first days of school!

FIRST WEEK OF SCHOOL: COMPLETE.

Wow, I just need to say thank you to all the wonderful teachers that have been a part of my life. I really have been lucky; there are quite a lot that stuck with me over the years, and adding college professors to that would just make the list soooo long. But Mr. Rogers, Peggy, Amy & Stephanie, Mr. Gimble, Mrs. Lehn- and all those family friends and family members who are teachers- that means you Ms. Silver, Aunt Patty, Grammy, MOMMM!!!! I can’t believe I’ll be teaching for 10 months.  And I know it’s going to get SO much harder, once I actually prep for 3 different subjects, and once the honeymoon period for the kids to be on their “best” behavior is over.  If this is their best behavior, I’m in trouble.  But honestly, I thought this first week would be worse.  I was surprised by how much the students do want to respect the teacher, but I think they just forget that they are being disrespectful all the time.

first day of school in our new puletasis!

in our front yard by the breadfruit tree

SCHEDULES? Nah.

I’ll start on Monday (which at this point, I can’t even remember, this week was such a blur).  Monday was short, we had an hour long assembly and then 30 minute periods, so all I really did was play get to know you games with my classes (didn’t go too well).  The first day was when I learned that there is no real bell here.  Instead, someone (I think it’s the truancy officer), hits a huge oxygen tank with something and it makes a gong sound.  Can I hear it from my classroom across campus?  No.  My classroom is also blocked by the slabs of metal that block off the construction that is “going on” right in front of my room.  Kristina says that from her room on the 2^nd floor (mine is on the first) all she ever sees when she looks into the construction area is people sleeping. And some dogs.  So needless to say, I have NO idea when the bell is going to ring. Makes lesson planning a bit of a challenge!

We have a “schedule” for the classes, and it is the same each week, and each class should be 50 minutes.  School starts at 8:30 and ends at 3:00.  But every day, we come into the office and are given a schedule, which for the most part this week said the class periods had been shortened to 30-40 minutes, and school would get out at 2:00 (or earlier).  Even with this schedule that is created and passed out the morning of (you will find out that morning if there is a staff meeting that afternoon), I have had classes sitting in my room 20 minutes after I thought the bell would ring.  I’ll finish teaching or doing what I need to do/go over (which so far, hasn’t been much), and even go onto new material.  I’ll think that the bell will be ringing within the next minute (because it is already 10 minutes late).  And then it won’t ring for another 10 minutes- by that time I’ve run out of things to do.  Then I’m left guessing when the next period will start/end.  Always on my toes!

School has ended an hour early 3 days in a row now. No reason, just has. May have something to do with football, or just that people don't feel like staying til 3- just go with it.

So far, I’ve learned that not having something for my students to do means bad things.  NEVER LET THESE STUDENTS NOT BE BUSY!!!!  Sometimes, someone will decide in the middle of the day that the school is going to skip a period altogether, because we don’t have time (even though we get out an hour early and nobody can tell us why).  This happened on the first day, when we missed 3^rd period.  Did I know we were skipping it?  Nope.  Found that out as we were skipping it, and my 4^th period students showed up.   Out of all the challenges I had expected to encounter here, it had never occurred to me that knowing when my classes start and end would be one of them.  It’s also interesting because my students always ask me when class is going to end or when the bell is going to ring- I think “ring” is a funny choice of words, because that’s what the bells at home do- but they should know after 3 years of being at Leone that I know just as good as they do.  Why do they bother wanting to know the class schedule when we don’t follow it?  I try to explain to them, “well, class was supposed to end 10 minutes ago, but since it started 20 minutes late, I’m not really sure when the bell will ring”.  They don’t get why I don’t know when class is over. I must be the crazy one.

Josh and I went to school early one day because we were told there was a mandatory coaches meeting (I was thinking of coaching girl’s bball—go ahead, everyone laugh.)  We showed up at 7:30am, which is when the meeting was (which we already knew we were not following Samoan rules—why would we ever show up at the time it says it should start? We should know better than that).  We went to the library, where the meeting was supposed to be held, and the door was locked. We asked around, nobody knew what we were talking about. The principal, who had told us to come that day at 730, was in his office speaking with one football coach.  We still don’t know what ever happened to that meeting. 

