Good Food and Karaoke

Yesterday after the tsunami scare was over I slept on and off for many hours. By late afternoon I finally decided that I had to be productive and went to KoKo Bean to get some work done. KoKo Bean is a little cafe that is the closest thing to an American establishment you can get on island. The perks? Air con and coffee. (The air con is so cold that you are able to drink hot coffee without roasting!) About an hour and a half after I arrived, Kate joined me for my lesson planning party. 

At 7 we walked across the street to Jade (a small Chinese food place) for dinner with Cynthia, John, and Julia. We had the perfect meal: hot and sour soup, broccoli and tofu, eggplant szcheuan, and chicken fried rice! Yum! (and yes Mom and Dad I now eat and like broccoli, tofu, and eggplant!) After dinner we met Rosemary and made the 35-40 minute walk to the airport karaoke place. 

Samoa is weird. At our 1 gate itty bitty 80% outdoor airport, there is a restaurant with karaoke. 

When we got there the place was empty except for a group of about 8 celebrating a birthday. They were nice enough to bring over there extra fruit plate and a huge amount of cake! Free food! Score! Since there weren’t many people there, we felt no pressure to try and find hide the fact that we have awful voices. Kate and I choose ridiculous songs that we could be silly too: My Humps by Black Eyed Peas, Baby Got Back, Bohemian Rhapsody, Redneck Woman by Gretchen Wilson, and others of that nature. We also preformed without mics to every other song that played. At the end of the night, Kate proclaimed, “Jessie is my anit-drug” and I returned the sentiment. We had such a memorable, fun, silly night. 

Tsunami!? Again.

I woke up at 1:30 to a phone call from Brandi, my field director, and I knew something must be wrong, because she doesn’t usually call just to check-in in the middle of the night. Hmmm. I answered my phone and just heard, “Jessie,” in a sort of worried tone. Then the line went dead. Oh jeez! Was an axe murderer running around outside my house?  What was going on? Then she called again. This time I heard, “Jessie. Tsunami...” The line went dead again. “Oh boy! Not this AGAIN!” I thought to myself. After a third attempt the call finally worked. There was a massive earthquake in Chile and we had a tsunami warning. It was to hit at 8:51. 

(At around 1am, the Sa (village oxygen tank bells) had actually rang as a warning, but I slept through those.)

We actually knew about the earthquake. Rosemary’s friend in Japan heard about it on the news and called to tell her, but we didn’t think that it would travel so far and effect us. 

Since Rosemary and Kate had stayed over, I went and woke everyone up and relayed the news. I live as far inland as you can get and pretty high up, so we were pretty safe. At 6am, though, Kate woke me up. We were going to head further up the mountain and go to Cynthia and John’s house. Some of our other friends that live on the water were already there. 

We walked the 40 minutes to Cyn and John’s, and it looked like the 4th of July. At 6:30 am there were thousands of people lining the streets. Everyone from the coastal villages had come up to safety and had brought blankets and chairs and food to ride out the tsunami.  

We stayed up at Mapusaga Fou until about 9:30 am when we figured it was safe. The radio was not broadcasting anything, but we figured we weren’t hit. 

As it turns out, we did get the effects for the quake. Our harbor emptied and filled 7 times (just like when our 9/29/2009 tsunami hit).  (Note: This is really creepy to watch. Literally almost all of the water is sucked out to the deepest areas and the reef becomes completely exposed. It’s like a vacuum sucking out the ocean’s water before it slowly refills.)  The force of the water, however, was just not strong enough after traveling for 4,000 miles to make huge waves. After finding that out, it was definitely a good idea for all of the island to move to high ground. Just a bit more force and we could have had another disaster on our hands.

Play Practice

Along with Ms. Rachel, I have been working on our drama play for the island-wide speech festival. Our students will be performing selections from Christopher Marlowe’s “Dr. Faustus.” The play is based on a doctor who is choosing to sell his sole to the devil and as a reward meets the 7 deadly sins. We’ve held auditions, selected our actors, and practice has been underway for the past 2 weeks. 

I am SO impressed by our students. They are progressing so much, and the play is slowing coming to life. By the time we are done with it (in 4.5 weeks), I think it will be a great performance. 

