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!

Finally another post!

I know it's been a while since my last post- and so much has happened!!  There has been so much on my mind lately- from White Sunday to how the HELL to get through to my students, then midterms week and the post traumatic stress from that.......

I've decided to focus this blog mostly on White Sunday (since it's a HUGE holiday here), the JV Football Championship, and something I've been meaning to write about for a while- access to information.  But I'm only limiting it to those because otherwise I'd probably go on a rant about midterms which would not benefit anyone or be fun to read about- I've already taken out my stresses about midterm week on my friends (and a shared bottle Absolut and Just Juice- the best juice ever...straight out of New Zealand).


White Sunday is a holiday involving 3 main things: Church, children, and food. It's like Samoan Thanksgiving haha.  Amber, Kristina, and I got picked up by a woman named Aso (Asofaafetai- which literally means Thanksgiving) who goes to the Assembly of God church in Taputimu- the village next to us in Pua Pua, where Amber went last year with her Tap Boys.  I got to meet two of her Tap-Town students from last year who sang at the church. On White Sunday, all the children from babies to 18-19 year olds (and maybe a little older) dress in all white or matching puletasis and perform religious songs, dances, and prayers.  It was all in Samoan, but it was still awesome.  Not being a church goer myself, I was really out of my element and I was kind of thankful it was not in English otherwise I probably would have been a bit uncomfortable. But so much music and dancing- so I enjoyed myself even with all the Samoan women screaming "praise the lord!" etc.

There was a HYSTERICAL little girl singing with her eyes closed in front of the church- I could not contain my laughter and had to stop watching her because I was about to cause a scene- but the adults were laughing as well.  There was another little boy who had a frown like an old man on his face the whole time- also hysterical.  Whole families got up in front of the small congregation and sang.  I was surprised by how small and comfortable the church was- easy to see how close-knit those who go to the same church can get.  One of my students also goes to that church so it was excellent to see her up there singing her heart out (especially since I rarely see her in class........ but that has recently changed).

Hysterical girl who sang with her eyes closed looking super pained

Adorable kid who looks miserable

After church, families get together and eat.  We weren't invited to to'ona'i (Sunday lunch), but we went home and got our work done so that we could go BACK to church that evening because Amber's old student Kasi invited us back for more singing.  So we went that evening back to church (my first time EVER being at church twice in one day!!).  Even though I know everything that was spoken about doesn't conform with my religious beliefs, being in a small church on top of a hill with the ocean breeze and sunset coming through the windows while people with beautiful voices sang was not exactly anything to complain about.  And maybe logging more hours at church wouldn't be so bad with all the cursing I've done in school : )

A few more pictures from White Sunday....

The whole family!

Kristina, me, and Amber getting fed at the kids' table!

Like a true kids' Thanksgiving dream...donuts, egg sandwiches, cheeseburgers, and soda. #Health

The extra point....CLEARLY GOOD. GRRRR

The JV Football Championship was between Leone and our long time rivals, Tafuna High School.  It's kind of like the Red Sox and Yankees, until we play someone on the East Side, which then it's a East vs. West type of shindig. We dressed up in our best green and yellow, brought the pom poms (which I just learned is actually pon poms....), and woke up before 7am on a saturday to make it to the 8 o'clock game.  It was an excellent game, back and forth the whole time.  We cheered our butts off.  At 2 minutes to go, the game was tied 40-40, and Leone had an opportunity for an extra point..... which went in (see picture).  However, apparently the refs have sons that play on Tafuna and it was not counted.  We wondered why nobody made a fuss, Kristina took the camera down to show someone, but nothing happened. Game resumed, our team's confidence was blown and Tafuna got energized because of the call and scored another touchdown.  My sophomore, Eddie, is our quarterback on JV and he played an amazing game.  I was fuming all day at that damn call.  To top it off, there was no exciting fight to be had.  Fights usually go without saying at Tafuna/Leone games, but none for JV this year.  Our varsity team may have a few games left, so more updates to be had!!  Congrats to Leone for a great game, what should have been a win.  Champions in my heart!!

Lions For Life

Unity is Our Strength- Champions in my heart!

