reflecting on business finds laughter

in the pics: "knee deep in finns"...a festival to celebrate all things Finnish. I missed it:( ; a drawing I did on my workplan book. i still like to draw; a drawing in MS paint by one of my students. he really likes to draw flags.

10/15

I thought peace corps would give me time to write, reflect. It has not. Or I have not allowed it to. I’ve found reading material that is interesting—good books at the PC office, and national geographic magazines in our school library. Deprived of the internet, I turn to other reading. It is good. I’m back to my reading and writing phrases I like…as you can read here
<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<,link >>>to reading/writing blog>>>>>>>>>>
I usually write when I’m at stillness. It has been hard to come to stillness in Samoa. I’m not at ease (enough to write these thoughts). Like leaves on top of the ocean not finding deeper waters to express what’s inside. And there are so many ideas for school, computer classes. So much to know, to teach. So little time. I think the hot gets to me. I was looking at some playing cards with pics of seattle, and the mountain—with snow, weather cold enough to wear heave jackets and scarves. I miss that weather.

Tonight a good dinner that included bbq, chicken soup, and raw cucumbers (I say raw cucs because I learned I have to specify, or they might get cooked in with the soup. I don’t like that.) there were also the boiled bananas, which are starting to grow on me, as long as there is some kind of sauce to go with them. I always try to stock the ketchup and hot sauce.

I don’t want to read. I don’t want to write. I don’t want to work on the computer. I just want to sit with my (ginger) tea and look at the full moon. It’s amazing how dark it is with the moon behind a cloud, and how bright it is with no cloud.

I went outside after dinner with my tea, to see if I could find some poetic words in the silhouettes of coconut trees. Nothing came to me, except the mosquitoes.

Interesting piece of fact I found in one of our reports:
“Samoa is expected to graduate in 2010 from Least Developed Country status. The UN established the LDC classification in 1971 to recognize low-income states assessed as being vulnerable to economic instability, and in need of focused development assistance related to health, nutrition, education, and adult literacy. LDCs receive favorable consideration from the UN in multi-lateral trade concerns, development financing, and technical assistance. The UN also encourages other donors to provide the same consideration in financing decisions. Samoa would be only the third country, after Botswana and Cape Verde, to graduate from LDC status.”

I have also heard that it would mean less aid ($$$) from other countries if Samoa is not in the LDC status.


10/4
Sometimes I feel I can’t describe what is happening to me. I’m too in the middle of it. Maybe words will come later…after the experience. I’m too deep right now.

There is something about Samoans laughing about you. Or something you did—then everything is OK. It’s all OK if samoans get a good laugh about it, and then things go on. I know I approach things differently. That is one of the challenges. I must do a lot of silly;/weird things. I hear my name and laughing often. I’m glad I can provide barrels of laughter. Ahhh…reminds of my grandpa’s “bottom of the barrel” jokes. I can’t remember a good one right now.

sunset's dancing on my umu

in the pics: ahhh....laundry in a bucket, or two buckets to be exact; a trip to the story, to buy 6 lbs of that yummy corned beef for my family.

9/28
What I ate for dinner tonight: chicken and beans, pieces of fried pig (fasi pua’a) and lau pele (a green spinach type of veggie), taro and coconut cream sauce, and miti (a salty white thin coconut cream sauce with mackerel in it—a distinctly fish flavor. These were the leftovers from the umu this morning.
What I’m listening to right now: some Christian rap (I’ve never heard this before). It sounds like gangster rap, but lyrics are all Jesus. Also listening to a Christian group/choir called “Hillsong” they seem to be very big in Australia.

