Internet Apocalypse #1

#1 because I'm assuming this is only the first of many times this year that this will happen... We, here at Chez WorldTeach, have been without Wifi for the last week or so. The Wifi at the school broke down, got fixed, the password got lost, etc. etc. etc.... This time, I can't even say TIS because I'm pretty sure this is just all internet providers ever everywhere. We tried all the local venues- McDonalds, Carls Jr, Starbucks (oh, wait, THERE IS NO STARBUCKS ON THIS ISLAND)- but none had (free) Wifi. Instead, we had to entertain ourselves with games, movies, snorkeling, and several hikes around the island, so it's kind of hard to complain. But so you all know- I'm not dead! I was not kidnapped by Samoan (Somalian?) pirates! I did not marry a Matai and disappear from civilization! All is well.

A lot has happened this past week, and I could probably write a novel on it, but instead I think everyone would rather have a brief summary followed by some pictures (because pictures say a thousand words!) (and I love parentheses!).

This last week I: planned and taught my first real(ish) lesson! Opened a bank account! Actually swam in Nu'uuli Falls! Got adopted (and, thank God, unadopted) by two puppies! Went to a Samoan church followed by a (semi)traditional (Chinese) feast! Hiked to Fagatele Bay (the first marine sanctuary on the island... there are now 5 more)! Met with some awesome fa'afafines who were equal parts informative and sassy (don't know what a fa'afafine is? Look it up. You'll be intrigued, I promise)! Went snorkeling! And probably did a lot more things I don't remember right now. But anyway. On to the photographic proof!

Manu'a love while riding in the back of a pick-up 

Underwater starfish! The unanimous favorite of all the snorkelers.

Underwater reflection! (None of the underwater photos are mine, but I was there! I promise! This photographic genius is thanks to Miss Steevee!)

Possibly my favorite picture of us ever... hiking to the waterfall.

We are strong because we conquered The Rock (in the middle of the waterfall)!

On the way to Fagatele Bay... where I apparently decided I didn't want to take photos... 

Me and Caroline modeling at the waterfall... yeahhhh

There's probably more, but this seems like enough for now. I will now leave you all with something that can't possibly not make you smile and say "AWWW":

If you don't like these puppies, I don't like you. ... Just kidding... kinda. I love you and miss you all, as always! Alofa from AmSam!

Day off!!!

Sorry, this is gonna be a long one… but with pictures!

Yesterday was our first real day off in Samoa! It had rained straight for the last 3 days, which was a nice break from the heat, but wasn’t great for swimming or seeing the island. Yesterday, though, it didn’t rain at all. Why? Because TIS. Because it was Matt’s birthday. Because life is wonderful!

We got up early in the morning and hiked to Nu’uuli Falls. This is supposed to be a very easy hike with a gorgeous view, and it’s a close walk to where we are staying, so we thought it would be the perfect morning excursion. What we didn’t anticipate is that, since it had been raining for the past 3 days or so, the trek would be a little harder than we expected… At certain points, we literally ended up fording river rapids, which was a little scary but also added to the adventure! The waterfall itself was gorgeous! People swim in it sometimes, but because the water was so high the waterfall was too wild for that. We got soaked just standing near it taking pictures, although some of us did hike a little through the water to get to a smaller falls nearby. One of the funniest things about Nu’uuli Falls is that it was so beautiful, but all the Samoans we have talked to have said they’ve never been: Samoans aren’t huge on hiking, I guess.

Going off into the jungle!

The group hiking to the waterfall.

Rapids!!!

Me being a dork, Nu'uuli Falls in the background.

After Nu’uuli Falls we caught a bus at the road and went down to the Marketi (market) to catch a bus to the East side of the island (we live in the Midwest). There aren’t as many buses that go East, so we had to wait a while. We did meet some very nice ladies that “adopted us” and tried to help us out, rounding up West side bus drivers who would agree to take us to the East for $3-$5 a person (not bad, but a normal bus ride is $1). The women were so kind and helpful, and basically the epitome of all of the Samoans we have met… the people here are absolutely amazing! We did finally find an Aoa bus, which would take us where we needed to go… which was… Tisa’s Barefoot Bar! Samoa is very modest, so most beaches require that all people (including girls) wear knee-length shorts and t-shirts or tank tops. However, Tisa’s is one of the only places on island that allows bikinis (and also serves beer and umbrella drinks!), so it’s very popular with the palagis (white people). After a long morning, we were happy to hang out in the water, relax in our bikinis, and have a few beers and the best pina coladas we had ever had! We also had a lot of fun talking to Candy Man, Tisa’s partner from New Zealand who has been in AmSam for 25 years now. He made us fresh caught fish for dinner and it was awesome! They also have kittens! And a dog named Palagi that is so friendly and clean, compared to the island’s stray dogs.