Now, what I've learned about having access to information, knowledge, and an education.  For the first time in my life, I've come to realize what it means to literally have information "at my fingertips".  You hear the phrase used, and our parents use it to talk about the stark contrast between the days of actually having to do research in books and getting all news from the radio or word of mouth, and the present, the era of the i (iPhone, iPod, iMac, iPad, iGoogle).  I always understood what this meant, and that I was lucky to be able to find answers to whatever questions I had when I had them, but I hadn't truly realized the value of it.  As someone who has more questions than there are ants in Samoa, I can honestly say I Love the internet. Capital L. Of course, I know to take the answers I find on the internet with a grain of salt, but there is so much damn INFORMATION out there- literally at the tips of our fingers!!!  Seeing how most of my students don't' have computers, internet, or some even electricity, they really have not been exposed to this wealth of information. I let students use my computer during breaks, lunch, and after school, and they are usually amazed with how quickly I can find answers or help them with their homework for other classes.  On the other hand, plenty don't realize the power of it, because when I let them use my computer it's usually for Facebook.  But it's the days that we don't have internet at home (which is frequently) that I come to remember just how lucky I have been.  At least 10 things pop into my head every day that I want to just quickly rush to my computer, type in google, and find information on.  When I don't see the bars on my internet signal, that's when it hits me, that I cannot find the answer to those questions right then and there. It's a terrible feeling!!!  I've come to really enjoy when we don't have internet at home, for the most part, because I don't have to worry about email, Facebook, or staying in touch.  But it is when I want information that I always make the same realization that most of the world does not have this kind of access to information at their fingertips- and then I understand why my students have such trouble wondering about the world and asking questions.  If I could never find answers to my questions, wouldn't I just stop asking them too?

This is not to say the internet is the only means of information- myths- legends (especially here in Samoa) are incredibly important, and I do love my share of books as well. But living in the iEra, the internet is what I have come to know and rely on- and it is the constant sharing of peoples' ideas, opinions, and the active participation in discussions surrounding things that I have questions about that is what makes the internet unlike any other form of information out there.

Sometimes I see how information-deprived and craving my students are.  They do love simply being exposed to things- even if sometimes they act uninterested (Read: all the time).  I brought in the Samoan newspaper to class today to talk about Hurricane Sandy and the new LEED certified EPA building on Tutuila (the first LEED certified building in all the South Pacific!!), and they all wanted to see it and read it.  I think they hate not being in the know, because they are left in the dark about so much. I know at first thought it may not seem like a big deal to not have internet- but think about if you had NEVER had it.  All you oldies can relate to this- and maybe shed some light on what it was like to never have it for all of us news.  I guess if you never had it you wouldn't really have known what to miss, but it still strikes me hard when I think about all of the many random things I've wondered about and that most of the answers I've found within a matter of seconds by typing it in.  Where do you get most of your information? What would you do if you didn't know how to just "Google it"?  What things would you never have learned?  

My new goal in Earth and Space science- make sure that if they were ever to go out into the world, they wouldn't seem like total idiots.  We are going to have mapping of the world (continents and oceans) on EVERY test this year- I told them I will not let them become high school seniors until they know where the continents and oceans are.

Also, just a shout out to the greatest package from my darling mother!!  Trying to make it feel like fall here (while I sweat to death).  Thanks mom!

Dunkin Donuts Pumpkin Spice Coffee, dark chocolate cranberries, yummy jam,  parmesan cheese (even though it's fake.... it's $7 here so I needed some sent!), sun dried tomatoes= HEAVEN. NOM NOM NOM!

Alright, I could keep going on and on, but I will post again soon- lots more to catch up on!  Next post will most likely be on:
-Spirit Week-Halloween
-Tisa's Barefoot Bar Annual Tattoo Festival
-Football, per usual.

The Seven C's: Cleavers, Coconuts, Cockroaches, Centipedes, Church, Circuses, and Chaos

Coconuts and Cockroaches
A few weeks ago, Kristina and I decided to have a real exciting Saturday night.  We wanted to get some coconuts, maybe add a little pineapple juice and rum, and eat some wonderful coconut meat and have delicious drinks while watching Boy Meets World.  Well, it sounded so easy and relaxing.  We first needed to find a coconut.  This seemed like a simple step to our plan, as they grow all over our yard.  We went outside where Tau (a man who works for the Purcells) was picking breadfruit, went to the tree next to him, and I started jumping up and down trying to pull down a coconut from the tree without having any fall on my head and knock me out.  Tau walked over to us, and in his broken English said, "So....what do you plan on doing with that once you get it down?"  in his sweet, innocent Samoan accent.  Samoans will never straight out tell you that you're doing something wrong, but they will just make you seem like a total idiot and make you realize you are totally incompetent and have no idea what you're doing because you're a stupid American.  :)

If Maveaga was still around, (Tau's 8 year old brother) he would be appalled that we do not know how to open a coconut at our age.  Apparently last year he laughed at the world teachers while they tried to open a coconut, and then walked over, gave it one good hack with a machete, and went on his way.

For those of you who don't know your coconut anatomy, coconuts have a VERY hard outer shell, and then another VERY hard but not quiiiiite as difficult to crack inner shell before you get to the coco milk and meat.  Tau said we should just give him 20 minutes and he'd be back with coconuts for us, instead of watching us miserably fail.  We told him that next time we wanted a lesson.

