Hump-day, I don't think there is a Samoan word for that...

Look at me go, yet another post. We went out to the schools again today for another vector control lesson with positive results. It seems that the lesson plans are just long enough and have just the right amount of activities to keep the kids engaged. Our team this week is made up of:

Myself, the stunningly handsome peace corps volunteer who is also quite brilliant and has been working for the Red Cross for close to two months

Marjorie, a young lady from the US here with her husband. She has been volunteering for the Red Cross here for about a year. (I think that's right)

And Rodney, a young Samoan gentleman who has been volunteering for the Red Cross for quite sometime and has been taking the lead with the primary school lessons.

Rodney while tentative at first has really settled in to the teaching role. Which is great to see considering my Samoan is still subpar and the kids would leave the lesson with more questions than answers. Who knows if I lead the lesson in Samoan the kids would probably leave the session with the information on how to start a mosquito farm and the belief that it is a good idea! I am planning on getting some of the information together for our future lessons and work with my landlord to translate the information so I can deliver more of the lesson to the kids and take some of the pressure off Rodney. Plus I think that will be a great way to learn more Samoan!

My Samoan has been improving some over the last few weeks but I do need to get in the habit of writing new words down since I am 100% not an auditory learner. The main thing I need to work on for teaching kids is my sentence structure. I can piece a sentence together with Samoan words but it's usually in an order that makes sense in english but sounds ridiculous in Samoan.

We are heading out again tomorrow and we will be going to a secondary school so I will be able to use some english to teach which will be nice but it does have its difficulties because sometimes you can get to comfortable and talk to fast or use words that may be outside the vocabulary of the students.

If the next 3 weeks go like this one is time is going to fly and I am really going to enjoy myself. I am sure I will post on the weekend but as always no promises.

Uneventful weekend

Doing pretty good so far on the frequency of my posts so I am giving myself a well-deserved pat on the back.  Unfortunately it was an uneventful weekend for the most part.  I went into work to get a few things organized for the first day of the vector control education we will be doing in the schools.  Naturally, since it was a Saturday made sure to sleep in and take my sweet time getting into the office.  

After my work was done and I talked to Whitney on skype (god bless skype!), I got some grocery shopping done.  I went to Farmer Joe's and got some of the basic processed stuff us Americans know and love so much.  After that I stopped at the market to pick up some more healthy food options to help balance out my diet.  The good news about that trip is, avocados are back in season, yes!  I also got a, and I don't know if I am spelling this right, soursop.  It is an odd looking fruit that varies in size, I suppose a decent example would be the smaller one are about the size of a cantaloupe and they can grow to roughly twice that size.  Sorry, that's fairly crappy description but it's tough to compare it's size because it doesn't really have a shape.  I suppose a decent shape to compare it to is a human heart.  I know that doesn't sound appetizing but it's not too far off in shape.  The skin if green and has spiny projections and the pulp inside (the part you eat) is white and there are large black seeds.  It's quite good though I can't think of anything to compare it's taste with, but it has a delicious sweet taste.  I also picked up some bananas, papaya and green beans at the little roadside stand about a quarter mile from my house.  The couple that owns the stand are very nice people and they always seem to get a kick out of my Samoan.  (as bad as it may be)

The evening was nice, my friend HP (if you don't remember he was our training manager for Peace Corps) took me out to dinner at Roko's.  It's a nice little restaurant just down the road from where I work at the Red Cross.  From the front is it deceptively small but the back of the restaurant opens up to a balcony seating area that overlooks a valley and you can catch glimpses of the ocean.  The food we good, I had the cajun yellowfin tuna with a fruit salsa.  Much better than my usual reheated left overs or spaghetti.  

Of course, Sunday was Sunday.  Nothing going on, had the usual to'onai with Misa, Lelani and family, talked to Whitney and my parents and sat around watching movies and reading all day.  I tried to find the drive to grade the final exams for my course but I suppose I will be putting those off until the last minute considering my only motivation for that is the actual deadline to get grades in.  And then, I should be done with that for good!  Whoo-hoo!  

Hopefully by mid-week I will have some interesting things to post on regarding the education program we are doing.  I'm sure that will be a much better read than the peak into my boring weekend this post provided.   No promises though.

Trying to keep to my word

Just 3 days after my last post here I am again, putting something online.  Not a bad start to my new blog initiative.  I must admit though it was not motivation to post that drove me to type this it was purely opportunity/boredom.  I am sitting here monitoring the final exam for my class at NUS.  A 3 hour and 10 minute long gig.  Needless to say I have some time to kill.

