Sweating in Samoa

Last week at the Red Cross

2010-12-07T15:32:00.000-08:00

Well, here I am, two days into my last week at the Red Cross. For the most part it is a lot of report writing and organizing files. Quite boring indeed. Two more volunteers left from my group last night so we are down to 5 now. Four of us will leave next week and then it will just be Supy all alone. Don't worry, he's going back later in the month.

As i started this post I wasn't sure what I was going to write and it seems I don't have much on my mind. Well, much on my mind that I can post according to Peace Corps guidelines. Basically though, what is going on here is a combination of emotions. Frustrations coming to a head as the reality sets in that some things will just remain unaccomplished combined with the sadness of leaving friends and my Samoan family. It is truly a perplexing state of mind. In this state it takes a deliberate effort for me to focus on what has been accomplished. Although they tell you to come in with little to no expectations, it is impossible to last the two years without developing them. And even when you do, and you try to temper them to the local time frame and context it always seems like you end up aiming too high. I suppose that is not a bad thing though. I would rather aim high taking calculated risks and fall just short, than aim low leaving potential untested. Particularly in development work, because to fall just short does not mean no progress was made and no good has been done. It's not pass/fail, live or die, and I suppose understanding that is as important as anything in this gig.

To close this short post, I feel I have accomplished some great things in my time here and I have learned a lot. While I did not accomplish everything I set out to do, it was not from lack of effort or will or ability. As I wrap up my service those are the two most important things to me, the impact I did have and knowing that I took the risks, gave everything I had to Samoa and its people, and to quote an age old football saying, "I left it all on the field".

Helluva Week!

2010-11-21T15:05:00.000-08:00

Youth Health Fair and a GRE all in one week! I am glad it's over and
I wish I could say my busy weeks are all finished but I would be
lying. The Youth Health Fair was on Wednesday and the GRE was
Saturday, in American Samoa.

As things do here, there were a lot of last minute plans and
confirmations needed for the Health Fair so needless to say last
weekend and early this week were insanely busy. The basic premiss of
the fair was to bring rural students into Apia and give them an
opportunity to hear and participate in messages from health
organizations and government ministries. We invited the Year 12
students, that's like 11th grade in the US, from 9 schools around
Upolu island. Bus transportation was arranged and we had about 220
students attend the fair. We took a unique approach to the health
fair in that we did not just have booths set up and let the students
mill around through the day. Instead we organized 40 minute sessions
and split the students into 8 groups. There were 8 stations so each
group participated in a station for 40 minutes and then rotated to the
next. The overall message was "making healthy choices" and stations
covered topics like HIV/STIs, obesity, communicable disease, first aid
and safety, and cancer/tobacco. Student health assessments were also
carried out by doctors and nurses. Overall the responses to the event
were very positive and we are confident we reached the students with
messages they aren't regularly exposed to in the village. Hopefully
it is the first Health Fair of many to come in future years.

I won't go into specifics about the GRE because it is a stupid
standardized test that is a waste of money and time and universities
need to accept the fact that they need to spend the extra time and
effort to review applicants academic and professional history rather
than using short cut methods like the GRE that is not a true
reflection of anyone's ability and capacity for success in a graduate
program.

Moving on to my insightful thought for the day about development. It
has become very clear to me in my time here that development is a
double edged sword. The US, as well as other nations like Australia,
Japan and Canada have programs that offer aid in the form of money,
professional support or both to developing nations. There are
programs that work to improve education, health, gender equality and
other quality of life related aspects of development. Progress is
slow, as is expected but positive steps are made every year, or so it
seems. I will use health as a prime example, the developing world has
been working hard to improve immunization rates, infant and child
mortality rates, and malnutrition rates among other aspects of
health. These efforts have been effective at different levels through
the developing world. These changes are fantastic and are worth
getting excited about.

As these major improvements are occurring the health and quality of
life is declining in other areas as chronic disease begins to wreak
havoc on developing nations like Samoa. The influx of refined, high
fat, sugar and salt foods as well as mass production and increased
availability of cigarettes are two of the primary reasons for this
decline in health status. Unfortunately the manufacturing, importing
and sale of these goods are also associated with development, economic
development. This is just one aspect of development that has negative
impacts on these nations in transition. Unfortunately the countries
that are offering the support in development work are the ones leading
by poor example. Like the developing nations, health, among other
things, are sacrificed for economic "progress" in western countries.

As I finish my work in the developing world to return to the US to
begin work in solving some of our own problems back home I sincerely
hope those who take up work in Samoa and other countries recognize the
negatives that come with the positives. By taking the opportunity to
look at the western situation objectively, a local approach and
systems with solutions in mind can be established before some of the
negative impacts of development become intrenched in everyday life.
After all, to me, the goal of development work should be to create
equality, happiness and a good quality of life for everyone while
preventing manipulation and exploitation of the same people who we are
trying to help.

Those are my thoughts for the day. Now I am off to the internet cafe
for my favorite part of the day, talking to Whitney! I'll be putting
some pics of the Health Fair up on the Picasa Webalbum so check'em out.

The island is against me!

2010-11-14T12:07:00.000-08:00

Here I am, Sunday morning recovering from another mystery illness. I
went to Savaii with the Red Cross Communications Officer and a
videographer working pro-bono for the Samoa Challenge II Health
Project to put together some media coverage for the project. We left
mid-day Wednesday and that night I am sure I spiked a fever. Woke up
the next morning relatively ok and ready for the day. Later on
Thursday the fever came back along with a splitting headache and loss
of appetite. Friday I think my fever went down to a low grade fever
by the afternoon but I still had a massive headache, no appetite and
added diarrhea to the list. Laid low Saturday trying to recover and I
am feeling a bit better today as I feel my body is starting to
recover. An amazingly strange illness for sure, one that I can't
quite put a name to. This of course means the islands of Samoa did it
to me.

I know that may seem crazy but I have actually had similar
conversations in the previous weeks with other volunteers in my group
about the islands being out to get us. It seems that more people than
not have been faced with more medical, social or job related adversity
in the last month or two than is normal. (for here) This has lead a
group of us to determine that the island is in fact out to get us and
is putting in its last effort to get us to leave early.

Despite those efforts I believe our group will persevere. In fact, we
have our first set of volunteers set to leave this week, as
scheduled! Let the trickling off begin. My group did all get
together this weekend at a beach resort for a farewell shindig.
Unfortunately since I felt like death I was unable to go which was
disappointing. I did not go to a lot of the group events over the last
two years because they were a lower priority for me than other things
I had going on but I made the effort to make sure I was free for this
one. But when an island is out to get you, that's a tough wild card
to deal with right?!

Moving on to the next topic I wanted to spend a minute talking about
Peace Corps Volunteer job expectations. This will give you a glimpse
of the difficulties volunteers face. Volunteers on average are young
adults, well by age anyway, some are pushing adolescence as far as
they can take it. So the majority of volunteers are in their 20s, a
significant number as young as 23 or 24. Fresh out of college, ready
to take on the world blah, blah, blah. A large portion of volunteers,
in the past and the new groups as well, are placed in schools and in
addition to teaching the students they are often expected to conduct
teacher training or co-teach. I'll use this example because it seems
the most universal.

This creates difficulties for two reasons. The first is related to an
old philosophical quote that goes something like, the truly wise man
knows what he does not know. That being said, I did know a damn thing
coming straight out of college and I still don't know a whole lot in
my mid 20s, ok, ok, late 20s. I supposed the older you get the more
you appreciate this. So a large number of volunteers are expected to
teach other teachers with the theoretical knowledge and limited
practical experience that they got from their college experience back
in the states. And do this in a school system that is modeled after
the New Zealand school system that is quite a bit different than the
US. Yes, difficult.

Second, how much clout does someone in their mid 20s have in Samoa,
generally? Consider this, you often find people in their mid 20s
still members of their church youth group. So the answer is slim to
none. That isn't to say their aren't people out there who understand
and appreciate educational and work experience and do not let age be
the overriding factor, but it is rare. I mean in all reality this is
a tough position to be in in the US, I can speak from experience.
When you come in to a job and are considered at a level that, on
paper, places you higher professionally, or even equal to, those older
than you and who have worked there longer, you are going to have some
winning over to do. Throw the fact that you look way different than
everyone else and you barely speak the language........yes, difficult.

It's no wonder the one-liner Peace Corps uses is "it's the toughest
job you'll ever love." Of course being in my late 20s now and knowing
everything a person needs to know, ever, so early in my life I have to
ask if there might be a better way to utilize volunteers that might
make expectations more reasonable. Of course it really seems
development work is not an exact science and there are many variables
that need to be considered, too many to count in fact. At the end of
the day we are having a positive impact whether it's through reaching
a few of the kids that are taught or connecting with a few co-workers
and sharing professional experiences and methods that make both
parties better personally and professionally.

At the end of the day I hope we are not satisfied with that. I am not
saying that is not a great achievement, what I am saying is we need to
make sure Peace Corps is working to improve every year. The world is
changing, when Peace Corps started we were going into places with no
education system or a barely functioning one. Now we have volunteers
going into well established educational systems that more closely
resemble western systems with teachers that have had at least some
teachers education. The same holds true for work in health, the
environment and other areas. Our ability to recognize this and adjust
the role and demands on volunteers may help make the "toughest job
you'll ever love" a little less tough and a little more effective.

This gig will always be a tough one and will always demand the best
and brightest in order to have a positive, lasting impact on the
countries we serve in. As we start to leave this week I just want to
give a big "fa'amalo" to my fellow volunteers in Peace Corps Samoa
Group 81, for their perseverance and great work over the last two
years. That goes for all volunteers around the world nearing their
end of service. Malo galue ma manuia le malaga. (Good work and safe
journey)

Psycology of ending Peace Corps Service

2010-11-07T12:43:00.000-08:00

I'm sitting here on Sunday morning before heading to Misa and
Leilani's house for some to'ona'i and I thought I better create a blog
post since I think it has been a few weeks since my last one and my
time is running out here so my opportunities for posting is rapidly
shrinking.

With my return to the states closing in I am finding that mentally I
am in two places, both in Samoa and thinking about life back in the
US. Of course I am excited at the prospect of being back with Whitney
and seeing friends and family. Coming back during the holiday season
will most likely be an overwhelming reunion event in which I will
undoubtedly be repeating the same conversations over the course of two
to three weeks. And if last year has taught me anything, it will be a
blur of hellos and goodbyes. While this is not the ideal situation I
will be happy with the opportunities to see loved ones that are
presented to me.

On the other side of the world my mind is frantically trying to
organize the last few weeks of my time here. With three major
projects all wrapping up at the same time, applications for graduate
school, Peace Corps Close of Service demands and the farewells to
friends and colleagues the task ahead of me is daunting to say the
least.

Both leaving Samoa and returning to the US present conflicting
emotions on both sides. While I will be sad to leave my friends and
fellow Peace Corps Volunteers and lose the aspects of daily life here
I have grown to enjoy there is also a sense of relief to see an end to
some of the chronic frustrations that are also present in work and
home life. On the other side of the coin I could not be happier to be
coming back to Whitney and being closer to family and friends. While
I am elated for those reasons there are things I am anxious about, of
course those that are to be expected; readjusting to sharing a place
after living alone for two years, figuring out what to do in the 6-7
months before we move from Texas, planning for the wedding, all the
basic stuff I'm sure most of you would anticipate. Besides these
there is one thing that I am not looking forward to, and that is being
once again immersed in a consumer society.

I know the mention of the topic probably sparks thoughts a radical
people and groups ranting and marching, screaming about the evils of
buying stuff but trust me that's not where I am at. However, after
living in Samoa on Peace Corps wages and in a country where the grip
of advertisements, commercialism and consumer manipulation is only
starting to emerge I have quickly come to realize that the consumer
mentality I had before I came here is something I do not miss. And in
the absence of constant advertisements and product placement the
desire to spend money on stuff other than what you actually need
dissipates. Of course I have bought things I don't "need" while I'm
here and have bought people birthday presents that were obviously just
for fun or enjoyment. An argument can be made that little things like
that here and there are ok and are even part of a healthy and happy
life. To a certain extent of course.

So basically what I am getting at is I am anxious to come back because
as I see it, it isn't my pay scale that resulted in this change of
mindset, it is the environment I have been living in that socially has
not yet transitioned to place such a high value on non-essential
commodities (though there is a transition occurring) and a physical
environment that is not constantly slapping me in the face telling me
the products I "need" to buy. I am not looking forward to the
pressure of the environment back home to buy, buy, buy.

I am working on my mental plan to resist that pressure and of course I
will buy some things as treats and a few things that I don't truly
need. I don't think there is anything wrong with that, but with
everything in life, moderation is the key (except for fruits and
vegetables which you should all eat as much as possible!). I think
this is one of the best things I will take from my two years here,
when I look back it will be my experiences in Samoa I will treasure
not the things I bought, and that is the lesson I will take with me
for the rest of my life.

I know, real philosophical right?! For some reason I felt like
opening up and sharing a bit more today. But I think over the next
few weeks I will try to share a bit more of my insights and
experiences from this point of view rather than focus too much on the
actual goings on, though i will give you updates on any major things.
I just think you all might find it interesting. Of course if not, you
only have to put up with a few more posts! So it won't be that bad!

Clock is ticking

2010-10-23T21:33:00.000-07:00

I'll forgo the usually rambling about not posting more often and just
say; sorry. Moving on to the meat of the post, yes, I have less than
two months to go. The two year anniversary has come and gone (rather
uneventfully I may add) and the count down is running. Some
volunteers in my group are actually under the 1 month mark. Due to
the winding down of the school year many of the teachers will be left
with little to do towards the end of November since final exams are at
the beginning of November even though the school year officially ends
in early December.

I know, you are asking yourself, what goes on for that whole month if
final exams are over. Well, since some volunteers are leaving in mid
and later November that should give you a hit. To be less cryptic,
not too much academic-wise, happens during that last month. As far as
I understand it, there are sports, singing, dance and drama practice,
all in preparation for the prize giving in early December. Some
volunteers will be sticking around until the prize giving but I can
also understand why some are choosing to go home before, especially to
make it home in time for Thanksgiving.

I was hoping to be one of those but my responsibilities for the Health
Project have created the obligation to stay until mid-December. I was
going to play it off like I had to stay and then come home early and
surprise Whitney for Thanksgiving but no such luck. Ah well, can't
complain too much, I signed up for two years and three months and by
golly it looks I'm gonna do it all!

There is lots to do as the calendar moves closer to December. Of
course we have all the paperwork and official hoops to jump through
for Peace Corps, shopping to buy presents for friends, family and co-
workers (or the village for those outside of Apia) in Samoa. Dido for
those back home, for which I expect certain reciprocations upon my
return having bought all those presents with my oh-so meager Peace
Corps salary. (hint, hint!) I have the unique pleasure of having to
go to American Samoa to take my GRE because evidently Masters Degrees
from Australia aren't good enough and the true measure of a person and
their ability to succeed in graduate school is via an overpriced
standardized test. Griping aside, there are no testing centers in
Samoa so I have to hop over to American Samoa for a night. The test
starts at 8:00am and there is an early morning flight but the
reliability of the plane is not that great so I will need to go the
night before incase there are delays or I have to catch a different
flight.

And of course I need to wrap up my projects! The Red Cross project is
a bit of a quagmire at the moment and I won't delve into specifics but
I will figure out some solution before I am out of here. The Health
Project has had its ups and downs as to be expected. Some villages
have dropped out due to low/no participation which is unfortunate but
not surprising. Other villages are doing ok and others really well.
We are really learning a lot from this first go round and I am already
thinking of some changes for the second round next year (which will be
someone else's responsibility, definitely not mine). That project
literally ends the last day I am in country. Well I will actually
have some work I will need to bring back with me to the states to
finish up but the initial evaluation meeting will be the week of the
13th the day of or day before my departure. Needless to say, I won't
be cruising through my last weeks here.

On that note I will get some work done on the health project ad leave
you there. Until next time.

1 year anniversary

2010-09-29T10:56:00.000-07:00

As I am sitting down at my desk this morning I felt compelled to post. The reason being, today is the one year anniversary of the 2009 tsunami that hit Samoa. I have to say it is truly hard to believe a year has passed since then. I wish I had more information on how the affected communities are doing but i will give you what I know.

From my understanding all families have had a house built for them from donor funds. Additionally, rainwater harvesting tanks have been installed at each new house to help provide a supplementary water supply. For the most part, infrastructure like roads, water pipes and electricity have been restored. Beach resorts/fales are still in the process of rebuilding which until they are rebuilt, their absence continues to have a negative impact on the small local village economies.

Going through most of the villages things do look better, but you can still see some of the aftermath and impacts a year later. Through the year there have been some programs going on to help in their recovery. Right now we are experiencing a revitalization of assistance most likely due to the year anniversary that will most like subside soon after, leaving those who have been working in that area throughout the year to continue plugging along.

As for what the Red Cross is doing, I know we have been active in the Water and Sanitation sector in the tsunami affected villages. And hopefully in about 3 months, the Community-based Assessment and Planning Program that I am working with the Red Cross to develop, will begin to work in some of the communities. The only hitch right now is the funding the program needed, it's kind of on hold. I can't go into more specifics than that but needless to say, it is a little unsettling seeing as I am out of here in about 2 and a half months and we have yet to hire a person to replace me.

Oh! Before I go (it's after 8:00am so I need to get to work), last Sunday Samoa started daylight savings time. Here are the benefits reported by local news sources of daylight savings:
* Enhancing energy efficiency.
* Boosting leisure activities.
* Promoting public health and safety.
* Increasing the Samoa’s economic growth.
Who would have thought changing the clock one hour would be the answer to all our problems! (Just as a side note, the sun rises and sets at around the same time all year long and daylight savings is only in effect for half the year)

Ok, back to work. When I stop having to work 12-14 hour days I promise to get pictures up. I'm sure you are all skeptical and probably a little jaded at this point and expect no follow through on that promise.

3 Months! (give or take)

2010-09-18T19:56:00.000-07:00

As I sit here, chowing down on fried fish and chips (that's french
fries for you American folk) and drinking a massive can of Arizona
Raspberry Iced Tea, I can't help but notice the irony of the situation
because I am currently in the Peace Corps Office printing out mass
quantities of participant manuals for the health project I have been
working on. You know, the health project that encourages eating fresh
and local foods and limiting high fat (fish and french fries), salt
(french fries) and sugar (flavored iced tea) food and drink.

This project has temporarily absorbed any and all personal time and
has even gotten in the way of some of my day to day work at the Red
Cross. This was initially due to access to only a less than perfectly
functioning copy machine at the Red Cross and then exacerbated when
that copy machine broke down completely. With 30,000 pages to print a
well functioning copy machine would have been nice! After having to
print a few thousand pages using a small printer and manual duplex
printing I now have been given access to the Peace Corps Office copy
machine. After running for a while it starts to jam up frequently but
it's a step up from the printer.

We had the training for the Peace Corps Volunteers and their
counterparts this week. One in Apia for those on Upolu and on in
Falealupo For those in Savaii. It was really quite interesting to
experience the difference between the two settings. The meeting in
Apia was in a boardroom and we used powerpoint slides and a whiteboard
in addition to the discussion and activities. In Savaii we had the
training in an open Samoan fale, because there are no boardrooms in
Falealupo (or possibly in all of Savaii for that matter). We had to
adapt and utilize more group discussion techniques and some paper
visual aids. I think both trainings went well but if i had to pick
the better one I might have to go with the one in Savaii. Now I am
not sure if that can be entirely attributed to the location and
methods because there were more Samoan counterparts at that session
and we had one training under our belt from earlier in the week in
Upolu. I did get the sense that the small group and large group
discussions were effective though, which makes sense because the
traditional method of making decisions and village meetings involves
long discussions/speeches so it utilizes that in a training format
helping to create an atmosphere of facilitation rather than strict
instruction.

The view and setting for the Savaii meeting was definitely cooler than
a boardroom in Apia, that's for sure. We are out in an open fale with
a family preparing food in the traditional Samoan way on one side and
a clear view out the the ocean on the other. I wonder where I can
work back home that would have the same setting for meetings and
trainings.....if only!

Now I am back in Apia, feverishly trying to get the participant
manuals printed and delivered to the volunteers before the end of the
week. I have a feeling my evenings are booked yet again this week.

On the Red Cross side of things there isn't much to report besides the
fact that I have been moderately neglecting my duties there due to
this health project. I have to say i am a little disappointed in that
because I have really taken to this community development thing and
want to learn as much as I can about it as I work to develop the
program and then return to the states and pursue a similar path. This
week I will be back on the ball however and plan to make great strides
both because I want to and have to, as the title mentioned I am at the
three month mark. INSANE!

The new group is coming in just a few weeks and I realized, we are now
that group we heard of when we first got in but never really knew any
of them. We will be leaving before they are done with their training
so we will meet them a handful of times but will be a fleeting memory
of their experience here just like group 77 was for us.

I will leave you with that thought and I will try and get some
pictures up from the training once I get them.

More food poisoning, but not for me

2010-09-01T23:00:00.000-07:00

Well if anyone is still reading this weak attempt at keeping you up to date back home I applaud your patience (and have to ask don't you have anything better to do?! ;)

So, food poisoning, purposely, done to the dogs around my house. Evidently this is not an uncommon incidence here. Someone will put a common pesticide (paraquat)into food and set it out for dogs to eat. I don't know if I spelled that right but it is fo-a-neti-klee correct and that is good enough for me. Especially since it is 7:00pm and I am in my office writing this. Back to the issue at hand, the pesticide is very dangerous and kills, quickly if enough is ingested.

Two of my landlord's dogs have died, and two of my neighbor's as well. Charlie, my dog, obviously ate some and is struggling right now. I did take her to the vet and they gave her a shot to help prevent infection because the paraquat caused a large leasion on her tongue and down her throat. I have to force feed her this milky medicine two times a day now. Basically this is to help with the mouth and throat problem, there is nothing we can do about the poison and its effects on the bodies systems. I just have to wait to see if she pulls through.

Now I'm not one for violence but I would be lying if I said I wouldn't like to inflict a little old school Samoan justice on the piece of work that did this. And my landlords and neighbors feel the same way and if he does get caught, he just might get that. I wouldn't stop anyone from doing it that's for sure.

On a lighter note, I am up to my ears in work (is that a lighter note?). A couple of stories have been published in the newspaper about the health project we are working on. The links are here and here.

Last weekend we ran the perimeter relay race for the second year in a row. This year Peace Corps had two teams, a mens and womens. The men won the volunteer category and go! first overall running 104 kilometers in 8 hours and 5 minutes! The womens team also got first in the womens division, so Peace Corps cleaned up! It was a great day and a lot of fun. Unfortunately the newspaper did a really crappy job of covering it so i don't have a link with a story. I am guessing if a local team had won, they might have covered more. After all, no one likes to lose to a palagi! ;)

Ok, I apologize if this is riddled with spelling and grammatical errors but I am rushing this. Wanted to get something up because I know it has been forever since my last post.

Quick note, Whitney is gone and that makes me sad. :'( But 3 and a half more months and i get to bug the crap out of her 24/7 for the rest of our lives! I can't wait.

I'll get pics up of the relay race soon. Possibly this weekend.

Uma!

Food poisoning

2010-08-03T23:14:00.000-07:00

Alright ladies and gentlemen, put the sandwich down for this one.

Seeing as I am over a year and a half into this gig it was long
overdue but this weekend my gastrointestinal system was rocked by a
wicked case of food poisoning and I am still recovering. I was
planning on posting on Sunday but the food I ate that day had other
plans. I'm still not quite sure what it was. I had the usual to'na'i
with my Samoan family and then went home to work on some of my side
projects. A few hours later I wanted a snack so I made a couple
pieces of french toast. I know, it's a weird snack but I wanted
something sweet and the stores near my house are all closed because
2:00pm Sunday is National nap time. PIus wasn't going to just eat
spoonfuls of powdered sugar, the only sweet thing I had in my house,
so french toast was the solution. Then a few hours after that, the
nightmare began.

At first it was just the usual runny stuff (I told you to stop
eating), which in all reality is not all that uncommon. When I eat
somewhere other than my kitchen on occasion I have a loose duce or
two. Nothing that would be considered diarrhea but just different
enough to know food storage and prep wasn't up to US standards. Then
my stomach started to cramp up and any resemblance of solid matter
exiting the back door disappeared. After a few hours of this I
finally managed to throw up which, at the time was painful but
immediately afterwards was a huge relief, temporarily of course. I
spiked a temp and got the chills to top it all off and by the time
11:00pm rolled around I have expelled more fluid from my body than I
think I take in, in three days time.

I made it through the night and though I was not hungry at all
yesterday or today and have been quite tired I am on the road to
recovery. Now if you are still hungry, go ahead and finish eating,
I'l be moving on to more palatable topics.

Funny thing happened late last week, I kicked a dog in the throat. I
know, your first reaction is probably, "Oh my gosh! That's
horrible!". I would have thought so too, two years ago. But it is
important to remember there are dogs and then there are maile. Maile
are Samoan dogs, and unless they are yours they are usually mean
SOBs. Don't get me wrong, I try to avoid harming a dog whenever
possible, but when I am on my bike anything goes. This is where is
gets a bit funny, the dog is barking an chasing my while I am on my
bike. Unlucky for him, I have my tennis shoes on. I wait until he
got really close and I kick at him. Usually I kick down and catch
them on the head or snout and they back off, what was funny about this
time was his snout must have been tilted just right because I caught
him in the throat. So he goes from this mean, growling, barking dog
to this dejected thing making coughing and sputtering sounds. The
abrupt change was hysterical! Those of you at home may not appreciate
the story fully, but trust me, the volunteers I have told thought it
was just as funny.

On the job front I am making small steps forward with developing this
community assessment and planning unit. It is going to be very
difficult moving forward because of the political maneuvering that has
to be done with certain agencies. Some agencies can be very
territorial and despite the fact that you are trying to work with them
and towards the same overall goals. It could have something to do
with the fact that some of these lead agencies are doing little to
nothing and if someone comes in to "help", more often than not they
will be doing more than those who are supposed to be the biggest
players in their field.

I am also struggling with the missing link in this plan, the way the
Red Cross is going to help the communities carry out their plans to
reduce their vulnerability and increase their capacity in the areas of
health and disaster preparedness/risk reduction. This has not been
addressed and at the current time there are no plans on the table to
start the search. I am hoping it starts soon. I don't plan to hold
up our work and the development of this unit and program but with out
this answer the CAP program won't be much different than a work of
art. It will take a lot of time and effort to complete and it will
sit on a shelf for people to look at. In that case I better find some
pretty binders to put it in! I don't mean to sound negative, I am
sure that a solution will be found but it would help me out a whole
lot to have it now instead of later. But, wishing for what I can't
have is neither constructive nor productive so enough with that.

Whitney is coming in officially a week! We will both have work to do,
which we talked about today. It is good in the sense that the other
will not feel guilty about having to work, or having the other put off
or cram too much work into a smaller period of time. Don't you worry,
we will find time to enjoy each other's company and we won't spend the
whole time working. What I am thinking about doing is working about 9
to 3 most days. She can come to the office and work from there using
the internet. We can take an hour for lunch and leave early so we
have some time to go do things around town. Of course we will have
the weekends and I am going to take the Friday before she leave off
for a three day weekend and we have a public holiday this monday that
I will work and then take Wednesday off (the day she gets here). So
really I will only be working half the days she is here and those days
will be short ones. I think it's a pretty good plan. Now I just have
to get as much done as possible to get ahead of the curve!

