Cannibals have midterms in samoa
in the pics: preparing for the midterm; rain approaches; some masina shells I got from the beach.I really like them.
7/14
I’ve been trying not to dread this, but I had to go into our bank today because the ATM “swallowed” (as the woman in the bank said) my atm card on Friday. I said it ate my atm card. Swallow, ate, whatever the case, I need it back. Sorry, atm is time locked and doesn’t open until 2:30pm…when I have to be back in Lefaga. Let’s hope that they really do have it stored for me until Friday when I return to apia for the weekend. I’m getting tired to going to apia. Farmer Joe “a new experience”….on a recent shopping trip the receipt says “wholemeal bread: $2.00; Pringles: $5.25; local cucumber (one cucumber): $2.00.”
Life after Peace Corps….ohhhh yucky…well, yes, I guess there will be life after PC…so I’m reading the lovely yellow career resource manual. Some thoughts I think about:
“doing the important things well”
“translate your PC experience into skills/language appropriate to employers”
“most of us are rather ordinary people”
“strong career utility” I know having utility is good.
“strong action verbs” you mean like zoomed?
“sell with a positive outlook on life”
From a large list of “special skills” I found these were marked most often :
Listen…you can learn a lot from your ears…listen up. I don’t think I have a big mouth personality.
older people…I like to hang out with older people.
Question…I ask questions. If you have been around me, you may have noticed.
Others…I like to know about other people
Details/big picture…I like to deal with details but the big thing is good too
More reflection words: artisitic, people, innovate, technology, personal, instructing, learning..and I’m only on page 15.
I want to read stories about how RPCV have successfully “integrated” back into American life…
7/13
Gal (who was leaving Samoa), had a book called “Sex Life of Cannibals” by Maarten Troost. About a couple who took off to remote parts…South Tarawa, Kiribati to be exact—adventures in the South Pacific. I took a quick read of the last chapter. Some highlights I liked.
“those who had the time, lacked the money. And those who had the money lacked the time. There’s the conundrum of American life in a nutshell.”
“There is no place on Earth where color has been rendered with such intense depth, from the first light of dawn illuminating a green coconut frond to the last ray of sunset, when the sky is reddened to biblical proportions.”
“Do you think they’ll have cheeseburgers in Fiji?”
(our walking adventure landed us some decent cheeseburgers…well, maybe I was just really hungry. The fries needed more cooking.)
“the shopping mall. The American shopping mall. It frightened us.”
“I could not understand how anyone could drive faster than 35 miles per hour.”
Samoans love their speed. On the road we were walking on, I estimated some cars zooming by at 40, 50, maybe 60 miles/hour.
“she found me staring blankly at a display of maple syrup (at a supermarket).”
I’ve done that before…stare blankly at many different options.
“I was wasting my time. As you may have gathered, I am generally amenable to wasting time, but not like this. I felt like I was perpetuating a fraud. (overpaid WorldBank consultant).
“In Kiribati, she had worked with the tangible. In Washington, she worked with the gaseous.”
7/12
“ova!” I hear. Lakapi Aso Toana’i. Must be rugby. I can’t see the game. I sit on the other side of the school. Gal’s school. I’m visiting for the weekend. I see the ball float high into the air over the tree tops. I hear the yelling and laughing. I feel the wind. It has been really windy since we (me, Cale and Sara). I love the wind. Four of us were supposed to visit Namu’a island. I was told we had a reservation. Apparently, there were some other Palagis (white people)—more bodies than us were already there when we walked over this morning. The lady that the reservation was made with was no where to be found. More bodies = more money. At least that’s what I assume. Then we walked down to another beach fale area for lunch and to look for a place to spend the night. No luck. It seemed the whole side of the island was full, booked, no vacancy, all beds taken. Hmmmm…what’s the occasion? Not the weather, that’s for sure. Cold(er) windy! Wet!
So…………3 iPods, 1 SAnsa, chicken and rice, not forgetting the all important Vailima—a rapid music shuffle session. “white rappers enunciate more” someone said. Ahhh…remembering my grandpa “matthew, you must enunciate when you talk or no one will understand you.” Yeah…that sounds familiar. 3rd base is a white rap group.
Dealing with this midterm situation has taught me (well I kind of already knew this) I teach for understanding, not for some test. “your test is too easy” “we don’t do bonus questions” “you need to redo your marks” “no student gets above 80 marks-ever.” Some things I heard my pule (principal) say. I think I made a mistake grading the tests. No worries, all fixed. The top student in year 11 gets a 96 (out of 100). I don’t place much importance on tests. That’s not how life really happens.