I helped make the umu this morning. A 6 month old pig was killed for a visiting pastor (a big event—six pigs killed). I watched Mona pull the guts out of the pig. Always…interesting. I ate some fresh cooked pig liver. I watched Peni kill a chicken by putting his thumb against it’s throat. The steps for an umu: 1) build fire with rocks on top. 2) spread hot rocks after fire burns down. 3) put the food on the hot rocks and build rocks up around. 4) put leaves (and mats?) on the food to keep smoke inside. 5) remove leaves/mats and see nice golden pig and browned breadfruit. 6) enjoy with your favorite sauce. I helped carry the pig to church for preparing the food for the visiting pastor. Tele tele mea ai. Giving of gifts: 2 pigs (that I saw), 8 boxes of makrel (elegi), 4 fine mats (a smaller weave than regular mats), $600 tala. I had lunch with pastors and 6 matai. And my samoan mom.

Sunset! OK…4 seconds and turn up the sun!!. how to describe? Not sure right now? Super bright golden orange yellow deliciousness reflecting off the water. Very nice. A slow fade, red, grey, darkness.
New samoan words: taofi: hold. Kalesia: congregational. Puipui: protect. Puipuiaga: protection. There is a pattern with the “fa’a” at the beginning of words (added to verbs) and “aga” at the end of words (to make them nouns). Sili le puipui I lo le togafitia. Prevention is better than cure.

What I’m reading now: since I don’t have everyday access to internet, I have to rely on books and magazines in our library at school. I’ve been reading National Geographic. February 1993 issue: an article about the Mekong River that meanders and crashes through China, Thailand, Laos, Cambodia, and Vietnam. It’s a different world, but the pictures are so cool. Pg 25: picture of a house on stilts that is on dry land during the dry season, and only shows the tree tops during the wet season. The pictures in NG rock.
Newsweek; sept 1, 2008. articles about Barack Obama. Has he really not defined what he stands for and got into the meat of how he will do it? I don’t know if I will be able to vote from way over here in Samoa and Nov 4 is a Tuesday, which means I have to teach, and can’t be in Apia at the Embassy to watch the election coverage;(

Things I haven’t touched since I’ve been in samoa: my external mouse (I use my touch pad, or the computers in the lab), my microphone (I don’t have internet access at my school, so no Skype), my network cord…no network…yet…I hear rumors that we may get “newer” computers next year, with a network???maybe…well’see.


9/27
Tennis! We’re finally getting a schedule set on the weekends when I go to Apia: Friday eve is the dinner group. Sat morning is tennis. Sunday is church and small group starting soon. It’s been a long time since I’ve held a tennis racquet, and my forehand shows, very weak; and I can’t my forehand top spin to go where I want it to land. It usually hits the net or goes out now. I miss MY racquets. It was very very hot and humid. I suggested we start at 9am instead of 10am. Hotel Kitano wants $20 tala/person? That is too much for us. We may be playing somewhere else soon. We’ll see. But it was awesome to hit a tennis ball in Samoa.


9/26
Dance dance dance. A (hot and smoky) dance at Savai tonight. Many people came, after 9:30pm or so. Dance started at 7pm…some visitors from Australia danced to Waltzing Matilda at the start, before the boom boom music started. I don’t really know how else to say it. Someone said my dance style is too bouncy. Yes, I danced with some cute girls. I think the teachers that were there got a kick out of my dance style.

world wise has bike will travel

in the pics: a nice day for sports on a friday...a few of the activites...samoan style..yes that is me sucking a bottle of coke...

9/23
I got an email from Peace Corps WorldWise Schools, which matches PCVs with teachers and classes in the US for correspondence. This is part of the third PC goal of helping to educate people back in the US. I’m matched with a teacher and middle school class in Minnesota. The first thing I thought of was the Scandinavian community in MN, and how it’s probably getting rather cold there right now. I was reading through the WorldWise handbook; one of the service learning standards is listed as “improves the quality of life for those served.” That is one of the big things that bugs me about teaching computers just to be teaching computers. How does it help students immediately? What I see are prices for everything going up much faster than incomes/wages of those around me. The “squeeze” on people is becoming tighter, or at least it seems that way to me. What I think would help people the most is helping to bring more tourists to samoa in an organized way, and promoting some of the “naturalness” of Samoa in the world market. The agreement that Women in Business has with the Body Shop is a very good start. More of that please. I feel I’m down here in the village teaching things like how to double click and CAPITALIZE text, and how does that really relate to students and help them better their lives. Is the only way to a “better life” through better economic status? Hmmmm. On a side note, I’m listening to some really good guitar (Satori…Rodrigo y Gabriela) that I think my mom would like. She also sent me my God/Christian cds that I made with music I really like. I listened to them last night. I should have packed those in my luggage when I came to samoa. Very nice.

