Bravo Dr. Faustus Kids

The island wide speech festival was on Wednesday, and the kids were AMAZING. With hair, make up, and costumes, they kids came to life and were ready to perform. We had a momentary freak-out right before the performance when Joe (our lead) disappeared without telling anyone....nature called and he followed. Literally seconds before moving backstage to take our places, he came running up to the group! Oh, Joe!

Once back stack we were ready to go! The props boys were in place and prepared. During Tuesday's dress rehearsal, they managed to set up and take down everything in just 30 seconds! Four huge, heavy, wooden background pieces, a desk, a couch, a bookshelf, a side table, a lamp, and the additional props lifted on stage and in to place in 30 seconds! Yes, my kids are super heroes.

Their performance was they best I've ever seen it. Without ever practicing with microphones, they pulled off an awesome show! Rachel and I were proud mamas! In just a few weeks we had designed, built, and painted a set, made costumes, taught the kids to understand and love Christopher Marlowe, memorized lines, staged the play, pulled off a performance with passion, and laughed a lot! Chooohooo!

The rest of the day was a bit more stressful.....Upon returning back to Rachel's classroom we discovered someone had busted the classroom lock and stolen a bunch of stuff. Included in the missing items were a DS game, speakers, jeans + belt, phone, and $50. The kids were extremely upset to come back and find that all of us stuff had been gone through and picked over. Rachel and I were even more upset because as teachers we want our students to feel that themselves and their belongings are safe. After consoling some students and filing  police reports, Rachel and I settled into the gym to watch the rest of the performances.

The play came in 4th out of 11, and the students were upset. Unfortunately, the difficulty of the Old English language left some of the judges a bit confused. The night ended with smiles as Rachel and I crammed 4 of our students into the car for rides home. Lots of singing and tons of laughter were in order!

I love my kids! They rock!

Pretty Lil Teine

I thought I would introduce you all to one of my favorite island songs that’s gaining legit credibility. Check out the song and music video at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L8STgy58k2U 

It will have you singing “Pretty Lil Teine. Seki a oe” all day long. I introduced it to Ethan last night, and he has become victim to it’s catchiness. (He has also proclaimed me a music genius ;) 

Pronunciation: “Pretty Lil Teine. Seki a oe” (pretty lil tay-ney  sec-ee  a oye) 

Translation: “Pretty Lil Girl. She’s so cool.”

(P.S. I can identify practically every location in the music video and know the main “music video girl.” Yes, I live on a small island.)

Kate (because I know you will eventually read this): The music video girls is the one that we rode in the back of the pick up to and from Fagatele Bay with.. and then who we saw “gettin’ down” at Bowling Alley. Teehee. I love Samoa.

Puletasi Uniform, Baby

I picked up my Speech Festival puletasi today. In Samoa, people get special matching outfits made for big events: performances, weddings, funerals, etc. All of the Samaoana teachers working on Speech Festival were given matching fabric to have made into a puletasi. Because the high schools are a bit more relaxed on teachers' dress, I don't wear puletasis all the time, so having a Speech Festival puletasi makes me feel Samoan and truly part of a Samoan-kind-of-family...and I kinda like it.  

Samoana Speech Festival Play Directors: Jessie and Rachel

Only In Samoa

In Samoa you learn how to do with out all the modern conveniences available in the US that you THINK you need. Take, for instance, the whole market focused on babies. We have stores filled with baby clothes and $500 strollers and car seats and cribs and rockers. “Pshhh,” Samoans would say. There is none of that on The Rock; instead, people make due with what they have. For example, the other day I was riding along on the bus when I saw an ingenious woman. Rather than a stroller, just take the wheelbarrow from behind the shed and that’ll do. Yes, I saw a woman pushing her 3 toddlers in a wheelbarrow. Only in Samoa...

Speech Festival Craziness

So much of my life for the past 2 weeks has been consumed by the Speech Festival play. It's been filled with craziness, but I love each second of it. Every single one of the students in the play are bright, sweet, awesome kids and make the experience absolutely amazing. We practice hard and laugh equally as much. Since Spring Break was canceled this year, I decided to let my class periods have in-school spring break.... This means that they get to help me make all the props for the Dr. Faustus play! My room has been an assembly line for making props out of cardboard (drawings, cutting, painting, piecing together). While we have to get back to work next week, I think my students are enjoying a their chance to get some R&R. 

