tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-243086462024-03-05T12:13:38.272-08:00A Tropical Isle AwaitsMy Life in the Peace Corps in SamoaLilihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17109983510198364895noreply@blogger.comBlogger35125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-24308646.post-84336780286546392742007-06-30T15:02:00.000-07:002008-11-13T04:24:25.980-08:00Samoa Tourist Style Part 2 -- Upolu Island<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjz3IaDm1PdUiEstimY9K5DGOp63wZGP2rb56iWgP6_sHx0Q_a2FYfpq5FQnyQrk0gL3xqXEiCCpB5J0gnIjTUzOqZmeWoRbX1zfyUhH78DXDbh1KPyCa0yVfXF__lLkq4AjyiwXw/s1600-h/Samoan+Bus.jpg"><img src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjz3IaDm1PdUiEstimY9K5DGOp63wZGP2rb56iWgP6_sHx0Q_a2FYfpq5FQnyQrk0gL3xqXEiCCpB5J0gnIjTUzOqZmeWoRbX1zfyUhH78DXDbh1KPyCa0yVfXF__lLkq4AjyiwXw/s160/Samoan+Bus.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_" style="margin: 0px 10px 10px 0pt; clear: both; float: left;" border="0" /></a>I spent my last night ever on Savai'i with my friends R&J who are volunteers in a village near mine and the gal who made the Savai'i tour with me. The next morning I caught the ferry back to Upolu, grabbed a bus (I love those old wooden buses - talk about cultural integration!) and headed for Apia to check in with PC and rent a car for the rest of my trip. This time at least the car was in decent shape, at least until I got through with it. More on that later.<br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg9VyQZlnGGXD1cB0lLK3jvDT-wXzu9WJ-S7TBSy8Z2AmWk_ZEwpO22MammsaNpZL8TqSXKIHVLnDHzhdO_CxchDV2fFIi90onE2hP109T2X476pTrqpFCUldzfH55zPo93fokKDg/s1600-h/IMG_1208.JPG"><img src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg9VyQZlnGGXD1cB0lLK3jvDT-wXzu9WJ-S7TBSy8Z2AmWk_ZEwpO22MammsaNpZL8TqSXKIHVLnDHzhdO_CxchDV2fFIi90onE2hP109T2X476pTrqpFCUldzfH55zPo93fokKDg/s160/IMG_1208.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_" style="margin: 0px 10px 10px 0pt; clear: both; float: right;" border="0" /></a><br />My plan was to circumnavigate the island taking in all the touristy things on the way but I had already seen a lot of Upolu since we trained there so I decided to skip a portion of the trip and go directly to Vaie'e to see my training family and bid them goodbye. I did stop long enough to get a photo of this great waterfall that you can see from a viewpoint along the Cross-Island Road. There are many many waterfalls in Samoa crashing down off the lava peaks into the valleys below but this is one of my favorites.<br /><br />I arrived in Vaie'e mid-afternoon and the family was waiting for me. They were so happy to s<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgNFPJ8EI5d7e6EuS3zGwKiXuGfdObyn70VzjpNeJ-WlLgb7_EDuImmaMzyDoBBf9OmyF3wtyWdfD1UBkckRddGfr82Y7sTzVizd3vp_mHlz_5M-sQdNEOwa7RbsaylfXo_1e0WjQ/s1600-h/IMG_1217.JPG"><img src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgNFPJ8EI5d7e6EuS3zGwKiXuGfdObyn70VzjpNeJ-WlLgb7_EDuImmaMzyDoBBf9OmyF3wtyWdfD1UBkckRddGfr82Y7sTzVizd3vp_mHlz_5M-sQdNEOwa7RbsaylfXo_1e0WjQ/s160/IMG_1217.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_" style="margin: 0px 10px 10px 0pt; clear: both; float: left;" border="0" /></a>ee me and so sad that it was because I was there to say goodbye. We talked and made plans for my stay. They do not have a car and I wanted to do something special for them so I told them we were all going to go to Togitotiga waterfall which is about 8 miles from their house. When I was in training they had showed me pictures of it and wished that we could all go there so now I was making that wish come true. It was the best way I knew how to thank them for everything they did for me while I was staying with them. We had an absolutely great time. Packed a picnic lunch and headed out. Mind you not everyone would fit in my car at one time so I made t<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjrk7ekPEq_kazc28JM9JIW5cxTvG3nBm62EFZPblhA8L23GlawOE5t9FOgWZjOenVLcmc9Dt7renV7evMfuxo3ReWbE_Y2UfHipBIjsebG42vdTPbWQg6h0an7nv6xcP7csaQZiw/s1600-h/IMG_1216.JPG"><img src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjrk7ekPEq_kazc28JM9JIW5cxTvG3nBm62EFZPblhA8L23GlawOE5t9FOgWZjOenVLcmc9Dt7renV7evMfuxo3ReWbE_Y2UfHipBIjsebG42vdTPbWQg6h0an7nv6xcP7csaQZiw/s160/IMG_1216.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_" style="margin: 0px 10px 10px 0pt; clear: both; float: right;" border="0" /></a>wo trips there and two trips back but it was worth it. It is a two stage water fall with deep pools at the bottom of each section for swimming and lots of nice rock cliffs for jumping in if that was your desire. (Not mine!) M brought her adopted niece and we enjoyed playing in the water with her while the younger family members alternated between swimming, eating, and playing King-Of-The-Mountain on a big log that was laying off the bank down into the creek.<br /><br />I stayed with the family for two nights and then said my goodbyes and headed out west along the southern coast of the island. The countryside is lush and green of course but pretty flat until you get close to Falelatai then there is a spur off one of the main mountains that reaches clear to the sea. The main road turns inland at this point and totally bypasses where I wanted to go but I had it all scoped out on a map and could see a "minor" road that would take me up and over the mountain and drop me right down into the village, so off I went. The first problem I ran into was finding the turnoff to get onto that road. I drove back and forth a couple of times before I was convinced that one of the side roads must be the right one. It was, but little did I know that this "road" would require me to cross a river without benefit of a bridge. I saw that, stopped, and was about to turn back since, at t<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgiqSYiaX-DW9rK0Z5g84qI0n1ECCA_YFkGC8KR8RWf0W6SpaVq3BwKB6VrWzWGXkL98PoXTNh35j_vaF1lcFuxDiz_VA1piulmpJUrf4iBLWy_Kk2_GogKYG42BuBrv8w2nu8Ixw/s1600-h/IMG_1219.JPG"><img src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgiqSYiaX-DW9rK0Z5g84qI0n1ECCA_YFkGC8KR8RWf0W6SpaVq3BwKB6VrWzWGXkL98PoXTNh35j_vaF1lcFuxDiz_VA1piulmpJUrf4iBLWy_Kk2_GogKYG42BuBrv8w2nu8Ixw/s160/IMG_1219.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_" style="margin: 0px 10px 10px 0pt; clear: both; float: right;" border="0" /></a>hat point I still wasn't totally certain I was on the right track. However there was a group of Samoan men and some children parked there so I decided to ask them. They assured me it was the right road and also that my 4 wheel drive vehicle would have absolutely no problem with the level of the water in the river. They didn't think I would even need to put it in 4 wheel drive, but if I was afraid maybe I should turn back to the main road. WHAT! Me afraid! I think not! So I thanked them, put it in gear and eased into the water, thinking all the time that I was going to be sorry. It turned out to be a piece of cake. I might as well have been driving on dry land, but hey - how was I supposed to know? So on and upward I went.<br /><br />I had made arrangements to stay with another volunteer on the northwest coast of the island and was not ex<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh-dXFgSFJuAeLA16mV-36eAvXRtrtUHPlholN-EKjLShsrHZKpB9IZXp29hXyseZ73iaJ7lSCGvdC6PQA8ntm1UOQzQTbYVfQ-R04fca5violjexP71DEkLooXZpn-K5FthyCVjw/s1600-h/IMG_1220.JPG"><img src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh-dXFgSFJuAeLA16mV-36eAvXRtrtUHPlholN-EKjLShsrHZKpB9IZXp29hXyseZ73iaJ7lSCGvdC6PQA8ntm1UOQzQTbYVfQ-R04fca5violjexP71DEkLooXZpn-K5FthyCVjw/s160/IMG_1220.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_" style="margin: 0px 10px 10px 0pt; clear: both; float: left;" border="0" /></a>pected there until mid-afternoon so I decided to stop on the mountain in a shady spot along the road across from these flowers and read a book and relax for a while after my harrowing experience. There were virtually no houses but of course where I stopped there was one set back off the road and I looked in my rearview mirror and saw three kids standing in the road staring at my car. One took off towards the house and I decided it was time to move on - besides I sorta forgot that mosquitos are a 24 hour a day problem in Samoa and they had found me.<br /><br />I arrived safely at my destination and spent a relaxing 2 days reading, and yakking with my friend then prepared to head on down the road back to Apia for my last week in Samoa. Now, remember I told you I'd talk about the car later? Well, this is the time. As I was backing out of her host family's driveway I backed right into the gatepost and busted out the tail light. Fortunately I had overcome my tightwad personality and purchased the "collision" insurance when I rented the car so I just had to decide whether I wanted to blame it on someone else or fess-up that I am just stupid. Hmmm. I asked my friend if it might look like someone had hit me and she said "Sure, absolutely". Now mind you I would never have considered this option if I thought I was going to get someone in trouble, but #1. Samoans don't buy insurance. #2. Traffic accidents are never reported or investigated unless someone is seriously injured. #3. Because of #1 and #2, Samoans won't even bother to stop if they hit someone because it's going to cost them money and they won't get in trouble for not filing a report.<br /><br />Well, the devil made me do it. I turned the car in at the rental agency with a sad story about being clipped by a car behind me that was turning right. They said okay, you're covered, and then they gave me back my deposit and I left feeling somewhat guilty but not enough to cough up the $700 USD it would have cost to fix it.<br /><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiR5rzJP5ac364RrKUCyTw3Vg56BqkzsiUeHSX2OlmnUkMor80rDOb4otAt6LUtF67DEJR2t-5nIh4vWSqG72PxqHD8EDMu8tS3rNI0jkmAG_gKhmORESX-upBJ2-aTCrOScf8ypA/s1600-h/PrincessTui.jpg"><img src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiR5rzJP5ac364RrKUCyTw3Vg56BqkzsiUeHSX2OlmnUkMor80rDOb4otAt6LUtF67DEJR2t-5nIh4vWSqG72PxqHD8EDMu8tS3rNI0jkmAG_gKhmORESX-upBJ2-aTCrOScf8ypA/s160/PrincessTui.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_" style="margin: 0px 10px 10px 0pt; clear: both; float: left;" border="0" /></a>The rest of my time before departure was one of just enjoying being a tourist. I rented a room in a bed and breakfast hotel right across the street from the ocean for four nights where I made friends with a couple from Denmark who have been volunteering as teachers in Malawi for the last couple of years (not PC). We had some good discussions about volunteerism in general and PC vs. private. One night a bunch of us who were staying there ordered pizza delivered and had a great time pretending we were home.<br /><br />The hotel put on a little demonstration each afternoon for their tourist guests which ranged from learning to siva (samoan dance) to how to husk, crack, and grate a coconut to make coconut cream which they then served with boiled bananas (have I mentioned how much I hate boiled green bananas?) It was fun to pretend I didn't know anything about this stuff.<br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEitFZJ4dZdLYukoFHZ8RFtJSTGq1ReqtHa7fKaijMTMYptftEHoZ8gc2VfSogbu6LBy5bywo6u3V9U7YemhF7kLIEB4fUzbkWxEelHfv8tDWDs0K4mFefCxVQD0V8d2fMUpcuajrw/s1600-h/IMG_1224.JPG"><img src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEitFZJ4dZdLYukoFHZ8RFtJSTGq1ReqtHa7fKaijMTMYptftEHoZ8gc2VfSogbu6LBy5bywo6u3V9U7YemhF7kLIEB4fUzbkWxEelHfv8tDWDs0K4mFefCxVQD0V8d2fMUpcuajrw/s160/IMG_1224.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_" style="margin: 0px 10px 10px 0pt; clear: both; float: right;" border="0" /></a><br />One afternoon I got a front row seat as one of the fautasi boat teams prepared to practice for the upcoming Independence Day races. These boats hold 48 rowers seated two abreast, and one man who usually stands and tells them what to do. It was a kick, because after first starting to load the boat they waited 30 minutes for the 1/3rd of the team that wasn't there yet. Finally they snagged a couple of neighborhood kids to man some oars and set out for a practice run. About 15 minutes later they came back and <a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjOqfVPEyr0X7h727wQUVsKPq80D6VRpQKoeMPDnQ3bXJsZP2zz_glmRrBIIZ6JjubvaCyXtK8Q4N3rnH7pJ4ucrrkOGjcs8yNB8ghdAIyQ8FgtNW0qm6naFRQ54AzCtXbGluKQQw/s1600-h/IMG_1227.JPG"><img src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjOqfVPEyr0X7h727wQUVsKPq80D6VRpQKoeMPDnQ3bXJsZP2zz_glmRrBIIZ6JjubvaCyXtK8Q4N3rnH7pJ4ucrrkOGjcs8yNB8ghdAIyQ8FgtNW0qm6naFRQ54AzCtXbGluKQQw/s160/IMG_1227.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_" style="margin: 0px 10px 10px 0pt; clear: both; float: left;" border="0" /></a>picked up some more guys, but still didn't have a full complement. Eventually they did manage to get most of the team in the boat and the kids back on shore and then rowed off into the gathering rainclouds and around the Palolo Deep point where I couldn't see them any more.<br /><br /><br /><br /><br />One day when I was walking to the Peace Corps office I decided I should <a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiifLzVvOFkE_7moT8c473t2dM4KxCGMIKoun1h2mWpr1b1qNucdgvQi-MoWbb3zOeK-AHsu8CodmCOJsh_xFHo3pgkaB-2DfQGQykbpV0qUBehJf2GpObBWQoslUbCmHlfbD9_oQ/s1600-h/Apia+Harbor2.jpg"><img src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiifLzVvOFkE_7moT8c473t2dM4KxCGMIKoun1h2mWpr1b1qNucdgvQi-MoWbb3zOeK-AHsu8CodmCOJsh_xFHo3pgkaB-2DfQGQykbpV0qUBehJf2GpObBWQoslUbCmHlfbD9_oQ/s160/Apia+Harbor2.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_" style="margin: 0px 10px 10px 0pt; clear: both; float: right;" border="0" /></a>probably get a picture of Apia Harbor because it really is a pretty sight and the only other pictures I have are from downtown looking out towards the sea. So I took a few shots and stitched a couple together and this is the result.<br /><div style="clear: both;"><a href="http://picasa.google.com/blogger/" target="ext"><br /></a></div><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgUbiQq1BJIT2Q2_Nnu9MpzI2n2FL9K09-osPpsPVzFCFj6JB7KIUVkYSxsgPyobzkdbhkgsNI3PYzhsk70k4QcJ_Gy_VggpDTc-3TwkFi4M-26BrK5FdQXZ1orR8dlI1_x6aq9WQ/s1600-h/IMG_1231.JPG"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_" style="margin: 0px 10px 10px 0px; clear: both; float: left;" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgUbiQq1BJIT2Q2_Nnu9MpzI2n2FL9K09-osPpsPVzFCFj6JB7KIUVkYSxsgPyobzkdbhkgsNI3PYzhsk70k4QcJ_Gy_VggpDTc-3TwkFi4M-26BrK5FdQXZ1orR8dlI1_x6aq9WQ/s160/IMG_1231.JPG" border="0" /></a>Friday night before my departure friends from my training group all got together and took me out for a farewell dinner at one of the nicer spots in town and since my "brother" La from my training village family is going with one of them he came too. I was glad to get another chance to say goodbye to him plus he brought me this really neat t-shirt <a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi0nj7S8cNhuLW7fbt3CEwmk2obl_UCOt5NDo-HQytbiP2-Cj64mSNqzyOG9LlzQUquBDGKgeYk88edJ-GMIenxkW5QQbNwQA-GQFCuKLALxeWUJaCNJ9uxeA_246WUHwLByGR5LA/s1600-h/Samoa+Shirt.jpg"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_" style="margin: 0px 10px 10px 0px; clear: both; float: right;" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi0nj7S8cNhuLW7fbt3CEwmk2obl_UCOt5NDo-HQytbiP2-Cj64mSNqzyOG9LlzQUquBDGKgeYk88edJ-GMIenxkW5QQbNwQA-GQFCuKLALxeWUJaCNJ9uxeA_246WUHwLByGR5LA/s160/Samoa+Shirt.jpg" border="0" /></a>as a gift from his family. I was disappointed that my friends R&J from Savai'i couldn't be there too but they had family visiting from the States and couldn't make it.<br /><br />After spending all day Monday in the PC office, collecting all manner of paperwork and getting stuck for bloodwork one more time I headed out to the airport at 9:30 at night arrived at the ticket counter with my itinerary in hand, assuming I had an e-ticket since that is all they had given me, only to find out NO-O I was supposed to have a paper ticket. I called one of the emergency PC numbers and said "Whas up?" Well, not exactly those words. They did some phoning around and found out my ticket was safely locked up in someone's desk! Yeah! Nice to know you are keeping it safe for me.<br /><br />Mind you it takes 40 minutes to get from the office to the airport. It is now 11:00pm and my flight leaves at 12:45! My PC driver headed back to town to get it and I was absolutely convinced he'd never get back in time, but he made the round trip in 50 minutes! Good thing it was Samoa or he would have had one of the biggest speeding tickets of all time. He admitted to doing up to 100mph! Guess they really wanted to get rid of me.<img src="http://us.i1.yimg.com/us.yimg.com/i/mesg/tsmileys2/01.gif" /><br /><br />Anyway I made it safe and sound, minus one of my suitcases which got derailed by the Transportation Security Administration inspection. It was delivered to the house via FedEx the next day so not too much of a problem.<br /><br />So that's the end of this Grand Adventure, and it <span style="font-style: italic;">was</span> a grand adventure. Would I do it again? Probably not. Certainly not for such a long period of time. But stand by! Who knows what the future may hold. Until next time, "Tofa soifua!."Lilihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17109983510198364895noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-24308646.post-55278547019122548672007-06-27T14:59:00.000-07:002008-11-13T04:24:29.700-08:00Samoa Tourist Style Part 1 -- Savai'i IslandIf you think you want to go to Samoa as a tourist, do it! I highly recommend it as a tropical escape destination but I wouldn't want to live there!!! In going through my photos I am reminded of what a beautiful place it really is, and the cultural aspects they show the tourists are unique to the Pacific islanders and a real treat to observe.