Its Been a While...Sorry

I will try to catch you all up on this month events. It’s been quite a rollercoaster of a month…

 I look forward to March every year. On the 5^th of this month every year since 1988 I and loved ones get to celebrate the day I came into this wonderful world. Steph was the first one to call me. She realized it was still the 4^th over here but followed it up by saying “hey, it’s your birthday here in your homeland”. The next day I woke up to many texts from my “homeland” all saying the same message “Happy Birthday. Miss and Love You”. Thanks for all the birthday wishes! Twenty three is usually one of those unexciting birthdays…but I got to spend my 23^rd birthday on an Island and I was getting scuba certified. Which bring me to my first topic…..

Scuba Diving

I am unfortunately still not certified. Due to weather conditions our schedule was pushed back a day which left us with two dives to come back and do another time. I however, still have three dives to do before I get my certification. Don’t dive when you have a head cold. Your ears won’t equalize and you will come up to the surface with your French instructor, Fabian, saying “don’t worry but you have blood coming out of your nose”. I attempted to do dive number two after my first dive but my ears didn’t want to. So I hung out on the boat with the two Samoan mates and had to endure through the standard fesilis by samoan tama (questions from samoan boys). Where you come from? You like Samoa? How long will you be here? (which is always followed up by a wow that’s long time) and then you will get asked one of the following…or all of the following: You like Samoan boys? Do you have a boyfriend? You want a Samoan friend?....and then they laugh really hard with their friends for 15 minutes. By the age of 13 these boys know these questions and will ask any palagi girl. I make up different answers every time now.

Anyways…so the diving I did do was great. It was really awkward at first and I kept confusing the signal for going up (thumbs up) with the okay signal (could also be mistaken for a bad word in some countries). I use the thumbs up every day, it signals “all good” or “yes” never do I use it to say I am going to ascend. Fabian became frustrated with me but the best part about scuba is you can’t talk, so he couldn’t yell at me.

            I live two villages away from the dive place so I should be able to finish up  my certification by the end of April.

Next Order of business…”Your Birthday is not until next Friday”

My great friends were very concerned that we couldn’t celebrate my birthday together. So we designated the following weekend to be my Birthday. My dear friend Rachel didn’t even call me on my birthday, her response was “your birthday is not until next Friday”. If you knew Rachel then you know its nothing to be offended by. My birthday on March 11 was amazing. A group of us got together and had a wonderful time catching up and talking/venting about village life.

 I hear everything everything is good in three’s. Me Rachael and Lindsey have become close and sometimes it sucks having them on the other Island. But Digicel is so great and I will usually use my  30 free texts on them. I also didn’t get their permission to write their names on my blogs, but I hear they have been talking about me too.

And now lets talk about the Aoga….School

I finally feel like I am getting through to the students…well that’s how I feel today. It truly is hard work trying to figure out what works. So far my list of what doesn’t work trumps the list of what does. I think I am handling it well though, I realize that this semester is all about trial and error. Well hopefully it is just this semester. I have finally taken over year seven English. The teacher was a little confused as to why I wasn’t using the curriculum. But uh  I can’t say the things I want on here about that. My first goal was classroom management, my first and hardest goal to achieve. It’s hard to find something that works for students who are used to getting hit when they do something wrong or when they don’t do something wrong. I am still a bit confused at times when I see the punishments going on. But for me,I have found that embarrassment works. Sometimes I make the year 8 boys come up and hold my hand while I’m teaching. The worst is if I kick you out. No one wants to leave let alone be kicked out of the “cool” teacher’s class. The good news is, I am finding things that work.

Now for all you teachers out there…I am sure you have heard of co-teaching. For all you non teachers out there; co-teaching is a variety of methods to teach a class with two teachers. I have discovered a new co-teaching method…

Introducing: One Teach One gives a self Mani Pedi

A couple days ago I was doing a English lesson and the other teacher was supposed to be observing me so we could review my lesson and discuss it. Ten minutes in I looked over and she had her foot on her lap and was scraping and filing her toenails. Twenty minutes later I went to ask her a question and she had switched to her finger nails. I think this method came from some grad students doing research at the cosmetology university. I just don’t know why  we didn’t learn about this method in our training.

