Tuesday, August 29, 2006

Today I became a Peace Corps Volunteer

August 23 -
Well, I made it through 11 weeks of training all in one piece except perhaps men are those who would argue that there was room for doubt about thattally, but there from the beginning, so let's just say "I made it!" Today group 76 Samoa trainees were sworn in as full-fledged volunteers and will begin serving our 24 month stint tomorrow. The ceremony was held in our training village of Vaie'e so the people we have lived with and become very involved with could be a part of our big day. PC has never done it that way before but we are unanimous that it made it truly a memorable experience; far more so than it would have been if we had been in a hotel banquet room in Apia as has been done in the past. Our village was able to be a large part of the ceremony, making it special for them and for us as well.

August 24 -
I returned to Manono Island today with all my accumulated stuff. I swear I have twice as much as I brought with me from the states. Of course some of that is PC issued things like a water filter and a medical kit. I am also the proud owner of a new Trek mountain bike and helmet but they are still in the office until I can figure out what to do with them.

I was greeted by the village chiefs with an ava ceremony and many speeches, of which I understood virtually nothing. Fortunately my hostess was at the meeting so she translated bits and pieces for me. She then left to go back to work and my pulenu'u suggested an hour and a half rest then we would go meet with the principal and teachers of the primary school. I of course was not keen on that idea as all my worldly possessions were still sitting in bags in my room and I really wanted to do a good cleaning and then unpack, but I agreed. Lucky for me, in true Samoan style, he never showed up at the appointed time so I was able to get quite a bit done.

Dinner time rolled around and here I was in my new home, sans groceries except for some bread and peanut butter. I was having my peanut butter sandwich when he showed up apologizing for not keeping our appointment and asking if I would like some fish and bananas. Of course I said yes. By the way, when you have fish here you get it served with the head still attached. Samoans consider it a great delicacy - I'll pass, thank you very much!

He told me he and his wife would return later to sleep on the floor in the "living room". It looks like that is something I will have to learn to live with for the next two years. I can't imagine anyone wanting to spend two years away from their own home every night and I don't know whether the village has a plan for various people to rotate through the duty, but it should be interesting. It's not really a problem for me as long as they show up late, stay quiet, and leave early. I just close and lock the door between the living room and kitchen, then go in my room and shut and lock it, so there are two layers of locks between me and the outside world. PC also makes them put security wire on all the windows and that comes with bug screens so once I am in my room the skeeters can't get me either. Somehow though the cockroaches always manage to find a way, and I'm sure you will all be happy to know that my "roommate" was waiting for me in the bathroom last night. I am told they don't bite (hopefully that's true!) and anything that size has to eat a lot of bugs, so I guess he can stay for now.

August 25 -
Today the ladies, P and K, were supposed to come at 10:00am and we were going to go do something or other - I never was entirely sure what it was. I figured I could get a good start on cleaning my bathroom and was knee deep in bathroom cleaner, bleach and soap suds when K showed up at 8:00am. Needless to say I was in no condition to go visit anyone and she said she was going to be very busy the rest of the morning, so we agreed to cancel. It was great for me because I was able to finish cleaning and actually unpack all my bags for the first time since I left home on June 4th.

There is one slight problem however. I have no desk, no dresser, and no closet. The standard Samoan method of storing clothes is in a large wooden chest that is about 3 1/2 x 2 feet by 18 inches deep, which means if you want something you have to go digging for it. Most furniture is readily available in Apia, but getting it to the island would be another story. I talked with the pulenu'u about seeing if anyone in the village has a dresser that they might want to sell so I'll see what happens with that. I am also having a carpenter make me a chair - something like an adirondack chair - that I can get cushions for so I will have something other that a straight back resin patio chair to sit in. The host families are supposed to provide the volunteer a desk, and I am having a couple of mats made to put down on the floor. One more shopping trip to Apia and I think I will be pretty well set. I saw a hanging storage bag with multiple compartments that I think I will pick up.

