ferry might not arrive for hours.
Sooner or later, I will get home and be able to relax and enjoy my loveable Samoan family.
Independence Day Part III
We are American and wanted to spend some time with Americans. What better place to do that than go aboard the Kukui and experience an amazing tour courtesy of our Coast Guard friends. We arrived at the gate leading up to the wharf, ready for some excitement. We said who we were to the people at the gate, and told them that someone from the ship was going to pick us up for a tour. They responded with telling us no, we weren’t allowed. Sunday is a day that the port is closed and we should not be on board. We walked away upset.
Denise, one of the amazing staff members we have in our Peace Corps office did not want to take no for an answer, so two of them got on their phones to try and get stuff done. About half an hour later, one of the men was sporting an amazing Kukui hat, and we were finally walking to the ship.
The tour was awesome; we learned why they were in the area and what exactly they do while at sea. We saw some familiar faces from the previous night, which is always comforting.
The best part about it was I got a new pe’u (boyfriend). His name is Oscar and I was able to hang out with him for awhile as he is always jus sitting on the deck of the ship. Oscar is the dummy for practicing the different drills. He has a dislocated knee and a missing foot from all the work he has to do.
The men took us around to see the different parts of the ship, the cafeteria, living quarters, and much more. Everyone was so friendly and it reminded me of a miniature version of the Intrepid, the ship that my family made a point of touring yearly in the NY Harbor. I felt like a little kid again as I hoisted myself onto the captain’s chair and had a great view of the ocean.
They taught us basis about the machines and the computers, and we were able to find the Peace Corps office on the computer screen, which put a smile on my face.
At the end we were presented with a nice Kukui hat to remind ourselves of the men and women we met aboard the Kukui for Independence Day.
Later in the evening we decided to relax at Aggie Gray’s resort. (We figured we derived it.) We met up with some of the Coast Guard men, and some other friends and had a lovely evening relaxing at the pool and chatting on the seawall.
There were no fireworks for the 4th in the sky, but with the experiences me and my friend had for the holiday, we were still very excited with how the weekend turned out. We are ready for next year and the adventures that unwind.
Denise, one of the amazing staff members we have in our Peace Corps office did not want to take no for an answer, so two of them got on their phones to try and get stuff done. About half an hour later, one of the men was sporting an amazing Kukui hat, and we were finally walking to the ship.
The tour was awesome; we learned why they were in the area and what exactly they do while at sea. We saw some familiar faces from the previous night, which is always comforting.
The best part about it was I got a new pe’u (boyfriend). His name is Oscar and I was able to hang out with him for awhile as he is always jus sitting on the deck of the ship. Oscar is the dummy for practicing the different drills. He has a dislocated knee and a missing foot from all the work he has to do.
The men took us around to see the different parts of the ship, the cafeteria, living quarters, and much more. Everyone was so friendly and it reminded me of a miniature version of the Intrepid, the ship that my family made a point of touring yearly in the NY Harbor. I felt like a little kid again as I hoisted myself onto the captain’s chair and had a great view of the ocean.
They taught us basis about the machines and the computers, and we were able to find the Peace Corps office on the computer screen, which put a smile on my face.
At the end we were presented with a nice Kukui hat to remind ourselves of the men and women we met aboard the Kukui for Independence Day.
Later in the evening we decided to relax at Aggie Gray’s resort. (We figured we derived it.) We met up with some of the Coast Guard men, and some other friends and had a lovely evening relaxing at the pool and chatting on the seawall.
There were no fireworks for the 4th in the sky, but with the experiences me and my friend had for the holiday, we were still very excited with how the weekend turned out. We are ready for next year and the adventures that unwind.
Independence Day Part II
Saturday we were ready for our round two of celebrations. The morning was spent diddly daddling around the office and Apia. We went to the market to buy fresh fruit to make fruit salads for our events later in the day.
When we were hanging out, we got to talking about one of our favorite events over the 4th, and hot dogs came up several times. Who did we think was going to win the hot dog eating contest, and what are the best ingredients to put on a dog. We talked about it so much that I craved hot dogs all weekend and tried to eat them every chance I got.
Since we had a water boiler, a few of us decided to have a hot dog party, since we didn’t have the financial resources to make our own hot dog eating contest. We cooked our hot dogs and walked to the sea wall to get the full experience of being in Samoa on an American holiday.
