The Past 10 Weeks

When my group and I arrived in our training village, the entire village greeted us, and an ava ceremony was immediately done. After the ceremony, we were introduced to our host families. Once my belongings were placed in my room, I was fed. My host brother fanned my food, to keep the flies away. I didn’t want him to fan my food, but he insisted. That’s how most of my meals went: I sat and ate, while a member of my host family fanned my food and me.

My time in the training village was great. I enjoyed my host family. They spoiled me by giving me a lot of clothes. Total, I received 19 pulatasis from them. A pulatasi is a traditional Samoan outfit that women wear. They cost about $80+ tala (the cost of fabric and the tailor fees), so owning one is a big deal.

I didn’t have my computer during training, so unfortunately, I’m just typing things that are coming to mind. Below is a list of some things I saw/experienced:

• A 12-year-old boy climb to the top of a coconut tree, cutting down coconuts with a machete so we could drink the coconut water! It was amazing! I wish I had my camera to take a photo.
• Chickens running around the training fale (house). One even laid an egg on my chair!
• Pigs running around the training fale, eating trash out of the bins.
• Pigs and chickens roaming the sides of the roads, like cats and dogs do in the States.
• A freshly caught octopus, which later turned out to be my dinner.
• During our Culture Day, some people from my group had to strangle chickens, and one pig was killed. The animals were cooked, and we ate them.
• Taking a shower in a little wooden building, that was located behind my family’s fale. I LOVED when it was raining during my shower!
• Washing my clothes in a bucket, while sitting in my shower.
• A woman and her child showering in the open. They had on lavalavas, of course.
• An amazing Thanksgiving lunch at the Chargé d'Affaires home (US Embassy). I thought that my Thanksgivings in Samoa were going to be turkey-less, but I was wrong! We were fed a feast!
• Amazing sunrises and sunset! I’m from Santa Fe, which has some of the best sunrises and sunsets I’ve ever seen! Samoa competes with Santa Fe.
• Having 30+ mosquito and ant bites all over my body! I don’t think I’ll ever get used to the ants!
• Zumba! I never thought I’d go to a Zumba class while in Samoa, but I did! It was an hour and 15 minutes of fun and intensity!

A beautiful sunrise at my training village beach

 I even spent some time dancing. When we were practicing a Samoan dance for our swearing in ceremony, the music changed, and the song “Teach Me How to Dougie” played. If you know me, then you know that I love to dance. So what did I do? I dougied! The Samoans who were watching, got a kick out of it. A couple of weeks later, there was a fundraiser for the Methodist Church in my village. All the volunteers had to solo dance. In between our dances, there was group dancing. They played “Teach Me How to Dougie,” and I was picked to start off the dougie, along with a couple of other dances; that night was so much fun. It was probably one of the best nights I’ve had in Samoa.

During my solo siva (dance) for the farewell fiafia.
Also, I'm wearing a pulatasi.

Ice cream in Samoa is s big deal because it is so expensive. One day, Kiri and I decided to surprise our families with ice cream. Kiri’s brother-in-law drove us to a nearby village to make the purchase. We spent $45 tala (about $23USD) on a 10L box of ice cream for our two families. While the purchase was expensive, it was worth it because the looks on their faces were priceless! Between 10 of us, we nearly ate the entire box in just one sitting!

The first three weeks in the training village was dedicated to language training. By the end of this, I was mentally exhausted. But… the good news is: I passed my language proficiency interview. I even exceeded the standards. Am I fluent in Samoan? No. But considering I’ve only been in Samoa for 10 weeks, I’ve learned a lot and expect to reach fluency (or close to it) once my two years are up. After language training, our training was centered on technical training. Then had our teaching practicum (we each created 13 lesson plans and taught them) at a nearby primary school.

Somewhere in between all this, I was told where I’d be placed, once training is up. My permanent village is on the “big” island of Savaii (I’m not allowed to post the village name). My village is GORGEOUS! So is my fale! It is right above the seawall, and I can feel the sea breeze through my windows. My fale is like a studio, with everything in the open. I have a little sink for food prep, and an indoor toilet and shower, which is a big deal here in Samoan because most of these facilities are outdoors. My host family’s home is behind mine. I was supposed to move to my village two days ago, but am stuck in Apia because of Cyclone Evan. The Peace Corps staff is attempting to contact our host families, to determine if our villages are safe, and to make sure there’s plenty of water and food. If all is well, I could be in Savaii as early as Wednesday. 

Last Saturday we said goodbye to our training village families. It was an emotional morning for the families and for us trainees.

I apologize for this post being all over the place. I experienced a lot in the past 10 weeks, and it would be impossible for me to blog about every single detail.

My next blog will talk about the cyclone.