August 26
It’s Saturday and no one came yesterday. I had my first run down the way to the Komiti house to answer the telephone though. One of the little neighbor boys came over and blabbed something in Samoan to which I replied with a blank stare, then his older brother managed to convey to me that I had a phone call so away I went feeling somewhat like a character in Little House on the Prairie running to the store to answer the only phone in town. It seems my hostess won’t be here until Sunday morning and can’t bring the desk because you aren’t supposed to work on Sunday. She did however say she has a chair she thinks might work for me and she will bring that. I guess work is relevant to size.

August 27 –
First Sunday in my new village. There are three churches here – Methodist, Congregational Christian (like the one in my training village) and Catholic. My plan is to rotate through all three just so the whole village feels like they have a piece of me. Today however was Methodist Sunday since that is where my host family goes. I got all dressed up in my Sunday go to white clothes, borrowed a white hat and off I went. The service was much like any other protestant service, but I will say the music was nowhere as good as at the church in Vaie’e. I think next Sunday I’ll go to the Congregational Christian church and see if it is the songs themselves or the singers that make a difference.

After church we returned to the house and I changed clothes, had some lunch, and was talking to my hostess when one of the village ladies stopped by to invite me to the Sunday lunch meeting of the Aualuma, which is all the daughters and sisters of the village chiefs. Of course I couldn’t say no – I mean I am trying to integrate here, so I put on a puletasi (dress) and off I went. Visualize me sitting on the floor, pretending to eat lunch, pretending that I understood at least some Samoan, and then giving a speech of introduction, which by the way was in Samoan. What was I thinking!!! Ah well, as soon as everyone finished I excused myself (or should I say I was excused) and their meeting proceeded without me.

August 28 –
I intended to go to Apia today to do some shopping, but I didn’t get up early enough to catch the 6:00am boat off the island. I figured there would be another one sometime in the next hour or so but three hours later I was still waiting. Fortunately, since I can see the boats coming and going from my house I was able to wait in comfort but I finally gave up and decided to go tomorrow.

I did get a couple of things accomplished. I think I have an interpreter lined up so I can begin my village survey towards the end of the week, and I, along with P, met with the president of the Women’s Komiti for about a half an hour or so. Since she is a big honcho in the village I figured I should at least go introduce myself.

Tuesday, August 22, 2006

Farewell to the Village

August 19 -

Thursday was the language proficiency interview and I am happy to report that I passed, along with all the rest of my training group. I'm sure my score was pathetic, but as long as I passed I don't really care except that I am now going to have to try and use the language in earnest. My plan is to get someone in my new village to help me with practicing it until I can get a little more fluent - read that a LOT more fluent! So now it is just finishing up the next few days and then swearing in is on Wednesday morning the 23rd.

Today we said farewell to the training village in the traditional Samoan way with a "fiafia". All the villagers and the volunteers and the mucky mucks from PC staff got together and performed for each other with dances, songs, and skits. It was great fun and for a bunch of white folks we did pretty good. We got them to laugh, which in Samoa is a sure sign of success. They presented us with gifts (see the picture of the pile of baskets and lavalavas, mats, etc.) which we haven't gotten yet but are supposed to be handed out to us tomorrow.

Then we went home with our families and had our farewell with them. My family decided to have a papakiu (barbecue) of mutton flaps, sausages, and chicken. They often barbecue on the bed of an old wheelbarrow using coconut husks as briquettes, but it was raining so ours was done indoors in the fale that is normally used for building an umu to roasts pigs, etc. The barbecue sauce was soysauce, sugar, and onion and it was delicious. I ate way too much. Then I gave them gifts, some of which I brought from the states and some I got here. They cried, I cried, we all cried, and then we had a party with other members of their extended family and some of the other trainees who dropped in. It was a great evening. The next morning we all walked down to the PC training facility with my many bags - quite a bit more stuff than when I first went there 9 weeks ago. We said our farewells for the last time with promises to visit, loaded up and headed back to Apia.We will actually return to the village one more time on Wednesday the 23rd for our swearing in at which time I will officially become a Peace Corps Volunteer instead of trainee.

I will be here in Apia living in the lap of luxury in an air-conditioned hotel room with cockroaches and gazillions of mosquitoes until Thursday morning when the folks from Faleu come to whisk me away to my miniature tropical island. Then the real reason for my being here begins.