Today was a bit hectic. All the speech festival kids were exempt from their normal classes, so I had another teacher watch my applied tech classes while I worked on the play. We practiced, finished up costumes, and completed the set. During lunch I had to go pick up my uniform and a piece for Jason's costume. Right after school Rachel had to race across island to pick up the dresses that were being made for Rosie and Maelynn's costumes! Crazy! We also had to practice putting the set up and tearing it down in under 3 minutes, flush out a few trouble spots, and run through it as many times as possible before the other groups needed the stage! I think I will take a very long nap once all of this is done!

Joe (Dr. Faustus) and Jason (Mephistophiles) rehearsing

Joe with Gabby as Covetousness 

 Seven Deadly Sins: Ama, Gabby, Rosie, Matt, Feagaiga, Will, Elisia

Birthday Weekend!

Initially I was a little bummed about the thought of my birthday. The big 22 is a daunting number ;) and more than half my friends would be taking off for the week to various tropical locations to enjoy the spring break the DOE took away. 

Mom and Dad sent some supreme birthday packages and a few letters from family arrived just in time. Getting mail while on island = 7 year old Christmas morning excitement! 

I also shouldn’t have doubted Scott, Taylor, and Julia. My awesome friends pulled through for me to create an amazing birthday. Friday night festivities (in honor of B-day and Taylor and Scott’s completion of the horrific GMAT) included a Rubbles happy hour and lots of strawberry frozen margaritas. 

On Saturday I started the morning bright and early at school. We had speech festival play practice and set building. After hours of props painting, set building, and rehearsal (8am -1:30pm), I moseyed across the street to Sadie’s for some fun in the sun. 

T, S, J, and I soaked up some sun next to the pool before relocating to the beach. Tay Tay and I chatted and swam while S & J took out the kayaks. When they returned, Taylor and I headed out into the harbor. We made our way south towards the end of the harbor and were headed to check out an awesome swimming hole when we heard roaring laughter. We look over and spot a group of men hysterically laughing, cheering, and motioning to us. What was so funny? The fact that were palagi girls? in kayaks? or partaking in a little physical activity? Even after we were about 100 yards away I could still hear the distant sounds of their hyena-like noises! Oka! I’m glad we made their days. 

Finally, after showering off, we settled in for a nice oceanside dinner. We had a fabulous waitress, a Fijian named Queenie, who surprised me with a complementary, extremely delicious tropical juice cocktail. I decided to break my 13 year burger aversion and ordered the Lone Star Blue Burger (references to Texas even in Samoa). Living here I have consumed more beef than ever in my life. Normally, I primarily stick to chicken, but all of us here have noticed our inner carnivores become unleashed. (And I actually liked the burger!)

After relaxing next to the water well into the evening, we decided to call it a night. I got my birthday wish and rode in the back of the pick up truck home! More birthday fun to come next week when all of the others return from their fabulous vacays.

(pictures coming when I get them from S & T)

Teaching How To Use A Ruler

For the past 2 weeks I have been trying to teach my lovely children how to use a ruler. After 7.5 months of intense experience of Samoan classroom teaching, I anticipated how things would go, and I created a 5 page packet that would take the class through every detail of measuring given dimensions. This, however, turned into a much much trickier task. My kids faced huge troubles with understanding a mixed number (for example, 3 1/4”). They struggle with understanding how that makes a single dimension. I then added in the complication of creating rectangles from given dimensions (2 5/16” x 1 2/8”) and drawing those rectangles perfectly by using a ruler and a triangle. 

It has taken 2.5 weeks but I think we are almost there after explaining by breaking down each step, various practice worksheets, jumbo sized rulers on the chalk board, and a life size, walkable ruler I created on the floor! (Though most kids prefer to use the life size ruler to measure how far they can jump.) 

Oka! Exams? Tomorrow?

Not long ago, I wrote a blog post about the bell schedule wackiness. Well, today’s events brought my frustration to a whole other level. Today, Monday, 1/3 of the way through the day, it was announced that 3rd Quarter finals would start TOMORROW for 1st and 5th periods! 

The tsunami royally screwed up the school year as several days were missed and we had to allow for an adjustment period (quite understandably). Thus, our school decided to hold 2nd Quarter exams 2 weeks after we got back for Christmas break. This meant that Quarters 3 and 4 would each become a week shorter. The DOE, though, decided to cancel spring break, as well. That’s right! That much needed break would be no more. Our administration never gave us a date for Q3 exams though they did mention that they would “probably” end up being during the old Spring Break. Weeks went by and nothing was confirmed. Last week my principal casually mention that “ya, I guess we’ll have exams next week... same schedule as last time.” No official schedule was ever distributed, and I assumed that Wednesday (1st and 2nd), Thursday (3rd and 4th), and Friday (5th and 6th) would be exams, and each day we would have 2 study hall periods.