Speaking of that, back to work I go. With regards to the pictures, I
am getting settled in my new office area, once that is done I will
take the pics and put them up.

New Red Cross Project

2010-07-18T15:46:00.001-07:00

As my time counts down here, 5 months give or take a few days, I have
a semi new project to undertake at the Red Cross before I go. I
believe I mentioned the Community Based Health and First Aid Project
we were working on at the beginning of the year. For multiple
reasons, the three months of evaluation and planning resulted in
significant breakdowns that prevented the program from getting off the
ground. I won't bore you with specifics but it has always been the
plan to revisit this and get a community based program up and running.

In the mean time I have taken up projects in the areas of HIV and
Blood donation to keep myself busy including reestablishing the
communication links and team work of the Samoa AIDS Alliance as well
as developing brochures and posters for blood donation and working the
strengthen the Club 25 program, a youth blood donation initiative.

Now that this program has been given the green light to resume
planning and begin implementation I am going to have to wrap up my
other efforts and shift my focus. I will plan on remaining the point
person for communication and coordination of the AIDS Alliance
organizations as there is no one that can fill that role currently. I
am working on getting funding to reestablish that position before I
leave. (It was filled before the tsunami hit but due to a shift in
program focus on the relief and recovery efforts the person left the
position and it has remained vacant and unfunded since)

I am actually going to be filling the role for what we are calling the
CAPP (Community Assessment and Planning Program) as a stop gap
solution. Once funding is secured the CAPP coordinator can be hired
on as a regular employee. So the plan is in the coming 5 months I
will be working with a team of three employees to develop this program
and if time allows, begin a pilot program.

So what is this program? To sum it up, it is program that will assess
the capacity, vulnerability, needs and wants of communities in Samoa
primarily with regards to disasters and health. This approach is a
very common one in developing nations now and it emphasizes the
participation of community members in assessing the disaster
vulnerability, health status and capacity of the community to meet or
improve on these needs. Once this is done, the community is involved
in reviewing the results and making decisions on what types of
capacity building/vulnerability reducing/community health programs or
interventions they want. Then the program is planed with the
community and requires them to have a significant contribution to the
development and implementation of the program in their community. So
basically it's moving away from the old school approach in developing
nations of bringing a cookie cutter program with personnel and
resources into a community.

I have to say I think this approach is the best one out there that I
have seen, though I am obviously new to this game, and I am excited to
learn more about it and work to develop a Samoan version. What I like
most about it is that it moves away from the handout mentality that
seems to be common to this day in assisting developing nations,
including Samoa. Through my life experiences up to this point i have
come to revise the old saying about teaching a man to fish, "You teach
a man to fish, he can feed himself for a life time (barring
catastrophic global warming effects or the exhaustion of fish
populations of course), you hand a man a fish you teach him to put the
other one out and ask for another." While this is not universally
true, I think, from my experience, it appears to be much more likely
when the person or people are not in great need of support or have
been continually supported for extended periods of time with no
efforts to build capacity and actually "teach them to fish".

It appears I have wandered in to a bit of a philosophical mode.
Before I start rambling incoherently I think I'll end it there. I am
planning on getting some pics of the Red Cross office so you can see
where I work up on my webalbum soon. I know, a year later and I
finally get around to it. Shameful. Until then, fa soifua.

Tough loss for Peace Corps Soccer

2010-07-10T22:18:00.001-07:00

Here is a quick post for you all. Peace Corps soccer team lost a
tough fought game on Friday to what was probably the top team in our
league. Regardless it is nice to get out and play some sports. A
good release after a long week of work.

I have managed to put some pictures from my trip to Fiji up on my
Picasa Webalbum so check it.

Other than that, it's work as usual. We had a good meeting with Samoa
AIDS Foundation and the AIDS Alliance here is going to be ramping up
our efforts, very exciting.

As for the Health Fair we are planning with Avanoa Tutusa, massive
amounts of dodging and failing to come through on promises has
resulted in a delay of the event. We have a plan to get back on track
and we are looking at late September or October now. We are going to
make it happen, despite the difficulties we have been faced with thus
far. We are slowing adding people that will help us in the process
and hopefully weeding out the dead weight that was supposed to be
representing one of the large organizations working on the project.

Sorry for the short one, check out the pics though.

Not Samoa's fault

2010-06-21T12:27:00.001-07:00

It appears that my inability to post regularly and often is not only a
symptom of being in Samoa. It is Tuesday here in Fiji, my last day
before going back to Samoa. We had the HIV Global Alliance meeting
yesterday and we have another meeting all day today. I was hoping to
have at least a half day to go into town to see the "city" life of
Nadi and buy some little things for Misa and Leilani and Whitney. It
is not looking good. All the meetings last week finished at 5:30pm
making it impossible to get out, Saturday we went to a Fiji village
for a tour and the whole cultural experience so by the time we got
back the stores were closed and of course Sunday, why would you want a
store to be open on Sunday? Monday thru Saturday your money goes to
capitalistic ventures, Sunday it goes to God, everyone knows that!

All in all, the trip has not met my expectations, and that is not
because I haven't gotten a chance to go into town when things are
open. The forum last week was not focused on the topics and delivered
the results I (and others I talked to) hoped for. Of course there are
some things I will be able to bring back and share with the staff and
volunteers in Samoa but many of the questions and uncertainty on some
programs remain.

I just wanted to touch base with you all. I am planning on posting
more about the Fiji village trip but I need to see if i can track down
some pictures first. There was a camera being used the whole week by
the organizing staff so I figure I can get those pictures. Yes, I
have a camera but when there are ten cameras floating around and that
combined with the fact we have email I find it more than silly to
insist on massive amounts of pictures of the same things from
different cameras. It's not that I'm lazy. Ok, it may have a little
to do with it, but that's not the whole reason. Additionally, when
you think about it, it is better to have someone else take pictures
because then you might be in a few of them. Anyway, I have rambled on
a bit longer than intended on this and getting back to the point, I
hope to get those picks and post them.

I'm off for my last nice hot shower with great water pressure. Oh so
bitter sweet!

Novotel is nice

2010-06-15T11:56:00.000-07:00

Thought I would put a quick post up this morning before I get going
for the conference. So, Fiji..........well, the Novotel Hotel is
nice. I haven't had any time to actually get out and see much of
Nadi. The conference starts at 8:30 each day and ends around 5:00
leaving little daylight left for local exploration. I am hoping on
Saturday to get out and do something, we have a half day for the last
day of the conference leaving the afternoon for crazy shenanigans. I
will be here Sunday as well because I was asked to attend the regional
meeting for the HIV Global Alliance which is Monday the 21st. Sunday
would be a great day to get out with the exception of everything being
closed. It's not as extreme as Samoa but there is little to do
Sundays here as well.

I plan to write more tonight or tomorrow but there is a little tid bit
to whet your blog appetite in the time being.

Another 3rd place finish

2010-06-06T13:18:00.000-07:00

With independence day in Samoa comes the Samoa Independence Run. Last
year I laced up my shoes for the half marathon and finished third.
This year, time got away from me and I actually forgot about the race
until April. Though I had been running off and on for exercise for
months, 8 weeks wouldn't have been nearly enough time to train
appropriately for the half marathon. So I opted for the 10K and
produced the same results, a third place finish. I was eight seconds
away from second place and about 30 seconds slower than my goal time
but a cold that popped up late this week slowed my race time a bit.
And yeah, I know, excuses are like......blah, blah blah. But it's
legit, you try running 10K in the tropics with a head full of goo!

Despite the slower race time than I aimed for, the day was a lot of
fun. This year we had a good turnout of Peace Corps Volunteers for
the 10K. Girls and guys, nine in total, everyone had a pretty good
time. And let me tell you, running in Samoa has spoiled me because
when I go back to running races in the states and I get a bottle of
Gatorade instead of a fresh young coconut to drink at the end of the
race, it will be a sad day.

On to Samoa current events, the big news is that the Samoa Rugby
Sevens won the sevens world championship. For those of you who don't
know, because I sure as hell didn't before I came here, sevens is a
modified version of rugby. There are seven players a side, on a
regular rugby field (I think), and they play two 7 minute halves with
a continuous clock. It's a very quick game that will never catch on in
the states because 14 minutes is not nearly enough time to allow for
the gluttonous and alcoholic behaviors that are maxims of the US
sports spectator experience. As far as I know most the rules for
rugby remain the same. Now don't quote me on that because that is
what I have gathered from the few matches I have watched and I am far
to disinterested in the sport to allocate personal time for my self-
education of sevens. Naturally everyone in the country is very proud
of the team and the government here has actually called a public
holiday on Monday to honor the achievement and hold a parade and
celebration ceremony.

I haven't decided if I am going to go down and see the festivities on
Monday or not. It would be nice but at the same time I have some
deadlines to meet and it's hard enough getting things done without
impromptu public holidays. (mind you we had two public holidays last
week) So I am thinking a quick stop down to take a look and satisfy
my curiosity will be the extend of my participation.

And with that i am off to have the usual to'ona'i (the Sunday meal)
with Misa, Leilani and TJ. Always enjoyable and more than filling. I
never eat breakfast on Sundays to try and offset the massive caloric
intake that occurs every Sunday at 11:00am. I'll try to get some pics
of the race up on my picasa webalbum soon. Keep an eye our for them.

Dogs don't like shoes

2010-05-29T17:36:00.000-07:00

So since I had my Teva sandals go missing (still so sad!), I have been
wearing shoes. I did go get some jandals yesterday but I think I will
still wear my shoes when I bike, for safety reasons. The only thing
is, I haven't really had dogs try to get really close to my on my bike
until the last week when i was wearing shoes instead of my Tevas. On
two occasions I had angry dogs rush me on my bike and actually try to
bite me, in the middle of the day. This is odd for two reasons, the
first being it never happened on my usual routes before. I mean they
may bark or run at me from a distance but never try to close in, this
time they did. Second dogs don't usually go after you in the day
here. It's just to hot, when the sun goes down, that's when they kick
the harassment into high gear. So the only factor in this equation
that changed is my footwear. So through scientific deduction I have
determined that shoes piss off Samoan dogs. Look at the facts, you
can't argue, it's science.

So actually on both these occasions I had to kick the dogs in the face
a couple times to get them to go away. All part of the Peace Corps
experience! Of course if for some crazy reason it wasn't the shoes
doing it, if I were wearing the flimsy jandals instead the dogs
probably would have gotten a chunk of my leg or foot. So, shoes it
is. The problem does arise when it rains, which has been
uncharacteristically frequent lately (it is the dry season right
now). I still need to figure that one out.

On to the topic of work, it looks like I am going to Fiji in June! I
have been asked to be one of the Samoa Red Cross representatives at a
Regional Community Resilience Forum in Fiji. The exact location of
the forum is still to be determined. I am keeping my fingers crossed
that it is in Suva. I hear it's the place to go for Fiji's urban
life. The other option is Nadi, though I was there on my layover on
my way back to the US for my brother's wedding. From what I saw not
too exciting. Of course the location is just an added perk and will
present the opportunity for a bit of leisure time activities, what I
am looking forward to the most is the forum and hearing about what is
going on at other national societies to help give us some insight into
ways we could improve our approach. I will be there for an entire
week in mid June.

Other than that I am working on the secondary projects, most time
consuming is the health project. Trying to find some ways to get more
insight into the social, psychological and environmental influences on
healthy eating and physical activity. We have till September to
finalize the curriculum so there is time. I am looking to do some
focus groups with some ladies from rural villages and Jim, one of the
other volunteers who has been working on health projects in Savaii has
volunteered to try and run some of the material with some women from
his village. It's all very exciting and I think the potential for
this program is very good. Of course this is uncharted territory so
we will see how it works out.

Samoa Independence Day is next week on Tuesday. Since I am no longer
with NUS, I do not have to go and do the march in front of the Head of
State and the other "important" people. If you all remember from last
year, the march amounted to showing up at 6:00am, standing in the sun
for four hours and then walking as a group in front of these large
grandstands with, I say again, the "important" people. Needless to
say, not how I prefer to spend my public holiday. Of course I went
last year, because NUS was going and that's part of the gig. But this
year, I am with Red Cross and as far as I know, our organization is
not marching, whoo-hoo!

I am looking forward to the long boat races. I didn't get a chance to
see them last year. Rumor has it though that they are on Monday
instead of Tuesday. Monday is not a public holiday so I am going to
look into it and find out what the deal is. The race is the talk of
the town though, because there is a big rivalry between Samoa and
American Samoa. I guess in the last race in American Samoa, the
American Samoa team started before the gun, quite a bit before the gun
actually and ended up winning by only a few seconds. Rumor has it the
difference in the time would have made the Samoan team the winner but
the judges or who ever was in charge dismissed the complaints. Or
something like that. We all know how rumors and stories spread and
change. Regardless, it has charged the atmosphere for the competition.

Enough rambling for today. Want to give a shout out to my cousin Kim
Huhmann who graduated from high school this week with Salutatorian
honors among others. Rumor has it the colors of all the extra
tassels, stoles, medals, etc, clash. Unfortunate. A small price to pay
for greatness eh, Kim? ;)

Sandals gone, Laptop still here

2010-05-24T12:27:00.001-07:00

What a couple of weeks! I have been drowning in work and have had
only a few moments to catch some sleep and maybe take a moment to read
a book or catch a TV show on my laptop. I have been working on the
health project for the group 82 volunteers. The original plan was to
roll out the project in early July. I held a training with them this
week to introduce them to the approach and the content of the program.

I apologize if I am being redundant in explaining this, I can't
remember if i explained this in my last post. The health program is
formulated around the Diabetes Prevention Program approach. It is
going to use a modified version of the "Lifestyle Balance" curriculum,
the same program I used when I worked in Tama with the Sac & Fox
Tribe. I have been scrambling to get the content modified and
approved, all the while creating the training sessions for the
volunteers.

This week brought about a long needed break in the grind, partially
expected with the completion of the training and partially unexpected
with the delay of the program start. After a number of factors were
considered, the powers at be decided that the program would be better
off if it started in September instead of July. Being at the mercy of
their timeline, I was happy to hear about this. The downside is there
is no way I will be able to leave a few weeks early in December, which
I was hoping to do to surprise Whitney. On the up side, it allows me
a lot more time to look into cultural and social aspects of lifestyle
behavior change here and tailor the program as best as possible. I
will also get to work with some of the volunteers who may be less than
excited about the project. As I understand it most volunteers are
excited or at least ok with the program. But as with any project
there are those dissenters. I am planning on trying my best to make
the program palatable for them and I am hoping they meet me half way
and understand there is only so much that can be changed while still
maintaining its effectiveness. If they don't, well, I can play that
game too. Obviously i am hoping for the best.

So now that I have a few months to finish refining the program my
schedule is a lot less stressful. Something I am thankful for because
I have had a cold for 2 weeks now and I haven't been able to shake
it! A few good nights sleep and I think I will be back on track.

Last night we had a fundraiser for the NGO, Avanoa Tutusa. Maliu Mai,
a local restaurant let us use their place for free and the Peace Corps
Safety and Security Officer brought his band to play, for free as
well. The entertainment included live music from his band, Peace
Corps Volunteers performing traditional Samoan dances and a few
Samoans dancing to raise money. As is tradition when having a
fundraiser and a person or group is out on the dance floor and a
bucket or bowl is placed in front an people come up and put money in.
We had a great turnout of Peace Corps Vols, Peace Corps Staff, some
friends of mine from the Red Cross and some other friends/co workers
of Avanoa Tutusa members. Everyone got a kick out of our dances and
they were pretty good (with the exception of on the got a little messy
for a few seconds!). At the end of the night we brought in over $850
tala! I would like to give a shout out and thanks to Kaelin and
Jenny. They did all the planning and a great job organizing and
running the fundraiser for our NGO.

Now to the title line of the post. I took off my sandals before we
went to dance and didn't put them back on when we were done. We had
all our sandals and bags next to the table where we had people taking
the cover charge. I was running around thanking the people that
helped with the evening and come to support. By the time I got back
to the table most the bags and sandals had been picked up because
people were leaving to go home or out to another place for a few
drinks. My sandals were no where to be found. They were right next
to my bag. A bag that had my laptop in it. I am happy that the bag
wasn't taken and really you just have to laugh. Only in Samoa could I
have my sandals stolen and my laptop remain! It is a sad moment, I
loved those Tevas! I haven't had to wear the crappy "jandals" that
everyone wears here. Jandals are just cheap thong sandals and they
don't give your feet any support and you have to deal with weeks of
blisters and rubbing in between your toes as your feet get accustomed
to the uncomfortable plastic. So, it looks like I have to assimilate
my feet into the local custom for the last 6 months here. My feet are
not looking forward to the next few weeks.

I'll close with my usual hollow promise of trying to post more often.
The odds do look better now that I have a bit more free time.

Manuia le asolima o Me

2010-05-05T12:11:00.000-07:00

That is Samoan for Happy Cinco de Mayo! "Me" is supposed to have a
fa'amamafa over it (a little line) but I don't know how to do that and
don't have the time so please excuse the intentional typo. Things
have been crazy busy as of late. Due to the slow moving nature of
things in the work place, and in special projects, I have taken on a
number of projects to help keep me busy. And keep my mind off my hot
fiancee as much as possible. It's not that I don't like thinking
about her, but being a half a world away for two years is no place to
sit idle and count the days.

As is bound to happen on occasion multiple projects have moments of
overlap where I find myself frantically busy trying to keep up with
the workload. This is mostly because if they all went to plan there
would be plenty of time for each but usually there is a lot of waiting
around for people to get back to you so you can move forward with the
work. So, what do I have pressing for my attention right now? We are
getting ready to train the group 82 volunteers on a village based
chronic disease prevention program. Due to delayed responses in
consultations and meetings I am working frantically to finalize
revisions to the program and get it ready for the volunteers. I am
fairly certain it will be done in time but it is definitely taking up
my evenings and weekend for the next week.

The HIV program at the Red Cross is starting to move forward after a
long hiatus. We got some community surveys out last week and I have
been working to compile the information. The info will be used to
develop education materials and handouts. Unfortunately it was not a
research project so the results cannot be used for wide uses but I did
not have the resources or the time to organize that sort of effort.
They will do their job and though the results are not research
quality, the methods used make me confident in using the results.
They did reveal some less than desired numbers in the general
understanding of HIV, methods of transmission and attitudes relating
to HIV discrimination. Nothing really surprising, but it's good to
have something to go by in developing our messages.

The blood program will be distributing a survey this week for the same
purpose. So hopefully in the coming months we will get some new
materials developed for the peer educators to use in their work in HIV
and materials that can be distributed at blood drives and other events.

We also had a great meeting today that will help us in getting things
moving in the right direction in the larger HIV picture. The results
of today's meeting is a long awaited meeting between some key
stakeholders to hopefully strengthen the work and cooperation in
addressing the HIV situation in Samoa.

Avanoa Tutusa is still rolling along and we are looking at ways to
scale up our operations. We have some people interested in helping
the organization in the near future and we are very excited about
that. We are also planning a health fair for the youth of Samoa. We
have our first official planning meeting this Friday and we have had a
great response by a number of organizations who want to be involved in
the planning process. This will provide us with a great opportunity
to get some Samoans interested in Avanoa Tutusa and hopefully join the
organization, one of the key goals for this year.

Sorry to bore you with work stuff but that is about all I have to
report. We did celebrate Cinco de Mayo last weekend in Savaii and it
was a great time. I got to see a lot of the PCVs I don't get a chance
to see that often and I got to have some mexican food (or close
enough) and margaritas (not really close enough, but take what you can
get I suppose).

Whitney bought her ticket to come visit me this summer. Second week
in August! I can't wait! And the truly amazing thing is I know the 3
months will fly by and then when she leaves I only have 3 and a half
months left. It's shocking and I can feel the clock ticking. I am
excited to move back home but I am anxious to do the best work I can
here before I go.

Well, 12:30am is about 3 hours past my bedtime and I have a day that
is just slammed tomorrow so that's it for today. I'll try to throw a
post up this weekend. Tofa soifua.

The Samoan Toilet Spider

2010-04-15T13:40:00.000-07:00

The other morning I was greeted with a surprise when I went into the
bathroom. I chance to see the famous Samoan toilet spider up close.
I have included a picture of the famed arachnid for your viewing
pleasure. The Samoa Toilet Spider is indigenous to Samoa. It is
unknown where they lived before toilets were used here but now they
reside primarily in toilets. They are not poisonous but do have a
nasty bite that can leave unsuspecting victims extremely unsatisfied
with their restroom experience. Interesting enough they are the only
spider that feeds on feces so they do not produce webbing.

And that's a year and a half

2010-04-08T12:18:00.000-07:00

Hello everyone, I am back in Samoa after a very quick two weeks back
in the states. The trip was great and as most of you know the weather
back in the midwest was terrific. Now I am back in Samoa, getting
back into the swing of things, including getting used to the heat
again. In fact as I write this at 5:30am, I am sweating. I sure do
miss those 70 degree weather days!

Work at the Red Cross is pretty much back in full swing. We have had
to do some revisions to the program we are working on developing that
is going to delay the process and the start date of the program.
While it is a bit disappointing, it is not that surprising so we are
working towards the proper solutions now.

Yesterday, the Ministry of Health held a celebration for national
health week at their compound. Everyone from the Red Cross joined
representatives from other government ministries, students from a few
select schools and some of the big wigs in government including the
Prime Minister in attendance. There were a few speeches by some
prominent Samoans, sorry i don't know their names or positions because
it was announced in Samoan, promoting heath in Samoan communities. I
only know this because of the few words I could pick out in the
speeches and the short summary they provided in English though out the
speech for us non-Samoan speakers in attendance.

The colleges (that's high schools here) that had student
representatives also had one student from each give a speech about TB
prevention. I am sure it was an exciting opportunity for the students
and they all did a very good job speaking in front of a large crowd.
I am not sure how the speeches to be presented were selected but there
was a disappointing aspect to them and that was in the content of the
speeches. Two of the three speeches were at least in part in English
and I could understand the basics of the one that was presented in
Samoan and they did not really talk about TB prevention or as was the
case for one speech, were for the most part wrong in the methods of
prevention. Sadly it can be reasonably assumed the students were
obviously misinformed by the teacher(s) that were to help them with
the research.

Beyond that, there is not too much to report. Misa and Lelani are
building two more houses on their land just across from my house so
who knows, I could have some neighbors pretty soon. They started
building the houses before I left and they will probably be finished
within the next two weeks. Well, I'm off to get ready for work. Oh,
and I forgot to mention as the title of the post indicates, I have
officially been in Samoa for a year and a half now. It has really
gone by fast and with only 8-9 months left I will be back in the
states before I know it. So that means I have 8-9 months to actually
come through on my hollow promises to post more often. We'll
see.........

Should I bother apologizing?

2010-03-19T02:54:00.000-07:00

It seems redundant to continue to apologize for my poor posting habits
so I'll leave that be for now and get to the skinny.

Work has been unbelievably busy over the last few weeks. In addition
to that I have my side projects and the St. Patrick's Day Pub Crawl I
organized here in Samoa. So, it's been busy to say the least. (that
sounds familiar as well) The Pub Crawl was fun and though we went out
to have fun and enjoy the holiday we did get to share the tradition
with some Samoans so it's not what Peace Corps has in mind when they
talk about "imparting an understanding of Americans on the part of
people served," but it sure is a fun way to do it. And no worries, no
one made a fool of themselves or got in trouble so it was a success.

As for work, we are still working feverishly on our community based
health and first aid program. There has been a curveball this week,
but it may be a good curveball if that makes sense. I won't go into
details now but we are meeting tomorrow to propose the change in
approach and we will see what the department heads say. Regardless of
that meeting's results, we have sent out invitations to a
stakeholder's meeting we are going to have in April. It's going to be
a great chance to find out what is going on around the country with
regards to community health programming and where our program can fit
in and form partnerships.

The Avanoa Tutusa NGO is still moving along. We have some great
materials for World Water Day that Lilli, one of the new group 82
volunteers, developed and other volunteers can use on World Water Day
next week. We did a similar thing as an organization for global
handwashing day last year. We are hoping if we can get materials
compiled and developed then other volunteers will use them on global
awareness days. It worked for handwashing and we have high hopes for
World Water Day. Earth Day is around the corner and we are working on
that too. It's a great effort that utilizes Peace Corps Volunteers
that have an interest in a topic and provide those who are either too
busy or don't ahve enough interest in a topic to access the resources
easily and use in their schools. We are also working on coordinating
a health fair aimed at high school and college age youth here in
Samoa. We are thinking sometime in the summer, possibly July. The
time frame is a bit cramped since we are just starting the planning
but compared to a lot of planning processes I have been exposed to
here, we are starting early!

To wrap up, the reason I am writing this post at 11:00pm tonight is
because I know tomorrow will be ridiculously busy because I will be
wrapping up loose ends and trying to get as much done before I head
home for my brother's wedding. I am looking forward to seeing Whitney
again, and so soon! Same goes for the family. Whitney does still
have class and work so I will have down time while I am back to, well,
do work. Though it's not ideal, the timing of my trip really requires
that I do work while I am back home to keep things rolling. Of course
if Whit didn't have class or work I would have figured something out
like only sleeping 2 hours a night while I am back but since she does
have those obligations I will take those opportunities to keep the
ball rolling.

As I close, I want to say congrats to my friend Dan and his wife
Kristin on the birth of their second baby boy, Rowan Scott DeVore.
This of course means they are going to have to have another boy down
the road because they don't have a son named Joseph yet. Not sure why
they didn't name this one after me, they must have lost a bet or
something.

Tsunami Warning

2010-02-27T09:56:00.000-08:00

Well, as recent events have shown, paradise is not always a paradise. I was woken up this morning at 2:00am by a call from the Samoa Peace Corps office, there has been a 8.8 magnitude earthquake off the coast of Chili. The quake could have potentially triggered a tsunami that could affect the pacific islands and even as far as Asia and Japan. The potential tsunami will hit the island of Samoa at approximately 9:00am local time. Unfortunately it seems there is no way to actually tell if it is on it's way or not. I have heard that we could get any where from nothing, up to a 10 meter wave.

I have been up pretty much since the initial call because at 3:00am, my landlord came to get me to go to higher ground. Though, where we live is a block away and maybe 10 feet lower in elevation than one of the area's major tsunami evacuation points, so in all reality there is not much reason to move to that place from our houses. Of course, I did not tell them this since it better to be extra safe in these situations. Of course I opted to stay in my house and try and get a few more hours of sleep. I'm sorry I should have specified in the earlier sentence, it's better to be extra safe if you are someone other than me and I don't want to sleep more.

Then at a little after four, after I managed to just drift off to sleep I got a call from the Red Cross informing me of the tsunami warning and effectively ending any hopes of catching a few more hours sleep before going in to the Red Cross office. It's not that I had to get up, my body pretty much sad screw it, and I was now wide awake.

I arrived at the office at around 6:30am and it is buzzing with volunteers and staff preparing to go to the evacuation points to record the number of people there. I am not sure how this information is used but it is common practice to go out and do this. The volunteers also serve as first aiders at the evacuation points. I do have a concern about sending all the volunteers out for this because it leaves almost no one to go out immediately once the warning is lifted to any affected areas to provide first responder emergency care. But we will hope for the best and maybe there won't be a tsunami or maybe there is a system in place I am unaware of that will help to ensure these first responders can get out to any affected areas immediately if we are hit by a tsunami.