I love the laid back free spirit attitudes of my fellow teachers. They are so generous as well. They generously made me the soccer coach of the school. Now don’t get me wrong. I am up for competition and I love soccer. However, these kids don’t play soccer, never have. So with my limited Samoan, I must teach these kids how to play. No Problem….especially since I was just informed that the only rules are handball and out of bounds. That makes it easy. These kids should fell honored to have HFS MVP soccer play as their coach. Two weeks until our first competition. Samauga will be number 1.

..now if anyone wants to donate soccer shoes…that would be greatJ

So life is good. I am healthy and well. I will try to update more often. Trips into town have been limited this month.

Enjoy the pictures

Peace and Love

Im Okay!

The Scuba Crew

Our lovely instructor Fabian...likes to look like a mime when he goes for a dive

KPOD

Year 7 doing their English Centers

Year3

Writers Block

I have never been a writer…so my solution to writers block is just closing Microsoft word and hope that I get some kind of motivation to write later.

I need some topics people. Comment on this post with some ideas of what to write about. That would be very helpful. In the mean time I will update you on the past two weeks…

For all you teachers out there who hate sloppy work from a student….come to Samoa. Students spend whole class periods making their paper look perfect. Copying down the notes or format for the assignment (since there are no copy machines at our school the students have to copy down the worksheet by hand) takes FOREVER. Most of the students don’t even do the work. There is a art form to this too. They use their rulers to create the lines for the title, even though they are doing on loose-leaf which as you know already contains lines. The lines are usually in red. Then the heading is in blue and the directions and questions are in black. You should see how concentrated the kids are while doing this. It gets exciting when someone messes up and they run around the room looking for someone who has whiteout to fix their mistake. It’s such a process, one that I can’t stand.

Jenny’s Classroom Rules

NO RULERS

NO WHITEOUT

BLACK PEN ONLY

Sometimes the simplest changes are the biggest….

I got my classroom taken away. I was marking the year 6 books during interval one day and noticed there was a lot of noise, more than usual, outside. I saw all of the desks and table being moved out of all the classrooms. I assumed that they were going to be clean, and another excuse to end school early. When I asked a teacher what was going on she told me that they were switching all of the classrooms, and year two was being split into two classes because it was so big. Its not a big deal, I just have to travel to each classroom instead of them coming to me. The problem with the big move was I had just organized the library, which is now piled in the year 2 room….

On a more positive note I have been working on a reading program with the year 7 and 8’s. It has been going very well. The students are starting to understand the routine, and even the lower students seemed to be getting something out of it. I am happy when the “lazy” boys come into my class excited to do the work! You can usually find this group of boys roaming around school or in the bathroom. They are my favorite and are determined to make me a fluent Samoan speaker.

In a week I will start seeing every class at least two times a week. I will be very busy but it beats observing all day long!

Last  weekend myself and other 83’s went to a beautiful waterfall. We had a great time swimming and jumping into the fresh water. It’s always a fun time when we get together. We sat around talking about school experiences trying to be positive for each other. It’s nice to have a group of people I can relate with and not feel so bad if things aren’t going perfect at my school.

In other news….

Next weekend I will hopefully be getting SCUBA certified. The weather has been wonderfully sunny and hot for the past two weeks. Knock on wood….

Stay tuned for pictures….

Peace and Love

TEVI AND RIVKA

ME AND MY GIRL RACH

CHRIS AND HIS P90X BOD WITH TEV AND MIKA

Pictures

My new kitty Penelope

Walking up on the first day

Kids doing their first assignment of the year

Administration :)

My little sister Sarai on her first day

Be Cool Stay in School

It is Wednesday February 9. There have been 7 other days of school since the first day. The first week of school was basically a repeat of the first day. Tuesday and Friday were official “working” days which I thought meant the teachers would actually be teaching? A working day here means kids dress in old clothes to do more cleaning and work on the school. At least they weren’t getting their uniforms dirty. There is still no official start time of school. Everything gets started around 8:30 or so and we get done between 11 and 12. School is supposed to go until 2, but that has yet to happen. I do think a routine will eventually be made, I suppose there is still some logistical stuff to be done. I am taking this down time in the school to get to know the children and look through the English curriculum. I do have my own classroom which also serves as the library. I am starting to decorate it and trying to fade out the browns grays and dust colors.