Rachel and I have been working with our 2 main characters, Dr. Faustus and Mephistopheles (the devil’s henchman), and the rehearsals couldn’t be more enjoyable. The kids have great personalities and are such comedians that (even though we are performing a drama) they bring tremendous life and excitement to practice. 

Since the play is written in Shakespearian-esque language the kids could not initially understand their lines. Rachel and I have spent many hours simply translating each line and it’s meaning to the students. Watching the students soak it up, understand their parts, then portray their characters has been such a rewarding experience (not to mention tons of fun!).

Skin 10 Shades of Color

Last weekend we took Scott and Taylor’s new ride (a beautiful Ford pickup that can comfortable fit us all in the bed) out for an inaugural trip. We trekked out to Sa’ilele, a pristine little village over the mountains on the north east side. It’s a tiny village with great sandy beaches. We picniced in the village’s little fale’o’os, strolled along the beach, and chatted for hours in the water and upon the shore. It was a perfect Saturday.  I, however, turned a lovely shade of bright, tomato red. Despite how many times I put on sunscreen here, the sun is just too intense. My fair skin is no match for near-equator rays. So now, I am about 10 different shades from tan to burnt to peeled and everything in between. All I can say is it’s pretty darn sexy!

Trip Crew: Scott, Taylor, Kate, Thahn, Cynthia, Rosemary, Jess, and Me. 

(Pictures Coming Soon)

"Ya, Okay!"

Sometimes as a teacher, you can’t stop yourself from laughing at the silliness of the students. Last week I had a ‘moment,’ in which I literally had to stop teaching for about 5 minutes because I couldn’t control my laughter.

I precious student of mine has decided to become extra enthusiastic this quarter. He pays attention, does his work, but, above all, he goes out of his way to make sure that I know he is listening by exclaiming “Ya, okay!” after practically everything I say. His “Ya, okay!” is said really quickly with his thick Samoan accent and almost sounds like a duck quack. It’s hilarious. He says this so often that it’s become a class joke, and I frequently tease him by answering his questions with “Ya, okay!” Last Thursday I was beginning a lesson and explaining the activity ahead of us when my student faithfully blurts out, “Ya, Okay!” Standing in front of the class I just lost and couldn’t stop laughing. I kept trying to start my sentence, but all that came out was laughter. Of course, the kids thought this was pretty great and cracked up, too. When I finally thought that I had composed myself, I look over to the row with Mr. Ya Okay and 2 other sweet kids. The last student in the row has the biggest, cutest baby cheeks I have ever seen and has the face of a 5 year old boy. Just as I begin to talk again, he lets a huge smile come over his face, and I lost it again. For added affect, another “Ya, Okay!” was strategically thrown out.  All in all, I probably couldn’t talk for a solid 5 minutes. Sometimes you just gotta laugh....

Samoan Power Tools

Today after play practice for the island wide Speech Festival, I was chatting with the 3 cast members with whom I was working. 

The two boys talking have spent a considerable amount of their lives ‘off-island,’ and can, therefore, laugh at their own culture and recognize the differences between ‘mainland’ and Samoan ways. 

The following is their conversation:

Boy 1: “Dude you didn’t have to spend your whole first summer back in ‘paradise’ building a bathroom by yourself with practically no supplies and only ONE power tool!”

Boy 2: “What was the power tool? (small chuckle) A toothbrush!?” 

An Aiga Bus Expose

I talk about how much I love the aiga buses, but today I was inspired by Mom’s aiga bus pictures to give you the full low down on our lovely, crazy, squishy bus system.

Aiga is Samoan for “family,” so the buses are not run by the government. Rather, individual families decide to purchase/make a bus and use it as a private business. 

The look of the aiga buses is what makes them memorable. They are all made by using the front of a pick up truck. Wealthier families can afford to use a super-duty, but some buses are made from just the front/engine of a small toyota pick up. They fashion the rest of the bus to the pick up truck cab, and all of it is handmade. The inside of the buses are entirely wood and the roofs are made from long, curved pieces.The craftsmanship is pretty impressive. They are all open air but have simple plexi windows that you can slide up when it rains. 