The NUS student that I help with computers was here tonight. He brought some ufi (yam). I like ufi. It needed some pe’epe’e though—that yummy white coconut sauce. Norman had a Microsoft Access project—create a database for his imaginary travel company—complete with queries, forms, and reports. It was a good preview of what I should do with my students at the secondary school. This week we are introducing MSAccess. I think it is a quite a leap from MSExcel. More complex, which breaks down to “more parts” which means “tele vaega” in Samoan. Norman also gave some of the music he listens to, and a movie (recorded with a cell phone) of a dance group doing a dance to some music that someone spliced together. I thought it was pretty good. He showed me some clips of dancing that he got from another student. I’m guessing he got them from the internet. Maybe I’ll go visit Norman during the weekend. The road he lives on goes up into the plantation. A perfect doubletrack for my mountain bike. I just need to fix the front derailleur, of which I have no motivation to do right now. I want to read my book.


9/22
Oh…my bike is finally fixed…replaced the bottom bracket…requires a special tool, which I didn’t have in my room at school, but had to borrow from the PC office. I rode to the top of our nearby mountain and hung out (tafau) with some men drinking beer. They had been working on the road during the day. I declined when they asked me if I wanted beer; I wanted to make it back down the mountain safely on my bike. Although my front derailleur needs to be adjusted a little. I coasted down the mountain, just in time to sit on a rock and wait during the “sa.” A time when everybody is supposed to sit down and not play, walk, run, dance, but a prayerful time. And I ate my Odwalla bar, almost like it was back home, when I had a hard workout, warm shower, then yogurt and Odwalla bar. They were $1 each at Start Market in Boston. I wonder how much they are now. I miss them.

bike changes and tennis plays

in the pics: tennis love, I miss tennis, but now I get to play, if only a little bit. my forehand is really really bad..leaga le topspin..

9/21
Today was a productive day. I helped make the umu—we put taro, fish wrapped in leaves, and palusami (coconut cream, salt, onions) wrapped in leaves on the hot rocks that were spread out. And then covered it with leaves from the breadfruit tree. A steam cooker I guess, called “umu” in samoa. Then it was off to church—where I try to sing the songs. One song it seemed like they made up the chorus—I could follow most of it, but I don’t know half the words. The fruit of the church faces the ocean. You can stand inside the church. It’s very pretty. I like to sit and absorb the time with God after church is over. Everyone else jumped up and were out the door…very quickly. Because after church it’s time for tonana’i. kind of like Sunday brunch. Today toana’i consisted of taro, palusami, fish, fried chicken, and curried lamb.

Heavy food like that makes me very sleepy. So after lunch I wrote my computer teaching plan for the week—we shall start looking at databases. Then I laid down “for a little while” and listened to my music. Two hours later I woke up and walked to the school building to get my bike. I finally had the correct tool to remove the bottom bracket. So now my bike has a new SEALED bottom bracket that will hopefully work better than the unsealed BB (but the UNSEALED BB is cool because I can see the ball bearings and how dirty it is). I walked home—back to my Samoan family, watched the end of Ultraviolet, ate dinner (taro, fish, fried chicken, and palusami…leftovers from lunch). Now, I write this, then will read a little and probably fall asleep with the light on….but actually I wanted a movie called “Tears of the sun” with my family. I think tears of the sun are the missiles that the jets launched on the rebels. And tonight was the first time I ate fried rice cakes..panikeke. they were OK.

My friend Diane sent me some sermons of a pastor in Portland—a church I went to ( I think) twice. It’s called Imago Dei.