Me, I will probably wait here in the office and help where I can. Then if we are hit by a tsunami I will be going out to one of the affected areas to help in a first responder capacity. With the recent tsunami, heightened awareness in Samoa right now and the early warning I think we can expect the impact with regards to deaths and injuries to be low if we are in-fact hit.

Well, as what usually comes with emergency preparedness and response I will now proceed to sit and wait. Good opportunity to study up on my GRE Vocab. I will be sure to post later today if I have time and anything note worthy to report.

Cyclone Rene Update

2010-02-13T20:56:00.000-08:00

Here we are on Saturday and Rene is reportedly moving away. Last night had some high winds and downpours but nothing too exciting in my neck of the woods. Rumor has it there were some downed trees around Apia and I can't really say for sure how the south side of the island faired but I didn't get a call from the Red Cross so that's a good sign. I apologize for not having more information or any thing to put up on the post here but I am at home today with the turtle-like dial-up internet. When I get to work on Monday if there is anything further to report I will be sure to put it up.

Also, I would like to take this opportunity to extend my condolences to the family of Peter Sinclair. Peter was a long time professor in the Faculty of Business and Entrepreneurship, and my office-mate, at NUS from January to August before I left for the Red Cross. He passed away this week at his home here in Samoa. He was a delightful older gentleman from New Zealand. My time spent with him was always enjoyable and his insights and experience from living here in Samoa helped in getting me through some of those rough patches in the beginning of my service. I will be attending his service tomorrow at 1:00pm. He is, without a doubt, someone I will miss but never forget.

Cyclone on the way

2010-02-12T19:30:00.000-08:00

Thought I would throw up a quick post as I prepare to head home this evening, cyclone Rene is on her way. I have included the most up to date projected path of the storm. The path has been slowly shifting to the north and covering more of Samoa. We will see what happens over the next 24 hours. I can't help but think of the unfortunate families in the tsunami affected area who are ill equipped to handle this event. We will just have to hope for the best.

Hopefully communications will not go down and I will be able to put an update online from home. If you want more information on the storm a few good links are:

http://www.met.gov.fj/advisories.html
http://www.mnre.gov.ws/meteorology/
http://www.met.gov.fj/sat-map.html

Water Tank Painting Project Round 2

2010-02-10T23:23:00.000-08:00

This weekend we had the second round of our water tank painting
project out in the tsunami affected area. As with the first go round
we began the program with a short talk about the importance of
conserving water and then helped the kids paint a water conservation
themed mural on the water tank. We added a new dimension to the
program this time around due to the larger than expected participation
level of early elementary kids at the first one. Activities were held
for the young kids with games focused on water and conservation.

We had an excellent turnout for volunteers for round two. Twenty
Peace Corps Volunteers showed up to participate, more than twice the
original number. Transportation was touch and go up until the day
before, no surprise. Of course my cool demeanor slowly eroded away as
the clock began ticking down, though I think I did a good job
minimizing the damage produced on my war path. By Saturday morning we
had a large flatbed truck and a Toyota Hilux pick-up, both provided by
the Samoa Red Cross. Naturally we left late on Saturday and arrived
around an hour after the stated start time which I suppose is about
normal. I have come to the conclusion that when it comes to morning
departures I could say six, seven or eight and we still wouldn't leave
till nine or nine thirty. This is not anecdotal evidence, it's a
fact, trust me. But we did get going and that is something to be
happy about, 12 PCVs in the large flat bed, including me, and 8 in the
pick-up.

Though the pick-up was a double cab, everyone except for one PCV and
the driver, sat in the bed. Now, I am all for being polite, but if
there is a seat open in the cab of a truck in a country that has roads
full of pot holes, speed bumps (yes, massive speed bumps everywhere),
blind corners and the more than occasional taxi or bus driver who I
can only guess are taping their audition for NASCAR, you can be damn
sure I will gladly take the seat in the cab if no one else will. I'm
not judging, maybe they like the rush or are big fans of skin cancer,
to each their own. What did get me was on the way back, they put the
paint supplies in the cab, on the seat, and it leaked, and I had to
clean it up on Monday. If you want that roller-coaster rush when the
truck hits a pot hole or speed bump and nearly sends you flying from
the bed, great! But put the god damn paint in the bed too,
seriously! Anyway, I digress.

The turnout by the kids was great as well. We anticipated the PCV
turnout correctly and decided to go to two villages this time around,
Saleaaumua and Lotopue. All in all we had a little over 20 kids at
Salaaumua and about 90 at Lotopue. Lotopue had a huge turnout because
I had the primary school principal's phone number from when we went
out after the tsunami and called her to organize the day for their
village. She evidently told all the kids at her school. Luckily we
brought 12 of the 20 PCVs there just in case. Good thing! After a
little uneasy start as we quickly decided what to do with the ocean of
kids before us we split them up into two groups, 1 thru 3 and then
older kids. Some of the volunteers took the grades 1 thru 3 to the
school and had activities with them there and the rest of us took the
older kids to go paint. It worked out really well. Painting the
tanks wasn't what you would call seamless but with Chris and I
shuttling paint back and forth between two water tanks about 200 yards
apart it went as smooth as we could have hoped for. The tanks looked
terrific by the time we were finished and were plastered with phases
encouraging water conservation.

I apologize for not having picture to accompany this post. There were
at least a half dozen cameras floating around and one of my pet peeves
is the over use of cameras at one event. For god's sake people, they
are digital. Assign one camera and share the freaking files! When we
took the group picture I think there were at least six cameras. Now
keep in mind, the Samoan kids, and even the adults, usually love the
picture taking at events like these. But by the time we were past
camera 3 or 4 in the same pose, even the most enthusiastic seemed to
convey the body language that matched the thoughts in my head,
"Really? Really? Another camera?" And I know, you might be saying,
well, you don't have the pictures, but I will be getting them we
almost all have computers and there is a shared hard drive in the
office. Please don't doubt my logic, it's undeniable.

When I get my hands on those files (and I will), I will be sure to
throw them on to my Picasa Web Album for your viewing pleasure.

Meh

2010-02-03T00:56:00.000-08:00

Well, the title of this post is dedicated to my older bro who uses
that term often. I chose to use it because I could not come up with
something witty or interesting for my blog post title. I have
included a picture of my tattoo for your viewing pleasure and I will
be uploading more pictures to my picasa web album so be sure to click
on the slide show to your right to visit that site. That is if you
are interested.

Getting back in the swing

2010-01-25T01:06:00.000-08:00

Well, if anyone is still following this blog after such a long hiatus
in regular posting I applaud and thank you for your patience. I am
back in Samoa (as of Friday last week) and I am trying to get things
rolling again. One month of vacation can really nock you out of work
mode, let me tell you. I would compare it to pulling a truck with a
rope, when it's already rolling though it's tough you just have to
keep your legs moving and you can keep it rolling. When it's at a
full stop it's hard as hell to get that damn thing moving and really
you would rather just hang out and watch all the cool new movies and
TV shows other Volunteers brought back from their vacations.

So I am back at the Red Cross and there is a new problem on the radar
that we have to address. It appears there is a diarrhea outbreak in
the tsunami affected area. This is both unconfirmed and odd.
Unconfirmed because, a) as far as I have been able to find out the
rate on the normal incidence rate of diarrhea is unavailable or not
recorded, b) though some cases have been treated at the local clinic
part of the push for an educational intervention seem to be fueled
also by hear say (i.e. people in the village are saying there has been
more diarrhea) and c) it is odd for this to be happening now, while
just after the tsunami hit there did not seem to be any recorded
increase in cases. Despite all this we are quickly developing a
community based educational program for the families in the at risk
villages. Obviously it can't hurt the villages or the people we
deliver the program to, the down side is that we are taking manpower
and focus away from regular programming and other educational/
community based programs which will undoubtedly suffer or be delayed
until this intervention is over.

I know I still owe you all pictures of the tattoo and I am planning on
getting some up this week. I promise-ish. (please note, the "ish"
officially gets me off the hook if I don't do it. Actually after
further thought I would like to institute that as a permanent rule for
my blog starting now)

It's off to bed and off to work again tomorrow. Quick shout out to by
big bro Dave who got engaged last week and has totally ruined my
travel plans for this year! Congrats and I'll send you the bill for
my ticket! (For those who don't know, the plan is to have the wedding
in April)

Fa a'u uo (bye my friends)

I forget is Peace Corps one or two years?

2010-01-05T13:42:00.000-08:00

Oh if it was only one! Ok, I don't mean that, completely. Obviously being back in the states has been great. The Christmas holiday was a whirlwind of driving, family and friends over the course of 10 days. Whit's family lives an hour north of mine (not to mention we have friends in Cedar Rapids and Cedar Falls) so were we back and forth the whole time. We managed to split the family time fairly evenly with minimal bickering and physical violence. By the Iowa trip's end I had spent way too much, averaged about 4000 calories a day and driven nearly 3000 miles.

As I mentioned in my previous post I will now delve into the return experience after living in Samoa for 15 months. First, there is a lot of crap to buy in America! I went to the grocery store and I had nearly forgotten how much food selection there is. The interesting thing for me personally is that in the stores (grocery or otherwise) I find my eyes wonder less and the motivation to buy stuff seems to be far less than when I left. That's not to say I didn't drool at the big screen TVs I saw, I think that's a genetic trait that one can never overcome. Trust me, it's science, look it up. But having spent the last year with a limited income and consumer choices really snapped me out of that "American consumer" mode.

As far as the pace of life here, it hasn't been much of a shock to me and I am enjoying it. Running on schedules and making plans for the day that I am confident will go as planned is fantastic!

That's enough for the insights, sorry if you were looking for more.

Big news on the personal front, I did propose to my girlfriend and she said yes! So now we have well over a year to plan the wedding and we are thinking late spring early summer 2011.

I am done with my coffee and thus done with the post. Don't anticipate another one before I return to Samoa so look for one in a week or so. I will also be getting those tattoo pics (which has healed nicely) up soon. Hope you all had a great holiday season.

Back in the states!

2009-12-19T10:52:00.000-08:00

I just arrived in Texas a few hours ago and am waiting for my flight
to Austin right now. The Houston airport has free WiFi complements of
Google over the Christmas/New Years travel season. Google is so nice
to me. I didn't get them anything so I feel kind of bad.

It is cold already and I still have more than a few hundred miles
north to go. That's alright though, I can survive the cold for four
weeks especially since I will be with Whitney and my friends an family.

The tattoo is healing slowly but now that I'm where it's cold and dry
I am looking forward to a speedy recovery.

As I said, will try to post a few times while on vacation but no
promises. I will have a hot blonde distracting me after all! Well,
there's my boarding call, 50 minutes and I get to see Whitney.
Definitely what I would call an early Christmas present!

Stupid tropical climate

2009-12-15T15:45:00.000-08:00

So, on the positive side of things, just a few days left before I get
on the plane for vacation. Whoo-hoo! I still need to do some last
minute shopping, cleaning and packing and by last minute I mean do all
of it cause I haven't done anything yet.

On to the title of the blog-post, I've go a little bit of infection
going on in the tattoo, despite my best efforts of cleaning it 3 times
a day with hot water and keeping it moisturized. Now don't worry,
it's not like my arm is falling off or anything but it is very
uncomfortable. Things started off well but a few days ago I started
to notice some small holes in my skin. Being the intelligent person I
am I figured out that those were not supposed to be there. I visited
the Peace Corps Medical Officer yesterday and got some oral
antibiotics to go with the antibiotic ointment I have started putting
on the infected areas. I was instructed to keep it uncovered as much
as possible. I am actually writing this from home today because I took
a sick day.

This is where I get into my hypothesis of how it happened. It is hot
here, ridiculously hot and humid which for those of you who know me
well results in the sweating. Not like, wow it must be hot outside
that guy is sweating a lot. Like, what the hell, did that guy just go
swimming in his clothes. So with the combination of the heat, my
sweating and having to wear a shirt most of the day all of last week
the odds were evidently against me in preventing infection. So today
I have taken a sick day to try and jump start the healing process by
sitting at home with a fan on me and not shirt on. We'll see how it
works out and I'll make the decision about going in tomorrow, early
tomorrow morning.

About a week ago I would have been upset with missing these next few
days of work but the schedule we were working on has slowly
disintegrated and some of the things I was hoping to have done before
I left may not get done. Back home in the work environment this would
not be acceptable and would be very out of place but the meeting of
deadlines and timetables here is not so strict. So I have taken a
deep breath and accepted what I can accomplish before I leave for
vacation and will hope for the best while I am gone.

The major hurdle left for me is getting out and getting my errands ran
before I go. Hopefully I have some good progress in the healing of
the infection that will allow me to venture out into the stores for a
sweaty few hours. (immediately taking a hot shower and applying more
antibiotic ointment afterwards)

Ok, well I am rocking through an Arrested Development Marathon today
so I better get back to it.

71 hours until take off!

More Tattoo Info

2009-12-11T09:50:00.000-08:00

I have some additional information on the Suluape family. Sara (from group 79) sent me some information to clarify the specifics. The Suluape family has three guys that do the traditional tattooing. The father and the son as mentioned in my previous post and an additional son that does it as well. The father's (or Senior's) name is Petelo and he also has a matai title (chief title) of Su'a. The son I didn't know about is Peter and like his father he does the tattooing in the village. The second son who I referred to as Junior is named Paulo and was named for Petelo Senior's dead brother who was also a well known tattoo artist. So just to clarify, the son that is nicknamed Junior is the one who doesn't have the same name as his father. Just want to say thanks to Sara for the clarification.

The healing is going well so far and I am just trying to stay on top of cleaning, moisturizing and massaging it. I've been going down to the Peace Corps office two times a day to take a hot shower which of course is good for the tattoo and has the added perk of not being a cold shower. (I hate cold showers!) Sometimes it's hard to decide which was the greater sacrifice in joining the Peace Corps, giving up hot showers or living away from my girlfriend for 2 years. Whitney, I am kidding! (And there goes my chances for getting some when I get back)

I am officially under a week until I depart for vacation. I am extremely excited and the last few months have really flown by so it seems like it's on top of me all of the sudden. I am working hard to get things wrapped up at work before I take off but we'll see what happens. There always seem to be things coming up that get in the way. We still have to finalize the planning for the first 6 months of 2010, though we have made progress. I have 5 more wprk days to try and push that to completion before I get on the plane. Wish me luck because I am going to need it.

Joey Brown

Peace Corps Volunteer

Samoa Red Cross

www.redcross.org.ws
Joey.PCV@gmail.com

+685 726 2121

Tattoo

2009-12-09T11:10:00.000-08:00

Well ladies and gentlemen, 4 and a half hours and $900 tala later I
have my traditional Samoan tattoo. I went in for my appointment at
12:00pm on Monday and in true Samoa fashion my tattoo started just
after 3:30pm. Of course I have been here long enough to know better
but like a rookie I didn't bring anything to read. At any rate the
time passed and before I knew it the tattoo began. For those of you
who are wondering or are concerned, the tattoo artist family, the
Suluape family, comes recommended from the Peace Corps Medical Officer
because she knows them and that they clean their equipment
appropriately.

As far as we (the volunteers) know there are two guys in the Suluape
family that do the traditional tattooing, the father who is usually
called "Senior" and one of his sons who goes by "Junior". Junior is
the one who did my tattoo. Junior usually does his tattoos in their
tattoo parlor while Senior only does them out in the village. While
it would have been interesting to have it done in the village in a
Samoan fale i have heard in the village the artists and their helpers
usually smoke while doing it and I hate smoke and I think I would hate
it that much more if I have jagged metal going in and out of my skin.
The parlor was nice because there was air conditioning and of course,
no smoke, so no complaints from me.

The tattoo process I am sure depends on the artist to some degree so
please don't take this as a universal practice though I am sure some
of it is standard for most traditional tattoos. Junior made a few
marks with a yellow Sharpie on my right shoulder and upper arm took a
second to look over my arm and shoulder and then it was go time. The
traditional Samoan tattoo required the artist and two helpers. The
guys helping are in charge of stretching your skin tight like canvas
over a frame and making sure don't move. The artist and the helpers
have an amazing rhythm and sometimes it is a mere fraction of a second
between the time they stretch the skin and the artist resumes
tattooing. The process of the tattoo was very stop and go. Junior
would start the tapping and go for about 10-15 seconds then get more
ink, readjust or review the line he just made. Every time there was a
break the helpers would wipe the extra ink and the blood from the
area. A few times in the four and a half hours the helpers would get
new rags for wiping the blood/ink away. This was a great time because
the rags were wet and cool. Unfortunately they quickly became dry and
felt like sand paper on my freshly ravaged skin.

The tools they use are wooden sticks with metal comb like ends. There
are different sizes of tools depending on the design they are doing.
The process of inserting the combs and ink into the skin is a rhythmic
tapping. Of course the first 30 minutes were quite painful as the
body adjusts to the assault but you do adjust somewhat. I have heard
some people feel little if any pain once they get into it for a
while. Call me a Sally if you want but it hurt the whole time, just
less. Of course on the boney parts and near the arm pit were very
sensitive and that always hurt no matter the stage of the tattoo. I
found the key to getting past the pain was exhaling as Junior would
start tapping the tool into my skin and then inhale when he would
break to get more ink or readjust.

The positions I found myself in were very odd but that seems to be the
usual experience. It's not about your comfort, it''s about the artist
getting the best angle at the skin. Most of the time my head was
turned away from Junior and often times smashed in between the
cushions they use for Junior and the helpers to lean on while
working. I one point I noticed that my face was only a few inches
away from on of the helper's big gnarly toe. This was a fleeting and
almost funny thought to me because in all reality it had been right
there for quite sometime but i was so focused on the tattoo and my
breathing that I was oblivious.

I have included a picture of the process but I want to wait to post my
final tattoo pics until after I show my friends and family back home.
I would rather them see it in person first. I am very happy with it
and have had nothing but good comments. The thing that makes me
confident it is a good one is the reaction I have been getting from
Samoans. When a Samoan is like "Ooooohhhhh manaia!" (manaia means
nice) and it is genuine you know you've got a good one.

Well, 9 days and it's vacation time. Wow, under 10 days, ridiculous!
Quick FYI, I probably won't be posting much over my 4 week vacay but I
might throw a few up just describing my experience being back and my
reactions. I won't be able to spend too much time on the computer
because I am going to have to exercise my ass off due to the enormous
amounts of food I plan on eating. It's going to be great!

First TV in Vaivase-Tai

2009-12-07T09:25:00.001-08:00

Just a quick post today but I found out an interesting story last
night. Turns out the little 19" TV that is in my place was the first
TV in Vaivase Tai. TJ told me that a bunch of people from around the
village used to come over to their house and sit around the little TV
to watch rugby games and boxing matches. It is truly amazing,
sometimes being surrounded by families that have TVs, mobile phones
and cars you can forget how quickly these technologies and luxuries
have come into Samoan life. In the states is has been a slow gradual
build up as new technology is developed but here it has not been so
much the case. That is why you can see families living out in
traditional fales, living off the land and the sea nearly every aspect
of thier life traditional Samoan except the cell phone they have!

Old habits die hard

2009-12-05T23:11:00.000-08:00

Sorry, sorry, sorry. I slipped back into my old habits and did not
live up to my word of posting more often. Well I have less than two
weeks before I come home to visit so I think I can do better in the
short term. The lightening of my workload will also help with that as
well.

We wrapped up our WASHE program out at the schools this week. This
week we taught the kids about disease transmission. As always the
students were very receptive and enjoyed the activities we had. My
mom sent a blacklight that we used for a germ spreading activity. It
went ok. To work best we need liquid soap made with blue dye (like
Tide) but I couldn't find any but I did find out that green dish soap
does work, kind of. In the activity you put some soap on your hand
than then proceed to shake hands and touch arms or clothes of other
people. Then you go around in the room (with the lights off) with the
blacklight which makes the transfered soap glow. As I said, the green
worked ok, though didn't glow as well as blue. The other hurdle was
the dark room. The classrooms here all have large windows and no
curtains or curtains made of light fabric. Small windows and/or heavy
curtains would just be a ridiculous choice for this climate. To
improvise we brought blankets (yes, the Red Cross has blankets. They
were donated to us as part of the relief supplies. Evidently by a
person with the geographical knowledge of a two year old). We used
the blankets to cover all the windows in one room so it was dark
enough for the activity. It worked but we had to keep the activity
short because once those blankets were up, the room was cooking! At
some point in time, someone left the blacklight on which killed the
batteries. I had spares and replaced them but the light didn't last
long after that. I have reserved a swift kick for the person who left
it on, if I ever find out which is unlikely. Good thing I am coming
home so I can pick up a few spare bulbs.

Now we are getting a report on the program prepared and the Health
Coordinator at the Red Cross wants to continue it and expand it next
year. Which is awesome, in theory. We do have a lot on our plate at
the Red Cross though so over the next few weeks we will be planning
the next years programs and activities. While it would be cool to
have this program that I spearheaded continue I really want to make
sure all the other programs that are already highlighted in the Samoa
Red Cross workplan are scheduled and adequately staffed. Planning and
assessment are two things I hope to work on closely with the staff and
volunteers at the Red Cross and be some of the sustainable skills and
knowledge I can share with them.

Today was International Volunteer Day and the Red Cross in cooperation
with the UN offices here organized a replanting and trash pick-up
day. Overall I have to say I wasn't all that impressed with the day
though I think the high demand on those who needed to coordinate the
event with tsunami recovery related tasks allows some room for
forgiveness. There was a large turnout of volunteers, though I don't
know the exact number. The attendance by Peace Corps Volunteers is
most accurately described as piss-poor. Me, Chris and Blakey were the
only PCVs to come to the event. Way to represent! The group of
volunteers Chirs, Blakey and I went with went to Satitoa village. The
replanting went ok, with trees donated by the UN, buuuuuut, we came to
find out after the fact that the trees were meant to be planted inland
a little ways and do not grow well next to the ocean/in the sand. The
volunteers planted them along the coast and mostly in the sand. Son of
a !!!! Because there were a limited number of trees and tools, I
picked up garbage the whole time, which there was still a lot of it
around and on the beach in Satitoa. The problem here was, no garbage
bags. So we piled the garbage up and were told that someone was going
to come through later that day with a truck to pick it up. I hope it
happened.

So next week is going to be a good week. Just planning mostly and
probably doing some work on the website and the database. I still
need to get a volunteer up to speed on how to update the website
before I leave for my 4 week vacay. Since i won't be going to the
schools four days a week I should be able to finally find some time to
make it happen.

Tatoo is tomorrow, looking forward to it. I am hoping they don't
postpone it or any thing, I ahve heard that can happen sometimes. I
want to give it a chance to heal a decent amount before I head home.

I will try to get some pictures from the WASHE program and our water
tank painting project up sometime this week. I'll also get some pics
of the tat up (unless it goes horribly wrong!)

Tofa Soifua (oh and my Samoan is getting a little better thanks to my
having to use it in the schools, now I just have to try and not lose
everything I picked up over the last month during my vacation)

Who would have thought that brushing teeth could be so funny?

2009-11-25T00:14:00.001-08:00

I thought I would throw up a quick post today in light of a hilarious
event during our personal hygiene education session out in the tsunami
affected area today. As part of the personal hygiene session we talk
about brushing your teeth. At the end of the teeth brushing portion
of the lesson we ask a few kids to come up and help me demonstrate
proper teeth brushing. We were at our second school of the day,
Lotopu'e Primary and we got three volunteers from the class, a few
from grades 3 and 4 and one from the kindergarten (called year 1
here). We told the kids to watch me closely and do exactly what I do
to brush their teeth correctly. The little kindergartner was a cute
little boy, the type of little kid that still has a bit of the baby
fat and huge chubby cheeks. Well, as we start brushing you can tell
he is focused on watching me and brushing his teeth exactly the way he
should. This was great, except as time went on, the foam from the
toothpaste was building up and began to drip out of his mouth. It
started as a few drips and before you know it he has a white goatee
and from there gravity did it's job and half of this little kid's
shirt is covered in toothpaste by the time we are done. The entire
class of 80 kids were dying laughing as were all the volunteer
teachers with me. I tried my best to hold back but eventually I even
let out a few laughs (along with tears from trying so hard not to
laugh!). No it would be a sad story if the kid felt bad or
embarrassed but he was so young and so intently focused on following
my lead he was oblivious to the whole thing, including the tooth paste
cascading out of his mouth.

Unfortunately I did not get any pictures of this session as I forgot
my camera today but Jewel, one of the other volunteer teachers, did
get some shots on her camera phone. I will see if I can get those
downloaded and post them. I am sure you will get a kick out of them.

In case you are wondering about my Thanksgiving day plans, it will be
business as usual on Thursday but the Charge De Affairs for the US
Embassy is going to have Thanksgiving at her house again this year on
the Saturday following so I am really looking forward to that. The
only problem is that I will be having a Thanksgiving dinner on
Saturday followed by To'onai on Sunday, which is like a weekly
Thanksgiving dinner. Better pencil in some extra exercise time. Gotta
look good for my girl when I get back after all!

Soooooooo busy!

2009-11-21T22:00:00.001-08:00

It's starting to get a bit crazy around here, the responsibilities and
hats I am wearing are starting to pile up. Now, I'm not really
complaining but just venting a bit as I adjust to the increase in
workload. Of course this is temporary. We have the WASHE program
continuing for the next two weeks which was keeping me adequately
busy, I do have to still try and keep the website updated and respond
to inquiries, I have been asked to try and develop a database for
volunteer registration and tracking (which my old bro, Dave is being
awesome and helping me with) and we have begun developing a plan of
action for the next year which is taking the current plan and
developing more specifics and adjusting it for special considerations
in the tsunami affected population. Then throw on the duties as
president of Avanoa Tutusa (the Peace Corps Samoa NGO) and helping the
activities coordinator at the gym I have an overflowing plate!

As I said though, this is temporary. As the WASHE program winds down
a lot of time will be freed up, temporarily of course. Also, as far
as the website goes I need to start working with a volunteer on that
to teach them how to update it and maintain the site. Once they have
gotten a handle on it I am hoping to drop that responsibility all
together. I am thinking early next year some time. The planning we
are doing right now will definitely help to prevent an overflow like
this as well. We have started strong and over the next few weeks we
will be addressing all aspects of the health section's work and have a
clear picture of responsibilities and the direction. It is going to
be great.

We had our meeting today to try and finalize the Avanoa Tutusa project
coming up on Friday. Avanoa Tutusa, the Peace Corps Samoa NGO, is
going to be going out into the affected areas to do a water tank
painting project. The goal of the project is to promote water
conservation in the villages. This has been identified as a very
important public awareness topic due to the reliance of these people
on water delivered in a truck and stored in tanks. We are planning
the project in the village of Satitoa. There is a large group of
families living around a 5000L water tank inland. We are planning to
go out to this area, give the high school students a short lesson on
water conservation and then work with them to paint water conservation
themes on the water tank. if the program works well and the youth
respond positively then we may do the program in other villages in the
near future.

Besides that, there is not much going on. My hair is starting to get
ridiculously long, I have to admit I can't remember when my last
haircut was. I wanted to get it cut this week/weekend but due to the
combination of my long work hours and the inconvenient hours of the
barbershops here I have had no luck thus far. I am thinking maybe
this Saturday. It's got to happen soon, that's for sure.