The hot dogs tasted so good that we ate and ate until we were stuffed. (Then wondered how the people in the competition at Coney Island can go through 50-60 dogs in such a short time.) While we ate we had two dogs drooling over our food. Since there were leftovers as we are not the true Coney Island champions, we decided to feed the hungry dogs.
The Ambassadors office was having a picnic for us that evening so we headed over there where we shared food and a good time.
At the park we played croquet, ate a lot of food, and played volleyball. The US Coast Guard was docked in the harbor, so some of the men from the ship came and joined us. When it became too dark to see the ball we headed back to the shelter where we watched a slideshow about America making us all teary eyed. They handed out sparklers and the evening came alive. It was beautiful.
After the picnic we had a gong away part for group 80. The party was to take place at another volunteer’s house which is on the school compound. The students at his school helped him clean up and decorate in true Samoan fashion. The place looked amazing.
We played games, ate a lot of food, sang karaoke and just had an amazing time. It was truly an evening to remember.
Throughout the day, I decided I was going to celebrate the holiday right, so I kept two flags in my hair at the pig tails. I would randomly take them out and begin waving them around until some begged me for a flag, and I caved. (PS Jen…can you find more flags!)
It was still only the 3rd of July…so more fun had to happen before the holiday was over!
When we were hanging out, we got to talking about one of our favorite events over the 4th, and hot dogs came up several times. Who did we think was going to win the hot dog eating contest, and what are the best ingredients to put on a dog. We talked about it so much that I craved hot dogs all weekend and tried to eat them every chance I got.
Since we had a water boiler, a few of us decided to have a hot dog party, since we didn’t have the financial resources to make our own hot dog eating contest. We cooked our hot dogs and walked to the sea wall to get the full experience of being in Samoa on an American holiday.
The hot dogs tasted so good that we ate and ate until we were stuffed. (Then wondered how the people in the competition at Coney Island can go through 50-60 dogs in such a short time.) While we ate we had two dogs drooling over our food. Since there were leftovers as we are not the true Coney Island champions, we decided to feed the hungry dogs.
The Ambassadors office was having a picnic for us that evening so we headed over there where we shared food and a good time.
At the park we played croquet, ate a lot of food, and played volleyball. The US Coast Guard was docked in the harbor, so some of the men from the ship came and joined us. When it became too dark to see the ball we headed back to the shelter where we watched a slideshow about America making us all teary eyed. They handed out sparklers and the evening came alive. It was beautiful.
After the picnic we had a gong away part for group 80. The party was to take place at another volunteer’s house which is on the school compound. The students at his school helped him clean up and decorate in true Samoan fashion. The place looked amazing.
We played games, ate a lot of food, sang karaoke and just had an amazing time. It was truly an evening to remember.
Throughout the day, I decided I was going to celebrate the holiday right, so I kept two flags in my hair at the pig tails. I would randomly take them out and begin waving them around until some begged me for a flag, and I caved. (PS Jen…can you find more flags!)
It was still only the 3rd of July…so more fun had to happen before the holiday was over!
Independence Part I
ID4 Part I
I made the trip to Apia, it was long and I was exhausted. The only plans I had for the day was to do my normal errands (shopping, paying the electric bill and visiting the PCMO [Peace Corps Medical Officer] to update on my random illnesses.).
In the early afternoon we gathered together to get ready for our soccer game. We were to be against the leoleo (police). We arrived at the soccer field ready to play, as well as ready to finish the game early so we could attend the Ambassadors’ celebration for the holiday. We started warming up doing these drills and realized quickly that too many men’s voices are not helpful. Everyone of them tried to contradict each other as they know they are the alpha male.
After our 30 min warm up the other team began arriving. There must have been 50 of them. They looked strong and we had heard many rumors about them which made us nervous. The game began and we were surprisingly keeping up. I was able to play defense and had a few steals of the ball which made me happy. We had a few shots on goal that were all unsuccessful, and our amazing goalie Erica (No Way Erica-because there is no way the ball can get passed her) stood her ground on the other end. The boys on our team were working together and not trying to dominate the game. Halftime the score was still 0-0.