<br /><br />So, as promised, I give you Samoa from a tourist point of view.<br /><br />May 21 --<br />I and all my worldly possessions were picked up by a Peace Corps driver in the village and after a drive around Savaii (for other PC related business) we arrived in in the big village of Salelologa which is the ferry terminal. I said goodbye to my stuff as I was staying on Savaii to do the<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgb4nYJv6SOXY_uDBTFRK4YXi9UKmC7UkC-TkOkwYuTgrddeGSjNvHrZ74q69WiDdwgIWMUFayB_iV2gZY7f-hcAie0taVC2RqO-AkliFjyoPmr3HhHUwBubxARD0fesU2dGn5v6A/s1600-h/DSCF4592.jpg"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_" style="margin: 0px 10px 10px 0pt; clear: both; float: right;" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgb4nYJv6SOXY_uDBTFRK4YXi9UKmC7UkC-TkOkwYuTgrddeGSjNvHrZ74q69WiDdwgIWMUFayB_iV2gZY7f-hcAie0taVC2RqO-AkliFjyoPmr3HhHUwBubxARD0fesU2dGn5v6A/s160/DSCF4592.jpg" border="0" /></a> tourist thing and the driver caught the ferry taking my things to the office in Apia. I picked up my rental car, now totally feeling like a tourist since we are not allowed to drive, and it's a beaut! I don't think it could even pass the rigid standards of "Rent a Wreck".<br /><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgh1EVRNS8mwA3_JEuFufNzg1SpsLoS1wD0RpPExYD9kbJoM_-PzuwVSRxu-mk446hl4wuW8h-7hb8RUfrBC_-ELdw4hoIR4Tme7uCO1gvOfpDlYoULKHP7vUYTQle4u_BZcVXQNQ/s1600-h/IMG_1186.jpg"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_" style="margin: 0px 10px 10px 0pt; float: left;" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgh1EVRNS8mwA3_JEuFufNzg1SpsLoS1wD0RpPExYD9kbJoM_-PzuwVSRxu-mk446hl4wuW8h-7hb8RUfrBC_-ELdw4hoIR4Tme7uCO1gvOfpDlYoULKHP7vUYTQle4u_BZcVXQNQ/s160/IMG_1186.jpg" border="0" /></a>I had planned to stay the night with friends, but their schedule was interrupted by the forced departure that night of 4 of the volunteers and they went in to Apia to see them off so I rented an over-the-water beach fale there in town and spent a very relaxing - can we even say wonderful evening doing nothing but sitting on my "back porch" staring at the water<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgNLLUdwEyjzhaKpWlrMPuttyxuDXGk8Wqu82MFYQFqwEFcqIRXikePanMTicdsF0aw3CM_fgpi7gltB9k3_vCMT77hy1uztm8cBv1muFFCdU1-ZicpIg6oZSY_RHOqdtkh1FKg2g/s1600-h/IMG_1191.jpg"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_" style="margin: 0px 10px 10px 0pt; float: right;" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgNLLUdwEyjzhaKpWlrMPuttyxuDXGk8Wqu82MFYQFqwEFcqIRXikePanMTicdsF0aw3CM_fgpi7gltB9k3_vCMT77hy1uztm8cBv1muFFCdU1-ZicpIg6oZSY_RHOqdtkh1FKg2g/s160/IMG_1191.jpg" border="0" /></a> and watching the schools of little fish going airborne all at once whenever bigger fish came in for dinner. The sunset was beautiful and a promise of things to come.<br /><br />Next morning I picked up one of my volunteer friends at the ferry and we headed north to <a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhOUV7btyo1sFMGFpx0Nn4Z2dUBFZT0QUT8lnMSQ6FG7674z9DUW8LvHPdKRFsKB7NjuuQG3aY8sTou-wGezvvotaMToAwGWUYnCryJnzHhMeiKwUNlC95Z-4nudOpFG5sJfwcYTg/s1600-h/IMG_1199.jpg"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_" style="margin: 0px 10px 10px 0pt; float: left;" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhOUV7btyo1sFMGFpx0Nn4Z2dUBFZT0QUT8lnMSQ6FG7674z9DUW8LvHPdKRFsKB7NjuuQG3aY8sTou-wGezvvotaMToAwGWUYnCryJnzHhMeiKwUNlC95Z-4nudOpFG5sJfwcYTg/s160/IMG_1199.jpg" border="0" /></a>Manase which is a really big tourist spot. They do a lot of snorkeling and surfing there and there is row after row of beach fales, some impressively western and impressively expensive, others just the bare minimum of a floor on stilts with posts supporting a thatched roof. I rented one of those and Sarah and I unloaded the car and then went swimming - it's more like hanging out in the water because it's hard to swim and talk at the same time. (Notice the foot - just trying to prove that I was there.) We had dinner which was excellent, then I drove Sarah back to her village which was really close and then went back and went to bed. The next morning I picked her up and we headed west across the northern side of Savaii passing <a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiltS53zlZ3iyZ82pr-do4fdxZmXkp3I2XCcEwBbpk03eypFiOqsureZtsJgh3-eaMs5Ianj_k8lDe4t23tZmRbOsxkM7BbAQVwv6MYEdmyt5LlwS7jYSop84pNAKVamP0TbVkdEw/s1600-h/DSCF4538.jpg"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_" style="margin: 0px 10px 10px 0px; clear: both; float: left;" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiltS53zlZ3iyZ82pr-do4fdxZmXkp3I2XCcEwBbpk03eypFiOqsureZtsJgh3-eaMs5Ianj_k8lDe4t23tZmRbOsxkM7BbAQVwv6MYEdmyt5LlwS7jYSop84pNAKVamP0TbVkdEw/s160/DSCF4538.jpg" border="0" /></a>Asau which is supposed to be a great sailing harbor but didn't see either boats or docks. Hmmmm.<br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgfhqVjYzZ1I_HTfpvvJdjGwUg4kWcjJsfMI6qYGgIr0cBKgvs5JC1_AnXYmHcK6GszKg2pIa5XUYQvYrpRCQs9lKzjJbq4cTzb9CmGA042WWxYp2I2Y-EOW3LgmAPpDAGgR8UsGg/s1600-h/DSCF4546.jpg"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_" style="margin: 0px 10px 10px 0px; float: right;" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgfhqVjYzZ1I_HTfpvvJdjGwUg4kWcjJsfMI6qYGgIr0cBKgvs5JC1_AnXYmHcK6GszKg2pIa5XUYQvYrpRCQs9lKzjJbq4cTzb9CmGA042WWxYp2I2Y-EOW3LgmAPpDAGgR8UsGg/s160/DSCF4546.jpg" border="0" /></a><br />Next stop, the PeaPea Cave. It's a lava tube but quite unimpressive compared to the Ape Caves of Mt. St. Helens fame. Sara however was quite impressed. (She's from Texas - enough said?)<br /><br />Heading on west we arrive at the Falealupo Rain Forest Preserve to <a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiDFiLaOayh1UaaqWqzpgemsSCb95Jn9TYQgBZDW-6qZKTdtc5tSlsd87QYODoymf3dPyDHvzBqrJrMtggJh-72iltBx2uUx9AT5YlG_BCTMZsYYOpRS9R6EoagxNhS936FHjyXKw/s1600-h/DSCF4566.jpg"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_" style="margin: 0px 10px 10px 0px; float: left;" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiDFiLaOayh1UaaqWqzpgemsSCb95Jn9TYQgBZDW-6qZKTdtc5tSlsd87QYODoymf3dPyDHvzBqrJrMtggJh-72iltBx2uUx9AT5YlG_BCTMZsYYOpRS9R6EoagxNhS936FHjyXKw/s160/DSCF4566.jpg" border="0" /></a>check out the Canopy Walkway. It's pretty impressive. A suspension bridge (which uses aluminum extension ladder sections as the base - <a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj6Txv-3pTriFPDxQCfEfDjlO9RMZ7NXykV6h_gV-znnt6I-ONzCnlXpqJIS9fGBXicrlsqwm4_g3FZJ6yAawubDbRZ1geuwMdquPxwoE8mh9Spa9DYEotvZN42cFDHxqgDZrpRWA/s1600-h/DSCF4573.jpg"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_" style="margin: 0px 10px 10px 0px; float: right; width: 154px; height: 205px;" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj6Txv-3pTriFPDxQCfEfDjlO9RMZ7NXykV6h_gV-znnt6I-ONzCnlXpqJIS9fGBXicrlsqwm4_g3FZJ6yAawubDbRZ1geuwMdquPxwoE8mh9Spa9DYEotvZN42cFDHxqgDZrpRWA/s160/DSCF4573.jpg" border="0" /></a>how clever is that?) was built about 50 feet from the ground ending at a huge banyan tree. Once across you can climb another 100 feet up inside the banyan to a platform on top. Really cool!! You can actually rent the platform for the night - they provide sleeping mats, mosquito nets, candles, and dinner and breakfast.<br /><br />We left there and drove through the village of Falealupo to see a church that was<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhBqap1OGwgAqgyd7hhfvKUOvgYn54oKBrwaNTFwdnP_MDrne81Xo7GNPojyOTUSc0nZ8YOUspoVNFU_r5XYbUz5nWAY4gbHa5zlqR2GEUmwsmy8aZsoQNiZjianrmQRqu2kxf6ug/s1600-h/DSCF4557.jpg"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_" style="margin: 0px 10px 10px 0px; float: left;" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhBqap1OGwgAqgyd7hhfvKUOvgYn54oKBrwaNTFwdnP_MDrne81Xo7GNPojyOTUSc0nZ8YOUspoVNFU_r5XYbUz5nWAY4gbHa5zlqR2GEUmwsmy8aZsoQNiZjianrmQRqu2kxf6ug/s160/DSCF4557.jpg" border="0" /></a> destroyed in a catastrophic cyclone in 1968. The church was impressive enough but across the road is the most interesting part and something you would NEVE<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhVW94MgWMdslUPOosXT_JWJMDGXP0zSbaH1m3JTuV8HI7yMsIdlgBJh4I37WSd6_OWXwPOX9hIaLFRfPPEYNBBCBiJoMJDyLYkxLg9FpJsPTWZiJub21BAnOc77QFW223AZ8hC5w/s1600-h/DSCF4561.jpg"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_" style="margin: 0px 10px 10px 0px; float: right;" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhVW94MgWMdslUPOosXT_JWJMDGXP0zSbaH1m3JTuV8HI7yMsIdlgBJh4I37WSd6_OWXwPOX9hIaLFRfPPEYNBBCBiJoMJDyLYkxLg9FpJsPTWZiJub21BAnOc77QFW223AZ8hC5w/s160/DSCF4561.jpg" border="0" /></a>R see in the states or probably most other parts of the world. So many people were killed and no one left to bury them a concrete tomb was built and the bodies placed inside. There is an open crypt that still contains those bones, at least the ones <a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgKYphzZACEJxgM9ZkGvnOocBJmSqgrswfqNp4EUzmEMe0FFRvAI3cvPBCYzav9P5aFQD5qCDY6WMF6DHJ1LKTNYHYoh8ptF76pnTHuz4_UVqxG-q-q6KV8m5sEZJijoFVxDzRB-g/s1600-h/DSCF4555.jpg"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_" style="margin: 0px 10px 10px 0px; float: left;" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgKYphzZACEJxgM9ZkGvnOocBJmSqgrswfqNp4EUzmEMe0FFRvAI3cvPBCYzav9P5aFQD5qCDY6WMF6DHJ1LKTNYHYoh8ptF76pnTHuz4_UVqxG-q-q6KV8m5sEZJijoFVxDzRB-g/s160/DSCF4555.jpg" border="0" /></a>that morbid sick souvenir hunters haven't picked up. Mind you there is no door on this tomb -it's open to the world and the weather and all sorts of other things we won't even go into right now. The Samoans hold great reverence for their dead and the church is on a road less travelled and not advertised as a tourist attraction so I suppose it is relatively secure, but still---!<br /><br /><br /><div style="clear: both; text-align: left;">It was now time for lunch and we weren't about to let anything stand in the way o<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjawpYgSumM4Cn3lvKzlNezGtxzc2wLXH4BluNcYpTCx-NFFK6cCfi1BxVhLYxePKiqi9H2VZFJhnbxjMiPnpe-Oa56WDALDO3T8VaUuT1njnMun0qnvTa3vFhUMtJD5TOrnNXTWg/s1600-h/DSCF4552.jpg"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_" style="margin: 0px 10px 10px 0pt; float: right;" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjawpYgSumM4Cn3lvKzlNezGtxzc2wLXH4BluNcYpTCx-NFFK6cCfi1BxVhLYxePKiqi9H2VZFJhnbxjMiPnpe-Oa56WDALDO3T8VaUuT1njnMun0qnvTa3vFhUMtJD5TOrnNXTWg/s160/DSCF4552.jpg" border="0" /></a>f that so we headed on down the road to Vaisala to check out a hotel <a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiX33HbcP5TwpjkonkNXrU5X7IOs8K32_y3pzRef73e1Fo4mxCgBVlc8I-Wbg7PbyWpp_nvVsQMk9bYoyevJFk54F9dxCO1iKvrjQ_-UyYYlMgqnNydc-aLeuIa4WbUiy-JojzwRQ/s1600-h/DSCF4551.jpg"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_" style="margin: 0px 10px 10px 0pt; float: left;" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiX33HbcP5TwpjkonkNXrU5X7IOs8K32_y3pzRef73e1Fo4mxCgBVlc8I-Wbg7PbyWpp_nvVsQMk9bYoyevJFk54F9dxCO1iKvrjQ_-UyYYlMgqnNydc-aLeuIa4WbUiy-JojzwRQ/s160/DSCF4551.jpg" border="0" /></a>we had heard about. It is in a terrific location and the rooms, some with AC, are huge. They even have a game room and a library on the premises. They serve $5 WST (about $2.25 US) sandwiches that are pretty good though small and have a full kitchen for breakfast and lunch. A friend of ours stayed there a couple of weeks later when <a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjVOw9AqJDlpRN9YDcCHuIBG5dXKQCUpi6V2a1uFHGgkWIOHhaPta-2EmWW9a-TUqcT-7GmRnW5qQVhEJD79qQnvzKkJ3APXA6yOm-9A5BWL3M80REl14FUxQc1442C9uSd4EYiQw/s1600-h/DSCF4554.jpg"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_" style="margin: 0px 10px 10px 0pt; float: right; width: 155px; height: 206px;" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjVOw9AqJDlpRN9YDcCHuIBG5dXKQCUpi6V2a1uFHGgkWIOHhaPta-2EmWW9a-TUqcT-7GmRnW5qQVhEJD79qQnvzKkJ3APXA6yOm-9A5BWL3M80REl14FUxQc1442C9uSd4EYiQw/s160/DSCF4554.jpg" border="0" /></a>her mother was visiting and they really liked it. That's the Vaisala Beach Hotel in case you ever need a hotel while in Savai'i.<br /><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgx-XYW5W-u-LumH4nEYMYpSHvvpjq6GXPwdz8MFb1-r7C3K8w9iOzCtLjEkdFMIxX6mvwoMAHadY8wDQbBN9Uv_p4NBPAE9SJluxmT9v2qjMPXWei4lBgc4-dTvq7JlvjmMpQpSw/s1600-h/DSCF4550.jpg"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_" style="margin: 0px 10px 10px 0pt; float: left;" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgx-XYW5W-u-LumH4nEYMYpSHvvpjq6GXPwdz8MFb1-r7C3K8w9iOzCtLjEkdFMIxX6mvwoMAHadY8wDQbBN9Uv_p4NBPAE9SJluxmT9v2qjMPXWei4lBgc4-dTvq7JlvjmMpQpSw/s160/DSCF4550.jpg" border="0" /></a>When we left we planned to go get a place for the night at some beach fales in Falealupo but learned they were expecting a bus full of people (we saw them when we were at the walkway) and had no more room so after getting unstuck from the sand where I had parked we drove on down the west coast a ways and stayed in some fales another volunteer had recommended. It turned out well as I actually liked this site better anyway.We had a nice little fale right on the beach and they had actual beds instead <a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhAvd7U9eKArr4pV0Rc8lL32Wr6JG26wEglZ_9X1Bo5_kinunR3o1WYz2plxS3pvnKjBEwLvgO7hJaOeRT2MCz7-NrtYEOSnea-Whq659wt27eBeGg_du-XRHQzvfJpN0021iVVIg/s1600-h/DSCF4590.jpg"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_" style="margin: 0px 10px 10px 0px; float: right;" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhAvd7U9eKArr4pV0Rc8lL32Wr6JG26wEglZ_9X1Bo5_kinunR3o1WYz2plxS3pvnKjBEwLvgO7hJaOeRT2MCz7-NrtYEOSnea-Whq659wt27eBeGg_du-XRHQzvfJpN0021iVVIg/s160/DSCF4590.jpg" border="0" /></a>of mattresses on the floor. <a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjl0L-C_UP9zRv1iIIhnfUYiqZWUKkZMW7-MxoX_suigEDwk3uYqAoxVrLUbIOOop8xBfiYS09eJjVV_9cvyfro2QTslTzB0lnNUDMvrQYZOAy-QjMXu6N0owQ0a-98VIZJKM79gQ/s1600-h/DSCF4589.jpg"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_" style="margin: 0px 10px 10px 0px; float: left;" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjl0L-C_UP9zRv1iIIhnfUYiqZWUKkZMW7-MxoX_suigEDwk3uYqAoxVrLUbIOOop8xBfiYS09eJjVV_9cvyfro2QTslTzB0lnNUDMvrQYZOAy-QjMXu6N0owQ0a-98VIZJKM79gQ/s160/DSCF4589.jpg" border="0" /></a>The place was empty too so it was nice and quiet. Check our our boat dock! Just kidding. The people who own the place use it for fishing. Come to think of it this is the only aluminum fishing boat I saw in Samoa. Mostly they use paopao canoes. Of course we had to have a deck for sitting on to watch the sunset. Check out the banyan tree strangling the coconut tree. Did you know a<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjj2OLq4mSwwnDAngd4do5LyyVn6CQsxQwTIh7ZBH-DTTZzuHGmQp2-1nXRvH_nkQjiirwMfwCMbZqv2izRTM05oB2PXAJHxnAoDOuq1d_m30NfoTo5QLstYiN5-1690sUNC7P1Gg/s1600-h/DSCF4586.jpg"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_" style="margin: 0px 10px 10px 0px; float: right; width: 134px; height: 178px;" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjj2OLq4mSwwnDAngd4do5LyyVn6CQsxQwTIh7ZBH-DTTZzuHGmQp2-1nXRvH_nkQjiirwMfwCMbZqv2izRTM05oB2PXAJHxnAoDOuq1d_m30NfoTo5QLstYiN5-1690sUNC7P1Gg/s160/DSCF4586.jpg" border="0" /></a> banyan <a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjrsRtvyaxUr4ZO7XSDqMS4ekaC6d8kSI6CTHYMchcavJ9XJisv4eJY5MNgr8y17btBmBftBtrJLDTWyYEx8P-gYZknzgzCbiEF4Pvx9DNRIYRggZWArWocmn_RIhGF8JUSpzEtnQ/s1600-h/DSCF4588.jpg"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_" style="margin: 0px 10px 10px 0px; float: left;" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjrsRtvyaxUr4ZO7XSDqMS4ekaC6d8kSI6CTHYMchcavJ9XJisv4eJY5MNgr8y17btBmBftBtrJLDTWyYEx8P-gYZknzgzCbiEF4Pvx9DNRIYRggZWArWocmn_RIhGF8JUSpzEtnQ/s160/DSCF4588.jpg" border="0" /></a>isn't really a tree at all? It has no trunk. What you see are roots. Talk about a mixed up creation! The seeds land in the top of another tree and then the roots grow downward around the existing tree. Over time it kills the host tree and you see what appears to be a free standing banyan. Okay, biology lesson over. Time to move on.