We are going to be having Thanksgiving again this year. The Charge de
Affairs, Robin Jager, from the US embassy is going to host
Thanksgiving again this year which is awesome. She is really nice to
do that for all us home sick Americans. There will be turkey,
stuffing and all the other good stuff you would expect from
Thanksgiving. Now I just have to figure out what I am going to bring.
(It's pot luck style, with some of the key foods provided, like
turkey of course)

The countdown continues as I am now officially under a month until I
return home. I am thinking about leaving my laptop and credit card
here so I have the extra incentive to come back! It will be tough
coming back, but I have no doubt I will. I didn't wait through that
fantastically crappy situation earlier in the year just to bail when I
actually have a chance to make a difference.

Sorry for the lack of posts this week but I hope the description of my
work load helps to explain why (and fosters feelings of generosity for
all those back home in the form of free meals and drinks! I like
Chili's, authentic mexican food, italian food, hot wings, tequila and
dark beer just incase you were wondering).

Fa'afeafea one sefe le vai

2009-11-18T22:42:00.000-08:00

Translation: how to save water. That is the topic off the lesson
segment I stumbled through today as part of our WASHE program. This
week's lesson is about water conservation and I didn't have time to
get some tips for the first two days but I managed to get some help
yesterday afternoon and I jumped in with two feet today.

My primary issues with speaking in Samoan are constructing the
sentences and those tricky little words other than the nouns,
adjectives and verbs, that make the sentence sound correct. I managed
to get a few sentences constructed properly to use as the basic
information for my lesson. Once the basic message was stated clearly
the I began my incoherent Samoan rambling trying to elaborate and
provide examples. All in all I feel pretty good about the whole
experience. I think the kids really enjoyed it, I couldn't really
tell you because I was so focused on the words I needed to say I
couldn't tell if they were really getting any of it! It's also tough
to keep your mind on the lesson an what comes next when you have to
think so hard about just making a sentence. I am confident though,
that as I do this more often my Samoan is going to drastically
improve. Erin from group 81 teaches at the school we were at today,
Saleilua, so she got the opportunity to get a laugh from my
floundering through the lesson.

Tomorrow we have one more school for the water conservation, Lepa
primary, then it's on to personal hygiene next week.

Over the weekend I had a chance to attend a wedding, one of Misa and
Leilani's sons got married at Le Vasa resort. The wedding wasn't a
100% traditional Samoan wedding because the bride is from New
Zealand. The wedding had the groom's men and bride's maids, the men
were wearing Samoan attire including ie lavalavas and the bride's
maids were wearing semi casual dresses, no pulatasi for the New
Zealand girls! They did have a Samoan minister but the service was in
english.

Some times I forget how loving and accepting the people are here.
When they were taking family pictures after the wedding I was included
in the pictures. And I can't remember how many times I was referred
to as Tai's (the groom's) brother. Though I had a rough start here, I
have to say I am extremely lucky to have such a great family to be a
part of during my time here.

Following the wedding was the usual feast and then dancing. The food
was great and was a mix of traditional Samoan and some more palagi-
like dishes. There was no hokey-pokey, chicken dance or YMCA played
though. I had to explain the chicken dance to Leilani and I was out
there on the dance floor doing the chicken dance to a Chris Brown
remix. (Sorry I can't remember the exact song but I think it's
ridiculous no matter what, right?) The height of the entertainment
for the night was when Joseph, one of Leilani's nephews (I think), and
who is a faafafine (which I guess would make him, well, her, Leilani's
niece. Did you follow all that?), performed a Beyonce dance out on
the dance floor all by himself, um, I mean herself.

Running a bit long here so I will wrap it up but after much debate I
have decided to mention the following which I am sure will disappoint
my mom. I figure it's not the first time I have disappointed her and
in all reality my track record has probably conditioned her well for
this and any future, inevitable disappointments. I have scheduled my
Samoan tattoo for December 7th. Doing it old school style with the
combs because, after all, why come to Samoa, one of the birth places
of tattoo culture, and get it done with a boring gun? I will try to
get more information on the history of the tattoo here and I will
provide you all with more specifics on the process as well.

Sorry mom!

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

2009-11-11T19:24:00.000-08:00

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

2009-11-08T23:52:00.000-08:00

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

2009-11-05T19:13:00.000-08:00

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

2009-11-02T23:56:00.000-08:00

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

2009-10-28T03:12:00.000-07:00

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.

Interesting story in the Samoa Observer

2009-10-19T13:59:00.001-07:00

There was an interesting story in the Samoa Observer this weekend. Here is the link:

http://www.samoaobserver.ws/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=14311:dont-report&catid=50:headline&Itemid=62

Now I don't inform you of this story to discourage donations because by and large the money and goods distributed are going to where they are supposed to go, as far as I know. As I have said before, I would like to weigh in with my thoughts on this story but I am bound by the public neutrality demanded from Peace Corps Volunteers. What I can say is that everywhere in the world you have despicable people take advantage of opportunities like this. Now, whether or not this should be swept under the rug I suppose is a matter of opinion.

If you do have concerns about where your donations are going I would suggest making sure you give to an organization you know you can trust. Having been with the Red Cross for over a month now I can tell you for certain that this is one of those organizations that can be trusted. In fact we will soon be posting a list of all the donors and continue to work to post the number of goods distributed and to where, on the Red Cross website.

Switching topics, I have figured out a way to upload pictures to Picasa really fast so now I will get some of those pictures posted. We had our global handwashing day lessons in the effected primary schools last week. The pictures are uploaded on the Samoa red Cross Picasa album so here is the link to them:

Global Handwashing Day

We also had our Fiafia (party) for the new volunteers. Did the Samoan dance thing and ate a lot of food. I will be getting those pictures up on the webalbum soon as well.

Recovery Efforts Around the Corner/New Volunteers are here

2009-10-12T00:55:00.000-07:00

We are coming up on two weeks after the tsunami hit and the Red Cross
is working hard in partnership with other governmental and non-
governmental orgs in the relief efforts. (technically the efforts
immediately following a disaster is called the relief phase and
following that is the recovery phase though there is a bit of overlap
between the two)

If you all hadn't heard there was another large earthquake in the
pacific that triggered a tsunami warning last week. The warning siren
went off and the response to the warning this time was immediate and
nearly universal. This type of response of course is expected
immediately following a disaster. I went out with the evacuation
point assessment team from the Red Cross to help take count of the
various demographics at a number of evacuation points around the Apia
area. In trying to get to them, a huge vulnerability of the Apia area
became apparent. Traffic was at a crawl due to, not only the dense
population trying to exit the downtown area but also due to the number
of people going into the downtown area obviously going to get people.
I sincerely hope this is addressed by those responsible for disaster
preparedness here because in the event of a rapidly developing tsunami
in the Apia area like the one that hit the south coast, well, you get
the idea.

Back to the relief/recovery topic, things are moving along, slowly, though
slowly is a relative term. When considering the situation things are
progressing at a respectable rate and support in a variety of areas is
being given as best as the current capacity will allow. A large
number of those effected have relocated into the highlands and do not
plan to return to the coast. This, of course, presents problems for
the rebuilding process and reconnecting electricity, water and
sanitation services to those affected. People are now living in areas
with little utility infrastructure and road development. I am not
aware of the plan for remedying this at the current time but as far as
I know the framework for the recovery is supposed to be coming out
soon. The Red Cross is purchasing water tanks to distribute to
families in need so that will help some with the current lack of water
and latrines are being or have been dug to help with sanitation.
Access to electricity is obviously still a problem. From what I have
heard access to news and updates also remains a problem. Most people
don't have TVs or radios and are relying on word of mouth for news
updates. I believe the Red Cross is working to get battery operated
radios, which I am really hoping they get soon. I know in Cedar
Rapids when we were hit by the flood one of the most frustrating
things people dealt with in the recovery was not knowing what support
they were going to get in the rebuilding process and it appears the
same is occurring here.

When I go in to work tomorrow I hope to get a good update on a lot of
this and will be sure to post the new information. You can also check
out the red cross samoa website for more updates.
(www.redcross.org.ws) I am trying to keep it up to date. Please
excuse any layout miscues and grammatical and other errors in the
articles, updates, etc. For the layout, I am not a computer wizard
and am at the mercy of the program they are using for the website and
the programmer in charge at the ISP. And for the writing, I did take
one journalism class in college but I forgot most of that class (and
from what I remember it was useless anyway) and I find it hard to
write without inserting sarcasm or cracking jokes at the expense of
others. My blog posts are actually quite tame for me because of Peace
Corps rules I can't really unleash the guns, but trust me, it's
tempting some times! So you can imagine the difficulty I am having writing for the website.

Oh, the new volunteers are here. Something like 24, I think like 19
or 20 are girls so naturally we've got Peace Corps guys walking around
pissing on everything to mark their territory. Big swing in the
gender demographic, as can be expected with a big influx of elementary
level teachers. I met some of the new vols, don't remember their
names though. I'm sure some are interesting, some are not so much and
some will give me an instant headache. I will meet them all
eventually and they will all be categorized in time. If you haven't
noticed already I'm not one to post on personal information or
attributes on other vols so if you are interested best to check out
another vol's blog.

New Samoa Red Cross Webpage

2009-10-07T13:41:00.000-07:00

The Samoa Red Cross has a new webpage to keep you up to date on the tsunami relief and recovery.

www.redcross.org.ws

For those of you wishing to donate online you will need to go to the New Zealand Red Cross website: http://www.redcross.org.nz/donate

Your help is greatly needed and any contribution you can make will help. Please forward this information on to your friends and family. The more awareness we can raise the more help we can get.

Thank you all for your concern and support during this difficult time.

Tsunami Donations/Assistance

2009-10-01T21:57:00.001-07:00

Hello all, quick update. They have set up the "War Room" here at the
Red Cross so I now have internet access here. I have been appointed
the job of getting the Samoa Red Cross Website up and running. I hope
to get a few things squared away today and tomorrow to get it ready.
It will obviously be a work in process and we will be posting updates
on the relief efforts and eventually information on what the Red Cross
and other agencies need for donations and assistance. As I will be
posting on the website all overseas donors are currently encouraged to
give monetary donations through the New Zealand website. I will post
the address to the Red Cross Samoa webpage by tomorrow which will have
a link you can click to go a secure page to make your donation. As
always thank you for your thoughts and prayers. And for those
awaiting pictures the website will have them as well so those will
probably be up sooner than my procrastinating-self can get my own up
on my site.

Tsunami Update

2009-10-01T10:19:00.000-07:00

Quick post before I head out to the Red Cross this morning, according
to the Samoa Observer the death toll is up to 110 but there was no
mention of the number missing still. There have been some good
stories coming out of the effective area of some children and family
members being found up in the hillsides having been swept up there by
the wave. The relief efort is in full effect with volunteers from
around Samoa and the world coming to help. Yesterday the Red Cross
completed the village assessments and today will begin the
distribution of supplies. Many families have found friends or family
in other villages to stay with which is helping with the relief effort
since this is helping to minimize the number of people with out access
to food, water and shelter. I got some pictures yesterday and will
try to post them tonight. I will also be looking into how people can
provide help and support. I have been told that the New Zealand Red
Cross is taking donations for Samoa. I will try to confirm this
today. Thank you all for your thoughts and prayers.

I am ok

2009-09-30T11:39:00.000-07:00

Just wanted to post quick to let everyone know that I am ok. Had a
long day out with the Red Cross yesterday surveying the damage and
helping where we could. The damage is really bad on the south east
and east coast of Upolo. Going back out this morning. When I have
more time I will be sure to post some specifics. Thank you all for
your thoughts and prayers for the Samoan people during this difficult
time.

One year mark around the corner

2009-09-28T15:59:00.000-07:00

After multiple complaints about the lack of posting I have been
motivated to publish another post. Not because I enjoy posting but
because I hate nagging.

As the title says the one year anniversary of my arrival in Samoa is
just around the corner (October 8th). All in all the last year has
gone relatively fast though the last few months have dragged a bit.
Time tends to move a bit slower when you have nothing to do.
Hopefully with my newfound work the calendar pages will start flipping
by again. Speaking of work, it appears that I will be working on a
few projects at the Red Cross helping to relieve some of the workload
from two current employees and expanding the services that can be
offered. I will be working in the area of HIV and STI awareness
including condom distribution and medical service promotion for STIs,
First Aid and CPR training and community health assessment and
education. I am currently working with the Red Cross staff to find
out where I can be utilized the best in their operations.

Ok on to the rumors with regards to the road switch. Now please keep
in mind that these are rumors and nothing has been confirmed though I
will say often times here the "coconut wireless" as they call it can
be a reliable source of information. I have heard claims that the
number of accidents resulting from the road switch, particularly in
the first weeks, have been under reported. I was even told by an
supposed eye witness of an accident one day that the news reported no
accidents that day despite the fact that the accident happened early
in the day and was witnessed by multiple people including a police
officer. Now whether this was simply an omission by accident or on
purpose is unclear but remains disturbing none the less.

I saw a victim of the road switch last week in person. It was a young
boy at one of the clinics here in rural Samoa. He had bandages on his
head and his right arm. He appeared very banged up and sad. His dad
brought him to the clinic to have his bandages changed. Apparently he
was in a car crash in which one driver was on the wrong side, both
cars tried to swerve to prevent a collision and they collided head on.

Traffic is also an increasing problem since the switch. For those who
don't know, roads and intersections are designed with the flow of
traffic in mind. When you change the direction of flow there is the
potential for disruption of this flow and that is happening in
downtown Apia. A number of areas that do not flow well with the new
direction of traffic are resulting in traffic backing up and stand
still traffic in some areas. It remains to be seen if these problems
can be fixed and if they can, how much it will cost.

The buses are slowing getting back on the road, an from what I have
heard their strike was unsuccessful. So the buses are getting back on
the road, they are having new entry points put in the bus on the left
side and the old ones covered up. The drivers are still on the
lefthand side of the bus though because the switch of the steering
wheel and the pedals is quite expensive and beyond the budget of many
bus drivers.

Personal update, I did buy my ticket home, well, halfway anyway. They
had a sale on tickets to Hawaii that only cost around $600 US so I am
flying to Hawaii on the 18th of December and coming back to Samoa on
the 15th of January. I didn't plan on being gone that long but that's
the way the flight worked out and I get to see Whitney for 4 weeks so
I'm not complaining.

Well, there is the update. I hope this will put a halt on the blog-
post inquiries for the time being. And no, the new pictures aren't up
yet, have patience.

Red Cross

2009-09-17T21:15:00.000-07:00

Well, there appears to be light at the end of the tunnel. And of
course the metaphorical tunnel is the crappy situation of joining the
Peace Corps and not having a real job for about 10 months! I spoke
with the Samoan Red Cross and it appears that I may have found a place
to work! They have a number of projects going on at the moment and
are excited to have me available to help them. Of course specifics
are still lacking at this stage but i will be stopping by tomorrow to
see if more information has been gathered and a clearer picture of how
I can fit in has been produced.

Of course after such a long drought in job prospects I am hit with two
in the same week. I spoke with the President (I think that is his
official title) of the Samoa AIDS Foundation and they are interested
in my help as well. At this point in time they actually appear to
have a more specific idea of where I can fit in but I did talk to the
Red Cross first and my background better suits me for their work,
definitely. So most signs are pointing to the Red Cross but I met
with the Samoa AIDS Foundation today to keep all my options open, just
in case.

Gonna keep this one short but I thought I would give you all the
update. There are some interesting goings on and rumors with regards
to the road switch I will tell you all about when I post this
weekend. Also the new group is set to be here in a few weeks. I tell
ya, it feels like just yesterday I was the green horn coming in to the
country. (the use of "green horn" is for Whitney and all her new
Texas friends, yay cowboy slang!)

Back to the "routine"

2009-09-11T18:53:00.000-07:00

Ok, so I am back to my "routine". I put that in quotes because when
you don't really have a job there is really no sense in having a
routine, right? That is unless you are exceptionally strict about how
you go about killing time. My parents have arrived safely back in the
US for those of you who were concerned. There time here was great and
it was a welcome break from the issues i have been dealing with.

We went to quite a few places around Samoa including Lalomanu Beach,
Togitogiga National Park, Afu aau Falls, the blowholes, Manase Beach
among other places. I gave them the tour of Apia of course and we
spent some time in Savaii. We stayed at Stevensons in Manase, the
same place I stayed with my bro when he came. This time we stayed
some beach fales which were nice. They had a balcony facing the ocean
and actually had a bed, as opposed to the usual beach fales here that
have a foam mat on the floor. Also, Stevensons has pretty good food
which for breakfast and dinner which are included in the price ($80
per person per night) which is an awesome price. Of course going to
and coming back from Savaii requires a boat trip. My mom, get motion
sickness. She made it ok the way over, the return trip was another
story. The water was really rough on the trip back and her along with
about a dozen other people (at least) had a rough trip back and I'll
leave it at that. They were also here for the Samoa Perimeter Relay
Race which Peace Corps had a team run in.

The race was a 64 mile relay around half of Upolo. Check out the
website: www.samoarunnings.net for all the info. Chris Jager (another
volunteer) and I painted the team shirts with this kick ass logo.
You'll have to check out my pictures, the shirts came out really
nice. I would like to give a shout out to Running Wild in Cedar
Rapids, IA by the way. The awesome running store that donated the
shirts for our team. Thanks a ton guys! We got up at 4:30am and
drove across the island to the start location and were on the road by
6:00am. AJ started the race, followed by Trent, then Erin, Me, Jim
and Matt. We each ran roughly 5K then handed off to the next runner.
The weather was great, overcast and cool, you couldn't ask for
anything better. The day flew by and everyone had a great time and
best of all, no injuries! After all the times were tallied up we came
in second overall, not bad for some amateurs, eh? The team that beat
us was a team of Samoan runners and they were pretty fast. They
finished in about 7 hours and 30 minutes while we finished in about 8
hours and 30 minutes. (sorry I can't remember the exact times off the
top of my head) The only thing that sucked was they didn't have an
award for second overall or even mentioned we got second overall at
the awards. Granted we were also in the volunteer group competition
in which we destroyed the Japanese volunteer team! But second overall
still deserves props! WTF? We are definitely looking forward to next
years race though.

On to the topic of the earthquake, yeah there was a big earthquake
while they were here. There are little ones all the time that you
might not even notice most of the time but this was a big one! The
info I received was that it was a 6.6 quake about 150 Km southwest of
Apia. It was the biggest quake I've been in and it happened at like
4:30am. It woke me, my parents and Misa and Lelani up. Luckily there
was no tsunami as a result. I'm still not sure why some underwater
earthquakes create tsunamis and some don't. Ah well, I should just be
thankful there wasn't one.

Been rambling for a while so I'll give you the update and then shut
up. There are some glimmers on the horizon, I met with Lepa at the
Red Cross yesterday and it sounds like they can use me but it was hard
to come by some specifics. I will be stopping by their office next
week to try and talk to the secretary general to get specifics. It
sounds promising. Other than that the Ministry of Health sounds like
there may be something there as well however a meeting I was supposed
to have didn't work out (because I was supposed to meet with someone
else evidently despite what I was told). i have been trying to call
them to reschedule a meeting but the person I am supposed to meet with
has been impossible to reach. Which really if it's that hard to just
get them on the phone to offer free help I am seriously questioning if
it is somewhere I could have a viable position. My application for
Jamaica is in so my fall back is in the works as well. I feel I have
said this before but, I will hopefully know more next week and let you
know what I find out. Yeah, definitely said that before. Ok, I'm off
to the internet cafe to talk to Whit! (Oh I forgot to mention I'm
going to the internet cafe because I didn't go to NUS today. I
realized yesterday going there just reminds me of the crappy situation
I am in so after a few days there this week I decided to do some work
in the Peace Corps office instead which was much better on the stress
levels and really because I don't need to be there!)

Still working on getting the new pictures posted. Reminder for those
looking at the picture slideshow to the right, if you click on the
slide show it will take you to my picasawebalbum site where you can
view all the pictures. Tofa!

Road Switch is Official

2009-09-07T12:04:00.000-07:00

Today is my parent's last day here but I felt I should take a few
moments to post since it is a significant day here in Samoa, the day
of the road switch. At 6:00am this morning Samoa switch the side of
the road they drive on, from the right side (like about 2/3 of the
world's countries do) to the left side. There have been crews working
to get the roads ready, particularly yesterday which is an odd sight
for a Sunday here.

From what I have seen and heard from my discussions with Samoan's and
news coverage the change has little support in the Samoan community.
There have been attempts by PASS (People Against Switching Sides) a
local organization. I would explain in more detail what their goal is
but I think their name give you a good enough idea. There have also
been protest marches in Apia with thousands of Samoans in attendance.
Despite this the government has pushed forward with the change.

I do not have all the facts and information (though I don't think
anyone except the government does) because defense and justification
of the switch has lacked specifics. But as I understand it one of the
primary reasons, and possibly the only reason for the switch is to get
more affordable cars here that can now come from New Zealand and
Australia (both drive on the left side of the road). Sounds good
right? A developing nation needs things to be as affordable as
possible. But the question around Samoa has been what is the
opportunity cost? Answer, people's safety and most likely lives.
Those against the switch, which is the majority of people here from
what i can tell (please keep in mind that is in no way derived from an
official poll and is only based on my observations), have expressed
the concern with the dangers of switching the road including injury
and death. These concerns have been completely dismissed by the
government with the claim that all the precautions needed have been
taken and the switch will be safe and the adjustment quick.

I'll let you come to your own conclusions about the switch and its
appropriateness and potential for harm. I'm sure those of you who know
me know where I stand on this decision. I understand that some
international new agencies are actually covering the switch so check
it out online, I'm sure you can find some stories. I know it has been
mentioned in Time Magazine for one.

As I mentioned in my last post, after my parents head back I will be
sure to post updates on all the goings on over the last few weeks.
That is to say if I don't get in a car accident or am run down by an
errant car avoiding a collision!

Parents are here!

2009-09-03T21:03:00.000-07:00

My sincerest apologies for the log lapse in posts and for the brevity
of this post. I have a few moments to kill after my class before my
parents come to pick me up from NUS so I thought I would throw a post
up.

My parents have been here since last Wednesday and I have been showing
them some of the sites in Samoa. I will get into specifics in a later
post after they leave. They are leaving on Monday (the day of the
infamous road switch) and then I will have a bit more time to devote
to a lengthy description of current events and their trip including;
the places visited, the earthquake, the boat trip, the Samoa Perimeter
Relay Race and the status of my job here (or elsewhere).

So far the visit has been very enjoyable and I am welcoming the break
from the stress of uncertainty. We have a few more days and I plan on
making the most of it. Look for a new post on Tuesday or Wednesday
and I promise I will have something up. Pictures from the trip will
surely follow.

Rents are almost here!

2009-08-20T22:39:00.000-07:00

It is under a week away and my parents will be in Samoa. I am
definitely looking forward to their visit. This has been the longest
I have gone without seeing them. When I lived in AUS it was only like
5 or 6 months but this year it has been 10 and a half. The plans are
pretty flexible right now. I know we will do all the basic stuff, go
see the waterfalls, the beaches, hit some trails, head to Savaii and
repeat. My dad wants to get his scuba certification here which isn't
a bad idea because it is affordable and rumor has it there are some
nice places to dive. The only down side is it takes 4 days which is
1/3 of their time here so we'll see what happens.

On the job front the answer is still "?". I am chasing down a few
leads right now but really I am no closer than I was a few weeks ago.
I gave the Peace Corps Office here a soft deadline for a job and that
was mid September. If I am no closer to a job then I told them I was
seriously considering calling it quits. I asked about transferring to
another country but it sounds like that has a slim possibility of
happening since I only have a year and 3 months left. To get into
specifics I am looking at the Ministry of Health, the Red Cross and
possibly teaching health/science at a high school. I have been
unsuccessful at reaching the person I am supposed to contact at the
Ministry of Health (and they don't have voice mail, most places don't
and it is a bit annoying coming from the land of voicemail!). If I do
have any luck getting a hold of them I am looking to see if they need
any help in the health promotion, chronic disease prevention area.
After all I do have "a little" experience in that (insert sarcasm
here). The Red Cross has a community outreach and education program
that has potential as well but the head of the program is out of the
country till September. Lastly, teaching at a high school. I said I
would do this if there is a school that really needs me and I can know
I won't be forced to teach something I shouldn't be teaching. I asked
for health education and science. I always liked science and who
doesn't like playing with chemicals and other things nature provides
that could seriously harm or kill you? We are waiting on this, if the
other leads don't pan out then we will explore that option.

In other news, I resprained my ankle playing basketball, not good
considering I have the Samoa perimeter relay race coming up in a
week! Speaking of, I have to give a shout out to Running Wild in
Cedar Rapids. The awesome running store donated 6 shirts to our team
for the relay race, thanks a bunch guys! Still working on getting a
screenprint, not sure if it's gonna happen though. I hope it does
because I made an awesome team logo, our team name being Toa Pisikoa
(Peace Corps Warriors). I made the design similar to the Peace Corps
logo but not exactly the same because they have some stupid rule about
using their logo. Some one should tell them they aren't Nike and no
one is going to make millions off the Peace Corps logo. And sweating
you ass off on the equator evidently isn't enough of a sacrifice to
win the right to use the logo on a race shirt (for a Peace Corps team
no less). Weak!

To close, with my parents coming more pictures should be on the way.
Oh! I almost forgot, I am growing a jobless bum beard. I haven't
shaved in weeks because if you don't have a job then why shave right?
Not sure how much longer I can keep it up though, it can be itchy and
come race day it won't help make the race any cooler. Also there are
days I feel a bit guilty because I am denying the world a clear view
of my stunning good looks, and, after all, I am a giver. I'll leave
you all with that. Till next time.

Happy Father's Day Samoa

2009-08-10T18:49:00.001-07:00

Here's a fun fact for you all, this Sunday was Father's Day in Samoa.
Mother's Day in Samoa is the same as the US but Father's Day is not.
And of course, in Samoa they love their parents more than we do and
give everyone the day after Father's Day the day off work. (Well
either that or they really like public holidays, and really, who
doesn't?) Actually, I have an answer for that because speaking as a
person with no real job at the moment, in that situation, it's not
that I dislike public holidays but am more indifferent. It's kind of
like getting a present that you already have.

It does throw off my week though because every public holiday that
lands on a Monday here feels like another Sunday. Not really much to
do, only a select few places are open and you more or less spend the
day just hanging out. The main difference I suppose is that you don't
get the big Sunday meal.

On to current events, the word is schools are back in session tomorrow
after a 2 week swine flu break. It will be interesting to se what
happens with the rates in country. I'm not saying starting school
back up is a bad thing but I do think for it to have the biggest
impact they needed to close them longer. (and if not they should have
just left them open) Of course this is happening world wide in other
countries and I have even heard talks about delaying school openings/
closing schools in the states. I thought about weighing in on this
further but since this is a public blog and I need to remain
diplomatic in my postings according to Peace Corps policy so I will
leave it at that.

So with school starting back up this week I have 4 students in an
evening class I will be teaching, as I mentioned in my previous
entry. I am still helping with the gym here and the new person on
board has got some good programs starting up soon. Things are looking
up for the gym here, just slowly trying to piece things together. As
for the job situation, no news yet.

I was saying to some other volunteers that it is a good thing my
parents are coming in a few weeks, it helping me to remain patient.
So I am kind of viewing that as my deadline. When they leave if
nothing is coming up I will make a decision on my post here. I don't
want to leave, well let me rephrase that, if I can find something
worthwhile I don't want to leave. And let me tell you, the long term
relationship is what makes it that much harder because it's one thing
to ask Whitney to make this sacrifice and for me to make it as well if
there is a greater good coming from it. It's another thing to sit on
my hands here waiting for something to come up when the girl I love is
half a world away and the answer to the question of why we are apart
right now is, I don't know. I am going to look into transferring
posts as well. I have heard in rare cases that can happen, so if
nothing comes up here I may be able to go somewhere else for the rest
of my service. I did not bring this up to my country director when we
met because I wanted to find out all my options here, and as I said I
want to stay here if possible but I am going to mention it to him this
week to maybe get some things in motion. If neither option works out,
well, I'm trying not to think about that right now.