Tisa's!!!

The bar!!! (We loved it. Obviously.)

View of the beach from Tisa's balcony.

Jackie and Steevee enjoying the Biggest Beer Ever. (Strongest, too)

Kittens! On a beach!!! Beach kittens! Playing! I never wanted to leave.

Amazing.

After spending all afternoon at Tisa’s we caught a ride on the back of a truck with a man called Tonka Man, who was nice enough to take us past the Marketi all the way home!

Riding home in the truck! Absolutely the best way to travel, though it lacks the Aiga Bus soundtrack.

 That night, we were invited over to a Samoan friend’s house to hang out. He introduced us to some of his friends, and we drank a couple beers and just chilled, getting to know some new people and just relaxing. The guys were all really great, and it was a lot of fun to get out for the night! Some of them didn’t speak great English so they were a little shier, but all of them were so nice, and really funny! I have yet to meet a Samoan I don’t like. Michael, the guy whose house it was, offered to take us all dancing, but we were exhausted, so we stayed for a while and then he walked us back home (because he said the dogs get worse at night, though we haven’t had any problems yet). He also promised to take us to a great snorkeling beach sometime this week.

So far, this was my favorite day on the island… we got to explore, swim, and meet new people. I’m really starting to love Samoa, and every time I see something like the Nu’uuli Falls or the view from the balcony of Tisa’s I can’t believe how lucky I am to call this island home (at least for a while).

Alofa ia te oi (love you!), and miss you all! 

I leave you with the tiniest lizard I have ever seen. 

fe'aus

If any of you have been talking to me while I've been in Samoa, you might be aware that I am subtly trying to force you to learn Samoan with me by casually dropping phrases into everyday conversations. Today, I'll be a little more overt about it: the word of the day is fe'aus, and that means chores.

In Samoa, fe'aus are very important. Every kid has responsibilities, ranging from taking care of younger siblings to working at the church to sweeping the grass outside their house (yeah, I don't know either...), and we've been told it's an excuse that will be commonly used by our students to explain missing homework. And, after living in American Samoa for only a week, I have to admit... fe'aus really do take a lot more work here that on the mainland! Here are some examples:

1. The first fe'au I had to deal with was getting my cellphone set up, which, luckily, only took about 15 minutes and cost me $5 (so, btw, call me!!!!). However, others in the group were not so lucky... it took them about 2 hours, $60, and some of their phones still aren't working to this day.

2. The second fe'au was the bank. We cleared out a two hour block of time to walk down to the bank, pull a number, and sit there and wait. And wait. And wait. Then, we were called up, one at a time, with 5 or so people inbetween us (even though we all came at the same time?), in order for them to get our phone number and set up an appointment to come back to actually open the account. This was actually great news! We had been warned that we would probably have to get a number, wait, leave our name and phone number, then wait for them to call us to set up an appointment, and then finally go to the appointment. Unfortunately, my appointment turned out to be during a time when I have a mandatory class (on July 29th... 2 weeks from now...). I called to reschedule 2 days ago... they have yet to call me back. None of this is surprising. This is Samoa (from now on referred to TIS).

3. And now, on to the most important fe'au (mostly because it comes with pictures, so you can see my new friends AND where I live AND my underwear!): laundry! We could have gone to the laundromat, but it's far and costs money, plus a few of us will have to be doing laundry by hand this year, anyway, so we figured why not start now? The following is a documentation of the ordeal that followed:

Trying to figure out where to put the clothes lines... (we couldn't put them outside because the principal thought the school would look like a brothel... upon examining our undergarments we realized she might be right)

Hanging the clothes lines. You also get a lovely view of the girls' bedroom, aka my home for the past week and the next few.