The second half, some of the boys turned into the alphas I know. The rules for the league are there has to be at least 2 girls on the field at one time, which means there could be more. The boys wanted to dominate the game, they wanted the chance to be victorious, but they didn’t think having certain girls on the field like me would help their chances and so I spent some of the second half arguing that I can trade off with a boy. Finally they caved and I think there were 4 of us girls on the field at the time. We held our ground, with the score remaining unchanged when the boys subbed us out again.
There was only a few minutes left in the game and we began to get nervous. The leoleo were powerful and we spent a lot of time just playing defense. Several times there were throwing the ball in right next to the goal and I was nervous that it would be too much for Erica. Then in happened.
A ball was passed in and everyone was ready to defend it. It went high. A few heads were ready to bounce it out of the way.
One of the Peace Corps guys jumped up high.
The ball bounced off his head.
Erica jumped up high but could not reach the ball and it bounced into the goal.
We played our hearts out the last minute of the game, but were unable to score ourselves.
It was a disappointing loss as we all tried so hard and thought we had the game. No matter what, we were not going to let it ruin our spirits. This was our weekend, and we had to celebrate for the entire the weekend.
We quickly went into the locker rooms which they graciously opened just for us, and changed into our fancy clothes that we normally are unable to wear (as they are not Samoan) and headed for a taxi.
We showed up late to the Ambassador’s party, and missed the beautiful singing of Corina doing the national anthem. We were able to hear the beautiful speeches welcoming us to the party, and were all given a miniature copy of the Declaration of Independence to bring home.
We snacked on appetizers as we chatted with all the Americans they could round up in country. I talked with one woman who did the relay race last year, and it was nice to be able to size up our competition for August.
Most of the volunteers were in town and it was nice to be a part of my Peace Corps family. It was Friday and the weekend had just began and we were ready for more fun.
ReflectionsID
Independence Day Reflections
I have had a lot of fun and exciting times on Independence Day over the past many years. Growing up it was always a family holiday where we would often spend time with our neighbors seeing what fireworks we could see over the houses in our development. Someone would always bring out sparklers for the kids, and some of the neighbors across the street would light their own show while I watched wondering if they would burn our street down. I was always terrified of being too close to fireworks as I thought they would cause me to be on fire, even the little sparklers.
There were a few years where we left New York, and took a family field trip to North Carolina or other places. I remember one year in North Carolina we all gathered with the rest of the small city at the local high school to watch the fireworks.
When I got older, I was finally able to stray from my parents for the fireworks show while still being in New York. Each year is always so memorable. I have spent the evening under the Verrazano Bridge to see the amazing Macy’s show. We have spent a few times at the ballpark where they do not disappoint their spectators. South Street Seaport was memorable as we alternated hiding from the downpour and watching the show in the sky. One year I went with my friend Robin in a car to chase down the best on street illegal firework show. Staten Island never seems to disappoint with their block party shows.
When I moved to Wyoming, we had a few fun times with the 4th of July with bonfires in the mountains. There is a nice firework show, and one year me and my friends sat on the tires on top of the roof of their doublewide to watch the show. When it was over we shot off bottle rockets from the roof, and thankfully no fires were started.
Moving to Colorado, I quickly came back to the family atmosphere with my neighbors. Every year we are blessed with one of the best shows and always have the best seats. We enjoy our time together eating to our hearts desire, then when it starts to get dark the ladder comes out. We made our way to the roof, usually wearing layers of clothes as the 4th seems to always be a chilly evening in the Denver area. We are so close to the action that the fireworks actually fell on us. It was always an amazing view.
Two years ago my sister decided to make the most of the holiday by giving ourselves the ultimate treatment. We started the celebration with a baseball road trip, while visiting a few other memorable sites across the country. (The world’s largest shuttlecocks are fun, as well as the world biggest easel that holds the world’s biggest Van Gough replica.) We stopped for the 4th in Washington DC and visited with Shannon. Shannon took us to the river where we saw the amazing display and afterwards we lit sparklers on her roof. The following day we explored the mall area and had a great time experiencing the beauty of Washington.
I then finished up the baseball road trip with my dad as we went to a few stadiums on the east coast.
This will be the first independence Day away from the States. I am not sure what will happen, but I know it will probably be just as memorable.