            Wednesday the teachers fast to show their thanks to God. I was walking down the hallway taking a sip of water when a teacher poked me in the stomach and said “hey! Today we fast”. I didn’t know fasting included water, what they didn’t know is I made myself a wonderful breakfast this morning. Now don’t go thinking these Samoan women fast all day long. We fast until twelve and then a prayer is said to close the fast and it’s time for lunch. It also is another excuse to end school early.

            What we deal with in these schools from time to time is lack of motivation from teachers students. I am not going point any fingers, but I do know my work is cut out for me. It’s not just my school that is like this, looking for excuses to end school early. Any reason can work, from fasting to too much rain (which the kids have to walk home in, so it’s better to stay in school right?). I was talking to another PCV today and her teachers left school early because it was payday and they wanted to go to Apia. There are so many issues to tackle but we must take it one day at a time. My biggest priority right now is establishing good relationships with my teachers and students.

            At the end of last week I was disappointed. Over the weekend I realized that it was not a waste and if anything I spent time with my students and the other teachers. So life is good. Penelope finally used her litter box, I’m a proud mommy. I went for my first bike ride and didn’t get attacked by a dog.

When we first got here the staff would talk to us about being flexible. I couldn’t count how many times we heard “being a part of the Peace Corps, you have to be flexible”. The word I realize we use the most when talking amongst other PCV’s is patience. In this country, you won’t survive without it. Anyway what I am getting at is I found this great quote from Mother Teresa that is perfect. I found it reading “Three Cups of Tea” that I just recently finished. I have been told for like 5 years now that I need to read it, and I am glad I did. I definitely recommend it!

Peace and Love

“Let nothing perturb you, nothing frighten you. All things pass. God does not change. Patience achieves everything”- Mother Teresa

First Day of School

When I think back about all my first days of elementary school I remember a neat new (sometimes) uniform and putting on my new school shoes. I remember the odd excitement I had of filling up my new backpack with my new school supplies, including a sweet new trapper keeper that I spent an abnormal amount of time picking out. I wonder why I had such a strange fascination for school supplies, maybe it’s because while all the other kids back to school shopping consisted of new outfits, my highlight was shoes that had very specific guidelines but I felt such freedom being able to pick out my own shoes in hopes to have different ones from everyone else in my class. The best part of the first day of school was waiting for the morning bell and catching up with friends and their summer vacations. Well, I would think it’s the best part; I never got to experience this because my driver was notorious for being late. My “driver” may or may not be my mommy. Anyways so once I got in the classroom I would always have butterflies in my stomach wondering where my desk was going to be and more importantly who it would be by. The day would be full of organization of our supplies, distribution of schedules, and usually a writing piece on our summer vacation. The day would go by fast and stress free for the most part and before I knew it I would be waiting outside with my other family members where we may or may not have been the last ones picked up.

            So how is the first day of school different for children at Samauga Primary?....

            I was told by my Pule (principal) that school starts at 7:30, and I should arrive around 7. I woke up to a downpour of rain at 6 and automatically knew that this would make everyone late. I took my time getting ready, made breakfast and coffee, then put on my green Puletasi. Around 7:30 it had stopped raining and I decided to start my 5 minute walk to school. It was quiet, too quiet. Where were all the people? There were some of the high school children waiting for the bus. I walked up to the school and wasn’t all that surprised to find I was the very first person at the school. I waited for about 20 minutes and then my Pule showed up with her children. More children and teachers started to stroll in around 8:30. The students do have uniform, red bottoms and white tops. Some had new backpacks but chances are there was nothing in them. I watched my Pule enroll new students while the children mingled. The first order of business was to weed the field. In their brand new uniforms, the students were weeding the muddy field and saying goodbye to those stainless clean white shirts. It started to rain so the students moved on to the next task, moving the furniture into the classrooms. I tried to help, but one of the challenges I still face is being treated like an equal, instead of a Palagi. Once all the rooms had their furniture the day was over for the students. The teachers had a meeting after school which was in Samoan, so my participation was minimal. I spoke up when they told me I was teaching year 1-8 everyday, which isn’t even possible because of the length of their school day. Once the meeting was over it was time to go home and kafaou.

