November updates- Beauty Pageants, Christmas Choirs, and Thanksgiving!

So I promised to post again "soon"...within a month is good right?  "Yes, Miss".  I know I said I'd write about Spirit Week & Halloween, Tisa's Barefoot Bar Annual Tattoo Festival, and football, so I will briefly touch upon those. But most importantly.... Thanksgiving!!! Asofa'afetai!!  And our awesome Christmas Choir (yes, I'm singing....).

Spirit week was nuts, there were different costumes for each day of the week.  We had a twin day (Kristina and I dressed up as twinsies in our ridiculous fish dresses that we found on island), a business day (didn't partake in that one- just wore a puletasi..that's the only "business" attire I have here!), a vampire day (got some fangs), Yellow fever (which is green and yellow Leone spirit day), and a free-costume (wear whatever you want) day.  I chose to dress up like a Samoan dude- since dressing up like the opposite sex is huge here.  I had one student dress up as a WorldTeacher- she made an ID tag that said "Miss Cleaver" on it!  Hahahha.  I had another boy dress up as an REALLY good Samoan girl- high heels, stuffed bra, everything. We took a picture together :)

The student on the right is being a WorldTeacher (Miss Cleaver) for Spirit Week!

We switched!!

We then had a crazy assembly, as usual, on Halloween- when I dressed up like a hippie in my tie-dye shirt (from Maine) and blue tie-dye skirt  (from Vermont) and wore my headband.  Can't remember if I added the Tevas in for a perfect Vermonter hippie touch.

Ava ceremony with Miss American Samoa

During Orientation, I had sworn I would be at Tisa's at least once a month.  It's basically the only place on the island where you can wear a bikini, and drink wonderful drinks by the ocean.  Tisa is clearly a wicked awesome person - in the words of a true Bostonian.  She's a huge conservationist, and her boyfriend "Candyman" is apparently a hotshot fishermen who knows tons about the fisheries and sustainability around here.  Unfortunately, I hadn't been back to Tisa's (it's way on the East Side) since orientation, and during Tattoo Fest would not have been the time to talk to either of them.  So I'm definitely going to need to make a trip back on a less busy weekend and spend some quality time with both of them and hearing all about marine conservation on the island.  The Tatau Festival was so cool though.  We got there at just the right time- right before the prayer and introduction, as well as the ava ceremony with Miss American Samoa.  I had a really long video of it all, but for some reason it won't go onto my computer from my camera. There were people from all over the world there to see the festival- a few palagis who had been born in Samoa and came back to see it.  I watched some people get tapped (the traditional Samoan method for getting a tatau), and others just get regular tattoos (like Mike!).  After soaking in some of the Samoan cultural experience to be had that day, I grabbed a pina colada and headed down to the beach with the other WorldTeachers. It was "seki a" to just be having a chill day by the ocean with a drink in my hand.  Tisa's reminded me of what all the bars in Honduras were like- right on the beach, full of ocean-deco, and wonderful, ocean-loving people.  Made me miss the Bay Islands. 

Getting tapped

Miss American Samoa at Tisa's- Ava ceremony

We then packed 15 palagis in the back of a pickup truck, and went for a ride way out on the East Side to get some of the best burgers on island near Mike and Jessica's house.  They were about to close but stayed open for 15 people worth of business!!  We took some pictures while waiting for burgers, and then began the long shuttle home back to the West Side.  I have a hysterical video of that car ride- Samoans had never seen so many palagis in one truck!!!

The burger place

Me and Stephanie at the burger place

Me and Kristina at Tisa's :)

Tisa (notice her awesome traditional Samoan tataus) and Veronica- our field director

Praying before semi-finals

Football.  Our varsity team made it to the Championship after beating Fagaitua- which was quite the upset.  We played Tafuna in the Championship- our arch rivals, unless they are playing an East Side school like Fagaitua, then we are friends. I still don't get it .  All I know is I don't like them- they are my football equivalent of the Yankees. Tafuna is the largest high school here and the kids are TERRIFYING.  A lot of students go there just to play football, so we were definitely the underdog.  Tafuna has won a lot of championships and we haven't won for several years, so we really wanted it but it just didn't come out in the game. I've actually picked up a bit about football since being here- not quite in the dark so much anymore!  We had another insane pep rally the Friday before the game- Miss American Samoa also came to that (she was a Leone alum, from the village right behind our house), and as Miss A.S. she comes to all the island's major events.  Only 2 of my students got suspended for taking shirts off, licking their nipples, and trying to hump the fa'afafines who went up on stage to dance.  At the time though, no action was taken- they were too hilarious to stop.  This is Samoa.

Psyched that we won!!! 

                                                           

On to the championship against Tafuna!!!