<br /><br /><br />Next stop the Taga blowholes. The whole southwest side of the island is an old lava flow with "cliffs" that drop off into the ocean. At Taga <a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiMYlBnnH9dA_6Im8L91Qxg9pzNCy38_VGCkWljx7Yl9qmdxojs8P0XbZV9QNbxETpw_tM7HDbcCWW30TdbNDviDpho_m80V-vO4r2jiWvOj5exstc_XzylmIK7enD-ELZopLMJFw/s1600-h/DSCF4594.jpg"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_" style="margin: 0px 10px 10px 0px; float: left;" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiMYlBnnH9dA_6Im8L91Qxg9pzNCy38_VGCkWljx7Yl9qmdxojs8P0XbZV9QNbxETpw_tM7HDbcCWW30TdbNDviDpho_m80V-vO4r2jiWvOj5exstc_XzylmIK7enD-ELZopLMJFw/s160/DSCF4594.jpg" border="0" /></a>there are lava tubes in<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhzpf2JqJD1dbQHFujQmvT0GR-QjY0hFN_sfmjPHhc50tkm0Q8VNnkgt17w09jU6Qy02vw8NSmjiEEu2cOJYxpcI6H0zS6fDdrM_LBYOqu5bZTKyvZw2ggZns7554Ie0EJ_4dE1pw/s1600-h/DSCF4596.jpg"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_" style="margin: 0px 10px 10px 0px; float: right;" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhzpf2JqJD1dbQHFujQmvT0GR-QjY0hFN_sfmjPHhc50tkm0Q8VNnkgt17w09jU6Qy02vw8NSmjiEEu2cOJYxpcI6H0zS6fDdrM_LBYOqu5bZTKyvZw2ggZns7554Ie0EJ_4dE1pw/s160/DSCF4596.jpg" border="0" /></a> the rock and when the waves come into the tubes they blow out the holes where the tube roof has collapsed. It's really pretty cool - not as good as the Spouting Horn at Depoe Bay though. And then, <a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg2VknkqlXzaYWPncYG-OW1mTKU3-4wjgxDRCv205779c7P-0EF5qcyfMrGtfeqVgesfJJFRL8NbwOH6BlblN9wa0h6luPoXt1KtkPA5sssaMJrh-dDj17hdRQaNKCZW_l2yBm7CA/s1600-h/DSCF4591.jpg"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_" style="margin: 0px 10px 10px 0px; float: right; width: 128px; height: 170px;" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg2VknkqlXzaYWPncYG-OW1mTKU3-4wjgxDRCv205779c7P-0EF5qcyfMrGtfeqVgesfJJFRL8NbwOH6BlblN9wa0h6luPoXt1KtkPA5sssaMJrh-dDj17hdRQaNKCZW_l2yBm7CA/s160/DSCF4591.jpg" border="0" /></a>last but not least, there is only one gas station on the entire west coast of Savai'i and this is it. There is this old, old, old gas pump that uses no electricity. The girl hand pumps however many liters of fuel you want into that big glass container on the top of the pump then lets gravity run it into your gas tank. Amazing! </div><br /><br />Well, that's it folks for the island of Savai'i. I hope you enjoyed your visit. Now on to Upolu.Lilihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17109983510198364895noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-24308646.post-62015722260506319802007-06-02T09:39:00.000-07:002007-09-28T08:21:48.557-07:00Final Edition<span style="font-family: arial;">I left my village on May 21st and rented a car to tour around the island of Savai'i. I picked up a friend the first day and she went on around with me. We had a grand time. I really think Samoa is a great tourist destination and can recommend it to anyone who wants to "do tropical". Just don't plan to stay two years!</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family: arial;">I went in to Apia, rented another car, and drove around on the island of Upolu for 4 days- well actually I spent two nights with my host family from the training village and another couple of nights with another volunteer in her village, but I did drive through parts of the island I had not yet seen.</span><br /><br /><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: arial;"><span style=";font-size:10;" >I'm sitting here on the balcony outside my room in the Apia Central Hotel watching my last Samoan sunrise with glee!<span style=""> </span>The next sunrise I see will be compliments of Air New Zealand as I wing my way over the cool Pacific towards Los Angeles and home. </span>Today is Saturday and I will be here in Apia for the next two nights, then on Tuesday the 5th at 12:45am I'll board my flight for LosAngeles and home. I don't get back to Bellingham until 11:45pm on the 5th so with time zones etc. I'm not sure just how long the whole process is but I'm ready!<span style=";font-size:10;" > <o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: arial;"><span style=";font-size:10;" ><o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: arial;"><span style=";font-size:10;" >The other volunteers from my training class have been wonderful and supportive of my decision to leave.<span style=""> I think some of them</span> wish they were leaving with me.<span style=""> </span>I jokingly mentioned that when we are at the airport I would take an old lavalava, tie it in a knot, and throw it over my shoulder like a bridal bouquet.<span style=""> </span>Whoever caught it got to be the next one going home!<span style=""> </span>They thought that was a grand idea and we should start a tradition.<span style=""> </span>They threw me a farewell dinner on Friday night at the Lighthouse restaurant and I got lots of hugs and well wishes to say nothing of the great food. <o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: arial;"><span style=";font-size:10;" ><o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: arial;"><span style=";font-size:10;" >I have never had to say a permanent good bye before and it is really quite trying.<span style=""> </span>Usually, even if you know you probably won't see someone again, there is always a possibility that you could.<span style=""> </span>This is true of my fellow volunteers, but saying goodbye to my Samoan family was really hard.<span style=""> </span>There just is absolutely NO chance that I will ever see them again and they know it.<span style=""> </span>It is painful for them which makes it so for me as well.<span style=""> </span>They were so good to me.<o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: arial;"><span style=";font-size:10;" > <o:p></o:p></span></p> <span style="font-family: arial;font-family:Arial;font-size:10;" >Well, the sun is up<span style=""> (i</span>t takes all of 15 minutes) and it is time for breakfast.<span style=""> </span>I hope the water is back on by the time I am done so I can take a shower before I head over to the office.<span style=""> </span>It was off and on all day yesterday so who knows.<span style=""> </span>There is a shower at the office I can use if they have water, but this is Samoa.</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family: arial;">When I get home I'll post some of my touristy pictures as there is really some great scenery so standby!</span>Lilihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17109983510198364895noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-24308646.post-14981764142201047392007-05-04T14:56:00.000-07:002007-08-13T14:59:39.512-07:00And the winner is..............May 3 --<br />Samoa. Me and my asthma are the losers and I'm headed home. The PC Medical Officer and the doctor both agree that if my symptoms got better in Australia and then got worse again when I got back it is definitely climate or environment related and I would be better off getting out of it. They offered to put me on oral prednisone if I really wanted to stay, but I'm going to pass on that one. So see you in June! The tentative plan is to leave the village on May 21, rent a car and do a little sightseeing here in Samoa since I really haven't done any yet, visit my former host families and fly out on June 5th.<br /><br />I have mixed emotions about leaving early. I didn't really get to accomplish as much as I would have liked from a work perspective, but I definitely did fulfill my personal goal which was to "travel to a foreign land and live among the people for an extended period of time learning their customs, history, and culture which I would document and share with family and friends at home", so all is not lost.<br /><br />So it’s a mixed bag but I am satisfied. I will go home knowing I gave it my best. It just wasn’t two years worth. The only bummer is that I won’t get to do my "Around the World" trip home. Waaaah!!!! Oh well, Australia is half way around the world. It’ll just have to do.Lilihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17109983510198364895noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-24308646.post-7411931879679578062007-04-30T14:52:00.000-07:002007-08-13T14:56:16.753-07:00Back from AustraliaApril 30 --<br />So let's see. Where were we before all the fun began. Oh yes. I was a Peace Corps Volunteer in Samoa. Funny how those little things can slip your mind when you are having the time of your life. Anyway, back to reality.<br /><br />Life in the village continues to plod along. My ladies succeeded in getting two of their three delegated tasks done while I was gone so the health center/women's center project is progressing, albeit slowly. I have been spending a lot of time creating a powerpoint presentation on Basic Computer Usage (it begins with how to use a mouse!) that can be placed on the computer's desktop and used by interested parties without benefit of an instructor. Since the Computer Center here is essentially a lost cause I figured that was about all I could do for them.<br /><br />I have to go in to Apia on Wednesday to see the doctor again about my asthma. Funny thing. A few days after I got to Australia my symptoms cleared up. Three days after I got back here I was back on drugs again. We'll see what he says but I'm thinking it may be time to head home.<br /><br />I'll keep you posted.Lilihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17109983510198364895noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-24308646.post-80289383644831546882007-03-07T14:46:00.000-08:002007-08-13T14:52:35.552-07:00Shadows, Bats, and MiceFebruary 25 -<br />The "hot" season is waning and we are approaching "fall" thank goodness! It is most obvious at night when it actually cools down enough I don't need to use my fan. It's getting hot later in the morning and cooling off earlier in the evening but daytime temperatures are still insufferable and the sun is blistering hot so it is still difficult to get out and do much of anything. Fortunately I'm not working in agriculture or on a construction project. The length of the days is also changing slightly but there really isn't much difference between "summer" and "winter" daylight hours here - maybe an hour and half. Which brings me to the next topic.<br /><br />Shadows! When you are between the equator and the Tropic of Capricorn they are all screwed up! The same would be true with the Tropic of Cancer I am sure. Anyway, being in the southern hemisphere I supposed (in my blissful ignorance) that shadows would fall towards the south and that moss would grow on the south side of trees. I was wrong in both cases. As the sun wanders back and forth between the Tropics of Cancer and Capricorn sometimes it is north of us and sometimes it is south of us depending on the time of the year, so the shadows may also fall to the north and that means moss grows wherever it pleases! I don't know exactly where it is wandering right now but if I have this figured out right it should be directly over the equator on March 21st, so it's headed your way. I'd be really happy if it got a whole lot closer to you real soon.<br /><br />Now you may wonder what practical application this lesson has. Imagine yourself getting on a bus on a very hot day. You want to sit where the sun doesn't shine directly on you so you pick the side that is shaded, which of course in my naivety I assumed would be the south side of the bus (as it travels east to west). WRONG! Well, right part of the time but don't count on it. I gave up trying to figure it out and just started looking at shadows around me before I ever got on the bus. It works a lot better. I am sure there are many other instances when this little bit of knowledge could be useful, for example lost deer hunters shouldn't count on the moss getting them home. Oh that's right, there aren't any deer here so I guess that one doesn't apply.<br /><br />There are "flying foxes" however (a.k.a. fruit bats) and they are huge. They used to hunt those but they are protected now because of their role in pollinating flowers and in seed dispersal . I finally got to see one when we were at the conference. At first I thought it was a large bird, bigger than a seagull, until it turned and I could see the webbing. Of course I didn't have my camera. Probably a good thing since I was standing waist deep in the ocean at the time.<br /><br /><br />February 28 -- How to keep a mouse healthy..<br />I just spent the most informative hour finding out what the insides of a mouse look like. Now before you gross out entirely, I’m talking about my computer mouse. It seems that in Samoa the standard method of cleaning your mouse – take the ball out, clean the rollers, clean the ball, put the ball back in – isn’t sufficient.<br /><br />There is this black fuzzy cruddy stuff that floats around unseen in the air. One could call it Samoan dust I suppose and it coats everything. An electric fan will become filthy within a month of use. The leading edges of the fan blades turn black and the grate gets yucky and when you try to clean it you need soapy water to get it off. Since there isn’t any industry to speak of my guess is it is coming from the cooking fires that are used for almost every meal. They mostly burn coconut husks instead of wood but I don’t know if that makes any difference.<br /><br />Anyway, back to my mouse. The black junk coats the rollers very quickly. After using the standard cleaning method once or twice a week since I got here it got so that wasn’t working. I surmised that if that gunk is getting on the rollers it is probably getting inside the works too so I got out my trusty screwdriver and took it apart. Not much there. A small printed circuit board and three rollers, two of which have cogwheels on one end. Sure enough everything was plugged up with black fuzzy stuff so I cleaned it all out, put it back together, and presto! it works again. The question is, how does this thing work at all? The circuit board isn’t attached to anything except the wire to the computer. It sits next to those cogwheels but doesn’t even touch them and there are no contacts with the body of the mouse. My opinion of the guy who invented this thing just went up several notches!Lilihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17109983510198364895noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-24308646.post-55309648311661504272007-02-19T14:42:00.000-08:002007-08-13T14:46:52.122-07:00Early Service Conference<a href="http://photos1.blogger.com/x/blogger/954/1401/1600/739524/BeachAndOcean.jpg"><img style="width: 272px; height: 193px;" alt="" src="http://photos1.blogger.com/x/blogger/954/1401/320/776403/BeachAndOcean.jpg" border="0" height="215" width="288" /></a> <a href="http://photos1.blogger.com/x/blogger/954/1401/1600/803985/Down%20the%20Beach.jpg"><img style="width: 263px; height: 195px;" alt="" src="http://photos1.blogger.com/x/blogger/954/1401/320/510034/Down%20the%20Beach.jpg" border="0" height="222" width="290" /></a><br /><a href="http://photos1.blogger.com/x/blogger/954/1401/1600/952533/FaleAndBeach.jpg"><img style="" alt="" src="http://photos1.blogger.com/x/blogger/954/1401/320/161391/FaleAndBeach.jpg" border="0" height="235" width="275" /></a> <a href="http://photos1.blogger.com/x/blogger/954/1401/1600/870907/My%20fale.jpg"><img style="width: 257px; height: 227px;" alt="" src="http://photos1.blogger.com/x/blogger/954/1401/320/584335/My%20fale.jpg" border="0" height="168" width="258" /></a><br />February 17 -<br />I just got back from my Early Service Conference - one week at some beach fales down the road from here. It was a really beautiful spot and the weather was decent most of the time. It rained hard sometimes and the sun was blistering down sometimes, but a lot of the week it was overcast or just raining lightly which makes it a lot cooler. There is a really nice breeze and that helps too. For the surfers in the crowd there are some really good waves there. They will be holding the surfing competition for the South Pacific Games there this summer. Well, summer is not really the right word I guess. Technically it will be the dry/cold season. Anyway they start in August.<br /><br />Tomorrow I’m off to Apia to get my last hepatitis vaccination and to see the doctor again about my asthma. The climate here is wonderful for my arthritis and my dry skin but bad for the asthma. I had no symptoms and no treatment for more than five years when I left the states but two weeks into my stay in Samoa it started kicking up again. I have an inhaler that I used occasionally at first, then regularly every night at bedtime. Lately I have had to use it 2 or 3 times a day so I have to go see about getting some oral meds to go with it. I don’t know if it’s allergies, humidity, smoke from cooking fires, mosquito coils/bug spray or a combination thereof but it is definitely getting worse.Lilihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17109983510198364895noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-24308646.post-22746701696377445232007-02-17T14:35:00.000-08:002007-08-13T14:42:29.255-07:00Bugs, Church, and ComputersFebruary 9 -<br />I have a gross out story for you! Night before last I was sitting at the table playing computer games when I noticed a creepy crawly 1/2 inch long wormy looking thing crawling across my screen. I brushed it away and smashed it. A bit later there was one on my arm. I smashed it. Then there was one on the mouse pad, etc. After a while of this I decided something had hatched out in my thatched roof and they were crawling around and dropping down from my ceiling which creeped me out so I got out my trusty Mortein bug spray and sprayed the roof/ceiling. Well, they kept falling down, but now at least they were dead. However every other bug, fly, moth, beetle etc. that was up there died and fell down too. It was totally disgusting. There were dead bugs everywhere except in my bed and that's because the top of the mosquito net caught them. What can I say? It seemed like a good idea at the time!<br /><br />February 11 -<br />Sunday again. Off to church in a bit but I'm not worried about being late. It's the "Samoan way" to show up when you feel like it for anything, including church. It's supposed to begin at 8:30 and there are maybe 100 people there by then plus all the Sunday School kids. Just before the first hymn about 20-30 more people wander in. These are mostly choir members. Then there is an extended prayer and another hymn, then another 20-30 people take their seats. Then just before the sermon the last shift arrives. These people have been accumulating in the church foyer waiting for the appropriate time to enter the sanctuary. By the way the Methodist church here is an offshoot of the Anglican church and they stand for all songs, and kneel on the floor (in their white clothes) to pray. I understand from my PCV friend Ray that is the way Anglicans do it. I'm not Anglican so I don't!