Students/Behavior/Teaching in AmSam

My first day of school, a boy came into my classroom carrying his own set of speakers, blasting rap music. Many of the boys have their own speakers that they carry around with them while doing their best thug walk.  I’ll admit to being a strong believer in having a theme song to your life playing constantly. But I’m amazed that full volume Eminem is allowed at school for all to hear.  This is the same kid who told me, “it’s the first day, relax”.  I don’t need to repeat the words I said to him.  Needless to say, I had a tough time getting him to turn his speakers off (because I was already playing music on my computer for us), but he hasn’t brought them back since.

  I think it was Wednesday that was the toughest day.  I remember being really fed up with my class not listening even though I was being really strict.  When I do raise my voice or just stand there until one of them tells all the rest to shut up, or give one of the really disruptive ones my “I’m waiting” glare, they are very apologetic.  But then they do it again. Not to mention my “no Samoan in the classroom” rule is going to go to absolute shit.  There’s no way to enforce it.  I even told them if I hear Samoan at a time that I haven’t said it’s okay, I will just assume they are swearing at me. But when there is a constant lull of Samoan in the classroom, it’s hard to punish anyone.  I’ve told them I want to learn Samoan (and that I won’t believe them when they try to teach me words because I know it’ll be something dirty), and I think they should pride themselves are being bilingual, but that I am here to help with their English as well as science, and therefore they will be speaking English in the classroom unless I say otherwise.  But ha. Joke.

So the one day I was about ready to cry, Kristina came into my room and told me she had already had two fights in her classroom.  One ended with a girl’s head going into a bookshelf.  After that, I felt my day was going rather well.  Some of us teachers have complained about our not-so-great classrooms or about not having a whiteboard, or that our schools have not received any supplies like paper or chalk yet. Then a few lucky volunteers remind us: “uhhh, at least you have classrooms….”  

A few teachers do not have classrooms at all.  Dan does not have any kind of board (chalk or white), so he writes everything on a piece of notebook paper and tacks it on the wall. The other Sara is teaching Samoan history. She’s from Texas.  She does not have textbooks to look to. Rule of thumb with teaching in Samoa:  It could always get worse, so consider yourself lucky.

The boys in my classroom are little shits.  Some of them are nice, but still disruptive, but others are just such smartasses.  Even though it’s mostly in Samoan, I can still tell they’re making stupid adolescent boy remarks to/about me.  However, when it’s in English, I love handling it.  On Friday, two boys were standing in my doorway trying to talk to kids in my class and I was trying to begin class.  I waved at them, said, “Bye!!!! Okay, time to leave now.” in my sweet but listen-to-me-now teacher voice that I’ve often heard my mom use with her 4^th grade students.  They still weren’t leaving, so I walked to my classroom door, say “thank you, come again, see you laterrr”, and shut the door on them.  Since our windows aren’t really anything but screens with some glass rectangles over them that are completely open, I saw them walk away and one responded just loud enough so my class and I could hear it “see you toniiiight”. I heard a few chuckles from my cheeky boys, and then I replied, “In your dreaaammmsss”.  That got a good laugh, as well as some “OHHHH!!!!!”s from my class.  Proud moment.

I’m sure behavior issues in class will get much more exciting, so I’ll skip all the minor issues of last week.  I only sent one girl out of my classroom this week- on Friday.  I’m glad I finally did, I needed to make an example.  I didn’t send her to the principal’s; I just wanted her to sit outside for a while.   I was speaking to the class, and I saw her get up out of her seat, walk completely to the other side of the room, and slap a boy as hard as she could on the head. Then she walked back to her seat and sat down.  Now, hitting is an everyday thing here.  As religious as it is here, girls and boys all hit each other like it’s their job.  Sometimes they’re just playing around, but they hit HARD, especially when they’re mad. I looked at her while everyone else looked at me, waiting to see what I would do, and said, “If you think you can do that in my classroom and get away with it, you are absolutely CRAZY.”  I told her to get out of my room, and she said “No, miss, I’m sorry”.  I just pointed to the door.  A few minutes later, she asked if she could come back in (the truancy officers walk around with a 2 x4 if students don’t have a pass, not sure how often they actually use them though, but if she got caught she would have been sent to the principal). I said no, she could come back when I told her she could.  I looked at the kid who she hit, who was smiling, and I said, “ I don’t know what you said to make her do that, but it must’ve been pretty bad”.  Then I realized how much it sucked that I couldn’t punish him, even though I’m sure he deserved it, because I have no idea what he said.  Not only did I not really hear him say anything, but it was also in Samoan. A few minutes later, I see the girl run away from my doorway.  I go outside to look for her and have her come back in, and she’s gone. Oh well.  Class ends and I’m cleaning up and she comes in, kneels in front of my desk, clasps her hands together, and says, “Miss, I’m so sorry.”  I told her that I went outside to let her back in and she was gone.  She said that she had run upstairs so she wouldn’t get caught.  I, being the pushover that I am and such a sucker for forgiveness, was way too quick to say, “it’s okay, don’t do it again.”  That was when I realized I was too busy trying to get teacher things done to actually address the situation like a real teacher would have, telling her that hitting is simply not acceptable, and getting up in the middle of my class is disrespectful to me as well.  Next time I’ll handle it better.

