Well, it's just a few days shy of the one month mark, but it's a rainy Saturday afternoon and there's not much else to do, so I figured I'd update you all on what's happening here in Samoa! We've been here almost a month now, and that night when we showed up at the airport, exhausted and disoriented, seems like forever ago. Even orientation seems like a lifetime ago now. We've all spent the last week getting ready for the coming year- the Manu'a (smaller islands) people have been stocking up and getting our stuff where it needs to be to meet us on the island, whenever we end up getting out there (more on this later), and the others have been meeting their principals and fellow faculty, setting up classrooms, and getting settled into their new homes!
The official first day of school is August 12th. It is August 10th. I still don't know what subjects I'm teaching. I haven't seen my classroom. I'm not even on the right island. In Samoa, though, that's just kind of how things happen. On the bright side (kind of?), the start of school just got officially pushed back to the 19th... because the cafeterias failed inspection by the department of health. Oops. We were supposed to fly out today, and we were excited to have a full week to get settled now before classes started! However, we woke up this morning to a downpour and a plane that is broken down in Western Samoa and will probably be fixed sometime soon but definitely be fixed eventually. So instead of getting onto a plane to go to my new home, I'm lying on a stack of foam mats in my pajamas, listening to the rain outside, loading the new episode of Switched at Birth, and chatting with some friends. This is how Samoa is. You can let it drive you absolutely crazy, or you can relax and understand that, eventually, everything will happen... but no matter what you do, it will always, always happen on island time.
So. One month. How have I changed so far?
1. I've learned to be A LOT more flexible. Note the above.
2. I am now a morning person (whether this is by choice or not is debatable). Sleeping in is 8am. Waking up at 9am is unimaginable. We went out last, came home around 2, and I woke up promptly at 7:45am. Ugh. I have realized how much you can actually get done before noon, if you happen to be awake, though. And it's good this has started now, since I'll have to be up at 6 every day for school. Thank God everyone lied to me and Samoa TOTALLY has coffee!
3. Bugs don't freak me out (as much) anymore. Ok, so sometimes I still shriek and run away. But when I found a dead cockroach in the bathroom this morning (at 7:45... ughhhh), I just picked it up and threw it outside. So over it. We haven't seen any huge spiders or poisonous centipedes yet, though, so check in with me later on this one...
4. I've gotten used to not having internet at home... and I kinda like it. The house I'm staying in now just got wireless, and it's great! But it was also nice living without it for a week. I know I'll love internet even more when I need to lesson plan, but while the idea bothered me before, I now have no problem having access to internet only at the high school. There's something so freeing about being totally unplugged when at home. And hey, remember those things with the covers and the pages and the stories? Books? Yeah, they're pretty cool, I've remembered recently.
That's all I can think of so far, but it's a good start! Can't wait to see what the next 10 months will bring!
Miss you and love you!
The official first day of school is August 12th. It is August 10th. I still don't know what subjects I'm teaching. I haven't seen my classroom. I'm not even on the right island. In Samoa, though, that's just kind of how things happen. On the bright side (kind of?), the start of school just got officially pushed back to the 19th... because the cafeterias failed inspection by the department of health. Oops. We were supposed to fly out today, and we were excited to have a full week to get settled now before classes started! However, we woke up this morning to a downpour and a plane that is broken down in Western Samoa and will probably be fixed sometime soon but definitely be fixed eventually. So instead of getting onto a plane to go to my new home, I'm lying on a stack of foam mats in my pajamas, listening to the rain outside, loading the new episode of Switched at Birth, and chatting with some friends. This is how Samoa is. You can let it drive you absolutely crazy, or you can relax and understand that, eventually, everything will happen... but no matter what you do, it will always, always happen on island time.
So. One month. How have I changed so far?
1. I've learned to be A LOT more flexible. Note the above.
2. I am now a morning person (whether this is by choice or not is debatable). Sleeping in is 8am. Waking up at 9am is unimaginable. We went out last, came home around 2, and I woke up promptly at 7:45am. Ugh. I have realized how much you can actually get done before noon, if you happen to be awake, though. And it's good this has started now, since I'll have to be up at 6 every day for school. Thank God everyone lied to me and Samoa TOTALLY has coffee!
3. Bugs don't freak me out (as much) anymore. Ok, so sometimes I still shriek and run away. But when I found a dead cockroach in the bathroom this morning (at 7:45... ughhhh), I just picked it up and threw it outside. So over it. We haven't seen any huge spiders or poisonous centipedes yet, though, so check in with me later on this one...
4. I've gotten used to not having internet at home... and I kinda like it. The house I'm staying in now just got wireless, and it's great! But it was also nice living without it for a week. I know I'll love internet even more when I need to lesson plan, but while the idea bothered me before, I now have no problem having access to internet only at the high school. There's something so freeing about being totally unplugged when at home. And hey, remember those things with the covers and the pages and the stories? Books? Yeah, they're pretty cool, I've remembered recently.
That's all I can think of so far, but it's a good start! Can't wait to see what the next 10 months will bring!
Miss you and love you!
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