We played a miserable game- lost by 30 points or something ridiculous.  But the spirit here is SO big.  I loved being a part of something that big again (football was big in Miami, but I didn't love it, and hockey was big at UVM but the spirit was always somewhat lacking there).  It reminded me of an LHS Basketball game multiplied by like 50,000. Parents, cousins, students, faculty, and staff all cheered their hearts out and there were so many different shirts with players' pictures on them, signs, banners, big foam hands and football helmets, and even stuffed lions (Go Leone Lions!).  The stadium just boomed with noise from both sides.  Also cool was that the week before the game, students went all over the West side and put up signs and Leone banners, so our whole village was decorated green and yellow.  I had a shirt made with all my players' names signed on it, and the coaches gave a few of us "For Life"  shirts ("Once a Lion, Always a Lion") to wear.

With our Lions spirit- a student gave me the flag!

Praying before going on onto the field- nice huge lion in the stands??!

It was sad seeing football season done, but I am getting excited for basketball!!! Especially because I know all the rules.

Lions vs. Warriors

Samoan Thanksgiving- Asofa'afetai (Day of Thanks)

Before the Turkey Run- I won a turkey and a duck!!

            The Wednesday before Thanksgiving we had the Turkey Run at Leone High, which was bittersweet.  I got 1st place for girls (I'm pretty sure I'm the only girl who even ran the whole way... so don't be too pleased!!) We woke up around 3am and walked in the pitch black to school (the stars were MAGNIFICENT and we could see the Milky Way so clearly!!).  Dogs made me nervous but we didn't have any problems- most likely because we walked with Amber and dogs have learned not to mess with her anymore- she doesn't take any crap, since she's been attacked by a bear before when she worked for the National Park Service, so dogs aren't really an issue for her.  Plus we walked with Drew too, and dogs think he is just the tastiest- he's been bit a few times, once attacked really bad by a pack of dogs and had to go to the hospital.  Anyway, we got to the school and the race started around 430, and I was running for the freshmen class since I'm an advisor for them.  It was about 4.5 miles, and a lot of it was in the dark- some places had absolutely no light so I kind of dragged my feet trying not to sprain my ankle in a pothole!!  At first I was with a group of people, but after the first few water stations and after the first mile I was totally on my own.  I was terrified of dogs at first, since I didn't know the route and wasn't sure where they were, but the group of really fast 20 or so guys in front of me must have already riled them up enough that people came out and calmed their dogs down, because I didn't have any problems.  It was such a pleasant run, so quite and peaceful out. As I got to miles 3-4, the sun started rising and I was just turning towards Sliding Rock in Vailoloa (on the ocean) to see the sunrise over the Pacific. I was totally alone and it was GORGEOUS.  I have to admit I slowed down for the few, wishing I had my iphone once again to take a picture, haha!  My 2 running club boys came in 2nd and 3rd for the whole race- I was so proud!  I think there were made 100-150 people in the race and there were maybe 20 boys in front of me.  For not running much, I was pleased with my performance!  The administration makes sure that basically every family goes home with a turkey (there were SO many turkeys to give away!!!), so there were a lot of awards haha.  We were at the school until about 9am (in that time there was also about 30 mins of Zumba), and I got a turkey and a duck.  We had Moana use the turkey for the Thanksgiving BBQ the next day, and I still need to figure out what to do with the duck. 


Anyway, we came home and I fell asleep for a few more hours- legs exhausted. Was surprised I didn't actually get too too sore, but I stretched more than I ever have before haha.

Utumea- perfection?

            For Thanksgiving, Alison drove us up to Utumea to meet the Purcells at their family's beach.  The beach in Utumea, like many of the beaches in American Samoa, is private- just for the families who live in the village (nobody really keeps track of this, but it would be looked down upon if a random palagi showed up at the beach!).  The Purcells have told us we can go there whenever we want- which is awesome since it's such a beautiful beach.  One of my favorite students lives in Utumea, and we saw her swimming there with her family too.  Kristina, Jill, Alison, Amber, Drew, and I all met the family at the beach near their relatives' old house- they have all moved off island since, so the house is abandoned.  I'm not sure if both the houses there were theirs, but one was totally destroyed by the tsunami.  From Utumea to Leone was hit really bad because of the way the bay is shaped, and there are still FEMA tents and a lot of damage from it, though they are now fixing the road.  All of the Purcells were there, so it was nice to hang out with the kids a bit and have some Thanksgiving BBQ :)

Purcells land in Utumea

House destroyed by tsunami in 2009

Fema tents on the way to Utumea

Taking in what I'm thankful for :)

Our Thanksgiving table!

Dad- I need some help with my lobsters.... you make them much better!!!

Even in Samoa, bbq isn't traditional Thanksgiving, but I can't complain about getting to snorkel  on Thanksgiving.  Doesn't happen every year!  There was a Little-Mermaid looking rock in the water that Amber and I acted out the Little Mermaid scene from when she comes out of the ocean and the wave crashes against the rock.  Not a bad Asofa'afetai.  Very lelei (means nice).