Now, try and say the following:

Togisia, Petelo Faamanatu 

Tuiolemotu, Asofaafetai 

Ueligitone, Fuluitolo

Naolavoa, Mokenkepleval

Tili, Tiaoali'isolova'a.

No, this is not jibberish. These are the names of some of my students. Tell me how I pronounce and memorize 150 of them. I’ll tell you how- you get them to have nicknames such as, John, O, and PJ.  I even have one student who’s name is Bill Clinton. That is not his nickname.  It’s on his schedule. And Clinton isn’t even his last name. Bill Clinton Tino. I tried hard not to crack a joke when I first looked at his schedule, because I remembered being forewarned that there actually was a student named Bill Clinton at Leone and the presidential jokes were a bit outdated.  Now I’ve assigned seats (which they still don’t really sit in, even though that means I’ve done attendance wrong a bunch of times) to help me learn their names.

I gave my students a choice of a writing prompt (I wanted a writing sample to see how good their English really is and maybe try to figure out how much of what I say they can understand).  They could either write about who the most important person in their life was and why, or what they wanted to do or be when they are older.  Reading their essays was very telling.  I still haven’t finished, but so far, one student wants to be the governor of American Samoa, and many want to be in the NFL.  Which is still a stretch, but not as crazy as when kids in the states say it, because so many more here actually have a chance.  Many more want to go into the military and are already in JROTC. Several want to search for their “real siblings” or “real parents”, and several have lost their mothers or fathers.  At least one has a daughter.  All of the ones who chose the most important person in their life wrote about their parents and how much they love them.  Though this seems typical, kids here have a different relationship with their parents.  Some did write about how their parents never laid a hand on them, but others wrote that they love their parents despite the fact, or even because their parents love them enough to hit and beat them and discipline them.  Or they wrote about how they know that their parents beat them as a child because they loved them.  It’s difficult to read at first, and I’m sure I’d be even more upset if I saw it happen, which I’m sure I will see more of than I have, but it is just a cultural thing.  It’s just what is done here.  And though there are groups of people trying to change this, even the kids say and think it works and that kids here need that discipline.  So, is hitting your kids right or wrong?  I know how I feel about it, but I can’t say I really have an answer for American Samoa where it stands now. 

A lot of the essays were about mothers, and how their mothers were basically older sisters for them. One even gave me advice to have a relationship with my mom like the relationship that she had with hers.  I wrote back that I did, and that I thought she should share her essay with her mom.  Having so many students write about how much they love their parents made me miss mine so much!!!  Family is just so important here.  I’ve thought a lot about how that is one of the main things I think we give up in our hectic American lives. And my family is pretty good about it- we live up and down the East coast and everyone still makes a tremendous effort to visit one another.  But it still does not compare to having the proximity to one another that they have here. This island is not very big, and it certainly made me question why it is that people move away from their families, even for other opportunities.  Whenever I ride the bus there are huge families partying, eating, playing volleyball, and listening to music outside of their homes.  And it’s not a once in a while thing, it’s the norm.  It’s also weird to think of how disrespectful we can be to our parents in the states.  (but of course, I never was ;)   , obviously).  The spoiled kids yelling back at their parents that you see in the states- wow that just soooooo would not fly here.

But the kids also write about their goals and their families with a very different backdrop- it’s always about God.  Even though I’ve asked each of them to either write about themselves or their most loved ones, every essay at some point includes thanking God for what they have and that without God they couldn’t achieve anything that they have or hope to achieve.  One essay, however, did address this.  Her essay said something like, -even though I know God is supposed to be the number one most important factor of my life, I have to say it is my mom-.  It was refreshing to hear someone acknowledge that.

I also had one write, “I want to be like you- a teacher”.  That just broke my heart.  I don’t think she even really meant to direct it at me, since I barely know them yet, but it still made a light inside of me shine a little bit.  Even though neither I nor her really know what it’s like to be a teacher yet, anyone who wants to be a teacher, and I’ll say it now, even as a Unitarian, God bless them.  So I wanted to write (but didn’t…you go girl!!!)