So at the Monday assembly my teaching world was thrown completely off balance when it was announced that 1st and 5th period finals would be TOMORROW (seeing as the staff expected to see our 1st and 5th periods to review one more time before the exam). 

Teachers were frustrated. How would we review? How would we print our finals in 1 day (on the one-broken-half-the-time copier)?  “Oka!” I say! (oka = Oh-My-God-like-expression in Samoan)

So here is to being flexible and optimistic! 

(When I get back to the States, I will be invisible and undaunted by the unexpected!)

Only In Samoa

Only in Samoa do men carry purses and pink backpacks.

• That’s right! In Samoa men aren’t afraid of a little pink. They think practically: “I need something to hold my stuff.” They then look around the house and use what is there. So what if it is a black sequin purse or a mini-sized pink Dora the Explorer back pack (for a 45 year old man). They flaunt their murses and man-bags with pride, and I like it!

Only in Samoa do all men know how to take care of a baby. 

• Because of the tight-knit family structure, men have to take care of their sisters/brothers/cousins/nephews/brother’s daughter’s cousin’s sons and are brought up around babies. This makes for some especially cute moments on the bus. 

Only in Samoa are men’s skirts shorter than women’s.

• The traditional puletasi (for women) is ankle length, as women’s dress here on island is very conservative. However, the men’s i’e fitaga hits just below the knee/mid-calf. For traditional dances, the men’s skirt goes even shorter to an almost micro mini length. Thus, this is the only culture I know, in which the men’s skirts are always shorter. Nothing like a little man-leg.

Yes, I Tear Up When Students Turn In Their Projects

Yesterday was the last day my 1st period students could turn in their project for credit before quarter grades. The kids have had EIGHT weeks to complete the project. Each Thursday for the past 6 weeks 3-4 students from the class have been assigned to present their work over a famous building that had been assigned to them. Hardly anyone turned in their work on time, and over the course of the past few weeks I have delivered lecture after lecture and warning after warning about the need to turn in your project. (It is 20% of the quarter grade!) But this is the status quo for Samoan students- Usually less than half of students turn in projects/homework on time (in classes island wide, not just mine). I have been stressing over how to convince students to do their work since many will fail if they don’t turn in the assignment. I have repeatedly told the students to just turn in something, anything, just show me you tried. My policy is that if you have no zeros at the end of the quarter (even if many of your grades suck), you will NOT fail. 

So... I was teaching my 6th period when a knock on the door interrupted. I was annoyed when I saw 3 boys standing outside....”Oh jeez, they are probably skipping and inappropriately disrupting class to ask if they can talk to So-and-So,” I thought. Much to my surprise one of the boys hands me a paper in a report cover and poster, and tells me this is from T_____ (who I was scheduled to have the next class period). I ask where T_____ is at, and they explain to me that he has been in the hospital all week (that explained his unusual absences) but wanted me to have his project. 

I was so overjoyed that I couldn’t help beam. Tears welled up in my eyes (don’t judge, you would understand if you taught here), and I couldn’t force the smile off my face! A student who was in the hospital finished his project (poster and 2 page paper), put it in a freakin’ report cover (what the heck? this never happens), and found a way to get it to me since he knew it was his last chance! I was so indescribably proud. If nothing else over the course of the year I have taught this kid a level of responsibility that he had never had! I am a proud, proud momma! My work here is done. 

Morning Prayer

I wish everyone could experience the morning devotion at Samoan schools. Most of you probably know that I am not a really religious person, but there is something extraordinary about the morning song and prayer that each school day is begun with. One student stands at the front of the class and leads the students in one of several songs. The boys and girls each have separate parts, and they all harmonize beautifully. Some days the kids sing quietly, but on others, the class puts spirit into it. Their beautiful voices regularly send shivers up my back. 

(Some time in the near future I will find a way to post a video of this.)

Classroom Kitten

There is a group of students that regularly hangs out in my room (before school, in between periods, during lunch, and after school). Needless to say, I have developed close relationships with the students in this gang of friends. This morning, I looked up to see 2 of the girls, Flo and Lynn, enter my class. This was nothing new, but something caused me to double-take. Flo was carrying a kitten! 

