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)!