<br /><br />Church is a bit different from what I am used to., Families are not seated together. Kids are with the SS group, boys on one side of the church, girls on the other side. Adults sit in the middle two sections, men on one side and women on the other. A couple of cranky old crones keep an eye on the kids and if they get out of line they get up and go smack them, either with their hand or their fan. Little kids get up and go wandering around to other family members whenever they want. During prayers (remember everyone is kneeling?) people look around to see what everyone else is doing, chat with their neighbor, play with their little ones, etc. Periodically they close their eyes and may murmur "thank you" in response to a "thank you Jesus" portion of the minister's prayer. In this village church attendance is mandatory but of the 1150 population only 200-300 are actually in church at one time and there is only one church. Today there was a rugby game on TV. The men's section was surprisingly empty.<br /><br />About the Computer Center. It's a pretty nice setup actually. Four Pentium IV computers plus a server, all in a nice air-conditioned area. The government is on a big push to make computers available to everyone so they have been running around the country setting up these centers. Never mind that no one knows how to work them or maintain them. One computer won't boot at all - one long beep code for you geeks out there, The server has the same problem off and on. The internet doesn't work so I decided to find out why. Some bozo installed a 19.2K modem. It actually has a 56K modem so I uninstalled the wrong one and installed the right one. Now the computer knows the modem is there but still no internet connection. I checked the phone line and guess what - it's dead. I found an old September phone bill lying around that was overdue and threatening cutoff so I guess we know why the phone line is dead. There is a printer/fax machine that needs a toner cartridge, and a printer/scanner/copy machine that needs new print cartridges. Oh yes, the typing tutor program I was counting on for classes was a trial version and has expired! Aargh!!<br /><br />Yesterday we had another PC Committee meeting to make a final decision about what project we will work on. They kept trying to get me to decide. I kept telling them that was their job. I presented the information I had collected about potential funding for various projects at which time the matai decided to drop their request for a fishing boat because it would require a 35% contribution from them and they don't have it. So we will be trying to build a new Aualuma house with a health center and room for a daycare or classrooms. They really do need a Health Center because it is 1 1/2 hours to the nearest medical facility.<br /><br />I bought the shelf unit Friday and spent that night and Saturday morning putting it together and then putting things in it. It has 3 shelves divided into 2 sections each. The 3 sections on the right side have doors and the ones on the left are open. So I put my food, dishes, and pans in the ones with doors and books and papers in the open shelves. I got rid of two boxes and now there is a lot more room on my table. It's great.Lilihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17109983510198364895noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-24308646.post-35524117129363398352007-02-02T14:26:00.000-08:002007-08-13T14:35:32.623-07:00Settling in --January 30 -<br />I am settling in to my new surroundings and beginning to get going on getting some work done. My housing situation is fine although a bit interesting. Try going to bed every night on damp sheets and pillow! The sun has not been out enough to dry things out during the day. That doesn't mean it's not hot. It's just so humid (95%) that heat has no effect except to make it steamy. My mosquito net has mildew growing on the top, I think because I had it tied up high above the walls and it wasn't getting the breeze circulating over it, so I lowered it down to see if that helps.<br /><br />Living in my little faleo'o is a lot like camping without closing the rain flaps on your tent windows. No problem if there is no wind but since that seldom happens I bought a tarp and my host family supplied another one and we put them up on the outside so I can drop them down if it gets too bad. Since that's a bit of a chore, when it's just a bit breezy I just close the curtains and then tuck the bottoms of them into the wall where the wood meets the screen wire to keep them from blowing out into the room. It's a bit primitive but it works. Of course the traditional solution BT (before tarps) is woven shutters that they let down and that is what they have on the two big fale'o's that the family uses.<br /><br />Since I got my little refrigerator I am no longer eating breakfast and lunch with the family so I have a little more freedom of schedule and diet. It's great! I still eat the evening meal with them - necessary for cultural integration you know, plus it gives me more exposure to the language. The biggest problem is that they don't eat until 8:00 at night and I get hungry and I have had to re-adapt my sleep cycle to staying up later and getting up later in the morning.<br /><br />I've made a few trips to Salelologa (the village where the ferry dock is) and it is so much easier to do than it was to get from Faleu to Apia. The buses run by here about every half hour and then it's a 40 minute trip into town. Of course you can't count on them coming when you think they will. There are inumerable things that will cause them to change their schedule and you won't know about it until they just don't show up. One cardinal rule is supposed to be that there will be a bus to take people to catch the ferry which is every two hours, but even that is apparently not sacred because yesterday my bus was late getting here (it had gone to the plantation) then on the way to town it detoured to the bus barn to drop off the coconuts it had picked up. It missed the ferry!<br /><br />"Town" is a quaint little place. It has the open air "maketi" of course where you can buy everything from vegetables to deoderant, but there is also a business district that has a variety of offices and stores where you can get most things. There just isn't much variety. There is a shelving unit in one of them that I am lusting for. It would be so nice to get my books and papers off the floor and table. I could also use it for the dishes and pans that are currently in a box on the floor. We'll see. Maybe after the 1st.<br /><br />Sunday I finally got to meet with the pastor although it was not a nice quiet little chat as I had envisioned. I met with the whole young people's group and explained to them about the computer and sewing classes I thought we could have. I plan to have two classes back to back, twice a week. Twelve of them decided to sign up for computer classes and I asked them to meet me Monday evening to discuss when we should have the classes and to try to divide the group into skill levels for the two classes. The meeting was supposed to be at 5:30pm but of course no one was there when I arrived. One man showed up shortly and I talked to him for a bit then two of the women came, then another man came. That was it by the time I left at 6:15p. I have decided that, Samoa time be damned, I will wait 30 minutes from now on, and if people aren't there I will go home. So now I am working on my lesson plans. Fortunately one of the volunteers in Apia is a computer instructor at a private school and has shared his curriculum with us so I don't need to put a huge amount of work into it. I'll just follow his.<br /><br />The lady who lives next door came over the other day to see my house. I met her previously on the day I went with M to the garden, but I didn't know she was our neighbor. Anyway it turns out she speaks pretty good English so we had a nice chat. She is going to have her mother make me a broom. She also suggested that she could take me around the village so I could make a map and learn where everything is and where all the important people live. I am going to take her up on that, although I still refuse to walk 20 miles to the other end of the village. She did mention that maybe we could get a car for that.<br /><br />Yesterday when I was in town I called Digicel to complain about the lack of phone coverage in Gataivai. There has never been a decent signal here since they went live with the GSM service in November and apparently the villagers must think that's just the way it is supposed to be because the guy told me I am the only one who has ever called to complain about it! To tell the truth I can believe it. Samoans tend to just accept things as they are. If it works, it works. If it doesn't, it doesn't. I think I'll start a "call Digicel" campaign! I can get one bar in my house if I put the phone on top of the wall at the head of my bed. If I move it lower down or towards the other end of the house I lose the signal so I have to use it standing up. Of course I can't afford long phone calls anyway so maybe it helps keep the expense down.<br /><br />My Peace Corps Committee returned for a second meeting with the projects they think would benefit the village. We discussed them and managed to condense 7 ideas into 3 by combining projects. Since we can only work on one at a time we will have another meeting to decide which one. In the meantime I have been investigating potential funding sources and talking with group members to get a better idea of what their project entails. They want a fishing boat, a new Aualuma house which will contain a health center, sleeping room and classrooms (the village telephone is located in the house so it is manned 24/7), and assistance with obtaining equipment for weed and pest control in the plantation. It is up to them to decide what we will work on so we'll see what they come up with.<br /><br />February 2<br />Yesterday I went for a 2 hour bike ride with my friend J who is a volunteer in a village about 5 miles away. Well, actually it was about an hour of riding and an hour of pushing the bike but considering that it has been years since I rode at all it was quite an accomplishment. We pushed the bikes for an hour because we decided to investigate an old overgrown side road that should have taken us to the ocean (but didn't). J could have ridden on it but I tried and ended up in the bushes. I'm a bit too wobbly for riding in a tire track through the weeds so we strolled along in the rain enjoying the solitude. Anyway we had a great time but I gotta get me one of those padded tractor seats to put on the bike! Man that thing kills me!<br /><br />About my computer class curriculum. Computer classes are always conducted in English because that is the language the software is written in but I thought it would be nice if the students had a list of basic terms with Samoan equivalents to help get them started so I decided to make one up. Now that was interesting! There are no Samoan words for a lot of the terms so I had to try to think of something similar and use the Samoan word for that instead so monitor became screen, keyboard became typewriter, recycle bin became rubbish, log off became go away, backspace became return to the one behind, etc.<br /><br />I have decided that Samoa is not made of lava rocks. It is made of ants. It is two giant anthills in the middle of the ocean. They are mostly little tiny things, not as big as the good old American sugar ants. I don't know where they hide but just leave a speck of any kind of food anywhere and they are swarming all over it in a minute or less. Leave it there long enough and they will have called in re-inforcements from home and you will see a solid black ring of ants around it. And, they are small enough to get through the mosquito net so guess who doesn't eat in bed!<br />Off to town today. I think I'm going to get that shelf unit.Lilihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17109983510198364895noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-24308646.post-61694612012597752132007-01-22T14:22:00.000-08:002007-08-13T14:26:13.130-07:00The Fale 'o LiliJanuary 19 -<br />My new house is finished and I have moved into it! It was one week from "groundbreaking" to move-in, but I had no electricity for the first two days. They came yesterday and put that in so now it's complete and I can run my electric fan again. Thank Goodness. I have a 2 foot fluorescent light hanging from the rafters and a single plug outlet. It took them an hour - 1/2 hour to put the wiring and fixtures in and another 1/2 hour to get the face plates screwed on the boxes. Packaging is done a bit differently here. You do not get the appropriate screws in the package. The store clerk collects what he thinks you need, puts it in a little baggie and off you go. Apparently he mucked it up because the installer was cutting screws off with wire cutters to make them fit in the holes.<br /><br />The house is a traditional little Samoan fale with a thatched roof but with a touch of modern corrugated metal roofing at the peak. The method of preventing it all from blowing away in the wind is quite unique I thought. Somehow I don't think it'll hold up in a cyclone though. I keep asking them what will keep the rain from blowing in through the windows during a storm and haven't gotten a real answer yet. The traditional method is woven panels that they lower down in inclement weather, but I haven't seen any signs of those. I think I'll just get some tarps and make my own window coverings.<br /><a href="http://photos1.blogger.com/x/blogger/954/1401/1600/715792/1Fale%20o%20Lili%201.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px 10px 10px 0px; float: left;" alt="" src="http://photos1.blogger.com/x/blogger/954/1401/320/73022/1Fale%20o%20Lili%201.jpg" border="0" /></a><br /><br />I actually got to help make some of the thatching and then watched how they put it on so when I get home I can make my own house. Oh, wait! I forgot, no Sago Palm trees in Oak Harbor. The thatch is made in 3 foot sections of leaves wrapped around a stick and stitched in place. These are then tied to the underlying roof structure, overlapping from bottom to top and also from side to side. The big coconut fronds are there, temporarily I think, to hold the ends of the thatch down until they dry completely. When you are inside the house you can look up and see daylight through places in the roof so I was worrying about it leaking but last night it rained really hard and nothing got wet inside so I guess they know what they are doing after all.<br /><a href="http://photos1.blogger.com/x/blogger/954/1401/1600/659713/7Roofing%20Crew.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px 10px 10px 0px; float: left;" alt="" src="http://photos1.blogger.com/x/blogger/954/1401/320/100941/7Roofing%20Crew.jpg" border="0" /></a><br />The floor is made from 1 x 6 lumber that they had lying around. Makes for an interesting walk across the floor as some boards flex more than others when I step on them. Actually the whole fale except for the support posts is made from recycled lumber. PC came out and wrapped the windows with mosquito netting and security wire which may make me more secure but it really doesn't do much good for mosquitoes. There are big gaps between boards on the walls and holes in the floor around the posts to say nothing of the 6 inch gap all around the house where the roof cap sits on the rafters. I had them leave me scraps of the mosquito netting and I'm going to try to close some of the access points. I have no hopes of <a href="http://photos1.blogger.com/x/blogger/954/1401/1600/622381/8Wiring.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px 10px 10px 0px; float: left;" alt="" src="http://photos1.blogger.com/x/blogger/954/1401/320/310418/8Wiring.jpg" border="0" /></a>making it mosquito proof but mosquito resistant would be nice. In the meantime Mortein and mosquito coils are my best friends. That plus anti-itch cream.<br /><br />Inside the house I have mats covering the floor, pretty new curtains hung by my hostess, a 3' x 4' table built by her sons-in-law, an old army cot style bed with a mattress, my bicycle and my pedestal fan, a hanging clothes bag with compartments in it suitable for small clothing articles, and all my suitcases and boxes sitting around on the floor because I have nothing to put the stuff in or on. I'm hoping to be able to pick up an old used dresser of some kind eventually but the first item on the agenda is a little refrigerator. There is a store in town that sells re-conditioned (from New Zealand) ones for $500 tala (about $150 US) so I'll pick one up next week. Right now if I want cold water I have to fill a water bottle and take it out front to their little store where they have a freezer, then try to remember to go get it before it freezes solid. <a href="http://photos1.blogger.com/x/blogger/954/1401/1600/641368/9Bedroom.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px 10px 10px 0px; float: left;" alt="" src="http://photos1.blogger.com/x/blogger/954/1401/320/293957/9Bedroom.jpg" border="0" /></a><br /><a href="http://photos1.blogger.com/x/blogger/954/1401/1600/193865/9bOfficeKitchen.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px 10px 10px 0px; float: left;" alt="" src="http://photos1.blogger.com/x/blogger/954/1401/320/324062/9bOfficeKitchen.jpg" border="0" /></a><br /><br />What have I done workwise? One evening I went with some of the women down to their garden to help water and weed. It was about 1000 degrees when we walked down there, then the big black clouds rolled in and it began to Rain! Did we quit and head for shelter? Nope. Just kept on working, spading compost into the soil for new vegetable beds, planting the seeds and doing a spot of weed pulling. It was a great bonding experience!