They’re writing is honestly quite weird- I don’t know how they were taught to write the way they do.  Most of them started their essays with, “Well, the thing about me is…..” and they have really strange writing habits.  I think a lot of it must be that so many of them have learned English through hearing it and not seeing it- so words that should begin with “P” instead begin with “B” in their writing.  Also- I don’t know if it’s just here, but why do all adolescents think they are gangsters??  Granted, we do have gangs here in high school, but they are called crews- the Snow Boys (who live in Alaska—the “cold” part of Samoa), SOS (Sons of Samoa), TAP boys, and many others.  I know it’s often a phase, but even the girls here think they are from the hood. Girls stick picks in their hair.  No, they do not have afros.  Some of the guys do, though.  I also had an essay written by a girl who instead of writing “what” and “that”, she wrote, “wat” and “dat” over and over again. I can’t believe that she would actually mean to write that incorrectly on an assignment, but another part of me can’t believe that she truly thinks that those words are spelled that way.  Way too many students also wrote “gonna” and “wanna”.  Like, really?  Another funny but cute habit is at the end they all write, “Thank you for ________(sometimes it’s just thank you, sometimes it’s about the choices or the writing prompt)”. Though it does seem like they are sucking up, I’m pretty sure it’s just another cultural thing they do when they write essays.

Kristina also assigned essays for her English classes, and some are cute like the ones I got but many are also really depressing.  Students writing about being lonely, not wanting to go home, basically all of the typical awful things you hear and just want so badly to help.  One wrote that she thought nobody loved her. Allison, our neighbor who was a past field director of WorldTeach, is a counselor at the community college here. Sometimes I wish I could just counsel these kids rather than having to try to beat the scientific method into their heads to make sure they know what it is by the time they graduate high school (which is what I did Thursday and Friday).  It’s not even in the standards/curriculum for my classes, but I simply cannot start teaching my subjects without them knowing the scientific method.  I refuse to.

One of the weirdest/best/most refreshing things about Samoan students is that no matter how much you yell at them and threaten them and kick them out of class or how awful they are in the classroom, at the end of every period they walk out of the door and say, "Bye, Miss!!! Have a good day! See you tomorrow!" and when they walk in the next day it's, "Hi Miss! How are you today! Fine? Tired? Good?"


When they see you outside of class they are just as happy to see you, and they all say hi/bye when we walk home.  If we yelled/cursed (yes, a few of us have already cursed in the classroom) at students this much in the states, they would hate us, tell their parents, and get us fired!!!  Here, if they told their parents, their parents would come to us and say, “you just yelled?? Next time, hit em with a stick”.

We saw a lot of students at the football game today, and when Kristina went to have lunch, she was waiting for Hannah to get there when some students told her that if she was alone, she could eat with them. Awww.

Also, when Kristina and I walked home on Friday, a student saw us, ran across the street to us, and told us, “I need to protect you from the dogs while you walk home!”  We walk this route every day, and yes, the dogs have come after us (they tried to attack Kristina the other day), but we’ve managed so far.  But it was adorable of him.  Once we got past the house with the meanest dogs, he said, “okay, you should be good from here.”  After he ran back to what he was doing, Kristina then notified me that he was one of her students who was a gangster and had written about the gang he was in for one of his essays (she has learned most of the gangs now because her students taught her the names of them).  Anyway, this thug politely walked us past the mean dogs.  Some thug. Another awwww.

I do have one student (who’s actually not even in any of my classes, but really loved the WorldTeachers last year) who has already made me understand how rewarding teaching is.  He came into my class this week, introduced himself, and started talking to me about school and literally EVERYTHING. He told me that he wishes he had a science class this year, because he thinks science is actually fun (he doesn’t really like his other subjects).  He also told me that he really likes the WorldTeachers.  He was trying to explain what was so good about WT, paused, and then said, “WorldTeachers make learning fun”.