I think I'll wrap this one up, sorry to be a bit of a downer but I
figure you all read the blog to keep up on what is happening, how I am
doing and what the experience is like so I don't want to sugarcoat it
or feed you all a bunch of BS. Oh, check out the pics on my webalbum,
I put up the ones from the circus. Some pictures came out well and
some not so well, but overall I got some decent ones in there.

Still Spinnin' My Wheels

2009-08-03T17:57:00.000-07:00

I thought it's been long enough so I should throw another post up
here. On the job front, not much has happened, I am still waiting to
see if I can find an assignment close by (or one at all for that
matter). Contact has been made to the Ministry of Health and the
Ministry of Education, but I have not received word from either. I
have set up a time to meet with the country director on Thursday to
discuss my options further. In the mean time I have been trying to
stay busy at the gym. Mainly a lot of office work, policies and
procedures, cleaning and maintenance logs, budget stuff, equipment and
supply requests, etc. I find my motivation is waning though.

There are a few positive events with regards to the gym to mention,
one the new activities coordinator started today and she is a very
nice lady, seems very motivated, has a great understanding of business
and is excited to work together with everyone here to get this gym in
full swing. Over the next month we should have some aerobics
classes, dance classes and sports leagues all starting up here.
Second I got an email back from a fitness equipment organization back
in the states that may be able to donate some equipment. We will see
where that goes, I just got the reply email yesterday. So, yay for
the gym! Not to be selfish, but I could use some progress like that
for my job situation.

I will actually be teaching a class this semester (I think anyway),
Sport Facility Management. We are starting the 3rd week of classes
and haven't had one yet because at the start of the semester there was
only one person enrolled (business degree students take it as an
elective). Over the last two weeks I believe a few more have enrolled
and the class is up to four or five so I offered to teach it. Though
there is no guarantee I will be able to finish the class (if I have to
move out of Apia) but the faculty is aware of that. I'm not overly
ecstatic about teaching this topic since I have never taken a
management class in my life but I have a textbook and some job
experience to guide me. And if that doesn't work, I always have my
bullshitting skills to fall back on. I kid!

Interesting note about school, while we are on week three of the
semester we aren't having classes this week because of the swine flu.
This is an effort by the government here to stop the spread. Most
primary and secondary schools were closed last week and this week, NUS
joined them this week in canceling school. I don't want to be a wet
blanket here but if they reopen schools next week there is little
benefit to what they have done. I'll be interested to see what they
do this week and if the closure is extended because the swine flu is
still here, that's for sure!

On an awesome note I got to watch a live Cardinals game last Monday.
That was the best day I've had in a while! ESPN Australia (which is
what some of the bars get here) was showing the game. I went with
Erica, another Peace Corps Volunteer who is a Cardinals fan as well.
Had a burger and a soda and watched them Chris Carpenter bring home
the "W"! I'm hoping I can catch at least one more game. It was
really nice just to sit there and watch a baseball game.

Well, gonna wrap things up at work here and hit the grocery store.
Grocery shopping is over due, I had to eat crackers and ramen noodles
last night, when those are your only options it's a clear sign that
you need to get your butt to the grocery store. (that or you're still
in college)

Playing the waiting game

2009-07-22T18:47:00.000-07:00

Well, let the search begin. We are half way through the first week of
classes and no enrollees have popped up. So the question is what to
do know. I get the feeling my faculty wants to continue on trying to
get this program going but things are looking bleak. I spoke with
Peace Corps on Monday and they are going to explore some other options
for me in the area, perhaps with the Ministry of Health or the
Ministry of Education. So here I wait. I am trying to stay busy with
the gym stuff, but with uncertainty in my future I don't want to get
things going that I can't follow through with, give the worst case
scenario that I would have to go a ways away from my current house.
In addition we are in the process of hiring new staff at the gym so it
would be prudent to wait till they are on board to discuss the
programs they want to run and are skilled in.

On the bright side of things, it is a nice day out. Of course I can't
really go out and enjoy it because I sprained my ankle! Ok, that's
shifting away from the positive. Hhhhhmmmmm, what to talk
about......... Wow, I'm sorry I got nothin!

Well, I guess I'll wrap it up there because obviously I don't have
much to report. Though things are pretty uneventful at the moment I
will try my best to find things to write about in the near future. Oh
and one of these days I will work up the motivation to compress the
circus pictures and post them online. I would tell you I have been
too busy to do it but obviously I have tipped my hand on that one.
Damn it! Ok, in addition to finding things to write about I will make
a list of better excuses as well, sound good?

Circus is in Town

2009-07-19T02:45:00.000-07:00

The big to do in Apia right now is the Magic Circus of Samoa and since I am so special I got to go to the opening night. Well, maybe I'm not that special, our whole faculty got tickets for the opening night from the main circus sponsor Digicel (one of the two cell phone providers here) for helping them with a marketing campaign. Actually only a few lecturers in our faculty and a bunch of students helped with the campaign as part of a marketing class but all of us in the faculty got the reap the benefits.

The magic Circus of Samoa trains here in Samoa and travels around the pacific doing shows. They are set up here for a few weeks before they head off around the pacific. Walking in it was everything you would expect from a circus; popcorn, soda, cotton candy and a slew of blow-up and light-up toys creating a gauntlet of child nagging every parent must pass through to get to the main tent, more than likely arriving at their seats with a lighter wallet and crappy toys in tow that their kids will more than likely break before they get home. So from the start it felt like any circus back home!

The show started off much like any other major event here, acknowledging the prominent people in attendance which included the Prime Minister of Samoa and a prayer. The ring master of the circus definitely had the voice for the job and a belly that could land him a gig as poster boy for a public health campaign titled: If you look like this you will have a heart attack.....soon. Rumor has it from some of the people that saw the circus last year he put on quit a bit of weight since then. Impending cardiovascular events aside he was all you would want from a ring master including about 7 different wardrobe changes throughout the night.

On to the acts. I was pleasantly surprised at the number of acts they managed to fit under the tent. It wasn't a massive tent, a rough estimate would be about 40 yards wide including seating. They used the space very well though. Some of the acts included a hyper flexible 12 year old girl (which I will get to in a minute), a human water fountain, the trapeze, handstands on stacked chairs, a headstand trapeze, a magician, unicycle riding, comedic acts and motorcycles in a sphere cage to name a few.

So the contortionist 12 year old, I took anatomy and physiology classes in college and either my professors lied to me or that girl is missing bones in her body, mostly her rib cage and spine. I've got to look into this and I'll get back to you. The human water fountain drank 16 liters of water and proceeded to regurgitate the water in a steady stream, making me glad I eat before coming because I wouldn't have been hungry after seeing that. She also pulled the swallow goldfish and throw them back up one at a time trick. I think most people have seen that somewhere before, I know I have and it was just as disgustingly interesting this time as it was the first time. The other acts were entertaining as well, mostly a variety of acrobatic skills to be found at most circuses.

The comedic routines were pretty funny involving mostly slap stick/three stooges type comedic skits. What made it all that much more entertaining was the crowd's response, they ate it up! The routines definitely played to the Samoan sense of humor, and quite well.

The night ended with the mini-motorcycles in the sphere cage. I heard from another volunteer that they did 3 bikes at once last year. They started with three and then did five. Keep in mind this cage was only about 15 fee in diameter, I was impressed and scared for their lives all at the same time. What was most unsettling about the five bikers going around at once was before they started the ring master came to talk to them in the cage. He had never talked to any of the performers before their stunt up to this point, this raised my anxiety levels a bit. If it was an act to produce that reaction then I must say well done.

All in all it was an enjoyable night and a nice change of pace, something different to do. I'll get some pictures up, I tried to get some good ones but it was tough with my angle to the stage and the fast pace of the tricks. I did get a few though.

Quick update on the health, generally good but I sprained my ankle on Friday playing in my basketball league. Drove into the lane, dished the ball off and landed toe first on a defender's foot and let the ankles roll! Usually my ankles are fairly resilient but I have been playing in running shoes (I didn't bring basketball shoes) so I would get just as much ankle support if I wore my sandals. No worries though, it happened late in the game and we won, which I know you were all concerned about that. Quick note on the league, it is fun, don;t get me wrong, but it's like a cross between rugby and basketball. By that I mean don't even try to dribble around someone because they will rip your arm off and take the ball and it is not a foul. Actually on Friday at one point I found myself in a brief handshake with a defender. Silly me, I got distracted by the handshake and turned the ball over. And I know, why am I complaining, I have two hands after all, so even if a defender is holding one hand I have the other to dribble with. Oh well, i will take what I can get.

Well, hopefully Monday will bring some good news for me on the assignment front but I think it will take a bit more time for that. As always you all will be among the first to know.

No real news, just killin' time

2009-07-14T16:49:00.000-07:00

Hello, hello. Had my meeting with Peace Corps today and it was
overall pretty uneventful. I filled my APCD in on the current
situation and though he is hard to get a read on most the time and
doesn't say much what I got from the meeting is that they will look
for another position for me if things don't pan out here. Of course
we want to wait till the end of the week just incase the unlikely
happens and we get students signed up for the program.

It sounds like they will contact the Ministry of Health here to see if
there is any work I can do for them and go from there. But as for
firm options go there are none as far as I could tell at this point in
time so I just have to wait. If patience is a virtue, then I am one
virtuous SOB!

So here I am at work trying to stay busy, which isn't working out so
well. I was hoping that ESPN Australia (that is the ESPN network
shown over here at a handful of restaurants) would show the MLB All-
Star Game today but instead they are showing WNBA and billiards. Are
you kidding me!! Oh well, I'll just have to watch the recorded games
my dad sent me, take what I can get right?

Well, it's about time to call Whitney. I probably won't know more
about the job until Friday or Monday so look for a post then.

Tofa Soifua

Meeting Tomorrow

2009-07-13T19:29:00.000-07:00

Tomorrow is the big day. Well, actually it probably won't be that big
of a day because I won't have any answers but at least I can get the
ball rolling. I will meet with my APCD (or in other words my Peace
Corps supervisor). I don't know if he will have any potential
solutions for me at that time but I can at least fill him in on the
quagmire that is my working situation. And as I said before, all this
worry could be for not if some people come in late to enroll. (though
Monday is done and no new enrollees yet).

As for right now, work is slow and really my only true incentive is to
come into the office to have access to the internet. I do have some
work going on right now, none that has anything to do with the courses
and program but work with the gym and the employee wellness program.
These two things do present significant issues with me leaving NUS (if
that is what has to happen) because I have some things in motion that
if I leave it will cause major problems for the progress of the
projects; Peter Piper pick a pair..... ok, enough with the "P"s. If I
do remain close by then I can probably continue with those as special
projects (depending on my new location and hours). Of course I am
getting ahead of myself here but they are key issues and I don't want
to just leave them hanging. What a mess!!

So I am trying to spread the little amount of work I do have over the
course of the day and any trips to other people's offices or the rest
room are done so at a casual stroll and taking the long route!

Oh! I'm going to switch gears on you here because something just came
to mind and I thought I would share it. I was cleaning up my place
this weekend when I got to the fridge. For those who haven't seen my
pictures it's like a dorm fridge, about 2 and a half feet tall. After
putting off de-icing the freezer for so long that by Saturday about
the only thing I could freeze was one slice of cheese I decided to
clear it out. Problem is I have nowhere to put the food in my fridge
so I have to chip the ice out. Keep in mind this is something I have
done dozens of times during my college days. After about an hour of
chipping the ice out I am just about done, I can actually fit a few
things in the freezer an then I got greedy. I thought I might as well
chip all the ice off the freezer instead of being satisfied with a 90%
de-iced freezer. A few minutes into this, things going well, I can
actually see what the bottom of the freezer looks like! Then I F'ed-
up. I accidentally had the blade angled a little steeper than I
intended, gave it one tap with the palm of my hand and then I hear
this sound, like air slowly escaping from a tire which is immediately
followed by, "Oh shit", that sound came from me. I punctured one of
the ridges that serve as the line for the freon. Okie silly dokie-O
ladies and gentlemen I am an idiot. So opted to take the fridge
outside rather than try some foolish attempt to plug the hole. It's
better to live on with a bruised ego as a result of a de-icing attempt
gone wrong rather than be found dead on the kitchen floor in a puddle
of water with tape in one hand and gum in the other as a result of a
failed repair job on a de-icing attempt gone wrong.

Lucky for me the family that owns my place has an extra mini-fridge so
they are letting me use that. Now I am just waiting to see how much
it is going to cost to repair the fridge. I haven't checked but I
don't think they factor bonehead fridge destruction into our monthly
living allowance!

Ok ladies and gents, I think I am going to call it a day. Wish me
luck in the meeting!

What now?

2009-07-10T21:50:00.001-07:00

Enrollment has come and gone and the number of students enrolled in the program I am supposed to be teaching in.....0. I did have the one student who was interested last semester come in today and he asked how many had enrolled (this was around 11:00am). I wasn't going to lie to the kid but I also stayed positive and said today was the day new enrollees are supposed to sign up and it was early. Despite this he had me fill in his enrollment sheet but opted to wait to sign up for classes, which I can't blame him. So the question begs to be asked, What now?

Sure some people enroll late, but it didn't happen first semester and with only one considering enrolling, I think it would be miraculous if 4 or more people showed up after enrollment ended to sign up for classes. Which is the absolute minimum we would need to start the program and even that isn't for sure because it is actually supposed to be 10 people according to NUS policy.

I am planning to schedule a meeting with my Peace Corps Supervisor early next week so I have the weekend to mull things over. I know when I bring it up to my supervisor here at NUS I will get the same answer I got last semester, "People enroll late, just wait and see if some people enroll."

So what are my choices? Well, I have been helping with the gym here on campus which is a extra project I enjoy and will have some success with but I don't want that to be my primary role here. I could teach some classes in another faculty but we aren't talking about need in that situation it's more like, here have this class so you have something to do and so the lecturer can have a lighter class load. Is there somewhere else at NUS I can fulfill a true need? It doesn't look that way to me. So that leaves somewhere else in Samoa right? Well, i don't know the answer to that.

I suppose what is most frustrating with this situation is that I came here after getting an undergraduate and graduate degree and getting some work experience. That work experience was actually in the area of obesity and diabetes. I thought after all that experience and education I would be able to offer more than if I were to join right out of my bachelor's. To top it all off, I am living in a country that has astronomical rates of both obesity and diabetes and I don't know if I will be able to find something to do for my full time job here!!!

(Sigh) At this point I think I am starting to ramble. I suppose the immediate frustration will wear off and really while I have the right to be upset, I need to just cool down and keep a level head until I know what my true options are.

For those of you that do worry about how I am doing, please don't be discouraged my this post or my demeanor. Things will work out one way or another. I do not believe in fate all that much but I do believe it is the normal course of life for the path one is on to come to a cross roads, some times when we expect it, like at the end of high school or college and other times it is unexpected. I think the key to making good decisions in both situations is to be well educated in your choices, maintain a positive disposition, listen to those around you with an open mind and when you make the decision do so with confidence. One thing I have caught myself doing this past week is dwelling on the "what ifs". "What if I have chosen Africa over Samoa" is the biggest one. Thankfully I am at a point where I recognize that "What ifs" serve to only tear you down so these thoughts are fleeting at best. There's no use in crying over spilt milk right? (well, unless it's scalding hot and you split it on your lap, but that's a different reason for crying isn't it?)

So I suppose what is on the schedule for this weekend is relaxation and stress relief techniques to clear my head and then some serious pondering on the "What's next". Ugh, in light of this crappy situation my own relentless focus on the positive is a bit nauseating.

Oh, I did post some more pictures, the ones from Whitney's visit, so make sure to check them out on my picasa site. Stay close, I'll be sure to update you all as soon as I know more.

Back to flyin' solo

2009-07-07T19:31:00.001-07:00

Well hello again. My apologies for the long break in postings but as
I mentioned earlier I had good reason. Now Whitney has flown back to
the states and I am back to life as usual here in Samoa. Her visit
was great and we had a lot of fun. It did continue to rain a lot but
we managed to find a few sunny days here and there to get out to the
beach and some of the other hot spots. Actually the rain wasn't as
bad as you would think because we really got to enjoy just hanging out
together during the rainy days and the rain really cools things down
here so we weren't sweating our butts off on those days. Quick
summary of the trip: we went snorkeling, to the beach, saw some water
falls, went hiking, swam in a fresh water pool below a water fall, saw
some movies, went out to eat, saw the blow holes, swam with turtles,
toured Apia and relaxed and enjoyed our time together. But to be
cliche, all good things must come to an end, and it did.

I was lucky in that she left on Friday morning and I had a busy day
Friday catching up at work and Saturday with July 4th so I kept my
mind off her leaving pretty well (until now of course!). July 4th was
a really fun time. The festivities were held at the Robert Louis
Stevenson museum (which is actually his house that he lived in). The
day started at 3:00pm with a softball game between what ended up being
an all Peace Corps team and the Navy. The Navy is in country for the
pacific partnership program brining doctors and medical services for a
few weeks along with helping to renovate schools and clinics here.
Our team was supposed to be made up of Americans living and working
here but the only people we could find that wanted to play were
volunteers. When the dust settled it was the Peace Corps emerging
victorious! I apologize, I don't remember the final score but it was
something like 14 to 6, not even close! And not to brag, but I was
the coach and set the line-up and positions which undoubtedly gave us
the winning edge! In all seriousness though, it was great to get out
and play some ball.

After that let the food and drink begin! Dinner and drinks were
provided for all guests and it was an all American meal with Ball Park
Franks, potato salad, coleslaw and baked beans with ice cream for
dessert. The only thing missing was some America beer! But hey, they
had wine and Vaelima (the local beer). I chose wine because
personally I would rank Vaelima right up there with luke warm college
keg party beer and frankly I drank enough of that crap in college.
That's not to say I won't drink Vaelima, but if I have a choice, it's
usually my last. One thing about the dinner that still remained true
to life here was the start time. We ate about 45 minutes to an hour
after the agenda said we were supposed to, even on US holidays you
can't escape "Samoan time"!

Now I am back to work, and actually I am writing this at work. Really
because my motivation is low at the moment. I have done quite a bit
of work preparing for classes this semester but with enrollment
Wednesday thru Friday this week I find myself losing that drive. Why
you ask? Because I can't help but think back to the work I did in
semester one getting ready for those classes, just to have no one sign
up. Don't worry, I am prepared if people do enroll plus I have a week
left to iron out wrinkles before class starts. The big question on the
table is, what if no one enrolls this semester? That is weighing on
my mind pretty heavily right now and by the end of the week I will
either be relieved of this worry or be forced with a difficult
decision as to what to do next. I am working on some side projects
here at NUS that I would like to continue but I also don't want to
just pick up random classes to teach here just because I don't have
something to teach in my area. Well, no need to raise a big fuss
right now. With in a few days I will know if I am teaching my
assigned classes or not and then I can start stressing if need be!

Well, I suppose I should do something productive to end the day. I'll
try to get pics of me and Whit up by the end of the week. And Happy
Late Fourth of July everyone!

Whitney is here!

2009-06-23T19:16:00.000-07:00

Ok, so this post comes a few days after she actually got here but let's face it, do I want to be on the computer or spending time with her? I'll give you two guesses but I hope you only need one. This is going to be a quick post since she is emailing friends and family real quick and then we are leaving the inet cafe.

She got here on time and in on piece buuuuuuut, she did come with a bag. The flight out of Chicago was delayed (what?! Problems at Chicago O'hare, what are the odds! :-P ) so by the time Whit got to LAX she had to run to make her connection and the bag didn't get transfered to her flight in time. So she spent the first 3 days without her bag. That did put a damper on things but we still managed to have fun. We got her a lavalava and a tank top so she had some clothes to wear and just hung around Apia for the first few days. Of course getting the bag was a bit of a chore, like things can go here, we were told on Wednesday when she got in the bag would be here Thursday morning, wrong, then Friday morning, wrong and finally after calling New Zealand (that's where Whitney's bag was since there is only one direct flight to Samoa a week it had to go to New Zealand then to Samoa) on Friday to confirm they had the bag and it would definitely be on the flight that night we got the bag on Saturday. This made us both very happy, Whitney was happy cause she had all her stuff and didn't have to recycle clothes she just wore and me because of all the goodies in her bag!

I know I am supposed to be all about health and fitness but as a lot of you know I also have a tremendous sweet tooth. Which is why I was so excited when I got: the bag of Hershey's Minis, giant bag of Reese's Pieces, Cadbury Cream Eggs, Reese's Peanut butter eggs, Slim Jims and the best thing of all, CHILI CHEESE FRITOS!!!! Needless to say I am going to have to kick up the exercise regiment over the next few weeks; worth it! I also got some good books to read, magazines and Cardinals games on DVD. So thank you Mom, Dad, Whitney and Dan for all the stuff, I really appreciate it! It will help me make it through next few months until my parents get here and I can reload!

Well, time is about up on Whitney's computer so I'll wrap it up. I'll be sure to post more on the visit another day and don't worry we are taking pictures and I will get those posted soon as well.

Tofa

36 hours and counting

2009-06-15T21:22:00.001-07:00

Yes, that's right, I am counting the hours. If you had a girlfriend
as great as Whitney you would too. Let me tell you, the last week has
crawled by and I know the next 36 hours will do the same. But I can
make it. I have lasted 8 months and 9 days after all. So I thought I
would post a bit about the experience I have had thus far relating to
the long distance relationship.

I have said from the get go that the hardest thing about this whole
experience will be being away from Whitney and that is holding true.
Dealing with difficult people, dealing with outright assholes (and
yes, there is a difference, trust me), that's part of life and you
have to deal no matter where you are. And the cross culture thing is
a bit easier for me given my life and work experience. So that leaves
the long distance relationship to take home the prize.

Peace Corps is aware too, as a lot of you know, I had to go through
the ringer in the application process, describing my relationship, how
we would deal with different situations, etc. All of this is not to
say we can't make it through this, because I know we can. It just
makes it that much more difficult. If anyone is preparing to go to
the Peace Corps and is reading this, consider yourself warned! And
I'm not going to lie to you, on the really tough days when things are
going bad and you feel like you aren't doing much if any good here
those thoughts of going home creep in. Why? Mostly because after a
bad day, what I want to do is go home, lay on the couch and watch a
movie, some baseball or some stupid show with Whitney, or go grab a
bite to eat with Whitney, or go biking or rollerblading with Whitney.
(See a reoccurring theme here?) It's not what we are watching or
doing but just being there together that makes things better. But
here, that isn't an option, no matter how bad you want it to be. Upon
further reflection I don't get discouraged or worried at those
thoughts of going home, I think I would be worried if I didn't have
those pangs of wanting to go home. If in the really tough times you
don't want to be with the one you supposedly love, then maybe you
don't love them as much as you think, eh?

One does have to deal with these feelings though. Now the trick is,
when you get these feelings, to slow down and remind yourself why you
are here. Remind yourself that you made a promise and you knew the
stakes coming in. And that even though you are thousands of miles
apart that your girlfriend is still there for you (and you are for
her). I also keep it in perspective, realizing that there are going
to be good and bad days, ups and downs and you just have to ride it
out, because most often when there is a low, there is a high. And
really, without the lows, I don't think we can fully appreciate the
highs. And if that's not enough one can always remember that your
odds of getting a job when you go back are slim to none so she might
kick your scrub butt (yes I just referred to a TLC song and don't
pretend you didn't like it when it came out, no one likes a liar) to
the curb if you come back and just leach off her!

I do get the occasional question of how we do it and it really just
boils down to the fact that we are going to be spending the rest of
our lives together, and since we are hardcore exercisers that means
like 70 more years at least. (fingers crossed) While right now two
years seems long, in the grand scheme of things it is short. And
after this is all said and done, well I can't begin to explain how
excited I'll be for that next step in our lives.

So yes, it is tough, but wow, 8 months have already passed and it
seems quick to me (save for the last week of course). I could say
this a dozen times a day, everyday and it still wouldn't be enough,
but I am lucky to have a girl like Whitney, who understands me and
stands by me in decisions like this. Though I have promised, no more
long distance relationship after this, which I think is a reasonable
request, don't you? :)

And for those who love pictures I will be taking lots when Whitney
gets here and get ready for some couple pictures with mild pda. After
8 months would you expect anything less? Oh and on that note, Olympus
fixed my camera and Whitney is brining it with her to Samoa!
Awesome! So for those shoppers out there, Olympus gets an A+ for
customer service.

You can all thank a nagging mother for this post

2009-06-09T23:01:00.001-07:00

Yes, that's right, I am posting this evening thanks to my wonderful
mom who is dedicated to nagging me about putting up blog posts and
pictures. So if you really like when I post on the blog, you should
thank her, same goes for the pictures I will be posting after I am
finished with this.

Well, Samoan independence day was........nice. The morning left
something to be desired as I woke up at 5:30am, got down to the
parliament house by 6:00am only to find that no one from my faculty is
there. There were a lot of people around, just no one from my
faculty. I did find the Vice Chancellor of NUS so I did find where we
were supposed to wait until we march. As the morning went along more
and more people showed up and by 7:30am the place was packed. By the
time we marched (at 9:00am by the way, gggrrrrrr) we had a whopping 3
people from our faculty there to march (including me). And after
standing in the sun for 2 of the 3 hours I was less than enthused to
be there by then end. But despite that it was a good to experience it,
heres the gist:

The way the morning works is you have all these groups of people come
to the march in independence day, government ministries, local
businesses, schools, etc. The idea is to have everyone there waiting
for when the Head of State comes rolling in in his limo (which, even
though I've seen it a few times, it still looks out of place here if
you ask me). Then they have a prayer and the groups begin to march
around the big field in front of the parliament house and then in
front of the "high roller section" that has the politicians, head of
state and other people who have a lot of money or know the right
people. Once you pass this section you are done. All the groups are
dressed in matching uniforms or outfits and there were thousands of
people there to march. I heard in the past everyone used to march
from the downtown Apia area out to the Parliament house (which I would
estimate to be over a mile). But like so many things in the world
today they at some point decided to take the physical activity out of
the event for the most part and reduce the march to about 300 yards
(at most) around this field.

On the topic of food, yes, Samoans like Americans celebrate their
independence with food, the street leading up to the marching area was
lined with vendors. Some traditional Samoan food vendors and some
slinging the processed imported junk food we all know and love.

After the marching was finished the dances begin and go for a good
portion of the day. Again schools, villages and other groups preform
for that VIP group we marched past. I did not stay because I was
tired from cooking in the sun for two hours. And don't get me wrong
the dances are cool and fun to watch, but I have seen my fair share so
far and I know I will see plenty over the next year and a half. They
have these performances on Tuesday as well. In addition to the dances
sporting events and the boat races are the major attractions going
on. I didn't make it to the boat races because when I went back home
I stopped at NUS to call Whitney and do a bit of work and it started
to rain. Since I have heard the boat races for the Tueilla festival
in August have more entries and are better to watch I passed on my two
options to get to the races, get soaked walking/biking down there or
blow $15 round trip on a taxi. I hear I didn't miss much anyway since
the winning team won by a huge margin.

Oh, and as far as I know there were no fireworks.

