Things I forgot (October 7 2010)

Last night I bought one hour of wireless time, it was not enough to do what I wanted and talk about everything for my first experience in Samoa. I was given the brilliant idea to type all of my blogs or e-mails before on a word document and then all I would have to do is copy and paste!

I am not on the internet right now so I am not sure what exactly I talked about last night. I want to mention a few things about the bus ride from the airport to Apia. First of all, they drive on the other side of the road here which is interesting because they decided to switch to the opposite over a year or so ago. I got to see a lot of different styles of homes and lots of different schools and beautiful churches. It was interesting to see the public buses. They were all full to the max and apparently if there are no more seats available, people offer their laps to you. Yes, I may have the opportunity to sit on a complete strangers lap. I current volunteer told me you get used to it after a couple times.

The morning ceremony we had yesterday was called the Ava ceremony, which is also the name of the drink that we were all given. Last night the dinner was INCREDIBLE!!! We had a whole roasted pig and lots of authentic Samoan side dishes. There was potatoes and fish and coconut milk cooked in Taro leaves. I tried bread fruit, which doesn’t have much taste as well as taro which tastes like a undercooked potato. Each dish was full of different flavors and all so filling. For all those who think I am a picky eater…think again!!! J

After dinner, most of group 83 met up with some members of group 82 and 81. They gave us so do’s and don’ts and some things to look forward to. The bar was very similar to the ones back home and played American music and even had pool. One big difference is that it closed at 10pm, which was okay with everyone because we all needed a good night sleep for today. Around 10:15 we all took the scenic 5 min walk back to our hotel and finally got to bed.

Today I woke up feeling refreshed and ready for the days events. Breakfast was served at 7:00 am, which consisted of fresh mango, bananas and toast. We started promptly at 8:00 with a quick ice breaker and then a presentation of what to expect during training. We had a tea break around 10:00 and started another presentation on our goals and expectations for training. We all had very similar goals, expectations and fears. Learning the language was high on everyone’s list. We took a break to play 7’s ( the game most of us know as buzz) and only made it to 27. Our goal was 50 but that might have taken all day. We had a lunch break around 12 where I was able to speak with my mom, although there was a delay and hard to hear at times, but it was nice to hear her voice. Fellow PCT (peace corps trainee) Lindsey and I were set to do some currency exchange before eating but then realized we had no idea where to go after wondering around. Once we realized we were out of time we went to the food market next store to grab a quick lunch where we found some no name brand of ramon noodles. Not the best choice after hearing what other people had for lunch.

The rest of the day was filled two more sessions, one about medical issues and another about safety procedures. There was another tea break separating the two. We are finally finished for the day so we are able to do our own things. Karen and Dave (married PCTs) offered to cook dinner for everyone. We all just had to chip in 10 tala…which is around 5USD. Not quite sure what they are preparing for us but I hear dave is a amazing cook.

Another long day tomorrow but I will be excited for Saturday! We have the day of and are planning to go into the center of town where they have many markets and things to see. I am also excited to buy some fabric to get some Puletasis made! Sunday is white Sunday and is a church day in honor of children.

I hoping to be able to add pictures on here so everyone can see a little bit of what it is like here!

Tofa!