It wasn’t what he had said, but how he said it that kind of jolted me.  Not because I thought I had yet achieved that high honor which he had reserved for only WorldTeachers, but because I could only hope that I could do the same this year for my students.  He kept trying to switch into my marine science class this week, but I don’t think he’ll be able to.  However, he has begun to visit my classroom ALL THE TIME.  Before school, I’m in frantic planning mode or need to use my few minutes to pee for the last time before lunch.  During break (as if we need more breaks at Leone, ha!). I use to go to the bathroom if I did not do so in the morning.  During lunch I’m trying to catch up on entering attendance which takes me about 2 hours every day since they’re names are ridiculous and they all move around seats or pretend to be someone else every day.  Lunch is also when I try to run around school and find a copier/printer, while shoving a pb&j in my mouth and rinsing it down with some water.   I was successful this week- my one goal was to find the printer (decided to set standards low for week 1).  I found the printer I should use the rest of the year!! Yay!  Don’t know what happens when it runs out of toner.  After school this student comes too (my busiest time of the day when I’m trying to be super efficient and get home before it gets dark and the dogs get worse).  And now another kid has started coming at his own separate times as well.  They are both so sweet, and help me learn Samoan words, and tell me about their lives and all of the cool places to go to in Samoa and all the legends and ghost tales.  All the questions I have about Samoa or ideas that WorldTeachers put into action last year, I can ask them.  But I can’t have them I my classroom all the time.  Most of the time they don’t even have questions, they are just looking for someone to talk to. So I feel like I can’t kick them out! But I’m going to have to make limits.  It also probably doesn’t look right that they come to my classroom so often- don’t want coconut wireless spreading any false rumors.

But now they have both basically convinced me I’m going to start a running club at school….another laugh!! Before I hadn't thought too much about it, but I can't really say no when these kids get motivated to do something good for themselves.  I think I mentioned something about running to the first kid who comes in a lot, and he was like, “are you going to start a running club like Miss Quinn?!” (she was a volunteer last year who did the Turkey Trot with students).  I think my response was maybe, but I may be coaching basketball, so we’ll see…. Or that I needed to settle into school first and I was very busy so didn’t have time after school yet.  I guess he spread the word that I was starting the club, because that day after school is when the 2^nd student started showing up to my classroom. This one is actually in my class.  He asked, “so, Miss?  Are you starting a running club? Can we start next week?”  After that, I just started saying yes. So, here I am.  Guess I’m going to start a running club. Going to take a few weeks, but I’m sure it will be happening sooner rather than later.

Honestly though, a running club sounds perfect.  How it happened is funny and just shows how things in Samoa work, but I’m excited because I’ve been CRAVING like never before to run again but I’ve been afraid of the dogs.  So now what better than having a group of Samoan adolescents to run with and fend off the dogs?  There is a pretty good loop that’s about 3 or 4 miles and it goes from the school, past my house, and then along the ocean.  It’ll take some time to get back into shape, but I can’t wait.  Now if only I can streamline my lesson planning/grading/work after school so I can make it happen ASAP.

MORE THINGS...

On another note, Kristina and I baked the BEST BANANA BREAD I’VE EVER HAD this week.  The bananas were from our yard, and holy moly.  Since they are so sweet, it was amazing.  We didn’t have to add much sugar at all.  I’m pretty sure I’m going to need to bake banana bread every week now. We brought some into school for Rita, the secretary who does everything at our school (Mom, she does the work of Pauly, therefore she is GOD.) I know my thoughts are kind of random right now and not organized, because so much has happened since I posted last, but honestly, all jumbled up and thrown at you any which way probably gives you the most genuine perception of what Samoa is like, haha! 

I have one kid in my class who looks like a Samoan version of Justin Bieber, and I’m pretty sure his ego is about just as big as well.  He has two huge stud diamonds and always has this little, “I’m so lovable” smirk on his face.  What a little charmer.  I see right through it.  Also learned that he’s quite a football star, I heard his name over and over again at our first football game today- we won 35-0!!!!  Leone’s cheers are out of control.  Which reminds me to write about our assembly on Friday.

Leone Lions vs Nu'uuli Polytech Wildcats

Lions won 35-0!!!