Moving on to more recent events, I got 3rd place in the half marathon
here on Saturday. Granted the field only had like 25 in it but hey a
top three finish in a half marathon is still pretty cool. No to be
the shoulda coulda type but I got roped into a basketball tournament
Thursday and Friday nights before the race. Playing two on Thursday
and one game Friday night 9 hours before the race I think hurt my time
(which was 1 hour 42 minutes, decent) just a bit. And the second
place finisher was only like a minute ahead of me, tops. Ah well,
there's always next year, right?

Ok, it's 7:00pm and I want to go home so that's all you get for now.
1 week and Whitney will be here! FYI I'm not saying I won't post when
she is here, but don't get your hopes up, there may be a 17 day laps
in posts. Priorities man!

Don't forget to check out the pics.
Joey Brown MPH
National University of Samoa
Sports and Fitness Degree Program Coordinator
Office phone: 20072 ext 217
Mobile: 726 2121
joey.pcv@gmail.com

Samoa Independence Day Coming Up, Well...........Observed Anyway

2009-05-29T23:33:00.001-07:00

Wow, what a long week! It was one of those weeks where Tuesday felt
like Thursday and you just know that is bad news. I persevered though
and have arrived at Friday! I think the worst part about the week was
that I had Tuesday chock full of meetings and that means you get a lot
of new work and no time to get started on any of it because after the
meeting you are off to another one.

On to the title of the post, interesting little fact; Samoa

celebrates independence day on June 6th but their actual independence
day was on January 1st, 1962. Some sources site June 1st, 1962 but I
have it on good authority that the actual day is in January. I
completely understand moving the day though, seriously you can stack
two holidays that give you a day off work on the same day so I say
good move!

I will be marching in the festivities on Monday (independence day)
because NUS has their students and staff march so I will get to see
everything close up! Though I hear a lot of the people in my faculty
won't be there so it might just be the white guy by himself holding
our faculty banner, that won't draw any attention, right!? I kid! It
should be fun and I am looking forward to the festivities for the
day. Let's hope they celebrate their independence day like we do in
the states, by stuffing your face and sitting around watching stuff.
So here's to passive, gluttonous celebration! I will be sure to take
lots of pictures and post them up for you all to see and I will more
than likely post on Monday to give you all the run down on the day's
events. And don't forget, Samoa takes two days to celebrate their
independence so I'll let you know how Tuesday goes as well.

For those counting, 18 days till Whit is here! And I figured out a
way to get her to stay longer! When she gets here I am going to take
her passport and mail it to my parents. It will take at least 3 weeks
to get there and 3 more for them to mail it back, so there you go, a
fool proof plan to extend her stay to 6 weeks. I wonder if being so
diabolically ingenious will ever cause me any problems. I'll be sure
to let you know if it does.

Study Week

2009-05-25T13:23:00.001-07:00

Well I'm back to work here on Monday morning. The weekend was pretty
fun since a lot of other volunteers were in town. Paul had his 27th
birthday on Saturday and a few volunteers are leaving for good today,
wrapping up their two years here. So everyone went out to the local
watering hole to have a few drinks. It was a good time despite the
fact that the bar itself leaves something to be desired (it's very
loud in there which is my main complaint since I am the type of person
that likes a nice bar where you can sit down and have a conversation
rather than yelling at one another to be heard of the noise) Yet
another sign I am getting old, I'm sure! Sunday, as usual was
uneventful because that's the way Sundays are supposed to be here.

This week is study week, no classes are being held and it's the last
chance for students to cram for their finals and ask questions. Next
week is the start of exams, starting on Wednesday. I know that sounds
odd but the reason for that is Samoa independence day is on June 1st
(Monday). They like their independence day so much here at NUS that
they take two days off work though, thus the reason for tests starting
on Wednesday. As I found out this year, the second day off work (June
2nd) is not usually on the official calendar but every year NUS, and I
would assume other organizations around Samoa, decides a few weeks
before the holiday to take the 2nd off as well. So, 4 day weekend,
whoo-hoo! I'm sure I will come in and do some work on those days but
I will definitely sleep in!

No word on when I am going out next for the commercial shoots, I'll
probably get a call with 30 minutes to get ready like I did on
Friday. :-P Which ended up a bust because when we got to the
location the sun had moved too far and there were too many shadows
over the spot. So mark that down as 2 hours wasted. (Sigh) Almost
done.......I hope.

Gonna wrap it up there, just wanted to throw something up while I had
a few minutes, I was backing up my documents on my computer. It's
been long over due and I would have been screwed if my computer went
down!

Short trip this time

2009-05-21T12:44:00.000-07:00

So I got back from Savaii yesterday early, bad weather was the
culprit, though in my personal opinion, last minute planning didn't
help the situation either. My highlight of the trip to Savaii was
definitely the hot shower I had yeaterday morning before we left. The
place we stayed at, Lusia's in Salelologa (the warf village), had hot
water. First hot shower I've had in almost 6 months, and on top of
that it had awesome water pressure! Unfortunately today I was back to
the old, cold routine. Very disappointing.

Ok back on topic, we went out to Virgin Cove on the south side of the
island after catching the 6:00am boat back to Upolu. (Ugh! So
early!) The cove was beautiful (as are most places here!). There
were two down sides, one; it was hard to get to due to the poor
condition of the access road you have to take once you leave the main
road and two; mosquitos everywhere! It is very secluded and has a
picturesque beach but with so many other great spots here in Samoa, it
wouldn't be my first choice to stay at due to the fore-mentioned
negatives. Once we got to the cove the producers decided we couldn't
shoot because the light wasn't right and there was a big tree stump
that had to be removed. Also, it started to rain later that morning,
extinguishing the hopes to do a shoot at one of the water falls. With
the day pretty much shot at that point me and Sila (one of the Samoan
models) got lucky because her dad was on his way out to pick up
something from her so we caught a ride back to Apia with him, thus
saving a completely wasted day.

So as of now I am back in the office awaiting a sure to be last minute
phone call from the producers requesting I join them again for another
shoot. As far I I knew this was supposed to be all done by last week
but weather has prolonged it and I fear it won't be done till the end
of next week.

I am working on putting together a google map of the places I've been
so you can all see where the different locations are. I will be sure
to post the link when I get it updated. On my break this afternoon
(assuming I don't get the phone call to go) I plan on posting some pics.

For those who are counting (I know I am!) under four weeks till
Whitney is here! For those of you who don't know her, let me tell
you, if you did you would know why I am so excited!

Ok time to work, until next time.

Back from Savaii and off again!

2009-05-18T12:42:00.000-07:00

I got back from Savaii late on Thursday and have been pretty busy up
until now, which is the excuse I am using for not posting right away.
The trip was nice however as can be the case here sometimes the
planning aspect of it was lacking. I got to Savaii on Saturday with
the camera crew only to find out the producer wasn't going to make it
until Sunday so Saturday was ultimately an enormous waste of time. We
ended up staying in a village in Savaii (I can't remember to name,
sorry!) at one of the camera guy's aunt's house. We proceeded to hang
out for the rest of the day, i know, exciting right?! Sunday was
pretty much a wash as well seeing as the producer didn't get to Savaii
until late afternoon, sooooooo we did what all day? That's right,
hung out. Needless to say with all the work I have piling up on my
desk right now, I was a little put out. After staying Sunday night at
the Jet Over Hotel in Salelologa (not sure if I spelled that right) we
got to it on Monday. The weather was hit and miss all week with rain
and clouds coming in an out which made the filming difficult and
sometimes impossible because let's face it, rainy shots don't sell for
tourism.

Over the week we made the rounds of Savaii, spending most the time up
on the north coast around Manse. We stayed the night at Tanu Beach
Fales which was a nice place for your minimalist travelers. It is the
Samoan experience with open beach fales (remember a fale is a Samoan
house)and blinds made of coconut tree leaves. There were community
bathrooms and showers and they served breakfast and dinner there. The
beach is right out front and some of the fales over look the ocean.
It's a nice place to stay if you don't have a lot of valuables you
can't lock up and are ok with sleeping pretty much out in the open. I
am not suggesting it's not safe because it is, but let's face it no
matter where you are at it wouldn't be smart to have a lot of
valuables just sitting out right? I am planning on giving my run down
on the various resorts and accommodations so I won't go into
describing it any further.

A few of the touristy things we did do included going out the
Falealoupo which is the last place on earth you can see the sun set.
The international date line is just west of Samoa. It is said it's
the only place on earth where you can see tomorrow. That is unless
you cheat and get in a boat off the coast and go west and let's face
it, no one likes a cheater. I also got to swim with sea turtles which
was fun but when they are all around you it is a bit unsettling
because you can't tell if one of them is eyeballing one of your toes
for a snack! Luckily I must not have looked too appetizing because I
got out of the ordeal unscathed. We headed to the Afu Aau waterfalls,
the place Dave and I visited and took some shots there as well. They
got some good footage of me jumping offf a ledge into the pool. I
haven't see the footage yet but it should be pretty cool. Quick not
to Dave, it's the ledge we thought I couldn't clear the shallow part
of the pool directly below. I decided to live on the edge and give it
a go, I survived, big plus! I actually did the jump four times! We
tried to make it out to the blow holes for some shots as well but the
weather and tide weren't cooperating. It was raining and the tide was
too high. Quick not for any visitors, if you are going to the blow
holes, the best time is at mid tide. Other than those fun things it
was a lot of the basic shots, walking on the beach, eating in the
restaurants swimming in the pools, etc.

They did bring in an Australian lady named Tracy to be in some of the
shots and who is the "host" (for lack of a better word) of the
promotional DVD. She has done news casting in Australia and is the
editor of a travel magazine "Out and About with Kids" that is
distributed primarily in Australia and New Zealand. I enjoyed talking
with her, she had some great experiences from her travels and work in
the tourism business. She got the high roller treatment for sure
while she was here because she got to stay at the high class beach
resorts while she was here and I gotta say I'm a little jealous
because some of those places are niiiiiiiice! Like I said I will be
sure to give you all the run down on the places in a future post.

I have to wrap it up now, going to the morning sessions of our Peace
Corps Group 81's Early Service Conference. Then after than I am off
to Savaii again for more filming (I will be missing most the
conference which I am not sad about in the least. I would be fun to
hang out with the other volunteers but the content of the conference
does not interest me in the least). This is the "last week" of
shooting and I am glad about that so things can get back to normal and
I can start to get ready for Whitney's visit, officially under a
month! Awesome! Sorry no time for pictures, I'll try to get some up
before I leave this afternoon.

Fa soifua!

Off to Savaii, to be really, really, ridiculously good looking!

2009-05-09T14:01:00.000-07:00

So yeah, off to Savaii for about 5 days. I thought I would post quick
before I head out. Not sure where we are going to visit seeing as
they don't tell us anything. In fact I got a call this morning
telling me we would be leaving at 10am, thanks for the heads up!
(insert sarcasm here). It should be fun though and I will try to take
many pictures per the request of my mom. I will be taking work along
with me but I think I will actually be a bit more productive away from
the office because I can separate myself from the stress and issues
going on right now. Other than going to Savaii not much is
happening. I did learn another cultural belief last night.

Traditionally Samoans believe there are two kinds of curses you can
have put on you, one can be put on you for fighting or going against
your village or community and one can be put on you for fighting or
going against you parents or family elders. I learned this because I
heard that this curse has been put on a certain family and has caused
them to go crazy when they get older. It seems to me like it is along
the same lines as the belief in karma.

Well, keeping this one short, I've got to run and catch my ride to the
boat.

To all those moms out there, Happy Mother's Day! And just so you know
the Monday after Mother's Day here is a public holiday, Samoas
appreciate their moms more than Americans I guess ;) If it was up to
me, I'd give moms that day off work too though.

Being Really, Really, Ridiculously Good-looking

2009-05-03T23:12:00.000-07:00

And the shooting for the Samoa Tourism Agency continues. Not to sound
ungrateful that I get to go to all these places around Samoa for free
but i am definitely looking forward to when this is done! It's not
that the modeling is hard, god no! But you spend all day in the sun,
waiting for cameras to get set up or the light to be just right, just
sitting, cooking. Then by the end of the day you go home and for me,
that means the beginning of office work! Which, anyone who has stayed
out in the sun all day knows, it's nice to be outside but it can suck
the energy out of you! Despite that fact I have seen some very nice
places though. We did one shoot in Apia at Sydney-side Cafe, this
nice little cafe downtown that is normally too expensive for my meager
Peace Corps salary but because we needed some video of us sitting,
chatting and having a drink I got to order! Whoo-hoo! I got an
awesome banana-chocolate chip muffin and a hot chocolate (yes I know
hot chocolate in Samoa? But as I have said you really adjust to
drinking hot drinks while you are sweating and now it's common place
for me). We have also been to some of the nice resorts this week as
well including Le Vasa which is on the western edge of Upolo and Aggie
Grey's the signature high class resort here.

Le Vasa was actually a lot of fun because we got to goo out in
kayaks. Well, everyone else got to go in kayaks, I got to hop in a
traditional Samoan outrigger canoe with a few Samoan guys which I
think was much cooler that a kayak. At first I was just along for the
ride but after a while I got to paddle a bit as well. Rumor has it
they are hard to steer but I didn't have any trouble and the guys were
very impressed with this palagi's (white guy's) va'a (boat) skills.
We got to play a little volleyball as well (which was my idea because
I was going stir-crazy sitting around waiting for the next thing to
shoot). They actually ended up filming a bit of us playing. After
that was the Samoan siva (dance) and fire dancer. This guy was good!
The fire dancer has a stick that has a long flame on one end and a
round end on the other that they usually light after they start. This
guy lit the round end on his head after drawing the flame across the
top of his head and making a flame that stayed there long enough to
light the other end, amazing! The camera guy and producer let us see
the high def video of the fire dancer in slow motion, simply
unbelievable how clear the picture was and seeing all the hand work
and the flames in HD slow motion. Wish I could post that for you all
to see but it would be waaaaaay to big of a file.

Aggie Grey's was nice, we went to the spa and did some shots there.
The manager of the spa was a pretty funny guy. He really fit that
mold of the flamboyant gay guy that one might stereotypically expect
of a guy running a spa. He is Samoan but evidently he has spend some
time living in Italy as well, not sure how long though. He called the
7 girls that worked there his angles and you could tell he really
enjoyed his job and was very proud of the fact that they had the only
100% organic spa in Samoa. (Though I have to say, they were burning a
mosquito coil during the shooting, I could be wrong but I don't think
those are organic! Not to say anything bad about the spa, I'm sure it
was just a precaution by the STA for the shoot, mosquitos and messages
don't really go together!) After that we didn't do much because it
got cloudy so we had some lunch and waited around to see if the sun
would come out. We did get a bit of sun for a quick sunset cruise
though, it was still pretty cloudy in the distance and I don't think
they got any good shots from it (I over heard one of the camera men
say that, I wouldn't know, i don't run cameras, I'm just there it look
good ;-)

The evening ended with a twist, we saw a guy propose to his girlfriend
at the resort just before we left. He did it during the lighting of
the torches they have every night there at Aggie's, it was really
sweet and of course all the girls were swooning. Me, I thought he was
kneeling for a picture in front of the Samoan's with the torches and I
was thinking, jeez, is this lady gonna take the picture or what?!

Rumor has it we are going out again Monday and then have Tuesday thru
Thursday off (for the shoot, i still have work!). Buuuuuut I haven't
heard for sure yet and it's 6:30pm Sunday. They don't seem to know
what is coming up until right before it happens, and let me tell you
that is wearing on my nerves. Yes we volunteered to help, but
everyone there has other jobs and responsibilities they have to attend
to and the producers don't seem to respect that very much. Ah well.
I am going to try to post some pictures I took of some of the shoots
and places we've been. Forty five days till Whit is here! I think
this extra work I've taken on is going to make it go by really fast (I
hope anyway!)

The hardest work yet!

2009-04-29T15:36:00.001-07:00

Ok so what I have just started helping with may not be considered hard
work but when you consider I spend the evenings catching up on emails
and office work it makes for a full day. So heres what I am helping
with now, a Samoa tourism ad campaign. I am working as one of the
models in their shoots. Rumor has it they have used Peace Corps
volunteers in the past because we are cheap labor and in the country
long enough to help (we can't accept any extra pay outside our living
stipend provided by Peace Corps so they don't have to pay us, I do get
free meals though). Really this couldn't have come at a better time.
I was definitely getting a little stressed at work due to some of the
politics and other issues that in the spirit of remaining discreet I
will not mention. I am not getting out of any work but getting away
from the office is nice and a lot of what I am doing requires research
and drafting proposals, presentations, etc on my laptop, things I can
do outside of the office.

My new found modeling career has already taken me to some very nice
places around Upolu including a day at Coconut's Beach Resort on the
south side of the island, rowing a Samoan outrigger canoe in the
mangroves near Virgin Cove and an afternoon at Sa Moana Beach Resort.
Today is a day off and I am back in the office catching up on emails
and meetings and I believe we are heading out again tomorrow. Being
the work-a-holic I am I probably wouldn't have gotten out to see a lot
of these places on my own so it is a great opportunity to go see some
of the sights for free and to plan some of the places I will take
Whitney to when she comes to visit. So modeling in the Peace Corps,
who would have thought!

I took some pictures yesterday and will post them on the blog.
Yesterday I was with three nice ladies, Sila, a past Miss Samoa, Gwen,
the current Miss Samoa (who happens to be from Utah) and Merika, a
girl from Finland who came to Samoa on her way back home after living
in Australia for a year. Funny story about her, she came into the
Samoan tourism authority (STA) to get information on Samoa for her one
week stay here and they asked if she wanted to participate. It has
been a great opportunity for her because she is seeing a lot of the
country for free and a lot of the places she is going to with the STA
she probably next would have seen otherwise.

Last Friday and Saturday we had a really nice Samoan guy with us as
well, Fatu, who will be joining us again later this week I am told.
He actually performs with a dance group that travels the world doing
the traditional Samoan dances. He has been all over and it sounds
like an awesome job!

Well break is over and I have to get back to work. There is a price
to pay for helping with this STA ad campaign and that is being crazy
busy when I come into the office and working through evenings!
Definitely a price worth paying though!

Gym manager?

2009-04-21T13:19:00.000-07:00

Sorry it's been so long since an update. A few things have happened
since my last post, the biggest being that I may be working part time
as the manager of the gymnasium here on campus. I requested to serve
on the gym committee in order to offer my in put in the development
and running of gym services here on campus for the students, staff and
local community. When I went in to meet with the University Vice
Chancellor he asked if I would be willing to work as part time
manager. I accepted the offer seeing as I have a little extra time in
my daily routine here. It will undoubtedly require me to put in more
than 40 hours a week at the university now but I am ok with that as
long as I can have a positive impact on the direction of the gym.
That being said there are some barriers to my success and the gym's
success that will need to be maneuvered. Of the most concern is the
drive to get the gym up and running and create some income. I have a
fear that some moves may be taken in the near future to simply bring
in money rather than develop the strongest plan for the gym and its
impact on the students, staff and university. Not having all the
information, this very well could be the only option available, but i
hope it is not. I have a meeting with the gym committee tomorrow to
get some of my questions answered and hopefully to get the ball rolling.

I am back on my marathon training but boy, missing three weeks kills
ya! I still think I will be ok to run it though as long as I don't
have any more delays in my training.

I have started some casual volunteering with the Ministry of Health's
Nutrition Division, I may be helping them to develop some educational
materials. I am really looking forward to that. Also I have started
volunteering with the Red Cross here in Samoa as well. This is also
on a casual basis, whenever I am free so that's another thing i am
looking forward to doing over the next year and a half or so.

Well, i am at work so I suppose I should do some work, eh? I will
post on how my meeting went with the gym committee in the next few
days. Until then....

Back at Work.....On a holiday!?

2009-04-10T18:14:00.001-07:00

Yes I am back at work after my short illness and yes today is an
observed public holiday in Samoa (it's Good Friday for all you pagans
out there) so most places are closed, including government offices and
the University is not having classes. Yet another testament to the
strength of the Samoan dedication to religion. Me, I'm at work trying
to catch up on my lost time. Of course enjoying the air conditioning
and keeping up to the minute on the cardinals game is an added perk!
I am uploading more pictures of Dave's visit as I type so look for
those. Also, the kids in the Sunday school asked me some good
questions via email so I will be peppering my entries with some
additional information relating to some of those questions. i did
reply directly to them but I figured if they were wondering maybe the
rest of you were too.

For instance, I have heard there are no poisonous animals in Samoa.
Though they do have some pretty mean centipedes here that can give you
a heck-of-a bite.

Ok there's your fun fact for the day. The next few days should be
pretty slow and uneventful seeing as it is a religious holiday here,
nothing will be open and people will be with their families eating and
going to church. You know when I put it that way it really doesn't
seem all that different than religious holidays back home!

In recovery

2009-04-08T16:52:00.000-07:00

Ok, things are looking up. My fever was under 100 this morning and my
headache is subsiding. Not counting my chickens just yet but it
appears it was just a 24-48 hour bug and not dengue fever, thank God!
Staying home today and probably will tomorrow just incase and to make
sure i fully recover from what ever miscellaneous ailment this was.
So as of now, the marathon is still on (though I seriously have some
catching up to do on my training!) I'll try and get some more pics
posted tomorrow. I took some of my house and dog so I will put those
up in addition to more of Dave's visit.

Mystery Illness

2009-04-07T17:32:00.001-07:00

Ua ou ma'i! (I am sick!) Well, here I am at home on a week day trying
to shake a bug that hit me late last night. I went to bed around 11pm
and woke at 2:00am, shivering my butt off. I knew I had a fever, but
I didn't have a thermometer to use. Needless to say, I didn't get
much sleep last night. Symptoms include chills (last night), sweating
early this morning, fever, wicked headache and possibly muscle
soreness. The difficulty with that is I ran a hard 6 miles yesterday
including hills and I am sore from that. Best case scenario it's a
24-48 bug that will pass. One of the more less attractive
possibilities is dengue fever (without the hard run, I could know
better if I had muscle soreness from the illness which is a symptom of
dengue). I won't bore you with all the details of dengue fever, you
can google it for more info! Bottom line is that's a week long fever
(and then some) that can really kick your ass. I will keep you all
posted and hopefully by Thursday I will be up and about again. If it
is dengue I will be very put out because besides the fact that I hear
it is no fun to go through, the odds of me doing the marathon are
pretty much wiped out since sometimes it can take weeks or months to
fully recover your energy and stamina after dengue fever. I'll keep
my fingers crossed and hopefully I will have good news tomorrow.

Not a Samoan post but worth mentioning

2009-04-05T17:24:00.000-07:00

Ok, I'm watching the news here while I am sorting some of my pictures
on my computer, yes a crazy Saturday night for me! The news is
channel one news from New Zealand. I didn't catch the organization
holding the event but they were holding a massive water fight (water
balloons, water guns, etc) to raise awareness about those who don't
have access to water around the world.

That's just fantastic, we need more thinking like this! The US should
have a money fight to raise awareness about the poor countries in the
world, the American Diabetes Association should hold a sugar eating
contest and developed nations should collaborate to have simultaneous
bonfires burning vaccines and medication to raise awareness about
those who don't have access in developing nations. I mean really, how
do you get enough people together to think this is such a good idea
that it is organized and even shown on the news?! And then get people
to come out who also think wasting water is a great way to raise
awareness that it is scarce in many places of the world. Sigh, sorry
to get on my soap box but I volunteered for the TAP Project for UNICEF
and this fund raiser is just a twisted way to go about raising the
same awareness the TAP Project was trying to accomplish. Hearts were
in the right place but their heads were not!

Posts like this won't happen often, but this just happened to be so
absurd to me, I just had to share it.

Not a Samoan post but worth mentioning

2009-04-05T03:15:00.000-07:00

Posts like this won't happen often, but this just happened to so
absurd to me, I just had to share it.

Dave's Visit Part 3

2009-04-04T21:26:00.000-07:00

Well the email thing worked which is awesome! This will make posting
way easier! And on to the topic at hand, Dave's trip.

So the next thing on our itinerary was seeing a few sights around
Upolu (the island I am living on). We decided to start the day with a
bit of snorkeling and beach time. We drove east along the road that
goes around the island and there is a section that goes inland and up
the mountain quite a bit. The view on this part of the drive is quite
beautiful. the beautiful greens of the mountainside and valleys are a
sight to be seen. If you take the time to look back you are treated
with a scenic view of the sloping green mountainsides running down to
the ocean. I wish there was a hiking or biking trail up this way, it
would be on my top lists of things to do! We got to Lalomanu beach
and headed in to the water. The snorkeling was nice. I don't have
much experience snorkeling so i can't make much of a comparison but
there were a variety of coral and some beautiful fish. At the tide
level we went in the water there were some spots you couldn't get to
because the coral nearly reached the surface. i even got myself in a
few tight spots and had to carefully navigate my way out with out
raking my stomach over the coral (ouch!). We tried to get my little
charcoal grill going but I think the charcoal I had got wet and then a
lady kicked us off the part of the beach we went to to get the grill
going. Evidently we were on some resort's beach, but there were no
markings and there wasn't a person to be seen on this section of the
beach, just empty beach fales (beach houses). This is very
uncharacteristic of Samoans but is probably what comes with the
introduction of business to these parts. Having been in country for
about 6 months now and experiencing the traditional, very friendly
Samoan hospitality, admittedly I was a little pissed off she told us
to move. But we did and didn't make much of a fuss. The grill wasn't
working out anyway. We just had lunch at the resort next to the place
that told us to move (take that lady!). After lunch and some
digesting time we hit the water again for one more round of snorkeling
and then hit the road to checkout some of the beautiful waterfalls
Upolu has to offer.

We saw the Sopoaga waterfall, which had a neat little Samoan setup
that gives visitors a brief view into the traditional Samoan set up
including the Samoan drums, kitchen, umu (rock oven) and some of the
different trees and plants here. They even had markers with the
Samoan, english and scientific name for the plants. There was also
nice seating so you could have a snack or lunch overlooking the falls.

After this we went to Togitogiga falls located in the National Park.
These were pretty cool too. They weren't the tall, plunging falls
like Sopoaga but they were more of a wide stair step type falls.
Access was pretty easy with a car park just 100 meters away from the
falls. These falls have a nice set up by them as well, it would be a
great place to have a BBQ or get together. You can go for a swim at
the bottom of these falls, but we opted not to, as it was getting late
in the day and there were 4 people swimming already. Which by the way
just stared at us as we walked up to look at the falls. And I'm not
talking look up and go back to your business, I mean stare. And it's
not like they were Samoan, that you could expect a little of, but they
were some stupid palagis (white people), probably tourists.

God I hate tourists here! Not to get off on a tangent but just
because I am white and you are white does not make us friends and I
don't want to be associated with your goofy hat wearing, fanny pack
sporting, traffic disrupting, loud obnoxious group! So for those
coming to visit there are some ground rules: no fanny packs, no goofy
hats, use inside voices and follow my lead when we are out and about.

Back on topic, so we called it a day because the next morning we had
to get up at 5:00am to go to Fausaga to visit my host family. This is
where Dave got the true Samoan experience! My family was glad to see
me and happy to meet him. They even killed a pig for the meal. I got
Dave involved a little, scraping a taro. I was surprised they let him
do that much! Dave got a chance to try the taro, palusami, Samoan
fish, pig and a few other things. I think Dave was happy with the
experience. My family even gave him a shirt and lavalava which I do
have pictures of and will be posting. (actually, i'll try to post it
in here, let's see if it works) If it didn't go directly in I'll put
it in the slideshow.