They were on the bus headed to school, when a kitten hoped on board before the bus pulled away from a stop. Being the animal love I am, I quickly told them that I would let the cat stay in my room for the day. They played with it until the morning bell rang, and then I had the kitten all to myself for my prep period! After exploring the room thoroughly, the cat jumped up on my desk and took interest in my bag of cereal. I dumped the food out on the desk, and Ms. Kitty chowed down. With a full tummy, she plopped down next to my computer for a nap. 

I was worried how my 3rd (and very rowdy) period would react to the cat. Would they be mean to it? Would it be such a distraction that no work would be done? To my surprise 2 students took ownership of the kitten. It stayed in their laps the entire period while we worked on our activity. While some students were not so fond of Ms. Kitty, many students showed great sensitivity (something that is rare for many students when interacting with animals).

At the end of my 3rd period one of the cat’s caretakers came up to my desk holding the sleeping kitten gently in his arms. Known for his chicken chasing and rough ways with animals, his attitude toward the cat had greatly surprised me. I ask, “So you like cats don’t you?” And he responded with an eager head nod. I then said, “Well, I’m sure glad that you didn’t chase her all over the classroom the way you chase the poor chickens.” He laughed a bit and then responded, “Cats are different than chickens. They are like my friends so I have to treat them different. I love cats.” While this may seem like a simple statement, it was profound to me. They boy, while filled with personality, is one of my lowest level students. His English is broken, his writing is at the kindergarden level (seriously...no joke), and his critical thinking skills are practically non existent. His rationale, though quite simple, was the highest level thinking he had ever displayed; he differentiated between types of animals and the respective treatment they deserve. For me, as a teacher, this was a huge moment, and I was glad that the kitten had come for a visit.  

Bell Schedule?

Oh Samoana. As a teacher in Samoa, you deal with lots of unexpected events and circumstances. Flexibility and spur of them moment thinking is crucial to survival and a go-with-the-flow attitude is necessary to remain sane. I have developed a level of patience I never thought I had. In most frustrating circumstances you are forced to “just deal.” But I thought I would let you in on a little piece of my morning insanity (and something that would never happen in State-side schools). 

The first period of the day is supposed to run from 8:30am - 9:50am. I always add in a 5-10 minute grace period to the times for when the people in the office forget to ring the bell or accidentally ring it early. This morning it was 9:57am, and the bell still had not rang when a student carrying a bulletin came it. It had a revised schedule. We needed to have an emergency staff meeting so all classes would be cut 15 minutes short, the students would be dismissed at 2 pm, and the teachers would have a very important staff meeting for the last hour of the day. 

Do you noticed the problems?

First, we were just being informed of this at the end of the 1st period. Second, the notice had come at the end of 1st period at (9:57) when the message declared that 1st period would end early at 9:35am......Hmmm 22 minute miscalculation? Because someone had decided to snooze on their bell duties or didn’t get the memo, 1st period went 10 minutes longer than usual. This meant that our 2nd period of the day would now be reduced by 25 minutes. (All without prior warning). 

And so you have the silliness of Samoa schedules. 

Only in Samoa

Only in Samoa are lawn mowers practically non existent and everything is cut using weed eaters. That’s right, Samoa is a lush tropical oasis with grass and greenery covering almost every inch of land, but weed eaters (or machetes) are the landscaping tool of choice. To cut the lawn of a football field? Weed eaters. To cut the grass along the entire coastal road? Weed eaters.   

Only in Samoa....

Pet Peeves

For one of this week’s journals I asked students to tell me about their “pet peeves.” On the board I added a hint as to the word’s meaning: little annoying things or things that bother you. Before having a chance to go over what “pet peeves” means, students began coming up to me and inquiring about the topic.  I got some hysterical responses that warmed my heart and made me laugh. These are the types of comments that make teaching here so fun.

• “Ohhhhhh. So like when your dog pees on the carpet?” (this kid had a aha! face when he said it- like he suddenly found out the secret to life)
• “But my dog doesn’t annoy me! I LOVE Snowy!” (said with the most innocent cartoon-like wide eyes ever)

It took a few examples and more explaining for the kids to understand the new phrase, but it made for some cute comments!

FiaFia Night

Last night was our senior class FiaFia Night. “Fiafia” directly translated to “happy,” but the night is one filled traditional Samoan performances. Every spring the seniors put on the FiaFia night as a fundraiser for all of their end of the year’s activities. Each of the Samoan Culture classes put together their own set of performances complete with the traditional sivas. During the siva, it is customary for the audience to come up and throw money on the stage or stick it to the performer they are supporting.