Miss South Pacific Pageant & Christmas Choir

So, one thing about Samoa is that you kind of just end up being involved in some random things that you don't really know how you got yourself into.  We are now helping out with the Miss South Pacific Pageant (contestants from 10 countries all over the Pacific, from Micronesia to Australia, Tahiti, Fiji, Tonga, the Cook Islands, etc).  It's a HUGE deal, and we've met Miss American Samoa several times at events all over the island.  Usually they have tables for the public, but this year they only have corporate tables and they are running for $750 each, which is ridiculously expensive for Samoa.  Us girls are helping Moana out and just got our special official "Backstage Usher" passes with our names on them!  We probably won't get to see much of the show, but it should be exciting nonetheless. We are getting the required puletasis made, and have rehearsals this week.  It is December 8th, so a post after will be necessary!

I am also now involved in the Christmas Choir for Leone High School. For those of you who know me, you know that singing is not my strong point. That doesn't mean I don't do it- like all the time- but the last choir I was in I was forced to be in- 7th grade.  Anyway, all Leone staff are to participate in the program that we will put on- I'm not sure for who, but I'll be there, singing in Samoan and dancing. We get out of school at 1:40 every day for a few weeks to practice after school in the burning hot cafeteria after school.  All of the music is in Samoan, as are the instructions, and there isn't really sheet music, just music that says the words on it and doesn't bother to mention when to repeat words, or even what part we are supposed to sing (Kristina and I are altos- though sometimes we think we should be in the back with the all-male tenor section).  It's crazy how the fa'afafines can sing the soprano part- which Amber also sings, such high notes!!  The fa'afafines sometimes like to mess around and sing the soprano part and then use their real man voices to chime in with the bass- it's hysterical.  Anyway, Kristina and I spend most of the time laughing. We've gotten the pronunciations down for the most part, but never really know when to sing, so we've started just paying close attention to the loud, talented females that accompany us in the alto section.   Though the Christmas songs aren't the ones we are familiar with, we are singing some familiar melodies- like Ode to Joy, but with different Samoan lyrics, mostly about God. Scratch that- it's ALL about God.  Haven't been to Church in a while, so it's probably best.

Here's one of our songs:

Iesu e lo'u olataga

Ou te fefe ia te ai

E ui I faaosoosoga

E te faamamalu mai

Oe o lo'u Alii

Lo'u Alii mamana

E te faamalosi mai

O lau lava afioga

Ou te manumalo ai

Oe o lo'u Alii ou te manumalo ai

E ta'ita'itonuina

I le ola e tumau

Ia sauni ai viiga

Ia te oe e faavavau

Me and Kristina at the Teacher of the Year Dinner 

Tutuila WorldTeachers at the dinner in our puletasis!

On Friday we had the Teacher of the Year banquet in Utelei, for a teacher at Tafuna High School. All the WorldTeachers attended.  One palagi teacher at Leone almost got it this year, so we supported him getting his award for Teacher of the Year at Leone, and we supported Mr. Gopal in his past award a few years ago.  The people who received awards had to dance siva and got lei'd many times- they must've been quite weighed down with flowers- literally their heads were buried while they gave speeches.  What's more unbelievable (which I should be used to by now but am still amazed), is the amount of food we each got.  There were about 8 of us at each table.  NHS students from Samoana High started bringing out trays of food- we all figured that there would be like 2 trays per table for us to share. Nope. We EACH got our OWN tray.  The food actually wasn't very good, but then they ALSO had us pack up one whole other tray to bring home with us!  One will never starve in Samoa.

We thought it was 2 per table.........

.....It was ONE TRAY PER PERSON!!! 

After the dinner.... before they made us take more food home

Kristina at airport beach- first time our skin is fully exposed to the sun!!!!

One last note- a few weeks ago we went to Airport beach- where we could actually wear bikinis since nobody else was there!!!!  Such good snorkeling. My underwater goPro ran out of battery, but we caught some pics of me trying to remake Castaway with the raft and Wilson we found on the beach, probably had been used for Palolo.  Aiport Beach is a little hike to get to, and within the few minutes it took my sunburn began.  We all FRIED that day.  Samoan sun is nothing to mess around with. Most times we are outside we are trying to hide from it's heat and intensity.  Unfortunately, since we were in the water so long, we didn't realize we were all getting fried. Plus, the airport and tarmac is right there, so the intensity of the sun reflected off the airport and water is like 34920432 times worse.  To say the least, we all spent the next few days whining every time we moved that our skin felt like it was being torn off, peeling dead skin off, and reapplying aloe.  Will try to not make that mistake again.

trying to find a place where I won't sink onto coral.....

Getting the raft ready for departure.....

......aaaaand FAIL.

Walking back from Airport Beach

My new goal for this month is to start taking more pictures- I know I have a lot in this post but I think about all the things I wish I had documented (or will wish I had within the next 6 months!). 

Anyway, time to go lesson plan and try to do some ab exercises to get rid of this little Samoan stomach I've developed.... love you all and miss you!! Happy December and enjoy the Most Wonderful Time of the Year!!!  The holidays are definitely a difficult time not to be home, in fact, these past few weeks have been the first time that I've really felt homesick for a more lengthy period of time, but there are so many events to be a part of here that it's hard to ever feel left out!