Email Blog post test

2009-04-04T19:20:00.001-07:00

Well, I am giving this a try. I think I found a way to post to my
blog through my email. If this does work i'm sure all those really
computer savvy people out there will be like, DUH! But hey, I'm
learning day by day and I think anyone that knows me knows that there
are many other places I'd rather be than in front of a computer. I am
planning on finishing my posts about Dave's trip in a bit but first I
want to see if this works. Here goes!

Dave's Visit Part 2

2009-04-02T03:11:00.000-07:00

Continuing on, the hike up to the crater and back down at the higher altitudes was amazing. The view down the mountain is one I could have stared at for hours. The forests and plantations of Savaii stretched out until they met the ocean. The villages and their houses were hard, if not impossible to make out in the distance. The ocean was what was truly breath taking, The coral reef and shallow waters of the coast creates an interweaving patchwork of blue like I’ve never seen. Dave and I were thinking about hiking up to the highest peak on Savaii but that was a two day round trip so we opted for Mt Matavanu. After seeing the view from there I have decided I definitely want to hike to the highest peak at some point during my time here. Coming back down we ran into the Craterman, got a picture and as luck would have it he and his friend were heading back down the mountain since it was the end of the day. Being the nice Samoans they were they stopped about halfway down the mountain and Craterman’s friend scaled a coconut tree and got Dave and I a coconut to drink. A great experience for Dave (and one I have experienced a few times before) and it still astounds me how quickly and effortlessly some of these Samoan guys can climb a coconut tree! After the long hike we decided to call it a day. We checked in to the resort hotel and took a nap had some dinner and got some much needed rest.

Second day in Savaii we tracked back down to the south west coast. We went out to the Alofaaga blowholes to start our day. The coast here was made of bare lava rock (I think, I’m no geologist though!) and the waves crashed into the rocks adding to the animated scenery of the blowholes. At the blowholes there was a little old Samoan man throwing coconuts into the blowhole for us and a few other tourists there to watch. He would time the wave and throw the coconut just before the eruption sending the coconut rifling into the air. This was mildly entertaining, though I must say I would have much rather just taken it all in and enjoyed the scene without the coconut chucking. What was most entertaining was when her tried to charge us $40 after he was done for “the show”. Keep in mind he spoke nearly no English and my Samoan is decent at best so I tried my best to explain we weren’t paying $40 but we did give him $10 because we are nice Midwest boys. I told him would could only give him $10 because we needed the rest of our money for the boat fare. And no I do not feel bad about lying because A) it was easier and more respectable and 2) he didn’t try to tell us he was going to charge us ahead of time. Luckily you don’t run into sneaky swindlers like this at other locations here and I hope it stays that way because it can negatively affect the experience without a doubt.

After leaving the blowholes we headed back east and stopped for a dip in a fresh water pool at the base of a waterfall. The water was crystal clear and you could see straight to the bottom of the pool. So we jumped off some rocks, sat under the falls (which is a great way to get a free massage!) and swam a bit, a great way to relax after the long day of hiking the previous day. After this we headed back to the wharf to make sure we wouldn’t miss our boat. Bottom line, we had a good couple of days in Savaii but you definitely need a lot more than two days to see all it has to offer. So Dave, next year we’ll go to see more!

Next post I will wrap up Dave’s visit, which includes a day around Upolu and in Fausaga.

Personal update, I have a dog now. Her name is Charlie (or Charlotte). I have inherited her from Erin, a Peace Corps Volunteer in group 78 that will be leaving soon. Today is her first night at my place so we will see how it goes! She is staying outside for the time being but eventually I will let her in my house because Erin has trained her to behave in doors. I think it will workout ok because there is a fence around my place to keep her safe from other dogs and mean people who throw rocks for no reason.

Weather update, still raining, third day in a row now. It is still technically the rainy season here and it has been a pretty dry wet season so I don’t have much to complain about. I am hoping I breaks at least for a little bit in the morning because I need to get running!

No April fools for all you, I figure it might be dangerous for me to post something miss leading and then leave you hanging for a day or two (or more as we all know I can put of these posts for days and days sometimes!) Oh and some people do pull April fool’s jokes over here but on the large scale it’s not really a Samoan thing. I guess it’s just us Americans who take so much joy in lying that we have created a holiday for it!

Planning on wrapping up the trip posts tomorrow, but don’t hold your breath. Until then…

Dave's Visit Part 1

2009-04-01T03:30:00.000-07:00

Wow, that was a fast week! My older brother came to visit this past week and I have to say I don’t recall many other weeks that seem to have gone by so fast. I have to say it has raised some concern about when Whitney comes to visit, I hope it doesn’t fly by as fast as Dave’s visit. Despite the psychological speed of the trip we had a great time and I think Dave enjoyed Samoa. We even talked about the possibility of him coming back out next year. Lord knows he did not see nearly all that Samoa has to offer.

In the whirlwind tour of Samoa we managed to check out quite a few aspects of Samoa. The first day here I showed Dave around NUS and Apia, which I am going to take a second to call out someone we ran into during Dave’s visit, who shall remain nameless, that made the ridiculous comment that seeing Apia was a waste of time. Let me just say this, Samoa does have a lot of beautiful sites around the islands but Apia is a big part of Samoan life and a very interesting cultural experience. In Apia you get a chance to experience and witness some of the cultural shifts and international influences on life here and the mixing of those influences with the traditional Samoan customs and beliefs. While taking this in you can visit the food market, the flea market, the fish market where you can see and purchase a large number of traditional foods and items, the sea wall which is a nice and dog free place for a walk or run, a few nice trails, two museums and some nice restaurants that do have some of the traditional Samoan foods you can try. I’m not trying to sell anyone on Apia but in my opinion it would be foolish not to spend a least a half-day taking in Apia. So if anyone tells you not to spend a day in Apia when you come here, don’t take the advice. Apia is a unique experience to the rest of Samoa and is worth taking a day to explore and will heighten your experience as you can compare and contrast the way of life in Apia to your experiences around the rest of the islands. .

Ok back on track, we did make it out the Savaii, the other major island, for a few days. We caught the 8:00am ferry over there from Upolu which meant getting up at 5:30am, ugh! The seas were pretty calm, thank god, and the trip takes about an hour. We hit the ground running in Savaii heading north we checked out the lava fields at Saleaula and sat down to have a nice hot cup of Koko Samoa with the nice lady who gave us the tour. I think Dave enjoyed the experience but the adjusting to drinking hot fluids while you are sweating takes more than a few days so he didn’t enjoy that aspect! And in retrospect it really brings to light how well I have adjusted to that seeing as I don’t even think twice about it now.

After that we continued north to the crater walk trail leading up to Mount Matavanu. This hike took us about 2 and a half hours, we could have driven the 4-wheel drive rental car up most the way but being the exercise fanatics we are we chose to hike it. All in all the hike is about 8-10km (that’s right I used km instead of miles, deal with it. Use your cell phone if you wan the conversion) about 2 km from the top you are greeted by the World Famous Craterman. This for as best I could tell was a self appointed name by the “Craterman”. Interesting man who stays up the mountain and maintains the trail to the crater (which appears to be quite the task considering the length and grade of the hike, and the fact that he probably does it all with a weed-whacker and a machete) The hike to the top is lined with signs stating names, locations and sometimes quotes from visitors up the mountain that the Craterman makes. I found it to be entertaining but not distracting from the scenery that is great. There was some questionable spelling and I think I saw a sign identifying Africa as one of the “countries” that people have come to visit from, but all in all he gets and “E” for effort and in all reality little things like that make the experience that much more enjoyable.

Seeing as I have rambled on for quite some time now I think I will close this post and pick it up tomorrow or the next day. Quick note, my awesome parents sent a camera over with David so I can resume the posting of pictures. I will get some pics of my bro’s visit up soon so be looking for those.

Big Bro is on his way!

2009-03-25T03:57:00.000-07:00

Well, the night has gotten away from me and it is almost midnight. I have to wake up at 4:00am to go meet my brother Dave at the airport for his flight ar riving at 5:30am. No excited about the early rise, but definitely excited he's coming to visit. Tomorrow will be a nice day just showing him the university and around Apia. I think we are going to try and make it to Savaii for a day or two while he's here. And of course the visit to Fausaga to visit my Samoan family will be on the itinerary.

The visit really couldn't come at a better time because as of this week I have inadvertently upset someone I have been working with on some special projects. It's nothing that can't be resolved with a little time and the right approach. It is frustrating that it has come as a result of some assumptions about me and my motives that are simply not true and have more than likely occurred because of a skewed perspective towards a seemingly harmless and professional email I sent. A skewed perspective that I have come to find out from third parties that is the result of some previously bad professional experiences that this individual has experienced. I am sympathetic to the situation and am hoping for the best. But in all reality what good is it for a Peace Corps volunteer to have personal and political motives in a special project right?

I apologize of the cryptic nature of this post but lets face it, airing dirty laundry and naming names on a public blog sight has trouble written all over it so I have to stick to generalities, though I feel incidents like this are important to post to help give the full picture of the ups and downs of this Peace Corps experience.

I will say it takes a lot of self control when you are offering your help and time (a lot of both) and are faced with a situation like this. Obviously the knee jerk reaction is, "you want to be like that fine, go do it on your own and just piss away this great opportunity for free help from a experienced individual that can help you in producing excellent results. Watch me not lose sleep over it" Unfortunately, i am the type of person that would lose sleep over it because little things like this getting in the way of progress and improving the lives of people should not happen, but it does, and I'll be damned if I don't try everything I can to get past any superficial ideas or false assumptions that stand in the way of progress. And if it doesn't work out after that, then I'll go another way and to people that are willing to work with me because I don't think one person should dictate the outcome of a potentially great project based on personal reasons.

Inspired by our new president I am a firm believer in setting personal feelings and squabbles aside and getting stuff done. I hope that we can move beyond this and clear up these misconceptions. I will be sure to let you all know how it turns out. Until that time I welcome the break to clear my head and hang out with my big bro. Oh and I'm getting a camera when he comes so let the pictures resume!

I have dial-up!

2009-03-19T00:59:00.000-07:00

Yes, that's right, I am excited about dial-up internet! I got my phone line installed this week and I went to the dial-up internet provider today and set up an account. So now I don't have to go into the office or to the internet cafe on the weekends. Also for all my avid followers that means I can post more often as well (since I can come home and get on to blogger.com since NUS IT department blocks that website for some crazy reason).

Quick note as i close this post, my older brother (that's Uso matua for those who are interested in the Samoan version) is coming in officially a week. I am really looking forward to that. I'm going to try and plan our week this weekend which will be tough since I have stuck to my work-aholic behaviors and not gotten out much. But it will be a good opportunity for me to get out and see some sites without feeling guilty about being a slacker!

I hope everyone had a great St. Patrick's day. Mine was uneventful, though I did have my dean school me on the history of St. Patrick which undoubtedly had my Irish ancestors rolling in their graves. This has given me some motivation to learn a bit more about my roots, first because it will be interesting to learn more and second it can prevent me from looking silly in the future! (that's the nice way to put it I think) Also I must say when you work with a group of people like the Native Americans I worked with in Tama and the Samoan's here that know so much about their history and their family lines and take pride in it, it really makes you interested in your own roots, though being the mutt I am it takes a bit more work to find out that information. When i get back home i think I will definitely do some research though.

Until the next post, which will be sooner than later now, Fa soifua!

Got some answers.......kind of

2009-03-14T17:51:00.000-07:00

So, the meeting happened! That's the good news. The bad news is, as I anticipated, there are a lot of grey areas that still remain, though I do have some direction now. Over the next few months I am going to be working on a labor market feasibility study for the program to see what jobs are available here, what level of training some of the local stake holders require for their employees and pay scales for potential program graduates. Additionally I will be working with my counter part in the faculty to see if there is any way to get the program recognized in New Zealand or Australia. To be honest I feel I know what the results are going to be for both of these tasks, but it is important to carry out the analysis appropriately. Personally and from discussing the issue with other people in country (Samoan and non-samoan) I get the idea that the job market here is very limited without the possibility of being able to take the degree abroad to get a job. As i understand it, no programs or degrees offered by NUS are currently "officially" recognized by countries like New Zealand, Australia or the US. This is not to say a degree from NUS won't get you a job somewhere outside of Samoa, but the lack of an official qualification authority recognition or partnership with a University outside of Samoa definitely limits a person's options. As the way the program stands now (staff qualifications and program resources) I have my doubts as to its ability to become officially recognized in this manner. If the results of the analysis show what I think they are going to I have a hard time believing the program can succeed in Samoa right now in its current form.

So given that situation I have been told by the dean that I can look at teaching in the faculty of education at NUS. They have some classes geared toward PE teaching (though not a whole PE teaching degree) that teachers can take as part of their teaching degree. Also there would be some potential options for remodeling the sports program and classes offered so that the program would be part of a few minors and split degrees (like a bachelors in sports education, half teaching courses half sports). Besides that I am getting more involved with the gym and the helping current gym manager. Also this monday I'm going to stop in at the Red Cross office to talk with them and see how I can help there as well. Staying busy, that's the bottom line.

Quick note on the personal life, had a St. Patty's day party for the PC volunteers at my place last night. My awesome (we'll call them my Apia Samoa family, they are my landlords) set up tents and chairs and let us use their gas grill to cook the burgers and chicken. It was a good time with quite a turn out, I think we had around 25 people there. Everyone had a good time and then we all went out to the bars after. I must say, having it on Friday the 13th was a bit risky but everything turned out ok. One thing that did disappoint me was it was very obvious it was a St. Patrick's Day party and some people did not wear green. They are lucky I let them stay! We also had some birthdays around this time so I got a cake and the funny thing was I inherited some candles from a PC volunteer that finished their service in November and they ended up being trick candles, it was hilarious! All in all a good night, now I'm just putting off having to clean up. :-P Later today I suppose.

No work from the phone company who is supposed to be putting in a line. It's been 3 weeks I think so I could have another month ahead of me on the wait! Lets hope not, I plan on following that up on Monday. It would be nice to be able to post more often so I don't forget things and the posts can be a bit smaller and not, as my older brother would say, be novelettes (which is what he used when referring to my emails, don't worry I responded appropriately!)

Hope you all have a great St. Patrick's Day. Remember, even if you're not Irish by blood, everyone can be a little Irish on March 17th every year so make it count!

Still waiting...

2009-03-07T13:23:00.000-08:00

So the meeting scheduled for Friday at 1:00pm was postponed, till 3:00pm later on Friday. Then at 3:00pm the meeting was postponed further until Tuesday the 10th. And I continue to wait in uncertainty. I had dinner with a friend of mine here on Thursday and the feedback he gave me on how to approach the meeting so as not to offend my dean was very helpful. It is a fine line I will have to walk to get my questions answered to my satisfaction while maintaining good repore (that is if this meeting ever happens!). My frustrations with the tutorials are growing because to be brutally honest, I don't know much about microeconomics and accounting. So I feel anxious going into the sessions hoping to God they don't ask me any in depth questions. Thursday is the longest day because I have 4 hours of tutorials and by the end of the day I can feel quite drained. The micro economics is not so bad, but the accounting is a little more advanced and there are definitely quite a few students in that class that know more than I do! So why am I in the front teaching!! But still I persevere.

I did get to go to the FiaFia Sports training this week. That is a primary school physical activity leader training program for teachers here in Samoa. The primary schools do not have PE currently and this training gives teachers the basics of leading youth physcial activities. It's kind of like PE with out the technical assessment. Because of the limited time for training it just covers the basics of running classes, game examples, progression of learning movement and modifications for diabled students. The training went well and I think the staff are very devoted and enjoy thier jobs which is great. As with any program it is not without areas of improvement but overall I was very impressed. From my understanding this program is kind of like an interim program until a regular PE curriculum is developed for the primary schools. The only problem with creating a PE curriculum is the minimal numbers of PE teachers here and the curriculum at the National University of Samoa for someone specializing in PE is very minimal (I think there are only four or five courses in the Faculty of Education with a focus on PE). But it is a start and as more PE teachers are demanded hopefully the program at NUS will grow to provide more specialized teaching for physical education.

Had a meeting with Erin from group 78 today to talk aboout getting involved with a Peace Corps run NGO, definitely sounds like it's a program with some potential and given my extra free time during the day I can definitely get involved. Also I managed to contact the Red Cross here and am going for a meeting with them on the 16th to see what I can do there.

So damn it, I am going to stay busy! When you have a great girl like Whitney back home it's hard to stay in the game over here if I don't stay busy and try and make a difference every day. I have had a few people tell me to enjoy not being busy and living in "paradise" as many Samoan's like to refer to it. But that's not why I am here so I refuse to relax and enjoy it! (Well I do find time to enjoy myself, but not instead of working!)

I will say this again, I hope to have news next time I post.

And the Results of the Meeting Are....

2009-02-28T15:59:00.000-08:00

Postponed! Grrrrrr. Well when I went to the assistant dean to request a meeting I was not told she would be leaving on Wednesday to go to New Zealand for the weekend to help her son get settled in at University down there. Exciting time for her definitely, would have liked the heads up though! So, fingers crossed, I will hopefully get to sit down with the dean and assistant dean in the coming week. The week after that I have a meeting with Peace Corps and my counter part at NUS to discuss the progress and direction of my job. If I don’t get this meeting scheduled with the dean that meeting with Peace Corps will produce little if anything.

That’s not to say I’m not doing anything, I am helping with two tutorials one microeconomics and one accounting, both with me going in praying to God that the students don’t ask too many questions since my knowledge of both subjects is limited to how fast I can stay ahead of the class in the reading! Besides that I am putting together lesson plans and powerpoints for the classes in the program. I am just about finished with the Anatomy and Physiology course and will move on to another course next week sometime. I am also getting involved with the gymnasium here.

Right now the gym on campus offers little (if any) services to the students, staff and community. There are plans in the works to start a squash coaching program which is good. Unfortunately all the gym services at this point cost students money Unlike my experience (and probably most of yours) where the services are “free” and a portion of the student fees go to the gym as their payment to use it. This in my opinion is something that should be changed immediately without question. Students are broke! That is a fact of life, if you charge them to use the gym for all services they aren’t going to come. This is a big barrier to health promotion for both students and staff here. It’s textbook, lack of access to facilities for physical activity and exercise keeps people from being active! Additionally the weight room is an empty room awaiting funding to purchase equipment. The management position is also in question at this point as the current manager’s contract is up and they are re-advertising the position, so the current manager could stay on as manager or there could be someone else. We will have to see how that turns out. Regardless of the situation I am currently feeling out how to approach this to try and get some things rolling and some changes made. Top on the list are free access to the gym for students, obtain funding for the exercise room and organization of recreational sports leagues and open gym times. The squash thing is good but in my opinion and experience the rec leagues and open gym times are the best at getting higher participation numbers.

Another project I am working on is helping with the marathon and perimeter relay races here in Samoa. This won’t require a huge amount of my time but should be fun. The guy I am working with is a Samoan US military veteran and he is very passionate about these races and doing them right to bring more people to Samoa and promote running here. It is great to work with people like him where you know you are going to get good results from all the collaborative efforts! I will post more about the perimeter relay in the future, it’s a pretty cool race and Peace Corps is going to have a team (I will be on it for sure!)

So I am staying busy, still haven’t really gotten out to see much of the country but my older bro is coming shortly so I can do that when he comes. Also I have been a terrible Samoan son because I haven’t been back to see my Samoan family since Christmas! Tama leaga! (Bad boy!) I am planning on going next Saturday though, hopefully it works out!

Well hopefully the next time I post I will have some news on what is going on with my job here! Both for your sake so you have something a bit interesting to read and for mine so I can set some sort of direction for myself. I’ve been on the job 2 months now and still being unsure of the future and only having 22 months left can wear on even the most positive of people. But don’t worry about me, I am staying positive and more importantly busy!

Let the Marathon Training Begin

2009-02-23T11:11:00.000-08:00

So as the title of this post would suggest, I have decided to do the marathon here in Samoa. The Marathon will be held on June 6th giving me just enough time to train. I started my training this morning and ran into about a half dozen dogs on the route. I did not have to kick or throw a rock at any of them but I did have to stop and scream "halu"! Which is what you are supposed to yell at dogs here when they are chasing you down with teeth bared! You also have to make like you are going to throw a rock at them and they will turn away. The really mean ones will circle back toward you so it take s a few threats before they will leave you alone. I may have to do my training on one of the school fields near by rather than running on the road. I dread this decision because of the monotony that running in circles brings but i suppose that's better than supplying an angry dog with breakfast in the form of my leg. That and thus far I have not had to throw a rock or hit a dog and I am trying to go as long as possible without having to do that.
Also on the sporting front I have had the chance to play tennis a few times over the last week or two with a friend of mine down here. It's great to swing the raquet again! The only down side is tennis courts here are much like I experienced in Sydney Australia, you have to pay to play! Ridiculous! I hate this for two reason; one, I am on a budget and two when you have to pay to participate in a recreational physical activity then less people are going to do it! Sigh! Yet another barrier identified in the fight against obesity here!
This weekend was the 25th anniversary off the University so the festivities were fun. We started with a march in downtown Apia, they had a big ceremony at the government building with all the government big wigs there including the prime minister and the head of state. The students and staff performed a long singing number and there was a traditional giving of mats and the biggest pig I have ever seen. It was all very cool and luckily it was cloudy that day so the heat was not overbearing. After this we went to the Univeristy and there was a big fund raising siva (dance). The alumni from NUS and staff faculties all took turns in dancing to raise money for the university. The way this works is the group that is to dance goes out to the center of the area where the event is being held. A bowl is placed in the middle and all the people int he group go put money in the bowl and begin to dance. Any one who is watching and wants to join can go put money in the bowl and join the dance. The dances during this tend to be slow, traditional dances with fluid movements. You do have the occasional guy that does some more animated dances and moves like for instance there was one guy who ran around doing summersaults! Me I kept it low key and and did my best with the slow, fluid Samoan dance. On Saturday there was a coctail ball in the evening, again attended by some of the government big wigs and prominant businesses in Samoa. There was a live band and free drinks, all in all it was a good time. They alternated between slow and fast songs so the slow songs really made me miss Whitney!
I hate to cute this short but I have got to get going, I am setting up my phone line today so hopefully soon i will be able to post more regularly (that sounds familiar!) And then it's offf to work!
Oh yeah, the group dance I was coordinating was not done, we found out last Monday we weren't doing it. Not that suprising, that's what they call fa'asamoa. You just have to roll with the change of plans! (And I'm not too dissappointed, trust me!)

Yet Another Western Influence Discovered

2009-02-12T11:46:00.000-08:00

Valentines exists in Samoa. I can say with confidence that it does not exist on the same scale as it does in the US but just like many other commercial American holidays it has planted its seed. More than likely pushed by commercial interests here. I haven't had a chance to talk to anyone about the extent of the holiday's celebration here but I did see a commercial on TV last night pedaling chocolate and champaign which is evidently the universal way to say I love you. What better way to say I love than a gentle push towards obesity and liver disease! I kid!...but seriously ;)

As for my Valentine's Day it will be uneventful save for my conversation with Whitney. I was planning on going to visit my host family on Saturday but I just realized that's Valentine's Day and if i went I wouldn't be able to talk to Whitney for long without internet access, so the visit will have to be pushed back.

I am posting today at 9:00am because I am at the inet cafe doing some research on Michael Jackson dance moves, that's right, I'll say it again, Michael Jackson Dance moves. All faculties have to put on a performance for the Anniversary celebration for the University. The ladies in our faculty decided they wanted to do a dance routine like one they saw on Britains Got Talent. This involves dancing like Michael Jackson. Being a Peace Corps and able to anything and everything ;) I have to help choreograph the whole thing and dance. I am trying to educate them on the condition that white guys suffer from; disrythmic dual-leftfootedness. They aren't getting it. Although I have been working on moonwalking and I kinda have it! This goes to show, you never know what you will learn during you Peace Corps experience.

As far as my real work goes, classes are being cancelled and work on promoting the program is commencing. Also I am helping with tutorials for microeconomics and accounting. Not my area of expertise but the help is needed so I am glad to help and I am always up for learning new things. Also, I am meeting with a representative from the Ministry of Education, Sports and Culture today to talk about some trainings or programs for teachers in the area of PE and Health for the public schools. I am looking forward to this meeting!

Well my video has finished downloading so i better get to work. We only have a week and a half to get this dance thing put together. Wish me luck!

Broken Camera and Classes Starting?

2009-02-08T12:26:00.000-08:00

Well, one item of good news for this post, two of bad. I’ll start with the good news, my older brother is coming to visit in March which is awesome! He has booked his flight is coming the last week. I do plan on using him as my courier to bring a few things of mine from the states (hopefully he doesn’t mind!) Now I just need to get out and find some of the great things to do around here. I realize that having some fun here is ok, but I admit I feel a little guilty spending time sight seeing and such considering the limited amount of time I have to volunteer here. I did go to the beach today for a few hours, the first time in over a month so I am getting out. That actually leads me into my bad news.

First item on the block, the water proof camera I got, turns out it’s not so water proof. I took it into the water with me today and water got in side. I am trying to dry it out and see if it will work after that but I’m not optimistic. I think I am going to try and have my brother bring it back home with him and send it in since it’s defective. I do worry though because I am guessing they will say I didn’t have the battery or USB cover closed all the way or something like that. Those big electronics companies love to screw people on warranties. We’ll see what happens, but until then, I can’t take any pictures, which is upsetting, but worse things can happen that’s for sure. I was planning on posting some pics of my new place with this post but the camera situation has changed those plans. I’ll try to borrow a camera one of these days and get them posted.

The second item of bad news, no more students enrolled in my classes. I so I am still at one student for each right now. I spoke briefly with the associate dean about this and it sounds like I have to hold them as scheduled until I have a chance to talk to the dean. What it boils down to is a lot of work (and I mean a lot of work) to prepare classes for one student. In the long run this is bad as well because the student starting the program will go on to take the second level classes (and possibly the third) and for those there will only be one able to enroll as well since he will be the only one having taken the prerequisites. Additionally having only a few students like that lessens the educational experience in my opinion, particularly in a field like fitness and sports where working with people is of the utmost importance. My hope is that classes will be postponed for this semester which will give me much more time to plan for the classes, help to develop a marketing program for the program to get enrollment numbers up and work to develop the third and final year of the bachelor’s program. There are things I can be doing to help the University gym as well and I am very interested in working with the Ministry of Health and the Diabetes Organization. We will see how this plays out. I’m not sure what I will do if I am told I have to teach the classes with just one (or even two or three students). I’m trying not to think about that right now and I’m staying optimistic about what will happen.

There is a positive turn of events happening at the university, I get to move into my permanent office today, whoo-hoo! So now I can take the piles of books and folders and actually organize them. No doubt to only be returned to piles and a complete mess in a matter of weeks. I find though when my desk is riddled with things I can actually find them where as when I organize things and put them on shelves and in drawers I have difficulty finding them. I know it sounds weird, but I know I’m not the only one with this odd sense of “organization”.

I am hoping that the next post has only good news but as the old saying goes bad things come in threes so if the universe is adamant about kicking me while I'm down something bad will happen this week. Though I am not one to generally prescribe to that university/fatalist view of things so I'm not really worried.

Enrollment is done and I gotta new place to live!