It's going to be about an hour and a half trip to the Internet Cafe, so don't expect very frequent updates, although for the first couple of weeks I will probably have to make several trips back into Apia while I am trying to get my living quarters in order. I'm trying to get pictures posted up to the current time so you can see what I've been up to.









The scenery shots are from Drop off Day coming back across the mountains. There are the most awsome tree ferns, banyon trees, and just jungle growth in general up there.

Then there are pictures of Manono that I took during my OJT visit.

There's a picture of my room from the outside (its the corner room in the back with the open fale portion in front and the ocean to the left). Eat your hearts out folks! Of course paradise comes with a few flaws. Check out the picture of my roommate - In case you can't figure that one out, it is brown and has 8 legs, and no, I don't know whether it is a boy or girl!

There is a shot of my kitchen table and fridge and another of the kitchen counter and range. The open room to the right is my "living room" also known as the family sleeping room when they come on weekends.

A picture of my room (the bath towel is hanging on the bathroom door to the right), a shot of the ocean from right
outside my bedroom window, one of the boat dock from my "living room", a reef heron behind the house, a couple of pictures of the inside of the roof on the 100 year old traditional fale showing the braided coconut twine that holds it together, a picture of the path going along the shore towards Faleu and the "butterfly patch". You walk right through this one spot along the path where these butterflies are always hanging out and it is the only place I have seen them.











Then there are pictures of the training , village, villagers, and trainees that I took the day we worked on the beautification project with the villagers. They wanted to plant flowers along both sides of the road the entire length of the village, and build new garbage receptacles. There actually is a garbage truck that comes by once a week and picks up anything left there. They have to be elevated so the dogs don't strew the goodies all over the place so the guys worked on those while us girls worked on the planting. Hopefully they will survive.

Thursday, August 17, 2006

OJT in Faleu

July 31 -
Never in my wildest dreams did I think I would have a place like this to live in! My house is RIGHT on the ocean, like 20 feet from the water up on a bank of lava with a mini lagoon on one side and banana trees separating it from the house next door on the other side. I can sit in my corner room and look out at the azure water breaking on the coral reef just offshore. The boat dock is one house down on the other side of the lagoon and across the "road", which is really a path that alternates between sand and lava outcroppings, from it is the Methodist church. Between them is a large sandy area that is used for sports and ceremonial activities.

The house itself is quite large. Two thirds is an open fale that the family uses as their living/sleeping room when they come out from Apia on weekends. The rest is enclosed and divided into three rooms, my bedroom, then the kitchen in the middle, then another room on the other end of the house where they store their sleeping mats and other personal possessions. My room is quite large with it's own locking door AND a bathroom with flush toilet and a sink. Yeah! I don't have to get dressed to go to the bathroom in the middle of the night anymore. The kitchen is great. There is a range with oven, refrigerator/freezer, two burner counter top propane stove, a stainless sink and counter unit, a table with granite type top, and lots of cupboards, all of which need a thorough cleaning and disinfecting, but I'll deal with that when I actually get moved in.

It is an absolutely perfect day today. The sun is shining and there is a stiff trade wind blowing from the southeast off the ocean so if you are in the shade it isn't hot at all. It also seems a lot less humid than my training village, which is a blessing.

The village mayor and the lady whose family owns the house picked me up in Apia. She speaks excellent English, he doesn't speak much. We stopped by the house to drop of my bags and show me around then went to the neighboring village to a funeral. Afterwards we walked down the road back to my village and had some lunch served us. After lunch we walked around the village a bit meeting people and finding out where things are. It seems the biggest issues are their health center and the water supply. They have a new building for the health center but no supplies. I was fortunate that the government visiting nurses were there that day so I was able to talk with them about what was needed to actually turn an empty building into a real health center. This will probably be one of my higher priorities.

My pulenu’u has set up a committee of two women who are to be my guides while I am here. This afternoon they walked me down the left hand side of the village from my house so I could begin my job of mapping the village and where everyone lives. They stayed for dinner, which was brought to us by the pulenu’u and his wife. When we finished eating they left after agreeing to meet again at 9:30am.

