I move to my new
village tomorrow. So yes, one would assume I’m staying in-country. It’s a bit
more complicated, unfortunately.
Without going
into too much detail, I had a meeting with a Peace Corps staff member two days
ago. She informed me that the country director wants me to move to my new
village on Friday. I have another meeting scheduled next Monday. Peace Corps
staff and school officials will be in attendance. After the meeting, Peace
Corps headquarters in Washington, D.C. will decide my fate. So I asked Peace
Corps staff if I could hold off moving to my new village until after the
meeting, just in case D.C. decides I have to go back to America. Peace Corps Samoa
is adamant that I move to my new village tomorrow. So I feel like that means
I’m officially staying in Samoa! I hope so because if the Monday’s meeting does
not go in my favor, and I’m told I have to go back to America, I’ll be crushed.
My new village:
As I’ve mentioned in a previous post, for privacy purposes, PCVs are not
allowed to announce their village name on their blogs or any public website.
All I will say is that the village is on the island of Upolu. I know the family
very well, and couldn’t be more thrilled to live with them. In Savai’i, I had
my own house, which means that Peace Corps bought me a refrigerator, oven, and kitchen
supplies. I will take those items to my new village, and allow my new host
family to use them. I won’t have my own house. Instead, I’ll be living in a
room, in the family’s house. I’ll be sharing the family’s shower and toilet. I
don’t have an issue with this.
I’ve been living
in a hotel for the past 24 days. I’m excited to move out and get settled into
my new life.
P.S., HAPPY INDEPENDENCE
DAY, to my American readers! It’s July 4th in Samoa, so of course I’m proudly
wearing red, white, and blue today!
Good morning, how are you?
ReplyDeleteMy name is Emilio, I am a Spanish boy and I live in a town near to Madrid. I am a very interested person in knowing things so different as the culture, the way of life of the inhabitants of our planet, the fauna, the flora, and the landscapes of all the countries of the world etc. in summary, I am a person that enjoys traveling, learning and respecting people's diversity from all over the world.
I would love to travel and meet in person all the aspects above mentioned, but unfortunately as this is very expensive and my purchasing power is quite small, so I devised a way to travel with the imagination in every corner of our planet. A few years ago I started a collection of used stamps because trough them, you can see pictures about fauna, flora, monuments, landscapes etc. from all the countries. As every day is more and more difficult to get stamps, some years ago I started a new collection in order to get traditional letters addressed to me in which my goal was to get at least 1 letter from each country in the world. This modest goal is feasible to reach in the most part of countries, but unfortunately, it is impossible to achieve in other various territories for several reasons, either because they are very small countries with very few population, either because they are countries at war, either because they are countries with extreme poverty or because for whatever reason the postal system is not functioning properly.
For all this, I would ask you one small favor:
Would you be so kind as to send me a letter by traditional mail from Samoa? I understand perfectly that you think that your blog is not the appropriate place to ask this, and even, is very probably that you ignore my letter, but I would call your attention to the difficulty involved in getting a letter from that country, and also I don’t know anyone neither where to write in Samoa in order to increase my collection. a letter for me is like a little souvenir, like if I have had visited that territory with my imagination and at same time, the arrival of the letters from a country is a sign of peace and normality and an original way to promote a country in the world. My postal address is the following one:
Emilio Fernandez Esteban
Calle Valencia, 39
28903 Getafe (Madrid)
Spain
If you wish, you can visit my blog www.cartasenmibuzon.blogspot.com where you can see the pictures of all the letters that I have received from whole World.
Finally, I would like to thank the attention given to this letter, and whether you can help me or not, I send my best wishes for peace, health and happiness for you, your family and all your dear beings.
Yours Sincerely
Emilio Fernandez