a long read..no pics..

OK..no pics in this...I have to get off the internet..

Tshirt: pule oe Iesu




7/31
I’m really seeing how not knowing specific English words limits sentences you can create. Almost nightly I help the 5 students who sleep at the school (and help us by cooking the food and other things) with their homework. Tonight’s activity was describing the literal and metaphorical proverbial meanings. Very hard for some of the students. Another one had literal and M flipped. I looked in my Samoan dictionary (yes I really use it, a lot) and the English dictionary too. Getting to the root word and what it means..almost like a word web—which is also a computer program that another PCV gave me call “wordWeb.” It takes one word and gives the more basic(?) meaning to a word the students understand…down to the essential word, and sometimes beyond, to where it is not at all the original word anymore. Tonight’s word web from the proverb “beggars can’t be choosers”. Beggaràbegàcharityà…and then I just wrote down “desperate”. Sometimes the dictionaries really aren’t that helpful with wordwebs.



7/29
Week 8, term 2. I am doing typing tests this week with all my students. Lessons 4 and 6 in TyperShark. Lesson 6 is REALLY hard for them. I wanted to know if there was a way to change the text that appears for the students to type. SURPRISE! I can change the text to anything I want—rugby, song lyrics—something that will keep students’ attention longer. Also I want more of an intermediate step between just keyboard exercises and whole paragraphs of sentences. That is too big a jump for my students. Something that advances in smaller increments. They were totally lost and frustrated by lesson 6. I’m thinking something like this:

Had had had had had had had had had had had had had
I had I had I had I had I had I had I had I had I had I had
Rugby rugby rugby rugby rugby rugby rugby rugby
Rugby ball Rugby ball Rugby ball Rugby ball Rugby ball
I had a rugby ball. I had a rugby ball. I had a rugby ball.

This is exciting. The most exciting thing since …since I fixed that computer. I am proud of my students for their typing—some of them can 35WPM (words per minute) in lessons 3,4, and 5. Lesson six is still hard. Now I have to figure out how to change the words that appear on the sharks in game mode. My students pause the game as soon as they see the word to prepare their fingers on the keyboard so they can type the word quickly. Very clever.

I sometimes wonder why I’m not working on extensive written lesson plans, laying out step by step what to do. Then I remember that Samoan culture is very oral, and that I have some good computer “texts” already from other PCVs. I try really hard to get my students to understand in the moment, and I usually don’t have much energy left over at the end of the day for more computer time. I really believe that students (even Samoan students) will learn faster if a lesson (in any subject) is tailored to the specific interest and culture of that student. Which is why I’m excited about changing typing tutor texts in TyperShark. In Samoa knowledge transmission usually doesn’t take place by reading in a book. It happens when people are speaking to one another. And in the case of teaching computers, when you explain concepts as simply as possible. One recent example that I think will be challenging is the concept of “default” printer, “default” settings. Even this MSWord program tells me that “default” means missing a payment. That’s not what I mean. Default means standard….ahh, also normal, usual, typical, …that’s more like it.

Current tea experience: ginger, honey, full cream milk. Yum.


I finally finished a book I’ve been working on for a while, mainly because I left it at my samoan family’s house, and I’m not there very often. “Snow Falling on Cedars.” a good book. Some thoughts
Veteran’s cynicism
Professional cyancism of the journalist
Funny little facts floating around
Protocols of island life
Affront to the world
Who never smiled for photographs
There was a war on and that changed everything
She had stopped imagining their future
It was in matter in part of posture and breathing, but even more so of soul
Stoop labor performed in the direct sun
I undertand just now the deepest beauty
Domestic troubleshooters
Aura of manic purpose
“shikata ga nai” it cannot be helped
Spirit of quiet dignity
For purposes of argument
Shape the behavior of men
Deadman’s statute
“decide to tell the truth before it’s too late.”
Spirit of an indulgence
[her] calm was a practiced disguise
Claims of ignorance
History was whimsical
Nothing had changed an everything had changed