August 1 -
Since my host family lives in Apia and only comes here on the weekends I am being "taken care of" by the pulenu'u and his wife. Last night, in spite of my efforts to assure them that I would be fine alone in the house (the kitchen has locks front and back plus my room has a locking door from the kitchen and there is security wire on my windows) they insisted I must let them sleep on the floor outside the kitchen. I finally gave in but it's not something I want for the next 2 years. I'll have to work on it when I come back.

They were gone when I got up so I walked around in my pajamas, made a cup of coffee (instant) and sat in my room admiring the view. How nice it is!!! There is a small grassy area outside the kitchen and my room where I might be able to plant some veggies and a spot where I can put a small table and chair to sit at in the mornings. It is screened from the house across the road by the water tanks and the shower building and is shaded by the main house which is important because even at 7:00am the sun is very hot.

Did I mention that there is no water on this island? It all has to come from the sky via runoff from the roofs that is collected in big water tanks. This house has 3 tanks on the ground and an electric pump that pumps water to a 4th tank up on a platform which then has pipes to the house, hence running water for the shower, kitchen, and bathrooms (2 of them).

The assigned time of 9:30 came and went and my committee didn’t show up. That is not at all unusual when operating on Samoan time so I puttered around until 10:15 when the pulenu’u showed up and we went looking for them. One of the ladies lives clear at the other end of the village which is quite a distance so we stopped at the other's house and found her sleeping. We decided that while she got ready we would go and talk to the Methodist minister to see if he had any thoughts about what needs to be done in the village. I talked to him and his wife for about 45 minutes then we went back to K’s fale. She was ready so the pulenu’u left and we began the long walk to P’s house. She apologized profusely for being late and went to get us some koko Samoa.

While I was sitting there I looked up at the “ceiling” of the fale and was duly impressed. This was no ordinary fale. It belonged to P’s father (she is 62) and is around 100 years old and retains most of the original craftsmanship except that it now has a tin roof instead of being thatched. I took some pictures and they described how they were built. The wood is cut from a variety of trees depending on where it is to be used. The big posts and beams are a hardwood that grows in the mountains. The main roof supports are segments of breadfruit limbs, and the pieces that are spaced about 2 inches apart that the coconut fronds were tied to are from yet another tree. All pieces are bound together by twine that is made from the fibers in the husk of a coconut. All the pieces were soaked in the sea for several days to soften and cure them and the coconut fibers were then braided together to form the twine. It must have taken a long time to get enough twine! I hope you can tell from the pictures how much was used in this one small fale. I just stood there in awe. It’s the same old story everywhere I guess. Modern craftsmanship just doesn’t match up to the old ways of doing it.

Anyway, we finished our mapping project and went on home. They left and I had lunch then in the afternoon I went up to the Primary School which I had heard needed repairs. Not true. It’s only about 8 years old and in good repair, but what it does need desperately is books for the library. There is one short wall with shelves and some very old reference books but NO picture books that a primary student would enjoy reading. I foresee that as one of my early projects

August 2nd and 3rd –
Uneventful days. No one from my “committee” came to show me around. I did wander down the path to the next village stopping along the way to chat with a woman who was working in her yard. Imagine my pleasant surprise when I found that she speaks excellent English. She has lived in the US off and on for the last 30 years, returning to Manono to care for her aging father. Apparently she and her brother rotate. I’m hopeful that I will be able to use her as a translator in the beginning. The rest of the two days was spent in relaxing, reading, playing solitaire, and enjoying the view.

August 4th-6th –
Returned to Apia, repacked the bags, and went back to the training village for my last two weeks there. It was good to be “home” with my “family” but not good to be back in the humidity and lack of trade winds.

August 7th
This week and next will be less focused on language instruction and more on review. We have a practice Language Proficiency Interview on Friday and some role playing scenarios on Saturday where we put ourselves in various situations, riding in a taxi, going to the market, talking to a man on the street, and visiting a chief at his home, to see whether we can get along on our own. Should be interesting. I guess I’ll find out just how I am doing with language. I do feel better about it lately although those pronouns and indefinite articles will be the death of me!