I have had a lot of fun and exciting times on Independence Day over the past many years. Growing up it was always a family holiday where we would often spend time with our neighbors seeing what fireworks we could see over the houses in our development. Someone would always bring out sparklers for the kids, and some of the neighbors across the street would light their own show while I watched wondering if they would burn our street down. I was always terrified of being too close to fireworks as I thought they would cause me to be on fire, even the little sparklers.
There were a few years where we left New York, and took a family field trip to North Carolina or other places. I remember one year in North Carolina we all gathered with the rest of the small city at the local high school to watch the fireworks.
When I got older, I was finally able to stray from my parents for the fireworks show while still being in New York. Each year is always so memorable. I have spent the evening under the Verrazano Bridge to see the amazing Macy’s show. We have spent a few times at the ballpark where they do not disappoint their spectators. South Street Seaport was memorable as we alternated hiding from the downpour and watching the show in the sky. One year I went with my friend Robin in a car to chase down the best on street illegal firework show. Staten Island never seems to disappoint with their block party shows.
When I moved to Wyoming, we had a few fun times with the 4th of July with bonfires in the mountains. There is a nice firework show, and one year me and my friends sat on the tires on top of the roof of their doublewide to watch the show. When it was over we shot off bottle rockets from the roof, and thankfully no fires were started.
Moving to Colorado, I quickly came back to the family atmosphere with my neighbors. Every year we are blessed with one of the best shows and always have the best seats. We enjoy our time together eating to our hearts desire, then when it starts to get dark the ladder comes out. We made our way to the roof, usually wearing layers of clothes as the 4th seems to always be a chilly evening in the Denver area. We are so close to the action that the fireworks actually fell on us. It was always an amazing view.
Two years ago my sister decided to make the most of the holiday by giving ourselves the ultimate treatment. We started the celebration with a baseball road trip, while visiting a few other memorable sites across the country. (The world’s largest shuttlecocks are fun, as well as the world biggest easel that holds the world’s biggest Van Gough replica.) We stopped for the 4th in Washington DC and visited with Shannon. Shannon took us to the river where we saw the amazing display and afterwards we lit sparklers on her roof. The following day we explored the mall area and had a great time experiencing the beauty of Washington.
I then finished up the baseball road trip with my dad as we went to a few stadiums on the east coast.
This will be the first independence Day away from the States. I am not sure what will happen, but I know it will probably be just as memorable.
Friday, July 2, 2010
Cows and Independence Day
It’s 4:30 A.M. What am I doing? Waiting for the ferry of course. I wasn’t planning on leaving so early in the morning. In fact I was looking forward to attending school today as I had to collect things from my year 8 class. My dad was going to Apia, on the first boat, and I was asked to join him instead of going at a later time. How could I refuse?
Until this morning, I never understood the purpose of cows being tied up to trees, however I am convinced there is a cow gang on the west side of Savai’i. There are always too many cows out on the road at this time. What are they doing? My prediction is coming from a cow rave. Because these cows are still in their funny mood from their party, they don’t notice the cars that are coming by on the main road and cause accidents.
Cows, please start going to sleep at night so we can have a safe drive.
But as for me, I am off to Apia for the Independence Day celebration. It will be a lot of fun, especially because all of my non American friends know of this holiday. However, they do not know of it in terms of history books. They know of it from the movie Independence Day. Quite a few of them have asked me about the aliens and Will Smith. For any non American, or American that thinks this, this is not what the holiday is about. It never happened. It was a movie.
In closing words, Independence Day is about freedom from British rule, and cows please stay off the road.
Until this morning, I never understood the purpose of cows being tied up to trees, however I am convinced there is a cow gang on the west side of Savai’i. There are always too many cows out on the road at this time. What are they doing? My prediction is coming from a cow rave. Because these cows are still in their funny mood from their party, they don’t notice the cars that are coming by on the main road and cause accidents.
Cows, please start going to sleep at night so we can have a safe drive.
But as for me, I am off to Apia for the Independence Day celebration. It will be a lot of fun, especially because all of my non American friends know of this holiday. However, they do not know of it in terms of history books. They know of it from the movie Independence Day. Quite a few of them have asked me about the aliens and Will Smith. For any non American, or American that thinks this, this is not what the holiday is about. It never happened. It was a movie.
In closing words, Independence Day is about freedom from British rule, and cows please stay off the road.
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