<br /><br />Last Monday I had a meeting with a bunch of the prominent villagers to discuss formation of a committee to work with me while I am here. There are 5 organizations in the village: the chiefs (matai), the wives of the chiefs (faletua ma tausi), the un-titled men and their wives (Aumaga), the unmarried sisters and daughters of chiefs (Aualuma), and the youth group (Autalavou). People were selected from each group to be on the committee and I sent them home to talk with their respective groups and come back with one or two ideas each for projects we can work on. We have another meeting tomorrow morning.<br /><br />Yesterday I went and met the principal of the primary school. They are on summer break right now but start up again next week and she invited me to come visit the school and meet all the teachers. That's about it for now. I hope to continue to have positive news to report on my doings. After the last three months it's nice to have something to do again.Lilihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17109983510198364895noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-24308646.post-14117835187642825192007-01-16T14:16:00.000-08:002007-08-13T14:22:36.913-07:00In my new villageI was finally able to leave Apia and move to my village in Savaii. PC delivered me here on Tuesday afternoon and I was greeted by the Women's Komiti which entailed many speeches and a lunch.<br /><br />The name of my new village is Gataivai, pronounced Na-tie-vie and there are 1150 people in it. However the village is huge. It is about 20 miles from one side of town to the other! Most of the people live in one concentrated area where my house is but there are scattered houses that whole 20 miles. I think I'll pass on the door-to-door village survey like the one I did in Faleu!<br /><br />I am ensconced in a room in the family home while my quarters are being prepared. When I arrived they were in the process of building a new TINY faleo'o next to it for me. It was about big enough for a bed and that's it. I was expecting to have space to set up a cooking area and to have room for a desk for my computer so I was very surprised.<br /><br />All I said was "It's so little" and the next morning they were out there tearing one end off it and making it bigger. As it is it is still really small but at least I can get a desk in it. I may have to re-think my plan to do some of my own cooking though.<br /><br />The family is really nice and some of them speak fairly good English and they are committed to helping me learn more Samoan, which will be a good thing. There are 6 adults and 8 kids living in the compound. The whole extended family use the house for cooking and meals and evening prayer. Other than that they don't use it very much that I can see. No one but the boys sleep in it.<br /><br />In addition to the son who actually lives here and the niece, right now one daughter, husband, and kids is visiting from Australia and another daughter who lives here in the village is staying with them too along with her kids. I counted 14 kids the other night but I don't know how many of them will be here permanently.<br /><br />Obviously I haven't done much work since I just got here. We went down the road about a quarter mile to this little bay where the river runs into the ocean and went swimming. Also in the bay there is a big cold water spring that bubbles up out of the lava rocks. It makes for interesting swimming because the deeper water in the bay is warm from the sea, and the cold water from the spring is on the surface, just the opposite of what I am used to in a lake for example.<br /><br />Yesterday we went into Salelologa (the biggest village on this island and the one where the ferry dock is. There is an annual event where every village in Savaii sends their Women's Komiti members to show off their fine mats and tapa cloth they have made. It's a really big deal I guess because the Prime Minister came over from Upolu to give a speech.<br /><br />Then I got sick, couldn't eat, stayed in my room and slept all afternoon and evening. Today I feel better but still a bit iffy so I'm going to take it easy. Next week we will get down to business and see what I've gotten myself into.Lilihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17109983510198364895noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-24308646.post-87756017794506806132007-01-02T14:08:00.000-08:002007-08-13T14:16:26.765-07:00Happy New YearDecember 31-<br /><br />Happy New Year and I'm still in Apia!<br /><br /><br />On Friday I went <a href="http://photos1.blogger.com/x/blogger/954/1401/1600/853823/Eric%20Tending%20the%20stove.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px 10px 10px 0px; float: left;" alt="" src="http://photos1.blogger.com/x/blogger/954/1401/200/595629/Eric%20Tending%20the%20stove.jpg" border="0" /></a>over to Savaii for V's 24th birthday party. Everyone from my group went to his village and spent the night and had a great time. We barbecued hamburgers and hot dogs, and heated pork and beans in the can on a metal plate over an open pit fire of coconut husks and pretended it was just like home. From there I went to R and J's Saturday and stayed until Monday when I came back to Apia.<br /><br />Here are some pictures I took at the party, of <a href="http://photos1.blogger.com/x/blogger/954/1401/1600/177401/Reef%20and%20Apolima%20Island.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px 10px 10px 0px; float: right;" src="http://photos1.blogger.com/x/blogger/954/1401/200/224357/Reef%20and%20Apolima%20Island.jpg" alt="" border="0" /></a>a church in V’s village, and a shot of the reef and Apolima Island from the ferry on the way back to Upolu.<br /><br /><a href="http://photos1.blogger.com/x/blogger/954/1401/1600/86927/Inside%20Church.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px 10px 10px 0px; float: left;" alt="" src="http://photos1.blogger.com/x/blogger/954/1401/200/152954/Inside%20Church.jpg" border="0" /></a>The painted glass windows are of Samoan religious legends and Bible stories Samoan style, including Jesus with a body tattoo holding an ava stick and wearing a lavalava. The sun was really bright and these are the only two that turned out.<br /><br /><br /><a href="http://photos1.blogger.com/x/blogger/954/1401/1600/191759/Window2.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px 0px 10px 10px; float: right;" alt="" src="http://photos1.blogger.com/x/blogger/954/1401/200/362033/Window2.jpg" border="0" /></a><a href="http://photos1.blogger.com/x/blogger/954/1401/1600/85652/Window1.jpg"><img style="margin: 10px 10px 10px 0px; float: left; width: 224px; height: 151px;" alt="" src="http://photos1.blogger.com/x/blogger/954/1401/200/789015/Window1.jpg" border="0" /></a><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br />I checked in at the office as soon as I got back and they told me the new potential date for the move to the new village is January 10th. I'll believe it when I'm there!<br /><br />I went to my training village to spend Christmas with my host family. That was great. It was really nice to see them again and I even had a little fake tree in my room with lights and everything. It's just not the same though when it's so darn hot. Santa doesn't even come to Samoa. Totally true folks. Gift giving at Christmas is not part of their culture, though I am sure some enterprising marketing executive is working on that. We did have carolers though. About 12:30am I was roused from sleep by the sound of beautiful music. I got up and looked out and what to my wondering eyes did appear but the choir from the Methodist church in the next village, all dressed in white, carrying candles in half coconut shells, 40 or 50 people walking down the road singing. I have commented before on how beautiful their singing is and that night was no exception. The church functions are pretty much like ours. Sunday morning service, evening youth program, and then a Christmas service too. All I did for four days was eat, sleep, read, and go to church, then I headed back to Apia where I embarked upon the next chapter of my continuing saga.Lilihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17109983510198364895noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-24308646.post-53800577805180942752006-12-09T13:57:00.000-08:002007-08-13T14:04:49.628-07:00Just hanging out.<span class="postshown" id="1165699337158467601">December 7 –<br /><br />The climate continues to be challenging. 90 degrees, 90% humidity (or more), and not a breath of wind. Then the clouds roll in, it rains (still not much wind), cools it down to 85 degrees, but now the humidity is 99%. At night it drops to about 75 or 80 so sleeping is doable as long as you have a fan running. Then there are the mosquitoes. They truly love me. I slather myself with mosquito repellant and they still get me. Then I’m all sticky and smelly from the bug stuff and sweat and need a shower, so I go wash it all off, feel clean for 5 minutes until I have to re-apply repellant and until the heat gets to me again. And so it goes. Repeat as necessary. It's a grand life.<br /><br />December 11-<br /><br />I took a trip to the island of Savai'i to visit R and J. Here are a couple of pictures of the ferry and one of Apolima Island. There are actually two ferries - this one and a full size Puget Sound type ferry. The big one takes 45 minutes to cross the Apolima Strait and this one takes an hour and 15 minutes, but I hear during rough seas the little one is a far better ride.<br /><br /><br /><a href="http://photos1.blogger.com/x/blogger/954/1401/1600/279798/7SavaiiFerry.jpg"><img style="margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; float: left; cursor: pointer;" src="http://photos1.blogger.com/x/blogger/954/1401/200/564520/7SavaiiFerry.jpg" heigth="138" alt="" border="0" width="160" /></a><br /><a href="http://photos1.blogger.com/x/blogger/954/1401/1600/65844/8LandingCraftFerry.jpg"><img style="margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; float: left; cursor: pointer;" src="http://photos1.blogger.com/x/blogger/954/1401/200/795437/8LandingCraftFerry.jpg" heigth="138" alt="" border="0" width="160" /></a><br /><a href="http://photos1.blogger.com/x/blogger/954/1401/1600/359945/9ApolimaIsland.jpg"><img style="margin: 0pt 0pt 10px 10px; float: right; cursor: pointer;" src="http://photos1.blogger.com/x/blogger/954/1401/200/112636/9ApolimaIsland.jpg" heigth="138" alt="" border="0" width="160" /></a><br /><br />It was a really crummy day, rain, clouds, rough seas,(and yes, it was still HOT) so I didn't get anything spectacular but since I am moving there I'll get lots more opportunities. </span>Lilihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17109983510198364895noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-24308646.post-25295252816132455172006-11-13T13:54:00.000-08:002007-08-13T13:57:33.721-07:00On Being in LimboNovember 13 –<br /><br />Sorry I’ve been negligent in updating the blog but things here are in a big mess right now. There have been issues with my housing arrangements ever since I went to Manono and two weeks ago everything came to a head when a drunk decided to wander around the premises. The PC decided I should no longer live in that house and tried to find me other accommodations there in Faleu. Well that didn’t work out either and now they have decided to move me from that village to another one – yet to be determined. It sounds like it will most likely be on the island of Savai’i and will have more of a computer teacher component to it, which suits me just fine. I have learned though that the housing component is really critical so it remains to be seen what they come up with for that.<br /><br />In the meantime I am just hanging out in Apia – I went out to Vaie’e (my training village) for four days to visit my host family there, then PC put me up in a hotel for two nights, and now today I am going up to stay D’s house while she is gone to New Zealand for the next 3 weeks. Hopefully they will have come up with something for me by then! I’ll keep you posted.Lilihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17109983510198364895noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-24308646.post-85729654498923965812006-10-27T13:50:00.000-07:002007-08-13T13:54:12.013-07:00Not the new kid on the block anymore.October 17 -<br /><br />I have returned from Apia following the welcome party for the new trainees. It was a rip roaring success. It was great fun being on the other side of the mike this time around. We got to do the entertaining while they watched in awe. Oh that's right, that wasn't us they were in awe of. It was the fire dancer!, but they seemed to enjoy our fumbling attempts to do Samoan dances as well, and as one of the staff pointed out, they don't know what you are supposed to be doing so it's going to look great to them. Quit worrying. We provided a potluck dinner which had food ranging from pizza to roast pig, spaghetti to east Indian cuisine, and a lot of traditional Samoan dishes. It was delicious.<br /><br />The rainy season is trying to arrive. It rained quite a bit while I was gone and when the wind blows just right it blows the rain into the open part of the house and from there it runs into my room, so today I am drying out my floor mats. Fortunately I had a stroke of genius before leaving and switched off the 220V outlet that my power strip plugs into. Not sure what happens when you mix water with 220V but I imagine it's exciting. For the uninitiated, all plug receptacles have switches to turn them on and off. Something to do with the fact that 220V can kill you.<br /><br />I bought a FAN!!! I am so HAPPY!!! I also talked the PC out of a kerosene stove for cooking. The big propane tank for the range that I filled one month ago is nearly empty and I can't carry a full one so it makes it quite inconvenient to be refilling it all the time. I can carry a bottle of kerosene plus they sell it here on the island so it seemed to make good sense to me to switch. Because they had issued me the stove they offered to drive me to the boat dock so I wouldn't have to drag it on a bus. Thank you, thank you, thank you. That meant I could really load up on all sorts of stuff since I had a ride. So I went shopping! I got a new clock radio to replace my little travel alarm that has been my faithful companion through many years of camping but finally gave out and my radio I brought from the states that was broken in transit. It was pretty cheap so we'll see how it holds up. No other exciting purchases. Just stuff. All potential purchases (including food) have to be weighed against the portability factor - that is, can I get all this home?? The answer today was yes, so I loaded up.Lilihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17109983510198364895noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-24308646.post-52310979039291012372006-10-12T13:43:00.000-07:002007-08-13T13:49:15.233-07:00It's HOT!!!<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/954/1401/1600/92TheHouse%20WaterTanks%20NewGrave.jpg"><img style="margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; float: left; cursor: pointer;" src="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/954/1401/320/92TheHouse%20WaterTanks%20NewGrave.jpg" alt="" border="0" /></a><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/954/1401/1600/8%20DryingPandanusLeavesForMats.jpg"><img style="margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; float: left; cursor: pointer;" src="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/954/1401/320/8%20DryingPandanusLeavesForMats.jpg" alt="" border="0" /></a><br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/954/1401/1600/93TheRoadByMyHouse.jpg"><img style="margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; float: left; cursor: pointer;" src="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/954/1401/320/93TheRoadByMyHouse.jpg" alt="" border="0" /></a><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/954/1401/1600/91TheFamilyMeetingFale.jpg"><img style="margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; float: left; cursor: pointer;" src="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/954/1401/320/91TheFamilyMeetingFale.jpg" alt="" border="0" /></a><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/954/1401/1600/5%20Toursts.2.jpg"><img style="margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; float: left; cursor: pointer;" src="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/954/1401/320/5%20Toursts.2.jpg" alt="" border="0" /></a><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/954/1401/1600/4%20AggieGrayHotelTourBoat.3.jpg"><img style="margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; float: left; cursor: pointer;" src="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/954/1401/320/4%20AggieGrayHotelTourBoat.3.jpg" alt="" border="0" /></a><br /><br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/954/1401/1600/9%20My%20Backyard.jpg"><img style="margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; float: left; cursor: pointer;" src="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/954/1401/320/9%20My%20Backyard.jpg" alt="" border="0" /></a><br /><a href="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/954/1401/1600/2%20Fishermen.1.