The inside and the outside of the buses are quite elaborate. Each gets a crazy paint job and a name scrolled across the side. The inside cab of the buses are decorated with everything from crazy printed fabrics, tassels, and boas. And about 20 pine tree air fresheners hang inside. 

Riding a bus is quite an experience. In the morning and afternoons the buses get jam packed. The seats are small and 2 medium sized people could fit tightly; however they expect 2 Samoan sized rides to sit per seat. This usually means that the person on the aisle hands off half way. Bus drivers don’t always stop picking people up once the seats are full. There is a distinct seating hierarchy. Men move the back to make room for women, and the young move to the back to make from for the old. Once a bus is “full” kids move onto an adult’s lap. Once that has happened, teenagers move to each other’s laps. Finally new riders stand in the isles. When all is said and done, a village of people often fit on a single bus. 

The crowds aren’t always great, but I still enjoy the ride. Aiga buses are famous for blaring Samoan music as they cruise across the island. There is nothing more fun than jamming to the tropical tunes and sitting with the wind in your face, and it is only a $1 to ride.  

Unlike in the US, you can flag down a bus anywhere. There are bus stops for shade, but most people just wait along the road. To flag a bus you have to perform the secret hand signal. You raid your arm parallel to the ground and flick your wrist (sort of like an “ay hitler” motion). And ‘wha-la,’ the bus pulls over. 

So how do you know which bus to get on? Well, there is only one main road on the island. Then, there a smaller roads that branch off towards different villages. The buses are either west side or east side, and they all merge in central Fagatogo for transfers. Each bus has a village name in the window, so you know that is where it is headed and the displayed village is the last stop. (Too and from school I take either an Amanave or Leone bus). 

12.03.2009_AigaBuses

Wolves and Valentines

It was sad spending Valentines so far away, so Scott, Taylor, Thanh, Kate, and I did the most unromantic thing possible: watch WolfMan. Our little island theater shows 2 movies at a time, and somehow Scott and Taylor decided WolfMan would be a good pick. If you haven’t seen it yet, don’t waste your money. It was horrible, but a decent way to spend your time when there isn’t too much to do on The Rock. 

We rounded out our V-Day with dinner at Tian Tian, and Rosemary, Julia, and John joined us for our favorite family style meal: won ton soup, szechuan eggplant, and tofu with broccoli.  

Anyway, Happy Valentines Day Ethan!

(note ** as I finish this post my arch nemesis,  a swarm of termites, has arrived. They have attacked my bed. Disgusting!)

Cyclone Rene.....

Since I am completely oblivious to anything that does not pertain to my everyday life (Samoana + west side of Tutuila), I’m never up on the latest news. (No TV, no radio, and crummy internet will to that to you!) So on Thursday I had no idea that a cyclone was in the Pacific until Taylor sent me a serious sounding warning e-mail. Then during the last period of the day, a note was sent around to each class announcing that there was a severe weather warning and to check the radio before coming to school the next day. Hmm. 

After school I found out that Cyclone Rene was headed for our little island and threatened to bring 90+ mph winds and torrential rains. As I rode the bus towards our Thursday dinner location, I saw that the entire island was boarding up their windows, and everything was shutting down. (But no natural disaster can deter our Thursday festivities!)

During dinner Brandi (our field director) called and announced that the DOE had officially cancelled Friday’s classes. Whoo hooo! Our table of teachers did a celebratory round of high fives and cheers. 

We were very unsure of when the hurricane was going to hit and how bad it was going to be. (And since we don’t have a radio, we stayed in the dark). The storm didn’t come during the day on Friday (but, hey, no school!); however, half way through the day we got word that the storm was headed straight for us, it supposed to hit around 9 pm, and the power would be shut off around 8 pm. 

This led to an entire day of waiting and wondering. The heavier rain and wind started around 9, but nothing ever seemed to get out of control. I woke up in the middle of the night to the sounds of shutters banging but the house wasn’t shaking so I shrugged it off and went back to sleep :) 

On Saturday morning I woke up to quiet. Overall the storm was anti climactic. It turns out that Rene turned and was 70 miles off the coast. Thus, we got some rain and winds (probably 60 mph) but nothing too crazy happened.

This is probably good since a bad hurricane in the 90s demolished much of the island, and school didn’t resume for 2 months. 