Samoans are AMAZING at the arts.  Singing, dancing, acting, drawing, anything with rhythm, they are PHENOMENOL at it.  Apparently the speech festival here is HUGE, which makes sense.  So each school day starts with a beautiful song and prayer in Samoan (no separation of church and state here) once the students get to their first classrooms. This is the only part of the day when I have students volunteer to come up in front of the class to lead something.  In all other ways, they are truly a collective society and will always answer as a group, but when I actually call on one of them, they refuse to speak (another one of my already developed pet-peeves as a teacher).  The song gives me chills, and I’m sure students stateside would absolutely butcher it.  All of these kids can sing.  And they aren’t afraid to, when they do it altogether.  So on Friday, candidates for student office read their speeches, which included them leading some Leone cheers.  Let me just say, I had goosebumps.  My high school could have NEVER pulled off these cheers/chants.  They are all so in sync with one another, and the claps, sounds, and words are so fast.  And it is LOUD. Leone High may be missing chalk, computers, bells that ring, toilet paper, and a way to keep students from breaking in and having a bonfire with the textbooks during the summer, but one thing it does not lack is spirit.  One person (it changes all the time, basically whoever stands up and decides they want to start a cheer does so) leads with a call, and the rest of the school/fans answer.  Today at the football game, I learned how ballsy the girls here are. It’s awesome.  At home I remember high school girls are always too afraid and insecure to begin cheers at sports games.  For example, Lexington High basketball games.  Us girls were always too stupid and embarrassed to even be loud when they cheered!  Samoan girls don’t hold anything back, and I love it.  I’m hoping maybe I can video the cheers some time- our 1^st pep rally is next Friday, since Saturday we will play big rivals- the Samoana Sharks. 

Also at the assemblies, Viper makes a habit of totally shitting on the freshmen.  A lot of it was in Samoan, but the students were constantly laughing and when it was in English, it was hysterical.  That would NEVER fly in the states.  It seems kind of like hazing, but everyone, including the freshmen, laugh.  Teasing is huge here, and it’s just a part of the culture.  Everyone takes it and gives it right back.

Oh, and next Friday I’ll also be dancing at the assembly in front of the entire school.  That’s about 700-800 people. Most of which are students. Many of which are MY students.  Wonder how that will fit into them respecting me as a teacher on Monday.  Don’t know anything else about it, all Viper (our VP, his real name is Dorian), told us at the staff party last night was that we’d be called up to dance. And I thoughT free styling during my 3 years of hip hop and west African dance classes in college was embarrassing.  Here we go.

The staff party last night was at the Bowling Alley- a bar that we’ve gone to a few times as a WorldTeach group.  Usually when we’ve gone out, we’ve gone there around 11 and stayed til it closes at 2am, but with the staff party we got there around 6, had a tailgate in the parking lot, and then went into the fancier side of the bar around 7, so we basically had it to ourselves.  It was great to finally talk to the staff on a personal level, not just about school stuff.  I got to speak more with Gopal’s wife (Murali Gopal is my science department head, and his wife is math dept head) about why they came here from India.  They had been working in the Middle East, she had gone back and forth to India a few times, and then she got an offer here so he came with her.  She was saying how she absolutely loves it here- just how stress free people are meant to be here.  Can’t say I’m feeling quite so easy breezy with my first week of school, but I’m sure those who have teaching experience here now find it quite easy to keep work to a minimum.  Gopal and his wife both work very hard I know, but I can see how it is different than elsewhere, and your sanity, low stress levels, and happiness are the first priority. 2 points to American Samoa.

Some people did karaoke at the party, we ordered pupus (don’t know if that’s how you spell it, but you literally say it like poo poo- just means like appetizers), and hung out. Man, can they drink.  The four of us were exhausted and had to get up early for the 8am football game today, so we say goodbye around 10 and got a cab back to Leone.

So to try to wrap this novel up, I just wanted to touch on old things that I think I forgot to ever write about.  I forgot to take many pictures of where we lived during orientation week, so I stole some from another volunteer.  While we were staying at Nu’uuli Polytech for 3 weeks, we lived in classrooms- I slept in this room with 4 other women – this is Stephanie on the day we all moved out and to our separate placements:

We slept on foam mattresses on the floor- actually pretty comfortable.  Our showers were probably the least pleasant part of staying there- this was them:

It was pretty gross in there, 3 of us could shower at a time (there was a makeshift curtain in there before, but one stall was dark and did not have its own curtain, so only when we were really in a rush did anyone use it).  It made me think of our fancy showers back home- PVC pipe was just fine, why doesn’t everyone use it?!  Save money! The showers were very cold, and showers are going to be cold for the next 10 months still, but if I take them in the afternoon they are much warmer. Plus, it’s going to get SO much hotter I think, so cold showers it is!

I need to mention one of my favorite things about Samoa.  My head is so jumbled after this week and writing so much I can’t even remember if I already posted about this in the other blogs, but the buses here are CRAZY.  You can hear them coming a mile away, they play music louder than my brother played it when he was in his rebellious high school “I just got a car and everyone needs to know it” stage.   They are open air, and always spray-painted in some really cool way.  But they have sound systems like you cannot believe. The entire bus ride your entire body is bumping to the bass (Dad, you would not like it).  But I like the music. It makes me happy, and riding the bus is always a treat J and only a dollar to get most places!  I don’t know how older people sit on the bus with music so loud- maybe they’re all deaf by now from the volume.