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px 10px 10px 0px; float: left;" alt="" src="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/954/1401/320/2%20Fishermen.1.jpg" border="0" /></a><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/954/1401/1600/3%20FerryBoat.3.jpg"><img style="margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; float: left; cursor: pointer;" src="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/954/1401/320/3%20FerryBoat.3.jpg" alt="" border="0" /></a>October 6 -<br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/954/1401/1600/7%20VillageSquareTelephoto.jpg"><img style="margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; float: left; cursor: pointer;" src="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/954/1401/320/7%20VillageSquareTelephoto.jpg" alt="" border="0" /></a><br />Did I tell you I take back what I said about being able to get used to the climate? If not, I take i<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/954/1401/1600/6%20VillageSquareFromMyPorch.2.jpg"><img style="margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; float: left; cursor: pointer;" src="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/954/1401/320/6%20VillageSquareFromMyPorch.2.jpg" alt="" border="0" /></a>t back. Today, thankfully for the first time in a week, has not been too bad. We had raincloud cover almost all day which is a gigantic blessing believe me. Without it as soon as the sun clears the mountain on Upolu you start sweating, and that is at 6:30 am, maybe 6:45. By 9:00am it is HOT, by 11:30am it is unbearable, and by 1:00pm you just want to crawl in a cool dark hole somewhere. The biggest problem is that the tradewinds have died for the season and no breeze means no relief. We are heading into the hot, rainy season but so far all that has showed up is the hot part. We do get an occasional breeze from the southwest (tradewinds come from the southeast) and they are a mystery to me. You get a nice cooling breeze for a few minutes then you are blasted with one that is at least 15 degrees warmer and very humid. It's the most bizarre thing I've ever encountered.<br /><br />So, lets see. What have I been up to? I spent my three days in Apia for my great escape and got to see some of my group that I haven't seen since we left the training village. I hung around at D's a lot and did not much of anything, although I did make some phone calls that were business related. I got a package from my darling daughter with some much needed pans and a coffee pot. There is no such thing here, believe me, I looked. I figure I have about 3 weeks of coffee left, so get those packages coming! She also sent me some DVDs which is great. I'm missing out on all the new season shows though. I looked into getting a TV but we only get one channel here on the island so it's probably not worth it. American Idol will have to do it without me this year. Bummer!<br /><br />Starting next week I am going to be reading to the older Primary School students two days a week for an hour and a half in English. The principal thinks they need to hear English the way it is supposed to be spoken, not the way Samoan teachers speak it. It should be fun and I'm actually looking forward to it.<br /><br />Yesterday was National Teacher's Day and I was invited to participate by walking down to the next village and then, along with all the students and all four teachers and assistants, walking back through Faleu and the next village as the kids sang and collected donations for the teachers. The money was to go towards a party which followed this excercise in insanity. Remember what I said about when it gets hot? We got back to Faleu about 9:30am and in spite of my hat I was dying. I bailed and went home so missed out on the party. It was actually kind of fun and I love to hear the kids sing but that old "acclimatization" thing hasn't kicked in yet I'm afraid.<br /><br />I know, I know. When am I going to post some more pictures? Well, as soon as I take them I guess. It is just so bloody hot, photographic expeditions are not very high on my priority list. Getting a fan is!! I'm going back to Apia on Friday the 13th (not to worry, it's my lucky day) and staying till Monday. The next training group arrives on the 11th and custom has it that current volunteers (that's me!) put on a welcoming fiafia for them that first week on Saturday so I'm off to make them feel welcome. I also happen to have a meeting with a Samoa Water Authority engineer scheduled so I can get PC to pay my transportation - I think.<br /><br /><br />October 10 –<img src="file:///C:/DOCUME%7E1/USER0/LOCALS%7E1/TEMP/moz-screenshot-3.jpg" alt="" /><br />Here are some pictures. I got out the telephoto lens and played around with it. It wasn’t expensive enough to make a whole lot of difference actually, but it does make some interesting shots when you have it on and the lens is retracted inside the adapter. Oh no, wait! That’s right, I was going to tell you I did those round pictures on purpose! Ah well.Lilihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17109983510198364895noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-24308646.post-24635281597570457682006-09-27T13:35:00.000-07:002007-08-13T14:07:36.648-07:00The saga continues..September 23 –<br />I’m not going to Apia until next week as the funeral isn’t until the 28th. There were a bunch of people here again today. They came to dig the grave, which I admit is kind of a morbid topic but it is all done so differently here I thought I would describe it anyway. First you need to know that Samoan’s bury their relatives in their front yards, and then build memorials on them. Then they “honor” the dead for eternity by sitting on them to chat, allowing the children to play on them, and keeping masses of artificial flowers (still in the plastic bags they bought them in) arranged over the site. Someday when I get up enough nerve I’m going to take some pictures.<br /><br />Fortunately for me the existing graves here are discretely located and the most impressive one is just a huge pile of lava rocks so none of this quaint custom has affected me until now. So they dig the hole then they pour a cement liner which has a lip at the top to receive the lid which has been poured in 3 sections so they can lift it. After the funeral at the church the pallbearers will bring the coffin here and place it in the grave. They lay a sheet of plexiglass in next, cover it with a “fine mat”, some artificial flowers and perhaps other items, then they put the lid on the box and build their monument on top of it. Since this was a village high chief I suppose that will be memorable.<br /><br />One other item of note. When they were digging the grave they came upon the remains of another poor unfortunate soul who had not been buried so efficiently. I had gone down to the Komiti house to answer the phone. I came back with a message for one of the women who was sitting in the meeting fale next to my house. I saw that she and another woman had a baby’s bathtub and were washing things from a pile next to them in it and carefully wiping them off. It took a second look to realize that it was human remains they were cleaning. So they finished their job and carefully wrapped all the bones up in a bundle and set it aside to be dealt with after the funeral. Aaack! This cultural immersion thing is about to get me down. Where is the Coroner when you need one?<br /><br /><br />September 26 –<br />I sit at the table in my room and watch as two worlds meet at the boat dock. Aggie Gray Hotel’s tour boat has just arrived and is unloading it’s cargo of 10 or so white humans, Aussies or Kiwis most likely, who straggle down the dock in their completely inappropriate western wear and straw hats to keep the sun off. I’ve learned those hats only work if the wind isn’t blowing, and if it isn’t blowing it is entirely too hot to go for a walk anyway, but there they are in the hottest part of the day, about to embark on a 2 hour stroll of discovery around the island.<br /><br />Meanwhile, crossing the boat channel in a brightly painted yellow and green paopao canoe is a Samoan returning from fishing. A paopao is a small hand hewn dugout outrigger canoe that will seat 2-4 people depending on the size (of the boat and the people I suppose). Usually when fishing they only carry one person. their nets, and some coolers to put the fish in. The reef here is quite a ways offshore and although the paopaos are not taken over the reef they are used extensively for fishing between it and the shore. The larger boats like the ones used to ferry passengers between here and the main island are taken out over the reef in search of larger fish. Either way, the day’s catch goes into coolers and is taken into Apia to sell at the stores and at the fish market.Lilihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17109983510198364895noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-24308646.post-57987714027955615652006-09-27T13:23:00.000-07:002007-08-13T13:35:06.123-07:00Busy WeekendSeptember 19-<br />It's been an eventful week and it's not over yet. I got a call from Ki, my hostess, last Friday morning telling me that, "Oh by the way there is going to be a title giving ceremony there on Saturday and people will begin arriving this afternoon." Now mind you a title giving ceremony is a HUGE thing in Samoan Society. The whole extended family attends and since most of them don't live here on the island they would be coming on Friday and spending the night.<br /><br />At 7:30pm the family business got started. When a title is given that man's family is required to pay a stated sum for the privilege. In this case it was $1000 tala, 5 fine mats, several cases of canned meat and 3 bolts of cloth. This all had to be counted out and receipt acknowledged for each of the 17 young men who were getting titles. That took until midnight, then they all had to chat a while before finally settling down to sleep. The women did sleep in the meeting fale, but the men were all spread out in my "living room". I went to bed and tried to sleep but woke up at 4:00am, realized the kitchen light was still on and got up to turn it off. Out by the back fale I could see they had built a fire which some of the young men were tending and the women were preparing something in a huge pot. They were out there all night.<br /><br />Next morning everyone got up, bustled around getting ready, and then headed down the way to the village matai council meeting fale for the actual title ceremony. When the ceremony was over everyone was served lunch at the matai’s meeting fale which entailed mass production of "box lunches" which were styrofoam doggy-bag boxes filled with whatever they were cooking at 4:00am. I have no idea how many people finally ended up here for the event as a lot came that morning on the boat but I'd guess it was around 100. It looked like a busy anthill for a while as the "workers" scurried back and forth carrying 5 or 6 boxes each until everyone got served.<br /><br />By nightfall everyone had left but a couple of men who were staying in the village with other families. One of these was the former high chief of this village. Apparently early next morning at daylight (6:00am) they decided to go for a swim. I was awakened by the sound of loud urgent voices and women yelling at Ki to wake her up. I got up and looked out to see them escorting her down towards the boat dock as a large number of villagers gathered around. Because of her wailing I was concerned that something had happened to her 7 year old son so I threw on some clothes and followed them, but was relieved to find out that it was the former high chief who had died while swimming. They carried him back to the house and the village women frenetically gathered around washing his body, spreading out fine mats, on which they placed a sheet covered foam pad and a pillow, and then they placed his sheet wrapped body on that. The Methodist minister arrived shortly and a brief service was held then they took the body down to the boat and headed to Apia to the hospital where the morgue is located. Next Friday there will be a funeral of colossal proportions here in the village. The man was the high chief for a long time and the entire village will be involved in this fa'alavelave (unusual event- most often a funeral).Lilihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17109983510198364895noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-24308646.post-44363724372499415622006-09-20T13:14:00.000-07:002007-08-13T13:21:46.553-07:00Island HappeningsSeptember 5 -<br />Time to get you caught up with events in my world (of which there really aren’t many). This week has been Teuila (a flower) Festival and a lot of the villagers are in Apia for the festivities so I haven’t even tried very hard to get any PC work done. I did however clean my room and scoured the range so I can feel OK about using it.<br /><br />Last Friday morning I was hanging out in my PJ’s and having a cup of coffee when M, one of the pulenuu’s sons who volunteers up at the school, showed up and asked me if I was ready to go to the school. Not knowing anything about this and feeling particularly stubborn that morning, I said no I couldn’t go. He, however, didn’t leave. He just kept sitting there and I was at a total loss what to do next. With my limited Samoan and his limited English we just weren’t managing to communicate when fortunately his mother showed up. She was able to explain to me that the school children had prepared a fiafia for me and it was time to go. A fiafia, by the way, can be either a fond farewell celebration as was the case when we left Vaie’e, or it can be a warm welcome as was the case here. Very much chagrined over my boorish behavior, I asked her to wait a moment so I could dress then we were off. It was really very sweet. They danced and sang and did a couple of skits and had even made a big banner sign that said “Welcome Dear Lili”. Talk about the colossal faux pas of all time if I had not gone!! I don’t even want to think about that.<br /><br />A, the pulenuu’s wife, told me that Saturday morning at 6:00 or 7:00am they were going to pick up lapisi (rubbish) which seemed like a worthwhile task since there is so much of it, so I offered to help. We started at about 6:45am and I grabbed a trash basket, made from coconut leaves, and headed out. Obviously their idea of rubbish and mine are not the same. There I was scouring the area for chip bags, Styrofoam, cans, bottles, plastic grocery bags filled with treasures, etc. when I realized that everyone else was picking up leaves. We ran into this in Vaie’e as well when we did the village beautification project. One man’s compost is another’s rubbish apparently, so I switched gears and started picking up leaves too, wondering why 50 people turned out at that time of the morning to pick up leaves in other peoples yards. It turns out it was a fund raiser for the church. I guess, as we came by you donated money and then we picked up your leaves, at least that is as close as I came to figuring it out. At any rate, I later got a can of pisupo (corned beef) given to me as thanks for helping.<br /><br />I decided since I was up and it was still early and fairly cool I would walk around the island and stop in Salua to see another volunteer, so off I went. It was a nice walk past some really nice beaches, through the banana plantations and on over to the other side of the island. By the time I got to Salua the sun was beating down, there was not much shade on the path anymore, and the gal I was going to stop and see wasn’t home so I continued on my way, vowing to remember my hat next time.<br /><br />Yesterday and today there have been really low tides and the village women and kids have been scouring the exposed areas for fish trapped in the tidal pools and for sea cucumbers of which there are two kinds. One is shaped like a small cucumber. That one they scrape off the outside, cut it open and clean out the insides, then eat the “skin” raw. That one is found in abundance just lying around on the sand. The other one is more of a delicacy and harder to find. It looks like a gelatinous blob on the sides and underside of the rocks. That one they have to pry off with a knife, then they cut it open and harvest the internal organs which they again eat raw. Yucky! I’m afraid my cultural integration will just have to wait a bit there.<br /><br />That pretty well brings us current – oh, except that I killed my roommate. He was bringing home friends and I figured I’d had enough. I hope there are no Hindus among you.<br /><br />September 13 -<br />Another week gone and I still haven't saved the world! I did have some progress on my village survey though and I'm putting all the data into Access which is keeping me off the streets. Oh, come to think of it there aren't any streets. Oh well you get the picture.<br /><br />I am now getting to the part of the village where the "poor" people live. Some of the living conditions are dreadful. This is the part of the "Tropical South Seas Paradise" that the travel agencies don't want you to see. Huge families of up to 30 people live in a cluster of old traditional open air fales with a wood pole floor or maybe stones they picked up on the beach. They throw down some of their mats and that's it. When company comes they round up a clean mat and put it on top of the old dirty worn one. They have a separate cooking fale and any water they need is hauled from the water tank in buckets. No one has flush toilets or showers. The facilities consist of a water seal toilet over a pit next to the ocean or it may drain into a septic tank but it is primitive either way. Some of the more affluent families, all things being relative, will have one larger usually concrete or cement block fale that serves as a community "living" room and it will have vinyl flooring in it.