My computer continues to give me trouble. It worked great in Apia after I paid the big bucks to get it “fixed”, then I used it one night here in the village and it was OK. The next day I tried it and it crashed again! Aaaargh!

August 9 –
This morning when I got up at my usual 6:30am it was really actually cool so I decided to test my theory that the computer problem is caused by temperature. It booted right up! So for the rest of my stay in the village I am only going to use it at night or early morning when there is a good breeze to cool things off. Since the trade winds blow all the time on Manono, hopefully I won’t have the problem once I get to the site.

We continue to practice our songs, dances, and play for the fiafia (going away party) which we will present next week. Only two more weeks until swearing in! Then my two years really begins.

August 11 –
I had my practice Language Proficiency Interview today. It’s 20 minutes of conversation with the tester, all in Samoan of course. Fortunately our trainers know what will be expected of us and have coached us pretty well. Anyway I PASSED with a score of Mid-Intermediate. Low-intermediate is required to pass so I am really happy about it. Now if I just do as well with the real thing.

August 12 –
Tried the computer again because it’s fairly cool this evening and, obviously, it is working fine. At some point I suppose I should try to find out why it is overheating if that is what the problem is, but right now I’m just going on wishes and luck. I don’t have time, knowledge or energy to deal with it right now and the village is not the ideal environment to be opening up a laptop to see what’s inside.

My little brother and sister had their “graduation” today. It’s actually an annual final exam in the morning, and then at 1:00pm the parents and kids go down to the church and listen to all the kids scores being read. My 11year old sister was second in her class and my 8 year old brother was 3rd in his. Their mother was very proud! Apparently the kids with the highest scores get some kind of prizes. We will find out tomorrow after church what those are. I haven’t quite figured out if this is something the church sponsors every year to encourage the kids to do well in school, or whether it is an official school function. It’s very hard here to differentiate between church and state roles.

August 17
Language proficiency exams today. That's why I'm here where there is an internet cafe. Assuming all goes well, we leave the village Saturday morning and then are sworn in on Wednesday the 23rd. Then the fun begins.!

Tuesday, August 08, 2006

Village Structure, Cultural Day and Site Placement

July 22-
Today we began to learn a Samoan dance as part of the going away festivities that will be held our last day here in the village. We are also learning some songs and will do a mini (10 minute) play along with serving Samoan food and giving our host families presents as a thank you for having us. Then a bunch of us went to the island again after lunch for some swimming and beach volleyball and rubgy which ended up being water rugby as the tide came in. Great fun.

My day was going great until I fell on my butt in front of the church on my way to choir practice (it was dark and the road had a pothole in it). Of course half the choir was hanging out on the steps waiting for time to start the practice. Gives the phrase "In front of God and everybody" a whole new meaning. Of course I managed to gash my hand and had to be hauled in to Apia so our Medical Officer could clean it out and bandage it up. I did get a banana berry smoothie from McDonalds out of it! Anyway, the hand is fine and now I'm the village star (or is it clown? I don't know - I don't speak the language very well.)

So, how about a lesson in Samoan village structure. Why not, you say? Okay then --
In all Samoan villages there are men with titles who are called alii (or chiefs) and those without. These titles are hereditary and have been passed down for hundreds of years. Originally there was one title in any given family but over time the customs have changed to allow multiple family members to share the same title. Now one man inherits the title and becomes the matai or head of the family, but if another family member is deemed to deserve it they (male of female) may be granded one too. Among all the chiefs in the village there is one high chief and one or more talking chiefs. It is the high chief's duty to ensure the safety and welfare of the entire village. It is the duty of the talking chiefs to talk for the high chief at meetings and to apportion any food or gifts that are given to the village. The remainder of the chiefs are resposible for the welfare of their own families and extended families.

The untitled men are the worker bees. they plant, tend, and harvest food from the plantation and cattle farms. They are also called upon to enforce the curfew and to perform any other tasks the chiefs decide need doing. A man may, as is the case with my host father, hold a title in one village but if he moves to another village he becomes an untitled man there. If he returns to his own village he will still have his title there because once given they are never lost.