Eh, natural disasters are no match for us here on island. Within the past 5 months we have made it through many earthquakes, a tsunami, and a hurricane. Bring it on Mother Nature! 

I Met Some NFL Players!

Players (Rey Maualuga and Domata Peko) from the Cincinnati Bengals football team came to Samoana to speak about the importance of education. They have been going around to the the island's several high schools, but we got an extra special treat since Domata Peko is an alum. After graduating from Samoana in 2002, Domata worked his way off island on a community college scholarship. From there he progressed to a 4-year university, and eventually to the NFL. Knowing the power of education + football, Domata rewarded our Samoana Sharkies with all knew football equipment: gloves, pads, helmets, and cleats. These things were much needed, as some of our players don't own the necessary equipment and a few have even practiced barefoot. 


Seeing the kids so excited is always fun. While I didn't get to personally meet Domata, Rey came up to me a struck up a conversation. My co-worker Rachel was hoping she would live the assembly with a new man :) and I promised to put in a good word for her with my new friend Rey. 

A few stories about their trip: 
http://www.samoanews.com/viewstory.php?storyid=12647 


http://www.samoanews.com/viewstory.php?storyid=12615 


http://www.samoanews.com/viewstory.php?storyid=12553 

Cyclone Picture

I found this image on a fellow palagi-in-samoa blog. I thought it was pretty cool.

This is the image from the storm a week and a half ago when we had our rain day, and it seemed like the rains would never stop.

Termites Suck

Termites are the nastiest little creatures. They are like little wormy things with wings, and  my house is infested with them.... Oh Samoa. They’ve eaten a box full of paper, they attack anything wooden, they make their mud tubes/nests, and they won’t go away. Every so often they swarm. Tons of them fly around the house, swarm the house, and bug the heck out of me. 

What’s also worse is that the fans blow their wings off so then they look like little larvae squirming around. 

As I sit here on my bed typing, at least 2 of them are crawling on me. I pick them off and  fling them away, but another 2 are sure to take their places. 

I can count 22 of them on my bed right now. Again, as soon as I fling them off....they are right there again. I hate them! They are creepy and crawly and nasty. They make me appreciate US construction which prevents this from being such a problem...

I hate them so much that I have had nightmares about them. So as I sit here, I keep asking myself, “Is this normal!?” I think probably not. 

(thanks for reading my termite rant)

Living in the Butt Crack of the World

Ethan and I always complain about the horrible internet connection I have here on island. It’s working well if it lasts consistently for 10 minutes! This can get annoying when maintaining a long distance relationship and trying to chat online. 

Today after I reconnected for the 10th time in 40 minutes, this was our conversation: 

Me: “Sorry, the internet is being really crappy right now.” 

Ethan: “I know. It’s because you live in the butt crack of the world.” 

I died laughing, as I could picture him saying that completely straight-faced. 

But (no pun intended) it’s official: I live in the “butt crack of the world....”

Another Splendid Weekend

This past week was unbelievably long. Troubles of every kind with parents & students and feeling the remnants of dengue left me itching to leave school on Friday afternoon. I finished up my parent conferences at 5:30 and headed to Rubbles to meet Thahn, Rosemary, and Kate. 

I have the most wonderful friends. I walked in an they had a margarita poured and ready for me! What more can I ask? 

We stayed at Rubbles for hours sipping Margaritas and talking about life. I say this all the time, but I am so lucky to have a group of WONDERFUL friends here on island. It really would be impossible to stay sane here without such a supportive, caring, thoughtful crew! 

On Saturday morning we all did our own thing but Rosemary and I both ending up arriving at KoKo Bean within 5 minutes of each other. We sat in the AC all afternoon “working” on our computers. In actuality we would continually do a tiny bit of work followed by a large bit of talking. 

I got home from KoKo Bean about 5 pm and walked down to some of the local fruit stands not too far from my house. I bought about 12 mini bananas (yellow banana grow in mini-size here - about 1/2 the size of a normal banana), 6 regular sized bananas, and a pineapple for $5. Feeling accomplished I went back to my house to await the girls. Cynthia, Kate, Thahn, Taylor, and Rosemary all came over to Julia and I’s place. As always, we had awesome food (I think I would die if my friends weren’t such awesome cooks!) and conversation. We rounded out the night with 2 episodes of Glee. Kate brought home the projector she is so fortunate to have from school, and we watched Glee on the wall of my living room! 