Before this I was out in the tsunami affected area with what I have so cleverly named, the WASHE Team.  The WASHE Team is a group of Red Cross Volunteers that are going out to the schools in the affected areas and teaching lessons on Water, Sanitation and Hygiene related topics.  The "E" stands for education and I have to admit, the WASH acronym is already widely used so I am not as creative as I would like to you think I am.  We were out scheduling days and times for our sessions since it has been impossible to track down phone numbers.  We are aiming for presenting 5 total lessons.  We have already completed the handwashing lesson.  Over the next four weeks we are hoping to visit each school once a week with a short 30-45 minute lesson on Vector Control, Water Conservation, Personal Hygiene and Disease Transmission.  The lessons all work well together because there is some overlap that allows for review and new information that will be helpful in maintaining their health in the environment they are currently living in.  That is the primary driving force behind this program, WASH related issues can have a dramatic impact on health in tsunami affected areas and we are trying to prevent that by educating the students and when possible providing them with tools to use at home and school to practice what they learn (like giving bars of soap after the handwashing lesson).  

It has been a fun project to work on so far and very time consuming.  Creating class curriculum for grades K thru 12 is no easy task, especially when you are trying to develop one for a large age group range. (we are lumping the kids into the following age groups: K-4, 5-7 and 8-11)  Obviously this is not ideal, but we only have so many volunteers to allocate to this project so we are doing the best with what we have.  We are working to try and find curriculum that is already developed (like we did for handwashing) but for vector control and water conservation is has been a bit tough.  Most the materials I have found so far are very dry and have no hands on activities to get the kids involved (a must) or they are intended for industrialized nations.  So telling a samoan kid that they should make sure they put a full load of laundry in the washing machine or cover the swimming pool won't really produce the outcomes you're looking for!  We're making due though and I think there will be plenty of materials to model from for personal hygiene and disease transmission.

Other than that i am helping with a few other things at Red Cross.  Still keeping the website up to date.  Still hating all computers and computer related materials and issues as I have been deemed the unofficial IT support.  I am also working a little bit on the psychosocial training, though that has halted for the most part.  I believe an international red cross trainer is supposed to come in over the next months to set up that actual program.  In the mean time we are working, off and on, modifying some materials to be more culturally appropriate and possible translate some of it into Samoan.

I am really looking forward to the end of the semester at NUS so I can focus entirely on the Red Cross.  On and on that note, it looks like the Red Cross will be able to pay for my housing after all.  So, there is a huge weight off my shoulders! 

Well, there you go, two posts in 4 days, we will see what the weekend brings.  

Samoa Halloween/Birthday number 2

As I begin to write this post I am struck with the urge to increase my post frequency. Now based on my history of posts, the probability of my adhering to this new found urge is not very likely. Particularly when you consider that I did get to watch football today and I had a few sodas today and ate cake frosting for dinner, thus creating a American culture high. And of course what else could create an American culture high better than sitting on you butt and eating crappy food right? To explain the frosting, I wanted to make a birthday cake but I don't have an oven, so the best I could do was buy some frosting, grab a spoon, and dig in. As I was eating my frosting with a spoon and drinking a Dr. Pepper (yes, i have found a supply for the time being, whoo-hoo!), I was reading a Men's Health my parents sent in a package. Needless to say, the irony of the situation was mildly amusing. Anyway, the point I was getting at was that Once I come crashing back to reality in the morning I am sure I will neglect my blog with the same consistency you are used to.

Halloween was a good time. There were some issues with the location, the original planed location, Zodiac, the place we went last year was going to cost us $20 to get in this year, which I was not cool with. For those of you who know me, I wouldn't pay $20 to get into a bar back in the states, let alone here. A few weeks before we tried to look into some other options but nothing was finalized so the plan stood as is. I made the decision I was cool with just going out with whoever else didn't want to pay the cover for a few drinks, no big party just a nice night out. Well, most people did not want to pay the $20, which is no surprise. (Some of the people who come from Savaii have to pay almost $50 round trip just to get to Apia). Once word got out that about 5 or 6 of us weren't going and were going to the Yacht Club instead the push to find out more about the Yacht Club and if we could all go got a bit stronger. In the end we all ended up at the Yacht Club, must of us dressed up and everyone generally had a good time. Matt from my group dressed as Dale, our Peace Corps Country Director and to top it off, Dale was at the Yacht Club, it was hilarious and Dale was a good sport. Jordan had on a red wet suit with a snorkel and fins, effectively making a revealing Scuba Steven, Chris and AJ did the couples costume thing and dressed like Marla and Tyler Durin from Fight Club and Supy put on a tank-top with an Asian design and a witches hat, thus effectively creating the "Jackie Chan dressed as a witch" costume. Trust me, it's funny. I won't bore you with all the costumes but I, at the last minute grabbed a sheet and made the toga. Naturally when someone asks what you are you have to have a response other than "I'm wearing a toga", so I went with, "I'm a Greek God".