I’ve been trying not to dread this, but I had to go into our bank today because the ATM “swallowed” (as the woman in the bank said) my atm card on Friday. I said it ate my atm card. Swallow, ate, whatever the case, I need it back. Sorry, atm is time locked and doesn’t open until 2:30pm…when I have to be back in Lefaga. Let’s hope that they really do have it stored for me until Friday when I return to apia for the weekend. I’m getting tired to going to apia. Farmer Joe “a new experience”….on a recent shopping trip the receipt says “wholemeal bread: $2.00; Pringles: $5.25; local cucumber (one cucumber): $2.00.”
Life after Peace Corps….ohhhh yucky…well, yes, I guess there will be life after PC…so I’m reading the lovely yellow career resource manual. Some thoughts I think about:
“doing the important things well”
“translate your PC experience into skills/language appropriate to employers”
“most of us are rather ordinary people”
“strong career utility” I know having utility is good.
“strong action verbs” you mean like zoomed?
“sell with a positive outlook on life”
From a large list of “special skills” I found these were marked most often :
Listen…you can learn a lot from your ears…listen up. I don’t think I have a big mouth personality.
older people…I like to hang out with older people.
Question…I ask questions. If you have been around me, you may have noticed.
Others…I like to know about other people
Details/big picture…I like to deal with details but the big thing is good too
More reflection words: artisitic, people, innovate, technology, personal, instructing, learning..and I’m only on page 15.
I want to read stories about how RPCV have successfully “integrated” back into American life…
7/13
Gal (who was leaving Samoa), had a book called “Sex Life of Cannibals” by Maarten Troost. About a couple who took off to remote parts…South Tarawa, Kiribati to be exact—adventures in the South Pacific. I took a quick read of the last chapter. Some highlights I liked.
“those who had the time, lacked the money. And those who had the money lacked the time. There’s the conundrum of American life in a nutshell.”
“There is no place on Earth where color has been rendered with such intense depth, from the first light of dawn illuminating a green coconut frond to the last ray of sunset, when the sky is reddened to biblical proportions.”
“Do you think they’ll have cheeseburgers in Fiji?”
(our walking adventure landed us some decent cheeseburgers…well, maybe I was just really hungry. The fries needed more cooking.)
“the shopping mall. The American shopping mall. It frightened us.”
“I could not understand how anyone could drive faster than 35 miles per hour.”
Samoans love their speed. On the road we were walking on, I estimated some cars zooming by at 40, 50, maybe 60 miles/hour.
“she found me staring blankly at a display of maple syrup (at a supermarket).”
I’ve done that before…stare blankly at many different options.
“I was wasting my time. As you may have gathered, I am generally amenable to wasting time, but not like this. I felt like I was perpetuating a fraud. (overpaid WorldBank consultant).
“In Kiribati, she had worked with the tangible. In Washington, she worked with the gaseous.”
7/12
“ova!” I hear. Lakapi Aso Toana’i. Must be rugby. I can’t see the game. I sit on the other side of the school. Gal’s school. I’m visiting for the weekend. I see the ball float high into the air over the tree tops. I hear the yelling and laughing. I feel the wind. It has been really windy since we (me, Cale and Sara). I love the wind. Four of us were supposed to visit Namu’a island. I was told we had a reservation. Apparently, there were some other Palagis (white people)—more bodies than us were already there when we walked over this morning. The lady that the reservation was made with was no where to be found. More bodies = more money. At least that’s what I assume. Then we walked down to another beach fale area for lunch and to look for a place to spend the night. No luck. It seemed the whole side of the island was full, booked, no vacancy, all beds taken. Hmmmm…what’s the occasion? Not the weather, that’s for sure. Cold(er) windy! Wet!
So…………3 iPods, 1 SAnsa, chicken and rice, not forgetting the all important Vailima—a rapid music shuffle session. “white rappers enunciate more” someone said. Ahhh…remembering my grandpa “matthew, you must enunciate when you talk or no one will understand you.” Yeah…that sounds familiar. 3rd base is a white rap group.
Dealing with this midterm situation has taught me (well I kind of already knew this) I teach for understanding, not for some test. “your test is too easy” “we don’t do bonus questions” “you need to redo your marks” “no student gets above 80 marks-ever.” Some things I heard my pule (principal) say. I think I made a mistake grading the tests. No worries, all fixed. The top student in year 11 gets a 96 (out of 100). I don’t place much importance on tests. That’s not how life really happens.
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