Basically I had another awesome weekend with my lovely westside ladies.

Not a Fan of Parents...

Okay, I like many sets of parents, and I love my parents (Hi Mom and Dad!). I am, however, completely and totally opposed to parents who (1) feel it is appropriate to try and coerce and scare me into giving their child a passing grade or (2) feel it is appropriate and professional to yell at me, tell me I am a horrible educator, and convince me that education is NOT the students’ responsibility. 

If you can’t tell I’m a bit bitter from some parent conferences gone wrong. And I’m saddened by the fact that parents cannot look beyond their personal biases and hold their high school children accountable for their own education. I’m even further disappointed that adults don’t have skills and the professionalism to hold productive meetings with teachers. Since when is coercion and screaming a good means of achieving anything?

I am also frustrated by the fact that my school held parent teacher conferences/ “curriculum night” this past week and very few parents attended. On Thursday and Friday teachers were available for 2 hours in the evening to meet parents, talk about their class, and discuss student performance. Between the two nights, 7 parents showed up. (That’s 7% of the parents.) In the States parent night is such a big deal. Almost every parent marks the event on their calendar and eagerly attends to meet and greet their children’s educators. This is a reflection of the positive involvement between parents, children, and school. It is a testament to the fact that parents care about their child’s education and academic progress. Unfortunately circumstances are very different in Samoa. Not many parents care about education and this is directly correlated to the poor academic performance and lack of academic motivation of many students. I wish there was an effective method to get parents involved with their students’ education and help them promote the value of school and higher learning. 

I will, however, end my rant on a positive note. I was very impressed with and grateful for the parents that came to visit me. Though most of the parents were of my best and highest performing students, a few were ones that I really needed to talk to, and I think I will see a change in the kids’ academic performance. Many of the parents who came to see me had great philosophies on their students’ education (something many Samoan parents don’t have). They spoke of excitement with progress not just the black and white grade, and the importance of work ethic and motivation. Talks with these parents definitely ensured hope. It might be a very long time before education is viewed as a necessity by all on the island, but at least there are a few leaders paving the way for strong parental involvement and improved education. 

Battle with the Crab

I’m not quite sure how, but a rather large crab manage to make a home in my room. On Tuesday afternoon I was sitting at my desk. It was quiet. All the students had gone home for the day, and I was productively grading. All of a sudden I hear a noise and a strange rustling of papers. I look down and under my table is a huge crab! He had taken a stack of papers and was crinkling them up to make a home. I was shocked for a second and just watched in awe. The crab quickly sensed my eyes upon him and began scurrying across my room towards the door. I tried to round him up and get him outside, but the little bugger was too quick for me. He turned himself sideways and wedged himself between a crevice created by the the doorframe and the corner. He was holding his position, and I could not get him out. Wanting to go home, I gave up and decided to deal with him in the morning. (Who knows how long he had already been living in my room!) 

Once I got to school I quickly glanced around the room and didn’t see him, but 10 minutes later he crept out of a large box that sits under a table in my teacher’s corner. A student left his basketball shoes in his my room, and the next thing I know Mr. Crab is trying to fit himself inside the shoes, but when he can’t get in, he perches himself on top of the pair of shoes and tries to appear invisible. I just laughed and decided I would let my students deal with it. 

The school bell finally rang and my 4th period began shuffling in. As they were getting situation I asked, “So who likes crabs?” Some raised their hands. Others looked confused. Next I asked “So who wants to chase a crab out of the room?” They all got really excited and kept shouting, “There’s a crab!? There’s a crab!?” I told the students where it was and they were immediately and enthusiastically on the problem. 

It took 4 kids to wrangle the crab out of the room. They used a variety of instruments to help with the process: a pencil, a rolled up poster, a broom stick, a backpack. After a few minutes of struggling with the massive crab, they kids managed to get him into the backpack. One of the students wanted to let him stay in the back pack so he could keep him as a pet, but I had them release it back outside. 

I wish I had a camera with me to document the event. But I guess this kind of thing happens when you live on an island and teach at a school 60 feet from the ocean!?