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.