<br /><br />Monday I was in my room when I heard a loud commotion outside - banging of "drums" (empty paint cans) and singing so I went to look. Some of the village women and a lot of kids were parading down the path with two large woven mats, maybe 10 x 15 feet, attached to poles and raised in the air like banners as they marched along. Then they went back the way they came until they got to the Komiti house where they stopped, took down and folded up the mats and had a fiafia. They love a good party and will have a fiafia at the drop of the hat for any reason. It turns out one of the women's groups was showing off their fine handiwork to the other group of women and figured a parade was a good way to do it.<br /><br />The power went off last night so the pulenu'u sent down a light for me. It was a coke bottle with a rag in it filled with kerosene. Isn't that how you make a molotov cocktail? Anyway it gave off a lot of light but you have to be sure to put it close to a window because it is terribly smokey. I think I'll buy a for-real lamp. That thing is scary.Lilihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17109983510198364895noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-24308646.post-18945849648583324092006-09-19T13:08:00.000-07:002007-08-13T13:14:13.107-07:00Reasons why Paradise isn't ---August 31, 2006<br /><br />I know you have all been sitting there in your easy chairs pondering on what is so tough about the Peace Corps, and based on the pictures I have posted you have just cause to wonder. Just to set the record straight I thought I’d better tell the other side of the story, so here goes.<br /><br />Reasons why Paradise isn't --<br /><br />First, the weather sucks, even though Manono is better than Upolu. I am so tired of having my arms stick to anything I put them down on, including other body parts.<br /><br />Second, the bugs are horrendous. I don't even care if there aren't any poisonous ones. I just can't stand having them crawl around on me all the time. Mosquitos, flies, little creepy black bugs, weird little white ones, creepy crawlies on the floor, some of which will bite - namely five inch long centipedes, gazillions of cannibal ants (smaller than sugar ants back home but drop a piece of meat on the floor and they attack by the thousands), cockroaches, shy big brown spiders, and even cute little geckos - they are about to drive me nuts. I truly spray at least once a day and use mosquito coils every afternoon just to get the kitchen inhabitable so I can fix something to eat. I have to use roll-on mosquito repellent whenever I sit in the open part of the fale. I wonder how long the human body can take all this toxic exposure before it causes some harm? I can escape some of it if I go in my room and shut the door, but who wants to be cooped up inside in this paradise?<br /><br />Third, I would love to go sit out on the steps and look at the moon shining on the ocean and gaze at the stars, but I have my sleepers to contend with. They would want to get up and talk to me or try to find out if anything is wrong. They are really very sweet and concerned about my welfare but I just would really like to be left alone to do my own thing.<br /><br />Fourth, it stinks that the only sure way to get off this island is to go at 6:00am. Then to get back the only sure way is to come at 2:15p or so when the high school kids come home. If I just want to go to Apolima to see K (maximum 1/2 hour trip) or go to the store or post office it could turn into an 8 hour trip. True there are other boats, but only the good Lord and the boatman know when they might run. At least some of the boatmen run passengers part of the time but then they go fishing too so you never know when one might show up.<br /><br />Fifth, trying to get groceries is a major hassle out here on the island. There are little markets but their stock is extremely limited and very expensive. I can get all the breadfruit, taro, papaya, mangos, and bananas I want (when they are in season) but some green veggies or corn or carrots would be nice on a regular basis. For those you have to go to Apia which is 1 and a half hours there and 1 and a half back on the bus (to say nothing of getting a boat). I did find one store here on the island that carries chicken, which would be great if I hadn't gotten totally sick of it when I was in training because I had it EVERY day. Other than that, no meat of any kind. If the kids get lucky when they go spear fishing I may get a fish on occasion which is a nice treat, but I miss my lemon pepper.<br /><br />Other than that, it's great here and I am even getting a little work done. Yesterday I went down to the Komiti house and played cards with some of the ladies for an hour. Good language exposure, and I lost so they'll probably let me come back again. Today I started my village survey, talking to people, finding out about their families and wishes for the village. Three down, 37 to go!Lilihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17109983510198364895noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-24308646.post-32055833932498297452006-08-29T12:59:00.000-07:002008-11-13T04:24:31.257-08:00Today I became a Peace Corps VolunteerAugust 23 -<br />Well, I made it through 11 weeks of training all in one<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhslqRbHxUzfiFHdzyUM0sllNlmNV1EWFJ7QuEhyjyRau-fqHiF3bsBO_p2TqDrtzzlleg4SGF3XDAdAnhhgnmahs1twMU15dop4REA8wyprHGADZOm6yqYXsv1nf7gxRqRDRfcXw/s1600-r/IMG_0618.JPG"><img style="margin: 0pt 0pt 10px 10px; float: right; cursor: pointer;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgK8KgjfSODvfVoZlfzhStEusjc_P2blGadWl2QBPHdOpXZJiJ-TJbFGfTprM-in0RUW0eJEXPTpqpjOEK59ux7bSYX33ksMvJ08IMeWoA05BCGizFeX2NzVVDOHstQ5PxkvyXkRA/s200/IMG_0618.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5139447030351759298" border="0" /></a> piece except perhaps men<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjRlXN_VbuPLYCwXhEWKFkyaeV5OkI_SytJzliwwdo3gZ0VZMd7rW6BgWT1XF88ewC1hC6501WXTny6hH9odAuDkoS0VAQxaRyeQLNw_0mK_yrpd-jqsUmdKcXGyRn58Zur3EhIpA/s1600-r/IMG_0625.JPG"><img style="margin: 0pt 0pt 10px 10px; float: right; cursor: pointer;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjLDnM28TGWmdTscNg_axBW8KCGzyZzbY6-dzNgqhL4LncLRS0ZXwy0YewfN8kikcLCuZv6cbM9r3PK8bVRGQ08gtGJeP08spvuyyQyrtVC_MkeIQYZxj04tsmzrY3nAgOEz741dA/s200/IMG_0625.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5139447021761824690" border="0" /></a> 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 ha<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjosI7AmqRLn6PwCYEKPxu7Ancs8CVmP0dqqraSw5z9PLRz2R99xCvPEAInfIXiztpDvoaBpzA_oxoDFlRaZtkqXUZ-AfeTzLsFZRa2s6iQv4-Qw-WX9QqnP_bQHATtYcHqu4d8QQ/s1600-r/Proud+Parents.jpg"><img style="margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; float: left; cursor: pointer;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi8_D1TsKMwLr056bBWDavaPNAMb-zctZgMwIxyjdz1VUsuwVgovgaGM6EMbLVKRovI42YjPyfetMGwGoBNhmzxMNf2bkozvvr9ZndohJpzAeOwIBziLcQJq6qwgTSNS79qi1rc7g/s200/Proud+Parents.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5139442653780084610" border="0" /></a>ve lived with and become very involved with<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgLnZ-IEKllyptTdaH5_S7V9_PL9sglM8q7jWU_cCYWi5UGHJ1y0tNp3G8JIrWD-gvR_rjQJfM_iMkB0urxBktOCfKvhTdBY_Y9ofA7xw57jaXeVTQMMxDjmneJeNE6xOOqixkcQg/s1600-r/IMG_0670.JPG"><img style="margin: 0pt 0pt 10px 10px; float: right; cursor: pointer;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg8DkRVJgGFsfXAGetBmcur-nk5MkyPUsZt6TQtblzHfEBQsHUp6TDNei1nO5oTMgemAQzUKWEOEsVHZak3-NDv_6s8W_cuRyjPsu12rtHZUfOT8oZElKsXzDIbCo0fCCGM2o__3w/s200/IMG_0670.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5139447043236661202" border="0" /></a> 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.<br /><br />August 24 -<br />I returned to Manono Island today with all my accumulated stuff. I swear I have twice as much<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiTN8ZC3fkLNlra5wjDhTG7Y_GgUTs8NGDJ7rAabRJ4l66KeYZcEdm0qrbsQ1rRoK-ISdtd_QGHLpaWem5Iw_NmBcZts_jovUdIYgcjkhsUUGohcf68hweKuB8MkFTcih9HNetVQw/s1600-r/Boats+to+Manono.jpg"><img style="margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; float: left; cursor: pointer;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhz-m07D3P8A1SH7dQd7oGb5DS2TuskWLlrLW4WCmOeOPLkVm9qrnghSekYk_Y9nmT-Ph1mMyElcgo-vbTYNCusBTY9YsJrY21yXDC_gQ5KS3WH58imrOoo-DoZVaPNI7ldV_j4Ww/s200/Boats+to+Manono.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5139442658075051922" border="0" /></a> 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.<br /><br />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.<br /><br />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!<br /><br />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.<br /><br />August 25 -<br />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.<br /><br />There is one slight problem however. I have no desk, no dresser, and no closet. The standard<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgkK3aiaFo7PMU0AsAYw8nL4KExF5rR35zZUTt8JbWCJ19fe7JJPm5jttKRXEIYILzHnvo5IEIvaR54i_1EGkOHljtthrLmhgAiCczLvBGmyLvd8jVSNLHlNj5qO2-Zq261HUE_Aw/s1600-r/IMG_0715.JPG"><img style="margin: 0pt 0pt 10px 10px; float: right; cursor: pointer;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh9RGQ4rNnEGrDWRfvcKZnkGlejSsEjP28LzyfX8Uf-Zzekj3KImy1L88IinoZHHEmvQGduOTL6VyXg_X2fGrlPleY4-NPEBpQyuVlOtDmqYBBcFXX04FjErB0aEk1BJQA9B9_T_w/s200/IMG_0715.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5139447008876922786" border="0" /></a> 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.<br /><br />August 26<br />It’s Saturday and no one came yesterday. I had my first run down the way to the Komiti house<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjqgdLThM7nbFkby5KEROXWuJkAsBtfLzqVjt0gAAcJBSsFeL2PSfBWTIEGmoZImfqMOeVH2jTfi4ZhwzIYPq0tkweP9GqygJBiJCLf-nHouhWqZJlW5y7L3jUQnmBOp8_ZCm6xJQ/s1600-r/6+VillageSquareFromMyPorch.jpg"><img style="margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; float: left; cursor: pointer;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhuJrSnNMgzWdIaSyX2ORuwhDeJuVhP4b2nQMJBLWXfv6TlMf6CF6lHYdSWH3A8sv5bNkBIbGb37XoaU58O5g7pzZJxZcjODiQKCnZS8H9q9JxvZLRPnUI-Pt02VOFa0JXYwItVtQ/s200/6+VillageSquareFromMyPorch.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5139439879231211362" border="0" /></a> 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.<br /><br />August 27 –<br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiPHVWp7L-vd8YwFjGMxTLO9mABjrEqo2LijmWFgeaC16-e8c7t4KVLN9gFoOPrJIcFcEqiBKpi6p-mglbEhxs1X2_NPnYqJTUzpDiMVrJQlyR_Vm8T4rRiqRaoxsk5f4iYcJQXgQ/s1600-r/IMG_0519.jpg"><img style="margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; float: left; cursor: pointer;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiicHVRkMd-9RhwQJtXuLLcAo9hY4H_eX_LespBxvsW95_YrLVFjYGbj5_A38N3B_hVu5ZZB8eCiCrEijPHNUedTD7Uz_3DL07-YsOoFHmq8qUJh5kygv4Ago6tpojGOJCMOUrdMw/s200/IMG_0519.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5139439892116113266" border="0" /></a>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.<br /><br />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.<br /><br />August 28 –<br />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.<br /><br />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.Lilihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17109983510198364895noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-24308646.post-24173203525153224212006-08-22T12:54:00.000-07:002008-11-13T04:24:31.366-08:00Farewell to the VillageAugust 19 -<br /><p class="MsoNormal" style=""><span style="">Thursday was the language proficiency interview and I am happy to report that I passed, along with all the rest of m</span><span style="">y training group.<span style=""> </span>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.<span style=""> </span>My plan is to get someone in my new village to help me with practicing it until I can get</span><span style=""> a little more fluent - read that a LOT more fluent!<span style=""> </span>So now it is just finishing up the next few days and then swearing in is on Wednesday morning the 23rd.</span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style=""><span style="">Today we said farewell to the training village in the traditional Samoan way with a "fiafia".<span style=""> </span>All the villagers and the volunteers and the mucky mucks from PC staff got</span><span style=""> together and performed for each other with dances, songs, and skits.<span style=""> </span>It was great fun and for a bunch of white folks we did pretty good.<span style=""> </span>We got them to laugh, which in </span><st1:place><span style="">Samoa</span></st1:place><span style=""> is a sure sign of success.</span><span style=""><span style=""> </span>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</span><span style=""> to be handed out to us tomorrow.<span style=""> </span><br /></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style=""><span style="">Then we went home with our families and had our farewell with them.<span style=""> </span>My family decided to </span><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiaW2_wDIYzPQzsHnXdMfQz641dNh62yk3RMRd5Pq4kSJ8qbf3fDlegYxHWS1K8wU5fnwTqJEtjiumNex5ZEhkL3mDtMd8zKcDYJH7D5Kj6OGR-w2hBhfjqF77PquFNZC7DTIVMLA/s1600-r/IMG_0641.JPG"><img style="margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; float: left; cursor: pointer;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjbW2fbrejy4p-ZVKhVN66jpf95QauMspohPK4WUmrOn6mU4vOcrirr4lNEx4I_Y2PmITQ05RLuM2lfv1WfdqzJgwAe1mSx4Qzh9rwVV6vwR8GDZojnwFZMRgKufwqwI024bIzoxg/s200/IMG_0641.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5139455916639094834" border="0" /></a><span style="">have a papakiu (barbecue) of mutton flaps, sausages, and chicken.<span style=""> </span>They often barbecue on the bed of an old</span><span style=""> 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.<span style=""> </span>The barbecue sauce was</span><span style=""> soysauce, sugar, and onion and it was delicious.<span style=""> </span>I ate way too much.<span style=""> </span>Then I gave them gifts, some of which I brought from the states and some I got here.<span style=""> </span>They cried, I cried, we all</span><span style=""> cried, and then we had a party with other members of their extended family and some of the other trainees who dropped in.<span style=""> </span>It was a great evening. The next morning we all walked down to the PC training facility with my many bags</span><span style=""> - quite a bit more stuff than when I first went there 9 weeks ago.<span style=""> </span>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</span><span style=""> for our swearing in at which time I will officially become a Peace Corps Volunteer instead of trainee.<o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style=""><span style=""><o:p> </o:p>I will be here in Apia living in the lap of luxury in an air-conditioned</span><span style=""> 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.<span style=""> </span>Then the real reason for my being here begins.</span></p> <span style="">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</span><span style=""> living quarters in order.<span style=""> </span>I'm trying to get pictures posted up to the current time so you can see what I've been up to.<br /></span><p class="MsoNormal" style=""><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/954/1401/1600/DropoffSceneryLalomanu.jpg"><img style="margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; float: left; cursor: pointer;" src="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/954/1401/200/DropoffSceneryLalomanu.jpg" alt="" border="0" /></a></p><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/954/1401/1600/DropoffSceneryMountainTop.jpg"><img style="margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; float: left; cursor: pointer;" src="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/954/1401/200/DropoffSceneryMountainTop.jpg" alt="" border="0" /></a><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/954/1401/1600/DropOffSceneryValley.jpg"><img style="margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; float: left; cursor: pointer;" src="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/954/1401/200/DropOffSceneryValley.jpg" alt="" border="0" /></a><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/954/1401/1600/SmallFale%20With%20flowers.jpg"><img style="margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; float: left; cursor: pointer;" src="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/954/1401/200/SmallFale%20With%20flowers.jpg" alt="" border="0" /></a><br /><br /><br /><p class="MsoNormal" style=""><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/954/1401/1600/DropoffSceneryLalomanu.jpg"><br /></a></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style=""><span style=""><br /></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style=""><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/954/1401/1600/Hydrangea.jpg"><img style="margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; float: left; cursor: pointer;" src="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/954/1401/200/Hydrangea.jpg" alt="" border="0" /></a></p><p class="MsoNormal" style=""><span style=""><br /></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style=""><span style="">The scenery shots are from Drop off Day coming back across the mountains.<span style=""> </span>There are the most awsome tree ferns, banyon trees, and just jungle growth in general up there.