Finally- success!!

Soon enough, Tau was knocking on our door with 2 beautiful coconuts with the outermost layer gone.  Seemed like from there we could get it.  Hah.  Kristina and I spent another 25 minutes using every sharp item in the house to get the damn thing open.  We had opened coconuts before, by just slamming them on our cement porch, but it was late and we didn't want to be too loud, and we wanted to not be total fools opening coconuts like cave men.We used a cleaver (actually.... it took 2 cleavers to open the coconut if you think about it), 3 knives, chopsticks, and a few other obscure tools to open our coconuts.  We even had to look up 5 different ways to open coconuts online.  If only Tau had been there to see us....

Just another Samoan Saturday night :)

I then proceeded to look for straws in our forbidden cupboard (which has about every time of insect living in it and more), head something scurrying around and saw 2 cockroaches.  I decided to get my headlamp, a bottle of Raid, and a spatula to get the little shits out of there.  I got one, the other got away.  It was officially the most Samoan night we have had.  

Centipedes

Amber (was a world teacher in Leone last year and has come back to teach on contract) has bad luck- bears, bugs, illnesses- everything seems to find her when she travels.  She got bit by centipedes last year, and this year they're already coming for her. The centipede bite is apparently like 9824183921 times worse than a bee sting, and lasts for a few days.  Amber went into the bathroom at LHS the other day and was followed by a centipede.  After playing a game of "avoid the centipede" with her feet, she made it out alive.  But I am now nervous to ever use that bathroom.  Then, I had my very own centipede experience, finding one right next to my bed.  This one wasn't very big (so I am told), but it was big enough to totally freak me out about trying to sleep.  Needless to say, I am petrified.

The culprit.

Church
 Went to a student's special church service a few weeks ago- it was specifically a service where the kids sang the whole time.  It was AWESOME!   A few of my students were in it- and it was awesome to see the quiet ones open up and belt their soul in front of an entire congregation- and have so much fun doing it.  They sang church songs to the tunes of Taylor Swift, Michael Jackson, oldies, Azonto, and many other hilarious songs that made me smile and laugh to hear them singing church songs to, even though it was in Samoan and I couldn't understand a lot of it.  

The Circus
  The other night we chose to go to the Magic Circus of Samoa!  It was pretty entertaining- unbelievable talents! There were foot jugglers from Uzbekistan (both men, I can't imagine how it didn't hurt certain vulnerable parts of their male bodies......), trapeze boys, other crazy kinds of jugglers, rhythmic drummers, etc.  Typical circus - though I don't know if I had ever been to one before!  (One of the circus guys apparently gave his number to a friend so she could give it to me.... although they all had nice muscles, I'll resist the temptation.)

Tidbits from Leone High
1) The other day there was a frog in my classroom.  There was a fire in Kristina’s.

2) Today, I showed the students I was subbing for example models of cells on the internet.  One girl asked me if the examples were from “off island”.  

3) We had an assembly for Mr. and Ms. Taumafai- kind of like prom king and queen.  There were 4 girl contestants and 4 boys, they have to create a puletasi and faitaga using school colors, do a traditional Samoan dance, show some special talent, and answer questions in front of the school.  One of my students was a contestant.  It's times like our assemblies that I forget that having 16-17 year olds all oiled up and half naked dancing on stage during school hours is not normal.  Also, it becomes more interesting when I remember I am in the most religious places I've ever lived.  Hypocrisy? Nah, just Samoa. I have one senior (who actually reminds me of a combination between my first boyfriend and Raffi Sweet) who is just absolutely ridiculous.  He is on both the football and volleyball teams (which yes, practice at the same time), is a crazy dancer, and just runs on attention.  At every assembly, whether he was asked to or not, he will be on stage doing something ridiculous. At this assembly, he danced to Azonto, Grease Lightning, and Barbie Girl.  It was soooo hilariously inappropriate to say the least.  Love it. If only I could get him into drama school.

All the contestants for Mr. and Ms. Taumafai

My insane student Rhys doing the Azonto (on the left)

My student (Kuresa) is on the right

4) I had my observation day last week- we were supposed to have the field director observe our "best" and "worst" classes.  Like there's a difference.   During my "good" class (who actually sucked up to Veronica while she was there - acting like little angels) a brand new student (6 weeks into school) showed up to class about 15 minutes into the lesson.  I took her admit slip, and had her sit down so I could continue with my lesson I was already a bit nervous about since I was being observed.  I begin to hear this loud chirping, look over to the new girl, and see what's going on. She decided to bring with her a chick. Yes, a baby chicken. Her first day in class.  The day of my observation.  I asked her (politely) what the heck was that, she said a chick, I asked her where she got it, she said the side of the road.  I was like uhhh so go put it back outside?!?!  She said she couldn't because she needed to observe it for another class (I know BS when I hear it).  Either way, I realized if she put it outside it would either be eaten by the dogs that hang out at school or trampled to death by teenagers.  So, I grabbed a box from the back of the classroom, had her put the chick in it, and continued on with the loud chick chirping all class while I gave my lesson.  Only on observation day.