2009-01-31T19:39:00.000-08:00

One week left before classes start! This week was enrollment week and things did not go as planned. We only had one person enrolled for the program at the entry level and one for the second year classes. I figure this can be attributed to two things, first being the lapse of the program for one year in 2008 when there was no one to lecture. The second could be attributed to a lack of marketing the program. I was told there are people that do enroll late for degree programs at the university so there is still time for people to enroll. But here is the thing, I am going to have to bust my butt trying to develop the curriculum for the four classes I have to teach despite the fact that only one person is enrolled for each. Then after the second week of classes if we do not get enough enrolled (at least 3 per class) we then cancel the class. Needless to say I am a little frustrated with the situation. So I am in wait and see mode.

I am lining up some special projects as we speak and if any of the classes are cancelled it isn’t the worst thing in the world because it will give me more time to prepare and obtain resources for the classes in the coming semesters and more time to work on special projects I am more passionate about.

My Internet is all set up at the university, the down side is they block my blog website! So I still need to go to the inet café or the Peace Corps office to post on the blog. That’s a bummer, but I can use Skype which is saving me loads of money! The internet was down and NUS yesterday though, rats evidently chewed through the cables running through the ceiling, cutting off internet from our department! We’ll see if it’s back up Monday, I hope so, I have a lot to do to get ready for my packed classes!

I moved into a new place and it is just about perfect! It’s a nice small house close to the university, on a Samoan family’s property. It has a living area and kitchen in front and two small bedrooms in back (and a bathroom of course). It will be great for when my brother comes to visit in the spring and when my parents come in the summer. I do need to get some shelves for books and clothes but other than that I am happy with where I am at. The family is great and they have been very accommodating and generous (they have brought me a dinner plate a few times). Also they have a washing machine (that I can use!) which makes my life that much easier.

Medical update, I have developed some sort of rash in my arm pits. I can only assume it's due to the constant sweating and the skin to skin contact. I have been using some of my medicated powder I brought and it seems to help. When oh when does that acclimatization thing kick in?!

All set up for the Super Bowl tomorrow, definitely looking forward to the game. I have to root for the Cardinals since they are the underdogs, they have had an amazing run and Kurt Warner went to UNI. I’m 90% sure the place is going to be open since there is a group of people actually having an official party there. It is Samoa however so there is still that chance it won’t be open! ;-)

Sorry for the lack of picture updates. As usual I am bad at taking pictures. I will be taking some of my place and the University soon and I promise I will get them up.

Getting Ready for School and the gecko legend

2009-01-17T18:32:00.000-08:00

Work was a bit more eventful this week as I am starting to piece my semester together. There are still quite a few unanswered questions and I have yet to move into my permanent office or get internet set up for my laptop. It definitely takes a conscious effort to suppress feelings of frustration but I am managing just fine. Once the semester starts, I get into a rhythm and get to know more contacts at the university I am confident things will improve (though I anticipate slowly). Overall I feel I will be happy working there and look forward to the challenge of teaching at the collegiate level. It looks like I will be teaching Sport Psychology, Anatomy and Physiology, Recreational Planning and Design and Promoting Physical Activity for the first semester. I still have a few weeks to get some lesson plans down on paper and decide on methods of assessment. The good thing about my schedule is it looks like I may have an evening class which may allow me to come in to work late morning. This might open an opportunity to work with the local ministry of health or Diabetes Program in the morning before I go to the University. We’ll see, nothing is final yet.

I plan on taking some pictures of the University next week so keep an eye out for them on the slide show. I will also post some pictures of my current place of residence. Hopefully I will be in my own place some time in February. Not that I’m anti-social but if it’s anyone but Whitney there are days I want to come home and have no one I have to talk to! That and having my own kitchen where I can store my food would be great too! I realize I am in the Peace Corps and some posts around the world don’t even have “kitchens” in our sense so I am lucky to have what I do have. But if I have the opportunity to live in a residence that fits my personal preferences and habits while maintaining the Peace Corps ideology of living at the same standards of those you serve, you can be damn sure I will take that opportunity!

Here’s a quick bit of Samoan mythology. I have been told by a Samoan that the green gecko that lives here is only found in the Pacific Islands and in Israel which is claimed as evidence by some that the Pacific Islanders are descendants of the lost tribe of Israel. I am not sure how wide spread this belief is but I found it interesting. Additionally the green gecko is tied to a more traditional Samoan legend. It is said that in the past the green gecko was also part demon. This demon was actually a protective demon (so I’m not sure if there is a translation issue here). When ever a group of Samoan’s would travel to the other Pacific Islands it is said the green gecko would climb into their boat and hide under the seats. Upon landing the gecko would keep a close eye on the Samoans and if they were in any danger the gecko would transform into the demon to protect them. This carries on to today’s time and I have been told you will never see a green gecko in the forest or plantation. They only are found in the houses here as they are around to protect the people. So if you build a house in the middle of a plantation it won’t be long before you see the green geckos there protecting the people. I have another legend about the eel but I will save that for another time.

First Week of "work" in 2009

2009-01-09T17:26:00.001-08:00

I have officially completed my first week of “work” at the university and let me tell you there is absolutely nothing to write about. I was forwarded about the week after New Year being slow but I was surprised at just how slow it was. It is common practice to take leave days before/after the Christmas and New Years holidays here and let me tell you the staff in my department definitely participate in that practice! I arrived at the university bright eyed and bushy tailed on Monday morning and was greeted by Lisa, a lecturer at the university I met before Christmas and the only person in my faculty that was there. The Dean and Associate Dean are both on holiday (that vacation for you Americans!) until next week so that means, no office, no keys and limited direction! I spent some time in the faculty lounge trying to scrape together some materials and reviewing the University Programming Booklet. On Tuesday I came back (I don’t know why) and no one was there so I couldn’t even get into the staff lounge because it was locked. I opted to not even bother on Wednesday and I went back on Thursday and there were four faculty members there and I found out the wonderful news that I won’t be getting an office until the end of the month because the lecturer currently occupying that space isn’t leaving until then. Which really begs the question why is he still coming in to the university and working if he isn’t going to be teaching this coming semester. Rumor has it that there is someone who could benefit from using his office to actually prepare for the semester. Can’t quite remember his name though…. ;) I was about as productive as one can be that day sending a few emails and looking up some resources to aid in my preparation. I called it quits at about 1:30, since I was again resigned to work in the staff lounge and there was really no one there that could help me understand the specifics of what is required of me. So much for getting off to a fast start! What doesn’t kill us only makes us stronger right? I’m not worried though, next week is a new week and hopefully will bring more insight and direction from my superiors. Oh, I forgot, today I decided I would like a 3 day weekend so I decided to stay home. I did do some reading and research at home though so I was productive.

On the special projects front I have been able to get some work done preparing outlines for some things I would like to explore doing here thanks to the slow week at work. I have also managed to do some networking and have found some people that can hook me up with the Ministry of Health, National Diabetes Program and the Ministry of Education, Sports and Culture three organizations that I would love to work with! I also am pursuing volunteering as an EMT. There may be some liability issues with Peace Corps and I am working with our Medical Officer Tuila to see if this is something I can do or if it’s something I will just do and keep it on the DL! j/k ;)

No update on the housing situation, with no one really at uni there’s no one to talk to about finding a place!

Quick update on the sweating, it really hasn’t changed since I got here; I’m still waiting on that acclimatization thing to happen. Until then I will just stick to the Boy Scout motto, always be prepared. And for me that means towels, extra cloths and plenty of deodorant to be carried at all times! That is unless I’m visiting someone I don’t like and then I just let it ride.

Welcome 2009!

2009-01-03T14:01:00.000-08:00

2009 is officially upon us and it just seems like yesterday everyone was freaking out about all the computers crashing and the world coming to an end in 2000! New Years here in Samoa (the last place on earth to hit 2009 because it is just east of the international date line by the way) can best be described as, ok. I know, how anti-climactic. Don’t get me wrong, I had a good time. I met up with a few other Peace Corps volunteers, Jake, Ryan and Christian at the Peace Corps office. We hung out there for a bit before we went out. We grabbed a quick bite to eat at (I’m ashamed to admit this) McDonalds, which was not my decision just so you know but was also chosen because many of the restaurants were closed. After that we headed out to a bar on the coast road called “Cocktails on the Rocks” or more commonly referred to as “On the Rocks”. We spent a bit of time there and had a few drinks. I had a chance to meet a few Samoans that the other volunteers knew (the volunteers I was with have been in the country for at least a year now). The TV in the bar was showing the New Years Eve show that Samoa does have, contrary to what I was told.

I actually spent the turn of the New Year walking down the street with my Peace Corps friends towards a dance club called “Paddles”. Chalk that one up to poor time management. As we passed a taxi stand I decided to call it a night at that point seeing as I am not a big fan of dancing (unless Whitney is around) and the dance club would undoubtedly have a ridiculous cover charge (which it did) and once inside any form of conversation would be impossible due to the excessively loud music. So in all reality the dance clubs here are very similar to those in the US!

Quick notes about the turn of the New Year; the show on TV did have a countdown and Apia sounded a siren and the local churches rang bells. There were a few people shooting off fireworks, which was surprising considering they are illegal here. As I understand it though, I’m sure irrelevant contraband like that can make it’s way past authorities here given the right price or having family ties to the individual checking luggage/packages. So it was really not that big of a surprise. I did not see anybody kissing at midnight (though keep in mind I was walking down the street) but I still believe my hypothesis held true, for Samoans anyway. I’m sure there were plenty of palagi (white people) eating each other’s face as the clock struck midnight, looking completely ridiculous and inappropriate to Samoans who still hold strong the traditional Samoan culture.

New Years day was uneventful. I hung out at the Peace Corps office and did some reading. Earlier in the day Jake, Ryan and I headed to Hennie’s, a sports bar to try and catch the Rose Bowl on TV but unfortunately the owner was there and her said he wasn’t opening the bar that day because he was too tired. You really can’t help but just laugh at situations like that here because it won’t be the first or last encounter like that, you just learn to roll with it. Unfortunately that is the only place in Apia with a bar TV with satellite so, no football. I am keeping my fingers crossed that we won’t be too tired on Superbowl Sunday or I may cry!

I’ll close with a quick cultural note; I am going to do some digging on the topic of public displays of affection. When the missionaries came to Samoa it is my understanding that Samoans took to the Christian religion relatively quickly and accepted some of the social changes that accompanied it, for example the clothing they wore. As we all know God says we should be ashamed of our bodies and cover them up at all costs. Ok maybe not but I think was can all agree missionaries are all about getting people to cover up. Being in a ridiculously hot climate dressing in full length dresses for women and long sleeve button-up shirts and pants for men is uncomfortable to say the least. The influence of the missionaries on the dress code can still be seen at churches around the country with women wearing full length pulatasi (conservative one piece short sleeve dress down to the ankles) and men wearing ie lavalava (a heavier form of the traditional lavalava that’s usually made of light cloth) and button up dress shirts. Luckily the dress code tends to be less strict in some places (outside of church of course); t-shirts and lavalava or shorts. As I understand it there are still villages with very conservative dress codes that do require, for instance, women to always be wearing a full length pulatasi when in public. I have come to the assumption through what I have read and artwork I have seen that before the missionaries came, shirts and full length dresses were rarely, if ever worn. The point of this long rambling tangent off of the topic of public displays of affection is to note the lasting effects of the missionaries on Samoan culture and to suggest that the possible source of the conservative view towards public displays of affection may be influenced by the same people who brought other conservative Christian practices to Samoa. Or I could be completely wrong and it may be a practice in Samoan society that has been in place for centuries. I’ll see what I can find out.

Happy New Year!

2008-12-31T20:04:00.000-08:00

It’s New Years Eve in Samoa and the day has been pretty much like any other for me here in Samoa. Most of the volunteers in my group headed out to a village on the far western edge of Savaii (the other Samoan island) for the new year. I decided not to go for three main reasons, the first being the cost. After transportation, food and lodging it was going to cost in the area of at least 150 tala if my calculations are correct, which is more than I want to spend for a mediocre holiday. Two; if I go there by the time I have a few drinks, New Year hits and want to call it a night there is really no out to get away from those who choose to stay up and be loud and obnoxious (so I will pass on that). And three; I thought it would be interesting to go out in Apia for a few drinks and see how some of the Samoans celebrate the New Year in the city. There are a few volunteers going out in Apia so I will probably hook up with them and I have a few Samoan acquaintances that I know are going to be out and about.

I asked if they have a New Years count down on TV here and I found out they don’t which is a bummer. I was really hoping to see Samoa’s version of Dick Clark! I will be interested to see how the bars handle New Years because they close at 12:00am here. I heard they stay open a little later for New Years so we’ll see what happens.

I will miss having Whitney here for New Years but I have a back up, I am bringing a picture of her with me to the bar and I will kiss that at midnight. Ok, that’s very, very sad and total untrue. As far as the kissing thing goes here I am wondering if many Samoans participate in that tradition. I’m going to take a stab and say no because of the local views towards public displays of affection (I believe I mentioned in a previous post that it isn’t considered appropriate for a man and woman to even hold hands in public here).

I’m going to switch gears here and mention a conversation I had with the man that owns the house I am currently living in. We were discussing a number of things including tobacco control, health effects of local tobacco and child discipline. This was a challenging, while interesting conversation. The gentleman I am talking about is an older man, I’m guessing in his 50s, who holds a chief title. Keep in mind it is absolutely, 100% inappropriate for me to challenge or argue with his views and beliefs. To summarize his views expressed on the above topics:

Tobacco control - he is against the new law passed that outlaws the sale of loose cigarettes (I am for that law)

Health effects of local tobacco – he does not believe local tobacco prepared and smoked the traditional way causes cancer or heart disease (I do)

Discipline - He believes physical discipline at home and in school is necessary to raise a well-behaved child, and I’m not talking about a swat on the behind. (I think physical discipline is wrong, save a spanking for the truly bad occasions and teachers under no condition have the right to lay a hand on a child)

During this conversation I felt that I could not sit there and just listen to his views without any form of rebuttal. (those of you who know me, I’m sure you aren’t surprised) Choosing my words very carefully and avoiding terminology that would suggest he is wrong or sound argumentative I did manage to present my views and supporting information in the form of generalizations about the way some people in America think and feel about the topics. While I did not change his mind in the least I am confident that even if I had argued with him the result would have been the same but with the negative effect of me insulting and disrespecting him thus potentially destroying any social relationship established. I feel this type of conversation is the first of many I will have here in Samoa (at work and in social interactions) where I will need to employ this technique and as I practice it more I will become better at presenting any objections or alternate views in a culturally appropriate manner and hopefully be able to change a few minds or at least get some people thinking. I will tell you this, it is very difficult to do coming from America where you are free to express your opinion and that freedom is not limited by your lack of age or title.

Well I’m off to post this at the internet café now. I hope everyone had a great New Year’s Eve and I wish you all the best for the New Year!

Manuia le Kirisimasi ma Manuia le tausaga fou

2008-12-29T20:00:00.000-08:00

I hope everyone had a great Christmas and that the weather wasn’t too cold. We didn’t have to worry about that here. As with every other day I managed to sweat for a good eight hours straight! It did not really feel like Christmas what with the 90 degree weather and coconut trees. I went back to the training village for Christmas eve and Christmas. I got into the village late afternoon after riding for an hour and a half on a crowded bus. Lucky for me the day was cloudy with some intermittent sprinkles which helps to lower the temperature to a bearable level. Without that I would have been soaked with sweat by the time I got to the village. The bus rides can be interesting here. People bring anything and everything on the bus here including bags of groceries (lots!), recently slaughtered pigs, full gas cans and propane tanks to name a few. When the bus fills up (and by that I mean all seats are taken) it is common practice for people to sit on each other’s laps. Luckily I have not been on a bus that full yet, though I am sure it is something I will experience at some time during my service. I will be sure to keep you updated with any new bus experiences!

On to Christmas. I went to the Christmas Eve service with my Samoan family. Much like back in the states the Christmas service was a bit longer than the usual service. We also went to the large church located in Mulivae (don’t know if I spelled that right!) I believe 5 of the villages (including Fausaga) around that central village and church go there once a month for a large service and on special church holidays. During this service each village had a choir in attendance that sang different hyms/prayers during the service. This was different than the usual Sunday service. I would also assume the sermon was about the birth of JC but my Samoan is not nearly good enough to understand the entire message of the sermon. There was also a “prize giving” or award ceremony for the alter boys but again the language barrier prevented me from understanding what the awards were for. After the late service we went home and called it a night. The next day (Christmas) was uneventful. It is really just a day to spend with friends and family. I am unsure about the gift giving practices of families in general but my Samoan family did not have a big gift exchange on Christmas Day. Christmas is definitely a time when gifts are given though, that is obvious through the sales in Apia. Having experienced only one family though I cannot provide any sort of generalization that would suggest what is common practice here. Because we went to church the night before I was told we did not need to go on Christmas. So for the most part I just hung out with my Samoan family. After much asking and coaxing I did manage to get the ok to help my brother make the lunch. We had bread fruit, turkey soup and fish. I helped with the soup and I only cut myself once! (which I did not tell my family about because they would have dragged my out of the kitchen fale immediately) While we were waiting for the soup to cook I got a nice treat for the day, ice cream, awesome! Had to eat it fast though before it turned to soup. So there I was sitting in 90 degree weather eating ice cream in the middle of the pacific on Christmas! No wonder it didn’t feel like Christmas. So that was my Christmas in Samoa, hanging out and eating ice cream.

Quick note on the touchy feely side of things, I feel that during these holiday times a volunteer’s commitment is tested the most because although it is fun to experience another culture’s approach to the holidays to put it frankly holidays suck otherwise when you are that far away from those you love. Without a doubt Christmas was my hardest day so far. Though it didn’t help that the cell phone system here was overloaded that day and calling home was nearly impossible. I am confident however that if one can make it though the holiday season here their odds of completing the two years are much better. Granted that a person does not dwell on those hard times once they have passed and let them build up over time! I must say I am looking forward to next year when I come home for Christmas and can spend it with Whitney and my family. I have a feeling that next year’s holiday season will be one of the best I will ever have. For my friends and family that gives you a year to plan a stellar Christmas for my visit home. I would suggest not putting it off and getting to work on the plans right now.

Back on my feet and ready to go!

2008-12-22T18:04:00.000-08:00

Back to 100%! That little flu bug I had seemed to last quite a while but after a few days rest I am back on my feet and out and about sweating my butt off again! As I posted earlier I am in Apia for good now and getting settled in. Let me give you the run down on my job:

I went to the university today and managed to catch up with a few of the faculty members along with the gym supervisor. So I have started to develop some of those ever important business relationships. I have yet to meet the Dean of my department but I will meet him after the new year. I did meet the Associate/Assistant Dean and she was very nice and helpful. The sports and fitness degree program is under the Business and Entrepreneurship (or Commerce) Department. There are two main reasons for this, the first is financial and the second is that the program is not big enough to be a stand-alone department. It appears that I will be responsible for teaching classes, coordinating the course work for the degree program, hiring part time teachers and researching and developing course work to expand the program from a 2-year diploma program to a 3-year bachelor’s degree program. It looks to be very interesting and I am looking forward to getting started! I would hope that by the start of the next school year the three year bachelor’s program will be off and running. The only down side is that I will not be here to see the first graduates. I also have concerns about the additional staffing this program would require in addition to my vacated spot at the end of my service. These are concerns I will definitely be discussing with my dean!

I already have some staff and the gym manager asking me about personal training or teaching aerobics classes as side projects. I am going to look into possibly setting up some trainings for that to maybe get some of the current students or staff with sports/fitness backrounds involved. I do not want to be doing that as side projects! Though I understand people want those services and would benefit I feel I have more to offer the Samoan people through work with their National Diabetes Program or the local Red Cross. On the topic of side projects I will post a blog soon outlining some potential projects I have been kicking around in my head. (I think some of them are really good ideas-that is if the local community expresses interest!)

Work actually starts January 5^th so I have until then to do a little research on the current programs at NUS (National University of Samoa) and some potential model programs from the states. Then I have a few weeks to figure out what classes will be offered for the degree program and who will be teaching them! Talk about off to a running start! But that’s ok with me, I have missed the work and the good stress!

Now a few quick notes about the house. I didn’t get the house I was hoping for, but it looks like where I am staying can definitely be a temporary location. I am staying in a community living house. I have my own room but all other facilities are shared. It is about a twenty minute walk from NUS or downtown Apia. It is quite nice actually but there are two down sides, first and most important I can’t get my own internet connection set up which is really the one thing I wanted to be able to do, the rest of the house I couldn’t have cared less; that way I could talk to Whitney and my family at any time. The second is that come mid-January the rest of the house is going to fill up with international students coming here from other Pacific Islands to attend a tertiary hospitality school set up here in Samoa. I am anticipating that being surrounded by 18-20 year olds will lose its novelty fast! I was that age once and it was fun, but I sure as hell down want to re-live it or deal with the fallout that is sure to come from a large group of college age kids living together!

After talking with the NUS staff it appears I can search for other accommodations once all staff return from the holiday break. They recommended asking around and I would be sure to find another place in time. So that is on the to-do list for the new year as well.

I may get a chance to hit the internet café tomorrow as well so I might get one more post in before Christmas hits. If not let me say Merry Christmas to you all!

And I'm off to a shaky start!

2008-12-19T15:10:00.000-08:00

So I come back to Apia to get settled into my place and I get a case of the flu! Not the best start I would say. It has been a mild one though and right now I am just trying to shake of the lingering fever and headache (which is quite the task in 90 degree weather with no AC!) I managed to hobble my way into downtown to stop at the internet cafe before I go to the grocery store. Thought I would just post a quick note that as soon as I shake this I will be sure to hop online and provide a rundown of my accommodations and more about the training village. I am doing well though and consider myself lucky this is the first time I have been sick and it is really a mild case at that.

A Breath Away!

2008-12-13T14:15:00.000-08:00

Malo and manuia le aso to everyone who is following this blog! We are back in Apia for the day to run errands and pick up thank you gifts for our host families. Our Swearing in Ceremony is this Monday, two days away! I passed my language assessment on Thursday which is excellent news! All trainees had to pass with a rating of at least Intermediate Low. I managed to get an intermediate medium which I think was really good considering my struggles with the language. We had a few volunteers who even got an intermediate high.

Unfortunately this is going to be a quick post because I was unable to type this post ahead of time and as I type I am burning precious Tala ($) for the internet!!! We have been learning a Samoan dance/performance/play to put on for the village. It is going to be a lot of fun on Monday when we perform! Everyone has picked it up pretty well for the most part. I am hoping we can get is video taped so I can share it with everyone. If not, pictures will have to do.

Quick update on my living situation, the university has not finalized what house I will be staying at but there is a 50/50 chance it will be the same house two previous volunteers stayed in and that house would be great!! I'm keeping my fingers crossed!

I am doing well and, knock on wood, no ailments so far! I will be back in Apia on Tuesday as an "Offical" Peace Corps Volunteer (instead of Trainee). I plan to post much more at that time and share more details about my experiences in the village and with the local culture. After that I hope to post very regularly so I hope for the sake of everyone that is following this my life here is interesting!

Last thing I have added pictures to the slideshow/snapfish account so check them out! Take care everyone and incase you were all wondering I don't miss the snow! (only Whitney, my family and my friends.....well some of them! ;)

Day after thanksgiving (and my thanksgiving day!)

2008-11-28T15:13:00.000-08:00

Post number two in as many days. This will probably be my last post for the next two weeks or so. I thought I would touch a little bit on the Samoan culture in this post. I would like to start with a little disclaimer: these are my observations thus far and the longer I live here and the more I learn the language I have no doubt I will gain more insight into the Samoan beliefs and way of life. Additionally it is impossible to provide this information without making generalizations. So remember; just like not all Midwesterners are nice or not everyone from Texas is a gun toting anti-abortionist all Samoans behaviors/cultural practices do not fit my description!

Traditionally Samoans are very family/village oriented. It is common, especially in the villages, that extended families including grandparents, parents, kids and grandkids all live on the same land or on adjoining property. In these large family structures the roles of men, women, boys and girls bear a striking similarity to that of America in the not to distant past. The women and girls tend to handle taking care of the home; cooking, cleaning, mending cloths etc. The men and older boys often work on the family plantation or the plantation of a family friend. Younger boys and girls tend to share the lighter chores around the house. The most common produce I’ve heard of on the plantations are taro, bananas and coconuts.

Money does not generally belong to the individual but rather to the family. The matai (titled man) of the family (most often an older male) decides how the funds of the family are distributed and allocated. This even holds true in many cases for those Samoans living abroad in New Zealand, Australia, America and other countries. A portion of their earnings are generally sent back to their families in Samoa. In fact many Samoans leave the country to work in one of the fore mentioned countries to support their family at home. I am interested to learn more about this aspect of Samoan life and the effects it has (if any) on the distribution of wealth around the country, the strength of the culture in those that pursue such jobs, the number of Samoans that chose to stay overseas and the families that remain here.

The concept of time is very “relaxed”! After being in Australia, working in Tama and now this I am getting very used to working in this sort of environment. Our trainers described the Samoan concept of time as polychronic. The concepts of deadlines, punctuality and other related Western views are not held with the same importance here. That is not to say Samoans show up to events/classes/etc whenever they feel like it or not at all. It has been explained to me that being on time is not as important as, say, interpersonal interactions or family/village matters (no matter how small). So for example I would end a conversation or avoid one because I need to be somewhere, typically in Samoa the conversation would be more important. I realize that is a very basic example and in no way explains this aspect of the culture adequately but my experience with this thus far has been limited. Rest assured I will have more to say once I start working and have been here longer!

I’m going to throw out a generalization that must be taken with the disclaimer in mind especially if you ever plan to visit Samoa: Samoans are very nice people, in general. That obviously doesn’t mean they are all nice and just like everywhere there are bad eggs. Walking down the street you might think they are all bad eggs because most people here when walking (alone in particular) have a very stoic look on their face. But as soon as you flash a smile and wave or say Malo you are usually greeted with a smile just as big and get a Malo right back. (that is unless you try to say something in addition to Malo in Samoan and accidentally cuss them out!)

On which quick note to deviate from the topic; many of the Samoan swear words are very close in spelling and pronunciation to a lot of common words. Needless to say our language teachers get a good laugh some days!

I think a good comparison to the level of “friendliness” would be to small town Midwest in the states (yay Iowa!) Seeing as there is only about 180,000 people on the two islands combined, everyone is essentially connected to everyone else in someway or another (seven degrees of Kevin Bacon and all that). And in Samoa knowing people, having people know you and establishing good relationships is paramount and is the basis on which social, political and business relationships function. They are very much a people who believe that helping their family and neighbor is for the good of Samoa. It goes beyond that to include kindness to strangers in need as well. It is not looked down upon to ask for help from your neighbor or an aquatence and it is customary to return the kindness shown to you if the situation should arise.

The phrase “it takes a village” is taken quite literally here. Historically in Samoa, families literally had to rely on one another to survive through sharing resources with family and neighbors. In my opinion as Samoa develops and people become more independent financially this sense of interdependence is more likely to dwindle which would inevitably create a greater divide in the economic class structure. One can only hope the Samoan people hold true to their heritage as they progress economically and socially.

These are just some of my observations coupled with some guidance from our trainers over the past month and a half. I will be interested to look back and see how some of these observations change and/or unfold further during my time here.

Today is our Thanksgiving (a day late but as long as I get pie it’s cool!)! Looking forward to it and I hope everyone had a good turkey day back in the states. Sit tight for a couple weeks and I will be back with another post as an official Peace Corps Volunteer (I’m technically a trainee right now) on December 16^th or 17^th. Manuia le aso! (Good day!)