Next up are the women. Wives of the chiefs belong to the Women's Komiti and make decisions regarding activities of all the women. Wives of the untitled men do what the Women's Komiti tells them to do along the lines of village cleanup, caring for children and elders, preparing food for feasts, etc.

The other important players in the village are the pulenu'u (mayor) who is a government employee, and the faifeau (minister or priest). Their power varies a great deal from village to village but they are always a force to be reckoned with. So there it is in a nutshell. Life the Samoan way.

July 24th -
Had a quick trip to Apia this morning to get my hand checked. It's still okay - no infection. Then this afternoon we finally got our site assignments. For the next two years I will be living on--- drum roll please--- Manono Island where I went during my volunteer visit. My village is Faleu, population 327.

July 26 -
Today was Cultural Day which meant no classes per se. It was a day long hands on exposure to Samoan food preparation and hospitality by way of helping cook the food and then serving it to the village chiefs. We helped build the umu (oven) which consists of building a fire on a bed of rocks, removing the wood when the rocks are hot, putting some of the hot rocks inside the young pig that was to be roasted then putting it on the bed of rocks. The pig is then covered with more of the hot rocks, taro root goes on next, then fish that has been wrapped in woven coconut leaves, and finally packets of coconut cream wrapped in young taro leaves. To top it off, cover with banana leaves and bake till done.

Other activities we participated in were husking coconuts, scraping the coconut meat out of the shell to be squeezed to make the coconut cream, roasting cocoa beans and then pulverizing them to make Koko Samoa - just add hot water, and it's delicious without either sugar or milk. After that they taught us how to weave a basket out of a coconut frond. They're much better at it than we are!

Time for lunch!. The chiefs arrived and were seated according to rank in the large meeting fale. We drew "parts" to play from a bowl and I got to be one of two talking chiefs and another gal got to be the high chief. The rest of the trainees were either food servers or were to sit in front of us privileged ones and fan our food to keep the flies away..

After a lengthy discussion between our talking chiefs it was agreed that this was a good time to eat, and lunch was served. The main course, roast pork, fish, and the coconut cream "palusami" were served on a plate of papaya leaves. On another "plate" we got a big hunk of taro that would have made more than a meal all by itself. finally they brought us our drink, a niu (young coconut) with a straw sticking out which they sit on a coffee mug to keep it from tipping over. Our servers then waiting nearby allowing us to eat. they watch our plates carefully and if we finish anything they rush up to give us more. None of us are allowed to finish our meal until their high chief has finished, and our servers and fanners are not allowed to eat until we have all finished eating, the remnants of the meal have been removed, and we have been given bowls of water and a towel to wash up. The bad news is, if we eat all the food they serve they get nothing to eat. The good news is there is always plenty for everyone.

Next on the schedule for the day was a Pisikoa vs. Samoa softball game. They have taught our guys cricket and rugby so it was time for us to teach them an American sport. We all migrated to the school ballfield and then it began to rain and it poured the whole time. Everyone was slipping and sliding around. The bases, which were coconut husks, kept moving around the field. One Samoan guy was throwing the ball at people to tag them out, one was hanging onto runners clothes to slow them down, and runners who were on base at the third out wouldn't leave the field because "they" weren't out. It was hysterical. It's a good thing there aren't more than 9 innings in a game though because they caught on fast and by the 6th inning they had the hang of it and began to catch up. Final score 25 to 22 Pisikoa but they have already asked for a re-match and our guys and gals had better watch out.

July 30--
In Apia for the coming week, or actually only 2 days then it's off to On the Job Training in my permanent village for the next 4 days. It's a kind of get acquainted with the village and check out your housing sort of a deal. Tomorrow morning at 8:30 am the pulenu'u (mayor) of my village will pick me up and whisk me away to my little mini island, slightly over one square mile, which lies 15 minutes by boat west of the main island of Upolu between it and Savai'i Island. Now I get to start the whole getting acquainted process all over again. I have actually gotten very comfortable with my host family in the training village and I'm not looking forward to those first few hours with new faces but I suppose I'll manage.