They have good music. That’s where I would like to go if I lived in Portland, even though it may require a trip across town.

Watching the TV classifieds tonight…property selling for 1.3 million tala, a Toyota Prado for $60000 tala, and a new(?) computer for $1500. that seems pricey, as do others things when compared to prices in America.

OK…so after one year, here is a list of things I can’t live without: bike, swimming goggles, candles, yoga mat, moisture eaters (I bought some larger ones from the internet), hot water maker, laptop, plastic (ziplock) bags, my birkenstocks and tevas, my 4 color pen (even though you CAN buy that here in samoa), feather pillow, a good durable backpack (backpacks here seem to fall apart too quickly), nalgenes, and my Tilley sun hat, which has been through quite some adventures.
No yoga during the holiday hurt my wrists I think..back to the routine soon enough.

It has been a good holiday—even if I didn’t leave the island. First week I visited my training village—Lalomauga. I helped clean weeds off of taro on the side of a mountain—awesome view (sorry no pics right now. I’m getting to the point where I just want to experience it and not take pictures every minute). I could see the tops of buildings peeking out of the jungle, and the deep blue of the ocean in the far distance. Later I helped weed banana trees in my family’s plantation. I was trying to do some physical work, since teaching is not very physical. And during the holiday I was not doing my normal routine—swimming, biking, pushups, situps. 2nd week was back at Lefaga. Two days at river fales, moving rocks and planting Teuila plants. The last weekend at my family’s house.


9/20
Playing tennis with Japanese volunteers (JICA). We started at 10am. By 11am it was really too hot to play, but we kept playing. I’m writing this at 12:30, as the sweat pores down my body. I think i’m done for now.

Another sighting of the line of ants. They are very organized and systematic. And then I saw an ant explosion at Janes house. it must have been close the ant homebase. They were all carrying pieces of something. Most of the pieces were as big as the ants themselves.

Watching a samoan and his machete…using as little energy as possible. Slicing with experience of many many years of practice.

Watching movies at my samoan family’s house: Ultraviolet. Reminds me of an old girlfriend: all kickass, don’t mess with me, long black leg boots, fighting for a little boy. Cool final fight scene with fire swords. Good action movie. Some scenes hard to believe. Based on a comic book? Then watched Blood rayne. To much blood and gore. I still wonder at what samoans think about what comes out of Hollywood.

walking for life in a protected area

in the pics: the teachers recently had a bbq party. it was good fun, and lots of bbq chicken!

9/14
I’m laying in bed on a Sunday afternoon, tummy is full, everybody is sleeping and I realized I’m wearing sandals wherever I walk—except for the 30 minutes I walk in the mornings before school. Wearing shoes seems so restricting now…and a distant memory.

Along the shoe wearing line, I participated in the Walk 4 Life yesterday. It even made the evening news—I didn’t see me though. This was a last minute kind of thing for me, I’m walking towards the PC office with not much to do kind of thing. I see Donna and she asks if I want to do the walk. Why not? I like to walk. It’s a fundraiser for an organization that works to prevent suicide. Something close to my heart. I don’t know how much money they raised. After the walk they had hot dogs, sausages, and bbq beef for everyone. I got to Tafau with two other PC volunteers too. After that Mike and I walked to the Friday dinner group—this time at a Chinese place called Chopsticks. The ginger onion chicken—very yummy. I was the youngest person at the dinner table.. I guess maybe It’s a dinner for “older people”, but they welcomed me to join. I just don’t like always going out to drink beer and listen to really loud Samoan music. I think there also may be some good work/PC related connections in the group. I learned from Someone there might be a new computer lab coming to a primary school a few villages from where I live—the same village that I help with a reading program. That would be great, but then three computer labs I look after.

I read the proposal for Tafagamanu’s protected area (in the ocean). The rules state: 1) no fishing inside. 2) no rubbish in protected area. 3) no crossing through, by boat or swimming. I love to swim around the protected area.