Happy May.

Well, it hasn’t been a month yet, but it is quite quiet in my house right now, which seems to have become quite rare (I can never complain I am bored that is for sure!) so I decided to take this wonderful opportunity to reflect and write a little update. Let me first say that I had a big chocolate craving tonight. I opened the chocolate cookies, and yes, ate all 8 that were in the pack. Now, we all know how this can be a not so good situation, however let me tell you that I ate all those cookies before the ants found them, which is quite an accomplish on my part. Haha, in conclusion I feel pretty good right now, because I outsmarted those silly ants for once!

First let’s talk about the weekends…2 great weekends! Last weekend, on Friday (we had a half day because the Manu Samoa, the Samoa rugby team, won the World Cup), I went into Apia to meet with another Peace Corps to discuss some ideas for a literacy project, good stuff  Afterwards, hung out with a bunch of volunteers and then stayed overnight in Apia---very beneficial to talk about what has been happening in our schools and realize we are going through many of the same excitements as well as frustrations. Returned to my village on Saturday for my Samoan sister’s 1 year birthday party---What a great day it was! I helped cook the food, (then took a break to watch the guys play rugby…which they won!), made balloon animals which we hung from the ceiling, and was photographer. It was all people from our family who came to the party, which meant that I knew most of the people there, which was definitely a nice feeling. The pastor from the church came and gave a prayer, then the kids were given their party bags (which they were definitely excited about, that doesn’t happen much here, but my Samoan father had just came back from Austrailia and brought them with him). Hung out all afternoon, and then at night, after many people left, we watched a movie (which meant I ended up passing out on the floor). The day was so nice because I definitely felt like a part of the family. I ate the food out of the huge containers with a bunch of other people after everyone was served and washed the dishes. A certain highlight of the day, was dunking cookies into the big box of ice cream with 3 of the guys who live next to me- and they kept saying “Sally, go get more cookies!” Definitely a very familiar experience for me haha, as my friends and family knows!

This past weekend, I went back to Ma’asina again, my training family. We had a very nice visit, although it was very quick--- I was told “le lava le tafao” when I left, we didn’t get to hang out enough. We swam in the ocean, went to church, had to’ona’i. Also, a first for me was spreading out the kava on the sheets of medal for it to dry. (Fagaloa Bay area has a lot of kava) On Saturday, my Samoan brother who works on the ships left for 6 months (to Australia, Tonga, and I am not sure where else). I went with some people from our family and another volunteer to say bye to him in Apia. The whole thing definitely brought me back to when I was leaving to come to Samoa. I watched him pack his suitcases with one of his sisters and his mother, while I was talking to one of my other Samoan brothers about how he was going to miss him but that it would be a great trip for him. Then, when we got to the wharf, we weren’t allowed to go inside because of security and had to say bye outside (another familiar experience I recall and two people trying to get me to beg the security lady to go upstairs!). I definitely got a bit teary eyed too, and realized how close I have gotten to them and how blessed I am to always have that family, the ones who first introduced me to Samoan life, to return back to and visit.
Well, the weekdays have been busy as well. Began teaching piano lessons to the boy in the other village once a week, have been helping some kids right after school and then 5 girls from year 8 most afternoons after school, and usually there are a few kids who stop by at night for help with homework or to learn the computer. Also try to run or ride my bike which always ends up being a nice time for me and running right next to the blue ocean has not gotten old yet 

School is slowing down, as we only have 2 weeks left to the term, so the kids are taking tests, and then have many soccer days. It has given me more time to work with year 8, which is nice, since this is their last year in the school. Some of the students who need a ton of help with reading have really started to show some improvement, which definitely makes me happy, and them too. A very exciting thing as well…I was walking to school the other day and this guy who I have never seen before calls out my name. It turns out he is a teacher at Loto Tamafai, the school in Apia that works with students with special needs, and he lives in my village! Definitely awesome. He works for the early intervention program, and visits the families of students with special needs and talks to them about how they can best help their children. The program also works on getting all students in school.

Overall, the day always ends well here  During our 2 weeks off of school, I am looking forward to biking around Savai’i with another volunteer for 4-5 days, as well as our Early Service Conference for Peace Corps, where we are staying in beach fales. Well, that is all for now, hope everyone is enjoying the weird wacky weather in the States, which has even made the New Zealand news (which we watch in Samoa). I love you all!

Love, Sally