That was all, there was nothing more than that, they wanted their farm and the closeness at hand of the people they loved and the scent of strawberries outside their window.
There was a place in him she could not reach where he made his choices in solitude, and this made her not only uneasy about him but afraid for their future, too.
They were fourteen years old; geoducks were important. It was summer and little else really mattered.
He decided then that he would love her forever no matter what came to pass.
“now, to me it don’t make one bit of difference which way it is their eyes slant.”
And all of this was part of his mystery, his distance from what she was.
Giri was her grandmother’s word for it…and it meant doing what one had to do quietly and with an entirely stoic demeanor.
“I’m not asking you to be a detective. I just want to know which is more probable.”
She had discovered when she was seventeen that she could shape the behavior of men with her behavior and that this ability was founded on her appearance.
It was forbidden in her marriage to open up her husband’s wounds and look at them unless he asked her to.
He had indeed achieved a kind of wisdom—if you wanted to call it that—though at the same time he knew that most elderly people were not wise at al but only wore a thin veneer of cheap wisdom as a sort of armor against the world.
All human claims to the landscape were superseded, made null and void by the snow.
The room smelled of salt water and snow and of the past—it was full of the scent of lost days.
“everybody knows what God is. You feel what God is, don’t you?”
“that they arrested him because he’s Japanese.”
“everything else is emotions and hunches. At least the facts you can cling to; the emotions just float away.”
There she stood at the stove ladling soup with the calm ease of one who feels there is certainly such a thing as grace.
Kabuo only pressed himself harder and measured his life according to his success at brining salmon home.
Yes, it would be nice to live in a nicer house and to walk out into the perfume of berries on a June morning, to stand in the wind and smell them.
“when the truth might have done you some good.”
He was, they decided, not like them at all, and the detached and aloof manner in which he watched the snowfall made this palpable and self-evident.
What I see is again and again the same sad human frailty.
“Stay objective, be reasonable.”
You aren’t ever going to get past your doubt so you have to face it head-on.”
For them it might stave off what he could not help but see with clarity: that the would was silent and cold and bare and that in this lay its terrible beauty.
That accident ruled every corner of the universe except the chambers of the human heart.




7/23
Close your eyes. Imagine hot water (coming out of a circular massaging faucet) running over your body. Windows start to steam. Muscles relax. (do that record skipping sound) heyyyyyyyyyy the water just turned ice cold and now it is a trickle out of a pipe in the wall. No faucet. No hot. No pressure. That was my shower tonight. I miss a hot shower. So I make two pots of hot water for a “hot water rinse.” It’s doable. For a limited time. Get yours now. I had my hot shower for the month at a friend’s house in Apia. Very nice place he’s got. Hard wood floors, TV, DVD, Fridge/freezer combo, stove, oven…no dishwasher. He works at a bank. Bankers always seem to have a good setup…materially speaking.

The wind../breeze../gusts have felt really good. I feel a poem coming together..about some mania savili. Breeze ruffles the hair, does nice to the ears rattles the …well, that’s all there is right now.

I was reading a computer repair manual. It said that turning your computer on and off is the main way to stress the CPU (meaning it will greatly shorten the life). hmmmmm…our computers at school get turned on and off no less than four times a day because I have my students turn on and turn off the computers for each class—repition is good. I wonder how much life of our computers is lost to the power cycle monster. Well, the alternative is to leave them off (all the time), or leave them on (all the time)…neither of those works very well. A friend from Australia told me that power in Aussie costs 1/4 what it costs in Samoa. It’s expensive in Samoa. He said much of the power is produced by diesel.

I’m learning how to get things done here at school. I have to say a student’s specific name. I wanted a spoon at lunch. So I said “aumai sipuni fa’amolemole” (please bring me a spoon)…to no one in particular. No spoon. Same situation when I wanted a towel to cover my lap (Samoan food is very hands on). So, another good reason to know the kids’ names.




7/21
I spent $163 during my last trip to Apia. Given that the big ticket items were a bottle of rum, large chunky peanut butter, and 30 pictures I printed. These are my things…

Where oh where is my google? Rather irritating…for some reason all the google related web sites (google.com, gmail, blogspot) seemed to be blocked at the peace corps office. Or at least they weren’t working..whatever the case, I couldn’t update my blog. The main way I keep my people at home up-to-date. But I guess it’s OK since my mom called me on Sunday afternoon, so she knows I’m OK.