My other class that was being observed, my "worst" class-lived up to their name. Once the bell rang, everyone ran out, and I walked over to Veronica, kind of taking a huge breath and rolling my eyes like- help.  She honestly stated,"Yeah, that class was a total shitshow."  Hahahah.  At least they were honest about being my worst class, and didn't change their behavior just because a stranger was there.  I had the boys asking where Veronica was the next day (they were cheeky to her all class). I told them they were so bad she was never coming back.  they proceeded to tell me that she winked at them first. More BS. I have students who now try to steal my phone and get my phone number out of it.  I think today may have been the breaking point because I left it unattended when the running club came.  We'll see if they'll really follow through with the threats they have of calling me at 7 and 9pm tonight.  I made sure to tell them my phone would be off at those times.

Cheeky Boy Quotes of the Week 
-"When you're Mom comes to visit, I am going to tell her I am your boyfriend".

-boy: "You don't have a husband!?!?!"
 me: "no, if I did I would have had to leave him at home to come here!"
 boy: "ohhhh... so you are looking for a Samoan husband?"

-boy brings guitar into classroom, another starts singing Enrique Iglesias "Hero" to me.

-And my all time favorite: (this one is from a student Kristina was subbing for)
     "Do you have a hall pass?" "No? Can I carry you then?"

Thought you all might like some pictures of my classroom- finally!! (unless I already put these up and I'm just totally losing it). I still need to get pictures of my classes though-- but we need all the time we can get right now to try to FOCUS in the classroom!!  These pics are kind of old- there's lots of new stuff up in the room since then!  I'll post more sometime :)



















And a random note I thought I should share:  This was the way the bus driver shifted gears in one of the aiga buses we rode on into town:

Go Lions!

WORDS TO LIVE BY:

One of the fellow WorldTeachers let me in on a concept that she applies in her classroom and I have chosen to live by at Leone.  You know that show Whose Line Is It Anyway- the one that Drew Carey hosts?  They're line is- "everything is made up and the points don't matter".  Well, my new slogan is- "Welcome to Leone- where the grades are made up, and the points don't matter".  Sad, but true.  Again, love it.

At Sliding Rock

Pep Rallies and Ants

        So, we had our first pep rally on Friday at Leone High School.  Having never been to a pep rally before, I was excited, but I was also excited because of all that I had heard about Leone’s pep rallies.  (Which, apparently are called “prep” rallies by at least half the student body and the administration.  Since they are in “preparation” for football games, I guess it does make sense to call them “prep” rallies.  It’s not like Leone students ever need any kind of “pepping” up to begin with!)

One of my bio students (left) holding their sophomore class banner
that these girls' families helped them make in one night!
This banner won.... I was happy :)  MUFASAAAA

            Everyone should experience an LHS pep rally.  Since we are the Leone Lions (not really sure why that is the mascot of our high school on this small island where other mascots are warriors, or sharks….things that make sense), much of the pep rally was Lion King themed.  So I automatically more than enjoyed it.  The first pep rally (and maybe more of them, I’m not sure) consists of all the grades competing against one another in cheers, banners, and some sort of theatrical piece.  They only had about 2 weeks to put this one together (there have been daily class meetings during the school day in which classes get together and work on their cheers, and they usually work during lunch as well).  Trying to explain the pep rally wouldn’t do it justice.  But high school students back in the states could never do what these students can accomplish in less than 2 weeks.  All the athletes are also called up, and the football players do this Samoan chant/ tribal warrior demonstration too, which was so cool.

tribal/warrior thing done by the football teams...very intimidating!!
You should see the video!

Junior class banners...yes, those are my shirtless students.

Additionally, my computer has now become a source of food for ants.  I guess after surviving 4 years of college and almost 2 months in American Samoa, computers probably aren’t the cleanest of objects, and when I get on my computer now I not only get wrapped up in trying to get internet access but I am also entertained by watching ants try to find their way through the maze that is the keyboard.  I have a theory, that computers here don’t die simply because of the humidity; they die because too many ants get smushed under the keys or fried while journeying into the inner workings of macbooks.  There are too many places for ants to hide (and find crumbs) within the broken edges or openings of this computer to think that they are not making their own colony in my hard drive.  On that note, gonna make sure the kitchen is clean and there are no crumbs anywhere in my room.  Otherwise there will be a party somewhere in the house tonight, and I didn’t invite anyone! 

Football teams up front at the pep rally..check out these backpacks!!!