I’m going to italicize a section of Jacque’s blog, because she basically describes everything I want to say about these few subjects and I need a break from writing, and I really liked this post:

Jacque’s words (thanks Jacque!):

Religion

Forget about separation of church and state or church and school.  Not here.  There society is still run mainly on their Christian values.  Sunday everyone..and I mean everyone...dresses up in white and goes to church.  Before meals or any big assemblies we always pray.  Even the school day starts off with a song and a prayer. Sunday literally is a day of rest.  The buses don't run, most schools are closed and you aren't allowed to swim or play outside.  At first this was tough for me to grasp.  Sunday is usually my day to run errands and catch up on things I was too busy for during the week.  But when Sunday came along I was shocked by the serenity.  All is calm.  There are few cars in the road.  We can't go anywhere so we would end up playing cards or reading all day.  It is nice to have a day where you don't have any obligations.  I got to do the things that I usually push to the side or don't "have time" to do.  But, you know what, even without my typical productive Sunday, I still accomplished everything I needed to do during the week.  It really puts stuff into perspective.   

also—(this is Sara adding about religion), Sa is something that happens every night around 6.  It’s basically a time to go inside and do a prayer- nobody can be outside walking around.  If you are outside walking during Sa, the men come outside and tell you to go inside. If you’re not near your home, I think you’re just supposed to sit down until Sa is over.  I don’t think Sa is practiced in Leone, but I can hear the bells for it from my house.  I think it’s generally in the smaller villages, where they are even more traditional.

Dress

Think 1800s....long skirts, no shoulders, no knees (apparently the back of the knee is a very risky body part).  Show as little skin as possible.  That is basically the idea here.  Of course there are more westernized areas where girls can wear short shorts (by short I mean mid-thigh) and tank tops (thick strap).  But many villages prefer modesty.  Basically, I had to get a whole new wardrobe before I came.  Women especially are expected to dress with modesty.  Most women wear their hair up in buns and very little make up.  Most of the girls just wear long bball shorts and t-shirts.  It's actually pretty awesome.  To live in a place where it is not only socially acceptable but encouraged to wear gym shorts and a tee every day...pretty sweet.  It literally takes me 5 minutes to get ready now.  Add another 5 minutes for the cold shower that I never want to linger in and I'm good to go.  Now, I still like to dress up but I could get used to this.  They have some traditional clothing here: the lava lava, puletasi and ie.  I found the lava to be very practical.  I bought 6 of them already and wear them all the time.  It is lie a sarong that you wrap around your waist.  This way I can wear my soffees around the house and then throw on a lava lava if I'm going outside.  They also have formal wear which is the puletasi.  It s a long shirt that goes down over your butt with long sleeves and a long skirt that covers your ankle.  Super attractive.  I will be wearing them to school every day.  The men wear a Hawaiian style top and an ie for the bottom, which is essentially a skirt that goes to your knees.  They don't wear slacks or dress pants here.  It is also common for men to wear a lava lava around the house.  It was a little strange to see men in skirts at first but I'm getting used to it.

Buses

My all time favorite part of American Samoa.  Basically, there is only one main road going from one end of the island to the other.  The buses travel up and down the road from 6am to 6pm.  They are made by connecting a trolly type thing to the back of a pick-up-truck.  The windows and doors are completely open the entire time.  From the outside you look like you are getting on this rickety old bus but the inside is all decked out!  I'm talking cheetah print lined interior and a blasting stereo! They love their music.  They can be playing anything from soft Samoan tunes to Lil' Wayne.  And if you are lucky to get the backseat then you have the speakers right under you and are bumping up and down with the bass the entire time.  Some even have a big screen tv connected to the front of the bus playing music videos.  These buses just go with their common theme here which is if it isn't broken don't fix it.  Sure, the buses may be old, but they still work.  So, instead of spending money fixing a perfectly good bus, why not throw a boom box and a big screen t.v. in it.  Surprisingly though with all that noise, bus etiquette is to be quiet.  You sit facing forward not talking, it's very hard for me not to sing along.  They also have an unspoken rule of moving back if someone older than you comes on the bus and give them your seat.  They have great respect for their elders.  Oh, and the buses are only one dollar no matter how far you are traveling.  Not too shabby, considering this is our only means of transportation.  We do hitchhike a lot too.  It's completely normal here.  Everyone has a pickup truck and they're all going in the same direction so you just hop in the bed of a pick-up truck and you're good to go.  I love it. 