…a good option when the power goes out in Samoa, which it just did at about 9:30pmàstar gazing. Hey, that’s also one of the crossword answers I think.

Reading the World Wise Handbook, the program for PCVs to work with a teacher back in the states to share information and experiences with each teachers’ students. Some very interesting (ok…thesaurus also says “fascinating”) questions.
What does it mean to become a responsible citizen of my community? How can I become a responsible citizen of the United States and a citizen of the world? How do the media influence my view of peoples around the world? Distill it down to its most essential element: Peace Corps Volunteers are wordsmiths. We arrive in a country offering words about health, words about education, words about technology.We translate, trade, share, and weave words—enwrapping ourselves in dialogues and stories, histories and fables. If peace is a conversation, where words flow fresh and plentiful, then war is a painful silence, where words stop, and stagnate. In the face of ignorance and devastation, what is there to say?



7/15
Score one for me. I fixed computer #5 today. Monitor was not working. I disconnected all the inside parts “floppy drive, harddrive, cd-rom drive, and other plugs, restarted and reconnected one at a time. Ohhh and I also blew out much dust..maybe that was the real problem. I was all ready to go into full researching mode…oh, darn. That requires the internet.

Still listening to music. Right now we have Amos Lee, Ben Harper, Birds flying away, Damien Jurado, Iron and Wine, Seven Swans. I don’t much like this music. We’ll keep listening.

Three things I wish I had researched and brought more information with me from the US: critical thinking, reading (remedial), and maintaining computers without internet access.

Re-reading the computer curriculum prescription for year12, I see it wants students to develop critical thinking skills. Ahhhhhhhhhh! Inspiration is such an “in the moment” kind of thing. I wiiiishhhhhhhhhhh I had the internet right now. To see what google has to say about critical thinking. Thanks to Cale, for giving me some CT research he has done. Three sets of encyclopedias in our library don’t return anything about CT (note encyclopedias copyright of around 1960s). I guess CT was not a topic of interest back then. It did kind of surprise me.


Technology update: the laptop donated by Microsoft is still alive and kicking (it has a different power adapter now), my Sansa MP3 player from my swim team at the YMCA is still swimming with –hmmm..now it’s about 500 songs! Trust me, I’m glad I have some music I really like. I still don’t have any classical, but found one song on one of the computers in the lab. The battery charger I brought from the states has died, I think. It doesn’t work, so I want to take it apart and see if I can fix it…not too hopeful though. Yea to Lisa, who gave me a battery charger—with AA and AAA batteries! The camera given to me by co-workers at the YMCA is still working just fine, you can see the product(s) in all the pictures I post to this blog. I like pictures. The heartrate monitor watch is NOT working;( first the heartrate function stopped working, and then I think the battery died—the LCD numbers got dimmer and dimmer…now I can’t see them at all.

One reason my electronics are still functioning is a moisture eater someone told me about. A small aluminum canister of silica gell crystals. Yea for Hydrosorbent products…which is based in Ashley falls, MA. www.dehumdify.com

Looking at the Peace Corps medical manual…chapter 11 says “emotional health”…hmmm that’s important I think. Establishing a routine; I just wish it included more swimming in the ocean. Disrespect for the culture; especially when teachers hit students. Fatigue and frustration; everyday. Overwhelmed; every time I look at trying to fit all the computer curriculum prescription topics into the time space we have. “learning to live fully and to function effectively in another culture is among life’s most profound and exciting adventures.” And an adventure it has been. Not over yet. “human beings continually strive to fulfill their needs.” “your attitude towards yourself” during the two years is very important …so keep a good attitude will ya? Says something about maintaining positive feelings when you are experiencing let downs/ frustrations/ people laughing at you continually. “small is big in the Peace Corps experience” a different degree of accomplishment you should expect. I guess the run run run type AAA personality is out.
“find the humor in the situation” Samoans sure know how to do this. Even when someone is hurting. “the purpose of writing about them [your experiences in country] is to reflect upon their significance to you.”