Today was filled with lasts. Last morning of our classroom slumber party, last cold shower, last morning all together. We started the day of by packing up and hauling all our luggage back downstairs. It's amazing how in only 2 weeks time I have already compiled several more bags of stuff! The rest of the morning was pretty routine, as we had our last lecturer. Sandra, from PiCED (Pacific Island Center for Educational Development) came to speak to us about classroom management. She was great, and her organization promotes a really valuable teaching philosophy. Samoa has a history of not-so-good teaching practices. Though recently banned, corporal punishment is still used and is often the principal's preferred discipline method. Teachers are not well trained, either, so they often spend their days babysitting the kids and yelling at them. Students float by from year to year and many high school students haven't achieved more than a 5th grade reading level. PiCED, as well as dedicated DOE members, are trying to change this.
After our morning workshop, it was moving time! The west side was first to load up. It took two school buses (one for us, one for our bags) to do the job. My house was the last stop, so I got to see all of the west-siders' houses. It was fun seeing everyone's homes for the next year. Each place has it's perks and down sides. In the end, I think everyone is happy with their placement, but we are all secretly a little jealous of the other's. For example, my place has the amenities, but another group is just 5 minutes from the water.
So my casa........Julia and I have a great 2 bedroom house- we're kind of spoiled. It's pretty spacious and guess what!? Great closets! That's right, I have closet space! We also have a washer and dryer and hot water which are rare finds for a house on the island. Our house is at the base of a mountain in Faleniu, which is inland a bit. We are right on the main road, so I just have to walk to the end of the driveway to catch the bus. The bus system is great, because you don't have to wait at a stop. You can flag a bus down or ask it to stop anywhere along the road.
After move in we headed farther west to Leone to visit some friends. Kate, Ben, and Thanh live there and KC and Courtney are staying there for a week until they fly out to the outer island of Ta'u where they are assigned. We got another dose of Samoan kindness from our Leone bus driver, Freddie. It was the last run of the day, and he drove us right to their house rather than making us walk. Samoan culture is unbelievably friendly. The culture of family and community has taught people to be giving and helpful; they are always offering help, rides, food, or anything they have to offer.
We checked out the Leone house, and then walked to Sliding Rock. Just 5 minutes from their house is a gorgeous beach and rocky coast. Sliding Rock is a huge formation of dark lava rock, and it's unexplainably beautiful. The waters are strong. The waves are big. We were there for sunset, and since it's on the west coast, the sun sinks into the water. We all decided that if we ever have a bad day, this would be the perfect place to go. Once you remember where your living (practically paradise), it would be hard to stay upset.
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