It was so much fun to see all my senior students up on stage having fun. The girls wore their puletasi school uniform, but the boys went more traditional, shirtless with palm necklaces. The boys also rub baby oil all over their bodies, so that they are nice and shiny. 

Along with all the traditional dances, the kids performed some funny routines (with boys dressed as girls), and overall they put on a great show. Though a bit long (6:45pm - 10:00pm), it was a fun experience!

(P.S. Sorry for the crazy number of typos in the original post.Writing blog posts late at night is, apparently, not a good idea. Thank you for suffering through my awful writing.)

03.05.2010: FiaFia Night

New Start to the Morning

As usual, I got up, got ready, and waited at my village’s bus stop. We were about 10 minutes down the road and had just pulled over to let some new people on when SIRENS! Then a motorcycle cop got off his bike and headed to the bus drivers window all the while shouting things in Samoan that I didn’t understand. The bus driver got off the bus and headed to talk with the cop. A few minutes later the cop came back and ordered everyone off the bus. Luckily an only half full bus was passing by and pulled over to let some of us on. So the whole debacle only added an extra 10 minutes or so to my morning commute, but it left the nosy side of me wondering what happened?! 

Note: This is one of the few times I have seen a police officer on island do anything but direct traffic at Matafao Elementary each morning or lead a funeral procession. (Ooo wait! They did arrest kids after our riots a few months back!) Our island police force doesn’t seem to do much (at least in the eyes of purely an observer).

Student Journals

As you may have read in previous posts, I start each class period with a quick 5-10 minute journal. Recently I’ve gotten some funny one and ones that are telling of Samoan culture. I thought I would share some direct quotes.....

If you could have an endless supply of 1 kinds of food, then what would it be and why?

• “A can of spam to eat everyday, because it my favorite and not only that I can still survive with it and cookies.”
• Yes, spam is an island staple! Ugh!
• “Rocky roll ice cream”
• Kids often get confused in translation: ‘rocky road’ becomes ‘rocky roll.’
• “I would have an endless supply of pisupo (corn beef). I love pisupo, even when I was little. Aside from my love for pisupo, I can also make different dishes from it: palusami, saimin, sandwiches, soup, etc. If you don’t like pisupo ur an alien!  ....except for Ms. Jessie”
• Samoans LOVE canned corn beef. No, this is not the fresh homemade dish but the fat filled, heart attack in a can, nasty, nasty canned corned beef. It looks like dog food, but dog food might taste better.
• “I would just get a one caned of corned beef and to stay in a healthy mode and to gain normal cause if I don’t eat I will not get very well even may get sick and not be getting that healthy way of diet. 
• The students are also not well educated in what a “healthy” diet entails......many of my students believe the corned beef and fried chicken along with 5 cans of soda a day = health! Oh jeez!
• “Can of fish”
• Aside from Spam & canned corn beef, canned fish (like tuna and mackerel) are also a top choice in Samoan menus.
• “It would be fried chicken. I love it! We eat it almost everyday. I grew up eating fried chicken and still enjoy eating it. Its the best!”
• “So the food I am going to eat til the end is a cheeseburger. The are that van is selling at lunch, it is sweet, nice, and tasty for me and I could eat it for the rest of the days.”
• A van pulls up to our school each day at lunch to sell kids nasty (in some cases day old) food. Cheese burgers, sushi-like rolls, chicken and rice bowls are all on the menu. While some kids consider this a delicacy- a $1.25 cheese burger- it makes many really sick. Many times the meat has been out in the heat for way to long.

• Samoan Food Lesson
• pilikaki = tuna    (peel-ee-ca-key)
• ulu = breadfruit (ou-lou)
• pisupo = corned beef (pee-sue-po)
• lole = candy (low-lee)

Who is your favorite cartoon character? (Samoan teenagers still LOVE cartoons)

• “Tom and Cherry”
• Yes, the famous cat and mouse duo now become “Tom and Cherry” rather than Tom and Jerry

Write about a memory from last semester.

• “My memory is when on I walk into this class. It was Tuesday, I was feeling kind of tired. The next period on my schedule was Ms. Jessica Webber. The classroom was F-4. I turn the nob and I open the door. I was surprise when I saw a short palagi lady. Then I realize she was a world teacher. She seems sweet so I did not skip class, and man was I right!” 

Describe your favorite thing about someone in your family.

• His love for us will never end. It so hard to find this kind of love in this world. It like searching for gold in the ground.   (student talking about his father)
• Such an “aaawwwww” moment