Saturday, August 05, 2006

Drop off Day






We gathered at 5:45 am to begin our big adventure. We were paired up, loaded up in 3 different vehicles and set out for the far reaches of the island. My partner and I, armed with a PC provided lunch, bus fare, and a bootleg map that we were not supposed to have, were the first to be kicked out of the van. We had not been given the name of the village we were supposed to be looking for so we, logically, assumed it was the first one we came to. Our assigned task was to take a picture of the sign with the name of the village and to get a series of 10 questions answered then find our way back to our own village. Seemed simple enough.

The sun was just coming up when we were dropped off so we walked a little ways, took a picture of the sunrise and of the village sign and then began to talk to an elderly (read that - older than me) man who was walking along the road. By the time we reached his home we had almost all of our questions answered and were feeling pretty good about our progress. We walked on a bit looking for an open store so we could buy a drink and when we found one the owner invited us into his house to rest and we chatted with him a while. It was there that we found out we were no longer in the same village so we decided to walk back the way we came and grab the first bus that came by, ride part way back home, then get out and walk the rest of the way. (The island is divided into 3 districts and buses can only run in their assigned ones, so if you need to get to another district you either go into Apia and come back into your own district or you ride part way and then get out and walk as we planned to do.)

It was a grand plan and we were proud of the fact that we had completed our tasks, it was only
8:30am and we were headed home. Pride goeth before the fall!

As we were walking along the road here came the PC van and stopped alongside us. It seems that they had dropped us off in the wrong place and because we had not been given the name of the village we were supposed to go to we didn't know it. So they loaded us in the van despite our protests and drove us another half hour away and let us off again. This time at least we knew where we were going but it was a 3 mile walk to get there. Thankfully it was still early and there was some cloud cover so it wasn't too hot yet. An added benefit was that we were in that part of the island where the volcanic cliffs are right next to the road so I got some good scenery shots. To get to our assigned village we had to pass through a resort town where we had gone for our water safety class and once we finally got there we hooked up with the owner of the dive school who taught our class. We asked him about a bus or taxi to Vailoa and he offered to give us a lift which we gratefully accepted.

When we got to Vailoa we had him drop us off next to a sign for their Primary School because we didn't see an actual village sign, then we walked across the road to an open fale right next to the beach where a woman was sitting (on the floor of course) cutting strips of leaves so she could weave them into floor mats. By now it was 10:50am. We asked her when the next bus to Apia came and she said 12:00 so we settled down and began to talk with her. She spoke fairly good English and my partner speaks pretty good Samoan so it was actually a very pleasant hour wait and she was able to answer all our questions for us. That was absolutely the last pleasant moment of the day!

The bus ride into Apia took 2 1/2 hours, and I have previously described the fine points of bus riding so you can imagine how much fun that was. We missed the connecting bus that would have taken us back to our village and had to wait until 3:30 for the next bus. It was finally time to leave and the driver started the motor only to have a police car pull up, so he shut it off and got out to talk to them. One of the officers got on the bus and looked a while then got off. They talked to the driver a while and then he got back on, started the bus and we were finally on our way at 4:00pm. Mind you, we were supposed to be back in our village at 3:30. Uh, oops!

It took 2 1/2 hours to get home, partly because of the length of the trip and the route this particular bus took, but mostly due to other factors.

1. Stop at the gas station and fill up.

2. Go to the nearest "corner market" and let 15 people get off and buy snacks and wait for them to get back on

3. Get stopped by the police again, at which time they hassle my partner because he is standing too close to the door

4. Stop at the high school and pick up about a dozen kids who are going home for the weekend. Remember, the bus is already full with people lap sitting and standing in the aisle. This little activity took about 15 minutes to get them all packed in. They were standing 2 and 3 deep in the aisle.

5. Stop at another "corner market" and let 20 or so people off to get snacks and bread for dinner.

6. And the grand finale - get stopped by the police again about 5 miles from home and wait while they get on the bus then get off and write the driver a ticket.

We finally arrived home at 6:30pm, 12 hours after we first got out of the PC van in the morning and only 3 hours late. What a fun day we had!!

Disclaimer Opinions expressed on this site are those of the page owner and do not in any way reflect the position or policies of the U.S. Government or the Peace Corps.