Alright, back to my writing--- almost done!!

I also finally took pictures of the property we live on in Leone!!

Moana and Mel Purcell's house (our landlords)

My and Josh's house!

Jill & Kristina's apartment is the left side, Allison (our neighbor who was
a field director of WT) is on the right.  Moana and Mel's daughter, Melicia,
and her husband and 4 kids live in the building on the left.

I’ll try to take pictures of my school and classroom next week.

So Jesse stayed with us for a while before the plane to Manu’a finally went out.  It was really fun having her here and I can’t wait to go visit the outer islands and have her and all the Manu’a crew back to visit!  The last night her and Jacque both stayed with us, and when we got back from school the next day they had left us a note on the counter thanking us.  However, the note ended with,

“P.S. A giant spider lives in your shower.  Welcome to paradise!!”

So naturally, I freaked out a little bit.  I went to look for the thing, and figured if I couldn’t find it, it couldn’t have been that big and they were probably just making a big deal out of nothing. Wrong. When I went to brush my teeth that night, I decided I’d double check and look for it again.  I walked into my bathroom, (I have to walk the whole way in before I can get to the light), turned on the light, and looked around. Nothing.  Brushed my teeth, turned to leave the bathroom, and stopped in my tracks. Biggest. Spider. Ever. Honestly, it was the biggest, juiciest looking spider I’ve ever seen that wasn’t a tarantula.  I knew Josh had just gone to bed, but I called in to him to come get it.  We sprayed it with Raid and I swept it up.  I can only pray tomorrow at church that there was only one of those around here.  (However, the folks in Manu’a are getting their fair share of the biting 8 inch centipedes so far, so I don’t know which is worse).  But yes, I am planning on going to go to church tomorrow, because last week I was asked if I went to church last Sunday and it was incredibly awkward because I hadn’t.

Oh, another tidbit on life in Samoa—so there are HUGE frogs here.  We find them at night if we walk across our grass and they jump away from our feet- we also found tons of them at the Blunt’s Point historic site hiding in the cement structure there.  But we find the most in the middle of the road- squashed!!!!! So besides the dogs, frogs are the other main obstacle we face when we walk to/from school in our flip flops.  I’ve had a few close calls with frog carcasses…and a few hits!!!

We found another cockroach in our cabinet as I was searching for the strainer, but I’m probably going to stop the updates on that kind of stuff since it’s pretty normal.

The geckos join us every night (though last night I saw the biggest one yet in my bathroom), letting us know of their presence by doing their little clicking noises and scampering up the walls.  We just reply, “NO, we’re not switching to GEICO!!!!”

Our dogs like to pretend they are the ambulances that go by, and howl in tune with them. I’ve started sleeping with my head at the foot of my bed so I can get farther from my window since it can get very loud outside with geckos, dogs, frogs, bats, anything else that may be out there!!

So many of the things I write in here, I look back on and realize that without being able to hear my tone of voice, it’s hard to tell that I smile as I write all of this.  Most of this stuff is hilarious to me, and although there have been, and will be, many times that I feel I’m overwhelmed (but when the going gets tough, the tough call Mom!!), all of the petty, silly things I write about are really just humorous, and I like explaining them with a certain style because I know how crazy a lot of this sounds to you all at home.  But here, it’s just how it is.  So yes, it takes getting used to, but none of it is bad.  This is Samoa. And if we couldn’t laugh, we would all go insane.

coconut bird feeder with our volleyball net in the background

the Purcell's faleo'o

our yard, with Maveaga and his family's house in the back (green)

Anyway, there are naked babies running around in my yard being sprayed with the hose. Gonna go get some bananas!

Will anyone/everyone who reads this PLEASE give me major updates on your LIVES?!?!?!?  Hellooooo I already missed all the Olympics, I don’t need to feel like I’m on a rock in the middle of the Pacific Ocean.  Oh wait…. I am. J
Here are pictures from Moloata from a while ago that I mentioned in my Leone post.  I also have pictures from a while back at the marine sanctuary and museum but it takes FOREVER to download them so I will probably wait on that.

Older pictures from orientation:

at Blunt's point

breakfast at Sadie's

Simba/Shadow/Rambo/Blackie/Licker Dog. he's our favorite.