</span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style=""><span style="">Then there are pictures of Manono that I took during my OJT visit.</span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style=""><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/954/1401/1600/MyRoom%20and%20Beach.jpg"><img style="margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; float: left; cursor: pointer;" src="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/954/1401/200/MyRoom%20and%20Beach.jpg" alt="" border="0" /></a></p><p class="MsoNormal" style=""><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/954/1401/1600/Faleu%20Boat%20Dock%20From%20My%20House.jpg"><img style="margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; float: left; cursor: pointer;" src="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/954/1401/200/Faleu%20Boat%20Dock%20From%20My%20House.jpg" alt="" border="0" /></a></p><p class="MsoNormal" style=""><span style="">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).<span style=""> </span>Eat your hearts out folks!<span style=""> </span>Of course paradise comes with a few flaws.<span style=""> </span>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!<span style=""><br /></span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style=""><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/954/1401/1600/Roommate.jpg"><img style="margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; float: left; cursor: pointer;" src="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/954/1401/200/Roommate.jpg" alt="" border="0" /></a></p><p class="MsoNormal" style=""><span style="">There is a shot of my kitchen table and fridge and another of the kitchen counter and range.<span style=""> </span>The open room to the right is my "living room" also known as the family sleeping room when they come on weekends.<span style=""><br /></span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style=""><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/954/1401/1600/Living%20Room.jpg"><img style="margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; float: left; cursor: pointer;" src="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/954/1401/200/Living%20Room.jpg" alt="" border="0" /></a></p><p class="MsoNormal" style=""><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/954/1401/1600/MyRoom.jpg"><img style="margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; float: left; cursor: pointer;" src="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/954/1401/200/MyRoom.jpg" alt="" border="0" /></a></p><p class="MsoNormal" style=""><span style="">A picture of my room (the bath towel is hanging on the bathroom door to the right), a shot of the ocean from right<br />outside my bedroom window, one of the boat dock from my "living room",<span style=""> </span>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".<span style=""> </span>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.</span></p><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/954/1401/1600/Dining%20Table%20and%20Main%20House.jpg"><img style="margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; float: left; cursor: pointer;" src="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/954/1401/200/Dining%20Table%20and%20Main%20House.jpg" alt="" border="0" /></a><p class="MsoNormal" style=""><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/954/1401/1600/Kitchen.jpg"><img style="margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; float: left; cursor: pointer;" src="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/954/1401/200/Kitchen.jpg" alt="" border="0" /></a></p><p class="MsoNormal" style=""><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/954/1401/1600/ButterflyPatch.jpg"><img style="margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; float: left; cursor: pointer;" src="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/954/1401/200/ButterflyPatch.jpg" alt="" border="0" /></a><br /><span style=""><span style=""> </span><o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style=""><span style=""><o:p></o:p><br /></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style=""><span style=""><br /></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style=""><span style=""><br /></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style=""><span style=""><br /></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style=""><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/954/1401/1600/Path%20to%20Faleu.jpg"><img style="margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; float: left; cursor: pointer;" src="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/954/1401/200/Path%20to%20Faleu.jpg" alt="" border="0" /></a></p><p class="MsoNormal" style=""><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/954/1401/1600/OldFale.jpg"><img style="margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; float: left; cursor: pointer;" src="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/954/1401/200/OldFale.jpg" alt="" border="0" /></a></p><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/954/1401/1600/BraidedTwine.jpg"><img style="margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; float: left; cursor: pointer;" src="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/954/1401/200/BraidedTwine.jpg" alt="" border="0" /></a><br /><p class="MsoNormal" style=""><br /></p><br /><p class="MsoNormal" style=""><br /></p><p class="MsoNormal" style=""><br /></p><p class="MsoNormal" style=""><span style="">Then there are </span><span style=""> pictures of the training , village, villagers, and trainees that I took the day we worked on the beautification project with the villagers.<span style=""> </span>They wanted to plant flowers along both sides of the road the entire length of the village, and build new garbage receptacles.<span style=""> </span>There actually is a garbage truck that comes by once a week and picks up anything left there.<span style=""> </span>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.</span></p><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/954/1401/1600/Village.jpg"><img style="margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; float: left; cursor: pointer;" src="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/954/1401/200/Village.jpg" alt="" border="0" /></a><p class="MsoNormal" style=""><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/954/1401/1600/Village1.jpg"><img style="margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; float: left; cursor: pointer;" src="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/954/1401/200/Village1.jpg" alt="" border="0" /></a></p><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/954/1401/1600/Village2.jpg"><img style="margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; float: left; cursor: pointer;" src="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/954/1401/200/Village2.jpg" alt="" border="0" /></a>Lilihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17109983510198364895noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-24308646.post-27572664378417647962006-08-17T12:46:00.000-07:002007-08-13T12:53:40.160-07:00OJT in FaleuJuly 31 -<br />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.<br /><br />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.<br /><br />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.<br /><br />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.<br /><br />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.<br /><br />August 1 -<br />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.<br /><br />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.<br /><br />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).<br /><br />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.<br /><br />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.<br /><br />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<br /><br />August 2nd and 3rd –<br />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.<br /><br />August 4th-6th –<br />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.<br /><br />August 7th<br />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!<br /><br />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!<br /><br />August 9 –<br />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.<br /><br />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.<br /><br />August 11 –<br />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.<br /><br />August 12 –<br />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.<br /><br />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.<br /><br />August 17<br />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.!Lilihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17109983510198364895noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-24308646.post-2069479733113606192006-08-08T12:39:00.000-07:002007-08-13T12:44:49.879-07:00Village Structure, Cultural Day and Site PlacementJuly 22-<br />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.<br /><br />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.)<br /><br />So, how about a lesson in Samoan village structure. Why not, you say? Okay then --<br />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.<br /><br />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.<br /><br />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.<br /><br />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.<br /><br />July 24th -<br />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.<br /><br />July 26 -<br />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.<br /><br />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!<br /><br />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..<br /><br />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.<br /><br />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.<br /><br />July 30--<br />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.Lilihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17109983510198364895noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-24308646.post-1154819635811831402006-08-05T16:13:00.000-07:002007-08-13T12:36:07.770-07:00Drop off Day<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/954/1401/1600/5%20foot%20Poinsettia.jpg"><img style="margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; float: left; cursor: pointer;" src="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/954/1401/320/5%20foot%20Poinsettia.jpg" alt="" border="0" /></a><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/954/1401/1600/PinkFlowers.jpg"><img style="margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; float: left; cursor: pointer;" src="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/954/1401/320/PinkFlowers.jpg" alt="" border="0" /></a><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/954/1401/1600/Lili%20Under%20Coconut.jpg"><img style="margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; float: left; cursor: pointer;" src="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/954/1401/320/Lili%20Under%20Coconut.jpg" alt="" border="0" /></a><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/954/1401/1600/Banana%20Flower%20and%20Fruit.jpg"><img style="margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; float: left; cursor: pointer;" src="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/954/1401/320/Banana%20Flower%20and%20Fruit.jpg" alt="" border="0" /></a><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/954/1401/1600/Lili-Apolima.1.jpg"><img style="margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; float: left; cursor: pointer;" src="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/954/1401/320/Lili-Apolima.1.jpg" alt="" border="0" /></a><br /><span style=""><o:p></o:p></span><span style="">We gathered at </span><st1:time minute="45" hour="5"><span style="">5:45 am</span></st1:time><span style=""> to begin our big adventure.<span style=""> </span>We were paired up, loaded up in 3 different vehicles and set out for the far reaches of the island.<span style=""> </span>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<span style=""> </span>to be kicked out of the van.<span style=""> </span>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.<span style=""> </span>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.<span style=""> </span>Seemed simple enough.<o:p></o:p></span> <p class="MsoNormal" style=""><span style=""><o:p> </o:p>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.<span style=""> </span>By the time we reached his home we had almost all of our questions answered and<span style=""> </span>were feeling pretty good about our progress.<span style=""> </span>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.<span style=""> </span>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.<span style=""> </span>(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.)<br /><br />It was a grand plan and we were proud of the fact that we had completed our tasks, it was only </span><st1:time minute="30" hour="8"><span style="">8:30am</span></st1:time><span style=""> and we were headed home. Pride goeth before the fall!<span style=""> </span><o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style=""><span style="">As we were walking along the road here came the PC van and stopped alongside us.<span style=""> </span>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.<span style=""> </span>So they loaded us in the van despite our protests and drove us another half hour away and let us off again.<span style=""> </span>This time at least we knew where we were going but it was a 3 mile walk to get there.<span style=""> </span>Thankfully it was still early and there was some cloud cover so it wasn't too hot yet.<span style=""> </span>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.<span style=""> </span>We asked him about a bus or taxi to Vailoa and he offered to give us a lift which we gratefully accepted.<o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style=""><span style=""><o:p> </o:p>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.<span style=""> </span>By now it was </span><st1:time minute="50" hour="10"><span style="">10:50am</span></st1:time><span style="">.<span style=""> </span>We asked her when the next bus to </span><st1:city><st1:place><span style="">Apia</span></st1:place></st1:city><span style=""> came and she said </span><st1:time minute="0" hour="12"><span style="">12:00</span></st1:time><span style=""> so we settled down and began to talk with her.<span style=""> </span>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.<span style=""> </span>That was absolutely the last pleasant moment of the day!<span style=""> </span><o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style=""><span style=""><o:p> </o:p>The bus ride into </span><st1:city><st1:place><span style="">Apia</span></st1:place></st1:city><span style=""> 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.<span style=""> </span>We missed the connecting bus that would have taken us back to our village and had to wait until </span><st1:time minute="30" hour="15"><span style="">3:30</span></st1:time><span style=""> for the next bus.<span style=""> </span>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.<span style=""> </span>One of the officers got on the bus and looked a while then got off.<span style=""> </span>They talked to the driver a while and then he got back on, started the bus and we were finally on our way at </span><st1:time minute="0" hour="16"><span style="">4:00pm</span></st1:time><span style="">.<span style=""> </span>Mind you, we were supposed to be back in our village at </span><st1:time minute="30" hour="15"><span style="">3:30</span></st1:time><span style="">.<span style=""> </span>Uh, oops!<span style=""> </span><o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style=""><span style=""><o:p> </o:p>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.<o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style=""><span style="">1.<span style=""> </span>Stop at the gas station and fill up.<o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style=""><span style="">2.<span style=""> </span>Go to the nearest "corner market" and let 15 people get off and buy snacks and wait for them to get back on<o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style=""><span style="">3.<span style=""> </span>Get stopped by the police again, at which time they hassle my partner because he is standing too close to the door<o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style=""><span style="">4.<span style=""> </span>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.<span style=""> </span>They were standing 2 and 3 deep in the aisle.<o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style=""><span style="">5.<span style=""> </span>Stop at another "corner market" and let 20 or so people off to get snacks and bread for dinner.<o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style=""><span style="">6.<span style=""> </span>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.<o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style=""><span style="">We finally arrived home at </span><st1:time minute="30" hour="18"><span style="">6:30pm</span></st1:time><span style="">, 12 hours after we first got out of the PC van in the morning and only 3 hours late.<span style=""> </span>What a fun day we had!!<o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style=""><span style=""><o:p> </o:p></span></p>Lilihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17109983510198364895noreply@blogger.com