Caroline decided to hula hoop.

Getting ready! Matt looks nervous... 

Girls doing all the work. Matt taking pictures.

Washing our underwear! In the shower! In men's swim trunks! TIS.

Steevee, modeling our clotheslines.

Finally done!!!! (Where did Matt's shirt go?? And why is Caroline so wet?!?)

 

Finally got all the clothes hung up... hopefully they dry sometime in the next month or so... TIS.

Laundry day numero uno is complete! Hopefully it turns out well! During the school year, this is probably how I am going to be spending my Sunday afternoons! 

And, as a final thought, to all those who might now be worried we're spending all our time doing chores: I do still have time for selfies! This is Chaundra photobombing me and Caroline on the aiga bus on our scavenger hunt!

Malo Soifua

As part of the WorldTeach orientation, we’ve all been taking Samoan language lessons. Basically, the Samoan language is made up of 5 vowels. In the off chance they can’t get away with using only vowels, Samoans might throw in a consonant or two, some of which make sounds that don’t really exist in English. That makes it a pretty hard language for us Westerners to learn, but we’ve been trying!! My favorite saying so far: “Malo soifua!”, which is used as a greeting and means, literally, “I commend you for living”. I love it. How cool is it to greet someone by commending them for living?!

This is just one of the things I absolutely love about Samoa. Since getting here late on Friday night, we’ve had a little bit of time to get to know the island better, and it’s been amazing. I included a few pictures from our first day in Samoa in my previous blog post… it’s absolutely one of the most beautiful places I have ever seen. There is basically one main road running through the island, called the “High Road”, and it runs right along the coast. So, on one side you have a breathtaking view of the mountains, and on the other is the Pacific Ocean. Not bad!

And then there’s the way you get around Samoa. Many people have cars, but those who aren’t so lucky take aiga (ainga) buses. Aiga buses are homemade buses built from wood on the back of a pick-up truck. Each driver owns their own bus and decorates it as they like… the first one we took had a huge picture of a lion all across the front. Some also have TVs, or things hanging from the ceiling. And every single one of them blasts music, with the bass up as high as feasibly possible. I have no idea what kind of music I assumed people listened to in Samoa, but I definitely did not anticipate their extreme passion for… slow jams. Yup. On my first aigu bus ride I heard “All My Life” (Laurie, obviously I thought of you), one Samoan teacher told us her students refer to Celine Dion as “Auntie Celine” because they love her so much, and the amount of boy bands I’ve heard in the last few days is something that I really appreciate. The field director promises that sometime soon we’re going to hear an auto-tuned island remix of a Backstreet Boys song, and I am waiting with bated breath.

My fellow volunteers and I have also embraced the island style of dress. Though a lot of the time people here dress in Western styles, there are some Samoan twists. One of my favorites is the lavalava, basically a big scarf that you wrap around your waist and wear as a skirt. They come in all sorts of colors, cost $4, and, once you get the hang of them, are really comfortable! As part of our orientation, we’ve been learning about different forms of Samoan dress, and what is appropriate when. While for casual occasions a lavalava or Western skirt/pants/etc are fine, for more formal occasions (and, often, for teaching) women have to wear an outfit called a puletasi. These are really cool, because we get to have them custom made! We get to pick our own fabric, and then take them to a shop that will make them to our own specifications! I have a few now that were donated from last year’s volunteers, but I’m having at least one new one made in the next few weeks! Below, you can see a picture of some of us dressed up to go meet with the Samoan Department of Education!

Along with the fun stuff, there’s also been some less-fun (but important!) stuff, too! We’ve been having a crash course on teaching: learning how to manage a classroom, lesson plan, and run activities. It’s a lot of time spent in the classroom for summertime on a tropical island, but it’s definitely been a huge help, since I’ll be running my own classroom in less than a month!

And, some people have asked about living conditions: we live at a local high school, sleep on mats on the floor, and take cold showers from a PVC pipe in one of the dirties

t “locker rooms”/bathrooms/huts I have ever been in. But there’s AC, internet in certain corners of the campus, some pretty awesome company, and a few breathtaking views, so, really, there’s not much to complain about!

There’s a lot more I have to say, especially about Samoan culture, which, while frustrating in some ways, is also something I’m really coming to love. But I figured I should update everyone on my life first. So be ready for some fun stuff to come! I am! This year will definitely be quite the adventure, but I’m excited for it!

