Filigā ma Alofa

The first term of school is finished on Friday. It has been 15 very interesting weeks of getting accustomed to school life in Samoa. This week, there are no classes for the Year 9, 10, and 11 students because we are preparing for Thursday’s Culture Day. It is basically a day where the students dance, sing, and make food in the traditional way. They have to bring live pigs, chickens, fish, taro, breadfruit, and coconuts for the event. The students are divided into four houses: Red, Green, Blue, and Yellow. Tonight I am storing the pig and chickens of the Green House in my house. Needless to say, tomorrow is going to be an awesome day and trust that I will post pictures next time I blog.

On Friday my Year 12 Computer Studies students have their CAT (Common Assessment Task) – a national practical test for word-processing (using MS Word and formatting paragraphs and all that). Since there are just seven students I think they’ve got enough practice and one-on-one instruction from me to all get 100%. But the thing about Samoa is that you never see some things coming.

Take for example the theory exams I gave my Year 12 and 13 students last week. It was essentially a cumulative test for the first term. Both exams were out of 70 points. I had one student in Year 12 get 70 out of 70. There were some students who got 20-something out of 70. I can’t seem to reconcile the fact that I see them all in class everyday, they all take notes, I check to make sure they all took notes, and then somehow there are students that get destroyed by a test that is taken directly from the notes. Perhaps Term 2 will reveal the answer to me.

However, most of my students did well and I really enjoy teaching them. With the help of PCV Max, the computer lab now has an e-mail program, a Samoan-English dictionary, and Wikipedia Selection for schools on our intranet. That means that even without the internet my students are still learning to be adept with the workings of forward, reply, attach, surf, and research. It’s gratifying knowing that when they reach the internet they will know exactly what to do!

Other than working at school, I’ve been working in my garden and spending time in the faleo’o (Samoan hut with no walls, just a roof) that was built next to my house. It’s an awesome place to read a book or just enjoy the breeze.

As for the title of this post, it means “Perseverance and Love” and it’s our school motto. This term has definitely encompassed both. Some times I love it; some times I have to persevere. I guess what I’ve learned so far is that either way, it all comes out all right in the end.

Last but not least, I’ve got a new mailing address. Write me and I promise to write you back!

Philip Owen

Peace Corps Samoa

Private Mail Box 7139

Salelologa, Savaii

Western Samoa

South Pacific

The Year 13 boys. From left to right in the back: Noruwa, Mendeleev, Isaako, and Faatafa. Aleni and Ieti in front.

The Year 13 girls. From left to right: Maria, Ateileen, Vaimoli (front), Senia, Siauvaa, Faamao, and Lagi.

Year 13 students. All I said was “Smile!”

P.S. This is the room where I work everyday!

The Year 12 boys. Tuitagi on the left and Loama on the right.

The Year 12 girls. From left to right: Faateaina, Maria, Vii, Tioata, and Christina.

Our school bus – check out the flames on the front! That kicks the crap out of any yellow school bus.

Just a cool picture I took. Three o’clock in the afternoon and the moon is out. Also, I thought the palm trees looked like they were burning from the clouds behind them.

Faleo’o construction: Day 1 - the posts and the roof.

Faleo’o construction: Day 2 - and it’s finished! It all happened so fast…

The Way It Is

Last weekend, after about four and a half months of debating, I broke down and bought a spear to go spear-fishing. I was hooked ever since my host father used to go out daily and bring back lunch or dinner. But I never was able to go with him, and it nagged at my brain. Spear-fishing, I thought – it has to be as awesome as I imagine it. I put it off, and put it off, but still I wanted to try it. On Monday, once my after-school class was finished, I headed out. Rash guard, snorkel, fins, spear, and the instincts of my ancestors all set to bear down on some unsuspecting fish. I spent two and a half hours in the reef behind my house. I caught one (1) fish. I was under-whelmed, to say the least, about the size of my catch. But, as they say, it’s about the pursuit of happiness, not attaining it. And honestly, I was the happiest I’ve been in Samoa when I was out there. This week I have plans to head out again for some night fishing (“lama” in Samoan) with one of my fellow teachers. I am excited about the potential of this trip, and respectfully fearful of heading out into the ocean at night. But not to worry – I’ve got my Samoan guide, Unasa; the fact that many, many Samoan men do this same thing every day of every week; and oh yea, I know how to swim pretty well too! [So really don’t worry Mom, I’ll be OK.] I’ll give you an update on how it goes next time I blog.

As you’ll soon see, I apparently have much more to fear from the land than from the sea. From about mid-February to the beginning of March I had a nasty infection in my right pointer finger. How did this start you ask? I don’t know. How do you not know? I don’t know. All I know is that it got infected a little, a lot, and then basically exploded. As my fellow Savai’ian PCV, Nick, says, “Samoa is like one giant Petri dish. It’s hot, it’s wet, and stuff loves to grow.” Lucky for me, the hospital on my island is literally a four minute walk from my house. The nurses and I are now on a first-name basis. Interesting, hospital care in Samoa is incredibly cheap compared to the U.S. I saw the doctor twice, got three antibiotics, and changed the bandage on at least five separate occasions. It cost me $25 tala (about $9 dollars). Sweet. Not sweet was the minor surgery (I’m exaggerating, but only slightly) they performed on my finger after a week of antibiotics and no improvement. I got a needle (full of local anesthetic) stuck into my already painful, swollen, pus-filled finger six times. This is a pain I had not known before, and hope to never know again. Without getting too graphic, to allow the pus to drain better the part where the fingerprint is was taken off with a scalpel. It felt like giving blood while sticking my hand into a fan blade. It sucked. But before anyone gets too worried, as of today my finger is healed and back to normal! Chalk down another point for modern medicine.

Obviously, while my finger was on the mend I rested and took things easy. My neighbor (an Indian missionary) has a TV, and Samoa has 3 TV channels. So I’ve been watching American Idol on a fairly regular basis, and the Oscars (and Obama’s inauguration back in January!). But other than that the programming is pretty weak. Similarly, my parents sent me a radio and I tried in vain to get it to work. I couldn’t find a spot in the house with anything resembling decent reception. That is until I extended the antenna with a finely-crafted pair of aluminum foil bunny ears. Now music fills the house at all hours of the day and definitely helps pass the (sometimes) boring hours in Samoa.

Teaching is going well, with some troubles along the way (it is Peace Corps right?). I’m teaching Years 12 and 13 and this past week I had to ban some students from class because they haven’t paid their $20 tala computer class fee. It’s Week 8 of school. Being somewhat naïve I assumed that everything was good, all bills had been paid, and that the school year was well under way. Not the case, as my principal informed me last Monday. So my Year 12 class went from thirteen students to seven. Yesterday it went from seven to six after one student earned a two week suspension for fighting. Not cool. Year 13 was a bit better, only one student hasn’t paid. But still, it was really hard to accept the fact that their education in computers was put on pause, or in some cases, all together stopped, and I had to be the one to do it. “That’s the way it is,” in the words of my principal. And I guess it is.

My awesome radio. Check out that foil antenna!

My finger - good as new.

Back at home after meeting the scalpel. Not happy.

Taken on Monday, right before I went out for the first time. And yeah, that spear is longer than I am tall. (And why am I not wearing a shirt in the last two pictures you ask? Because Samoa is the hottest place ever. And when you do your laundry in a bucket, it really matters how many shirts you have to wash!)