I can’t say I was surprised about the day. I was warned by group 82 volunteers to not set my expectations to high for the first week or so of school. I spoke with other 83’s about their day and we all had similar experiences. We were all so anxious for this big day that turned out not so big, but I have learned that patience is key but it’s a whole new level of patience that I didn’t think was possible to reach, but I am slowly climbing that ladder to the very top.   

Big Island Adventures

            Savaii has a lot of cool sites to see. I have a checklist of the things I would like to do and see just on Savaii alone over these next two years.

1.      See the sunset from Falealupo…check

2.      Alofaaga Blow Holes

3.      Dwarf  Caves…check

4.      Nuu Black Sand Beach

5.      Afu Aau Waterfall

6.       Go hiking

7.      Bike around the whole Island

8.      Scuba certification….check off next week

9.      Visit all the 83 PCV’s on the Island and their villages

a.      Olivia…check

b.      Mikaele…check

c.       Tevi

d.      Sara

e.       Nancy

f.        Lopati

g.      Pat

10.  Sinaloa Waterfall

I’m sure more attractions will be added….

So I already wrote about my spending New Years in Falealupo and seeing the last sunset of 2010 and how wonderful it was.

I must tell you all about the Dwarf Cave a couple of us went to on Saturday.

So the legend goes something along the lines of a man discovering dwarfs that lived in a cave. He would keep their existence a secret only if they built him a house. So they did in one night. People became suspicious which led to the man asking for more buildings eventually ending up with a whole village. The people wouldn’t not believe that the man did it all himself and finally annoyed him enough to tell them about the dwarfs. As soon as the dwarfs found out they ran to their cave a barricaded the hole so no one could ever see them again.

The trip to the cave was not what I thought it was going to be. I convinced my friends that it was a short walk to the site, knowing full well I had no idea how long of a walk it would be. It ended up being about a hour long walk, uphill in muddy/manure filled paths. Totally worth it! Once you get to the cave it looks like a big hole in the ground. You have to climb into and down a bunch of rocks. Once you are away from the opening than it is pitch black. Each person should have their own flashlight; we made the mistake of only bring two. Actually the pencil sized one doesn’t really count as a flash light, more like a lazar pointer. We ventured to both ends of the cave. One led us into a dead end up piled up rocks, the other led us to a small drop into a pool of water. It looked as though there was more on the other side of the pool but we weren’t sure how deep the water was and how we could get back up. Our tour guides were 10 year old Samoan boys whose only job was to hold the flashlights. We made the decision to stay put and not test the waters. I definitely plan on going back and taking the other volunteers who have not been. The pictures didn’t come out so well, just picture “The Goonies” but take away the traps and dead bodies.

Update of the village life…

I finished making and hanging the curtains in my house. I have put up a couple different art pieces that I created. I am hoping to shelves or some sort of storage for my books and things. I finally have a working stove. It is a gas one and I already lit the table it sits on on fire; not my fault, the cable wasn’t screwed in all the way. I blame it on the installer, aka my host brother. Nothing was severely damaged, don’t worry.

Mostly I am just hanging around the village, perfecting the art of Kafau. School starts in 2 weeks! Next week a group of us are getting certified in Scuba Diving, so I am looking forward to that!

Shout out to my Mom <3

I got some letters!
Thank you to....

Auntie Trish
Brittany Freeman...Congrats to the newlyweds!
Putrino Family...LOVE MY HEADBAND
Kathleen Foerster <3
and Holy Family 5th grade class

thanks for the love everyone.....keep them coming

Chocolate Cake

            I remember on the plane ride over here I sat next to a Samoan woman who moved to the states in her late twenties. She was a wonderful woman with a big personality. She told me stories about the PCV who lived with her family, specifically about her stealing his peanut butter.

            One of the first things a current volunteer told us when we got here was about peanut butter, and I can’t quite remember exactly what it was. I do remember from that moment on I felt this strong desire for peanut butter, I even think it was one of the first things I told my mom to send to me in a package. Weird things is, is that back home I didn’t eat peanut butter all that much, if I wanted to then it was easily accessible. Truth is, is that it is pretty easy to get here, but yes a little pricey. However, I will say that peanut butter is definitely a staple in my diet and in many other PCV’s.