Birthday was today. No sleeping in for me. I got up early and went to the Red Cross to get some work done. Worked about 5-6 hours and took off early. I got a few errands done in town and then I proceeded to go to Wild Fire at 2:30pm, order a cheeseburger and coke and watch one hell of a Monday night football game. So all in all it was a good day. When I got home this evening, evidently I had passed Misa and Leilani's (my landlords if you don't recall) daughter on the way out of a store and didn't recognize her. In my defense I have only met her once (she lives in New Zealand) and I was in a hurry to get to football. She was actually headed into the store to buy the same thing I just bought (a cow-bone necklace). Leilani had remembered me saying I wanted one so she sent her daughter to pick one up. I had saved up my change for a fun purchase and thought since it was my birthday I would treat myself. Well it was a good thing she saw me because she asked the shop keeper what I had bought and found out it was the same thing they were going to buy me. So instead they got me a couple of shirts. I have to say, I couldn't have asked for a better living situation here, Misa and Leilani are great and I am lucky to have them.

Well we will see if I post tomorrow. i know I still owe you all some specifics on what I am working on at the Red Cross. Be sure to check out the website, I am putting new pics up of the recovery efforts fairly regularly. Oh and sorry I didn't bring my camera for halloween. I'll see if I can get some pictures from some other PCVs.

Another one bites the dust

Ok, two quick things as I am taking time from putting together my last lecture for the Sport Facility Management Class to write this post but, you see, I just had to.  As I was reviewing my final exam to make sure I am adequately covering the material I came across a typo in the final copy i sent in.  The question reads:

"What is an example of an intangible asses that can be sold by a sport facility?"

Now obviously I wasn't thinking clearly because I should have wrote: "what are examples of intangible asses...",  Oh wait, maybe "asses" is wrong.  Maybe something about assets?  Oh well, regardless, I have a swear word on the first final exam I have ever written.  Well done Mr. Brown!  

You will have to cut me some slack, I usually don't make those kinds of mistakes but when you are working on an exam and shitting for that long your brain starts to loose its ability to fucktion and you start to get craps in your muscles making it very hard to produce quality work.  I'm sure you understand.

As for the title of the post, yes another new Peace Corps Trainee has gone home already.  I don't believe I have mentioned this yet.  One had to go home because of medical reasons and another bailed about a week in for unknown reasons.  This third girl who left was really no surprise because she told Paul and I at the welcome party for the new trainees that the reason she joined Peace Corps was because she didn't know how to break up with her boyfriend.  Now whether or not this is true who knows but the assumption that she wouldn't last was dead on.  And actually I find it really unfortunate, especially if she joined for all the wrong reasons.  That would have meant she had to bullshit (that swearing was on purpose incase you were wondering) her way through all the interviews and essays only to get here and bail.  The worst thing about it is, she was picked over someone else who more than likely would have stayed so a school and kids in a village here are now without a volunteer for at least another year.  

Really, in my opinion, if only 1/3 of volunteer applicants get in, then I think it's time to tighten up the rules on going home.  Having family or medical issues that pull you away in training is one thing, but to bail in training (the first 3 months) because you either joined for the wrong reason or had some wild expectations, shouldn't be allowed.  Maybe that requirement of sticking it out for at least 3 months would weed out some of these people who are obviously coming into the country already on the fence.  For me, it's all about the communities that lose out in those situations and the other potential volunteers back home who didn't get the chance. 

Not to carry on but also, this is Samoa.  Don't let Survivor (god I hate that show) fool you.  Samoa is a beautiful country with few dangers to those living here.  There are no poisonous animals or insects, there is plenty of water, and food growing on trees and from the ground everywhere, You are never more than 20 minutes from the ocean and the people for the most part are great!  I couldn't imagine the reaction of some of these people who leave so early if they were to go to some places in Africa or Eastern Europe which are much less forgiving.  They probably wouldn't have made it off the plane!  

Anyway, I have rambled on for too long now and I need to get this lecture finished.  Red Cross is going well, we are very busy with multiple projects which is keeping me busy and happy.  I'll be sure to post more about what I am involved with soon.