Oh! Also! As far as contacting me, facebook works, and so will whatsapp/groupme/whatever works over wifi, at least for a while. For all the awesome, amazing, wonderful people who are willing to write me letters (because I love them), I’ll pass on my address as soon as a few things get ironed out. I do have a Samoan phone now, though, and you guys can call me on it anytime… I think it should be free for all. If you want the number, let me know, or I’ll send it out with my address later!

Love you all! Miss you like crazy! Fa (bye)!

Talofa from Samoa!

I'm here! I'm alive! I could say a lot more, but all I can think is... Guys. I LIVE here.

Like, HERE:

Love you! Miss you! Come visit me in paradise!

3 days to go... Goodbye, US!

3 days until I leave for LA, 4 days until I leave for Pago Pago. Currently, I’m vacillating between being incredibly, incredibly excited and incredibly, incredibly terrified. Of course I’ve known for months now that I’d be spending the next year on a tiny tropical island in the South Pacific… but there were other things to focus on first: finals, then Senior Week, Graduation, the GREs, camp, Chicago… Now, suddenly, all the “first”s are gone, and the next step is American Samoa. For a year. Where I will be teaching high school science. Um. What?

This is what I always wanted, and always planned on: taking some time after college to travel, to do something I probably won’t get the opportunity to do later on, to live somewhere new, experience a real challenge beyond anything I’ve ever faced before. It’s just coming kind of fast now. And this is always the part of traveling I hate: packing, saying goodbye, worrying about flights and hotels and travel times, and a ton of waiting around. I just want to get there now!

The last weekend I got to go to Chicago with two of my best friends (pics included, most stolen from Gann), and it was amazing. It gave me the opportunity to say some very important goodbyes: to people, yes, but also to other things, both tangible and not. I said goodbye to city streets and skyscrapers, greasy hot dogs/McDonalds/pizza at 3am, iced coffee, bars, clubs, restaurants, and baseball games, among other things. All of these are things that I will miss next year, but none of them are things I can’t live without, and I think I have to keep reminding myself that. A year is a long time, but it’s a short time, too... I’ll be back on the city streets soon enough, and don’t worry: no matter where I end up next year, I’ll be hitting up Boston, New York, Miami, and Minneapolis (among other places) ASAP. But first, I’m going to spend an amazing year in American Samoa, teaching, learning, snorkeling, and spear fishing (maybe??).

My last day in Boston, the day after graduation, I went to The Fairy Shop (because how can you possibly be on Newbury Street without stopping by The Fairy Shop?!?) and found a necklace that says, “Wherever you go, go with all your heart”. That’s something I’m going to try to keep close to me this next year.

The next time I post… it will be from half-way around the world!!! Love you all and miss you already!

Talofa Lava!

In just under 10 days, I'll be setting of an adventure across the world, to a tiny island in the South Pacific. Since I may not have many forms of stable contact while there, I figured a blog might be the easiest way to communicate with everyone!

For a quick recap, I graduated from Boston College in May and am spending the next year in American Samoa (through a program called WorldTeach), a tiny island off the coast of Australia (kinda, sorta). More specifically, I will be spending my year on an even tinier island called Ta'u, off the coast of American Samoa's main island, Tutuila, a part of Manu'a group of islands. There are approximately 800 people living on Ta'u, and about 75 students in the high school where I will be teaching science! I will be living and working alongside 4 other WorldTeach volunteers, and I am so excited!

A lot of people have asked me... Why American Samoa?

After 4 of the most amazing years of my life in Boston, I knew I needed an adventure before figuring out what life held for me next. A year abroad, somewhere I would never end up otherwise, seemed just the ticket. I honestly have no idea how I chose American Samoa of all the programs that WorldTeach offered... Maybe the same way I chose Boston College 4 years ago. I hope it turns out just as well.

I love you all, and I'll miss everyone! Feel free to email, send letters (address to come), Skype, send carrier pigeons (Tucans? Parrots?), or just comment on this blog... I'll answer everything, I promise... it might just take a bit!

I'm officially entering my last 10 days in the US... Just a quick stop by Chicago, a night in LA, and I'm on my way!