            So once I got over the peanut butter craze along came my craving for sweets. Back in the states I would usually go for another helping of mashed potatoes or two rolls of sushi rather than save room for dessert. I think maybe it’s because I knew that if I had the craving for dessert, I could get just about any dessert I wanted if I really tried. Here however, it’s a treat, a treat that I miss and find myself longing for all the time.

            My first time I had chocolate cake, it wasn’t chocolate cake. It was brown like chocolate and had icing on it, but it was not chocolate. I had this same kind for a couple different occasions and slowly gave up hope that Samoa had the knowledge of how to create such a delicious yet simple dessert. I eventually chose the easier more reliable yet always good dessert of the samoan fruit pie. Until one day my host brother brought in a cake from town….a chocolate cake. I mean a real chocolate tasting chocolate cake. I had to share with my neighboring PC brother but the leftovers were for me. Once this day came it seems that it initiated the endless number of fa’a lavelaves(any kind of event funeral, wedding, party, etc). To me this meant a endless amount of chocolate cake. Seriously, I have had at least one, usually more, but at least one piece of chocolate cake every week. And not fake chocolate cake either, real honest to goodness chocolate cake. Yes I am aware of the fact that my taste buds may have lowered their standards for such things like chocolate cake (actually I know they have because tomato “sauce” has become an acceptable substitute for tomato ketchup), in any case it is my goal to find a way to have one piece of chocolate cake a week, maybe a I could lower the bar to one piece of chocolate a week. One piece of chocolate cake a week will be a hard task to complete seeing as how I am on Savaii and I have seen only one cake bakery (it is on the bus ride home from town however I can’t stop the bus just to run in and get a piece of cake. Well actually I probably could but I think about how pissed I would be if someone interrupted my trip to get a piece of freaking chocolate cake).

I will let you know how my cake plan works out. For now I had my last piece of chocolate cake on Sunday. It was delightful and the perfect start of the week or end of the week if you’re one of those people who thinks Sunday is the last day of the week. In any case it was delicious.

For those people who think they have read a completely pointless blog post here is an update on what I have been doing followed by some pictures….

Last week I went to my training village for my family’s reunion. I met all the family from my host mother’s side. Most of them came from New Zealand and some from Australia. We had a big night time prayer together and dinner at a local beach restaurant, and yes there was chocolate cake.

I played bingo for the first time in my village on Friday. I needed to just get it over with; I managed to escape it in my training village. I think that most older women in my village are addicted. There is a game almost every day and sometimes twice a day. It ends up being pretty pricey especially if you play every day and never win. You also have to play with 9 or 18 cards at a time; it’s also in warp speed Samoan and last for about three hours while you’re sitting Indian style on the floor. BINGO anyone? Good news, I did win 20 tala during the last game. No chocolate cake.

Saturday I went to a wedding in the next village. I am pretty sure this bride didn’t want to get married, but she looked so beautiful even with a frown on her face. This wedding was a little different than the one I went to in the beginning of training. The groomsmen start at one end of the isle and the bridesmaids at the back of the church. They meet each other in the middle while walking extremely slow. The women lay the men with a necklace of flowers and the men give the women a bouquet and a kiss on the cheek then escort them to the altar. The reception was lovely and I was even asked to perform my own siva (dance) on the brides behalf. Once the bride and groom cut the cake they come around with small pieces for everyone (it wasn’t until later I learned you’re supposed to wait until everyone has their piece…I inhaled mine immediately). They give a toast while everyone holds up their piece of cake and then eats it. Cheersing with cake….I love this country.

The past two days have been lazy but relaxing which is nice after all the village mayhem for the holidays. It really hasn’t stopped raining either. I have been reading, painting and making curtains for my windows. I also have been having mini marathons of the big bang theory, which I recommend if you have never watched. School starts in three weeks so I am enjoying the downtime and exploring the big Island whenever I can and when it’s not raining.,

Have a piece of chocolate cake for me….Steph and Kristine I know you won’t disappoint me

Waiting at the marketi for a bus....

At the church fundraiser..."Tausala"

standard pose

My nieces and nephews at the reunion :)

Only thing missing.....chocolate cake...i hate it before i could take a picture