I almost went into a food coma

A couple weeks ago we had a visit from Jared, Ruth, and their son Hugo. They run a charity bottled water company which just launched in New Zealand. The company seems really cool. All the profits from the company go to fund small water projects in third world countries. They had a holiday planned for Samoa so they donated money to my village’s project and came to see what their money went towards. We gave them a tour of the village and went down to see the spring fed pool. The vaita’ele isn’t quite finished but almost. I think they enjoyed the visit and I know I enjoyed meeting them and getting faces put to e-mail addresses. Their son Hugo (1 year old) seemed to enjoy playing with the girls in the family I live with. The girls wanted to carry him around a lot; that was amusing.

How the vaita'ele is going to work is this: the covered part is where the spring bubbles up. The water flows out from under the concrete bridge and will form a pool. The concrete making the pool isn't finished yet, but soon. As you can see from the pictures the water still flows out in to the river. Soon enough though the concrete will be laid down to catch the water. Rocks will be placed on the bottom of the pool so dirt and sand won't cause the clear, clean water to be dirty and silty. I'm excited to see the finished product. It looks great already.

I showed Anita and the girls how to make homemade ice cream in a plastic bag. They enjoyed this easy treat. It’s not difficult at all: milk, sugar, & vanilla in a small bag, ice and salt in a bigger bag, and shake until it has ice cream texture. The girls were literally climbing the counters while we were making the ice cream.

Anita finished weaving her fine mat. It is huge 27’ by 14’. She asked for advice on how to do the feathers at the bottom of the mat. I was shocked to be asked this…what does a palagi know about fine mats? She took the advice I gave and I was glad to see it turned out really well. She should get a good price for it when she sells it.

We had our Thanksgiving celebration Saturday at the embassy representative’s house. The feast was supposed to be Thursday as Thanksgiving Day is the fourth Thursday of November, but since we are in Samoa and that day wasn’t a holiday like in the US, Saturday worked out much better. Oh, the food! Amazing! I enjoyed very much the turkey, mashed potatoes, sweet potatoes, stuffing, pumpkin pie, cranberry sauce, etc. I even made pear salad, a tradition in my family on Thanksgiving. I ate a whole plate full of the delicious eats, went back for seconds, and then of course had some pumpkin pie for dessert. I was stuffed, as one ought to be on Thanksgiving. I haven't eaten like that since...well, last year's Thanksgiving. It's not healthy to gorge yourself on food like that, but Thanksgiving comes once a year so you have to go all out. Food comas are expected on Thanksgiving and I could have taken a nap shortly after eating (course a lot of that is due to poor sleep the night before and missing my regular afternoon nap, but the food didn’t help). There was even football on tv. The embassy representative has satellite tv so before we enjoyed the feast we watched football. It was almost like being in the USA. Good day!

Grandpa Would Be Proud!

My grandfather has been a member of the Lion’s Club for decades. Every time I go up to my Grandma and Grandpa’s house in West Virginia I see the plaques commemorating his fine years of service. I knew Lion’s Club was international; I’d seen their signs in Costa Rica while I was there on a field biology course, but I didn’t know they were in Samoa. That is until they delivered aid to me Saturday afternoon. I got pisupo (corned beef), spaghetti, toothbrushes, toothpaste, soap, water, Ramen noodles, etc. We took some pictures and I told them my Grandpa was a Lion too, so I’m sure they got a kick out of that. I borrowed a camera from another volunteer to take some pictures and caught the kids being their normal, funny selves. Charin likes to sing for the camera while Alofa prefers trying to be the photographer, always curious as to what that goofy thing is I’m holding. I was able to get a funny video of Alofa and Charin fake fighting. If you tell Alofa to “fusu,” she takes a martial arts stance, bobs her head like a bobble head doll, and then attacks. It is so funny and I always get a kick out of it, never gets old. This family, especially the kids, is the only thing keeping me sane at times. Of course sometimes they compound the problem (you know how difficult kids can be and I still haven’t gotten used to the whole family sleeping right outside my door), but the majority of the time they make me laugh when I need to or in talking with the adults my apprehensions are relieved.

The bus continues to be an interesting experience. I thought I’d seen just about everything. In the States there are certain things you can’t do: bring a puppy or any other form of animal (exception of seeing eye dogs) on a bus for fear of biting or allergies, here not so much an issue, kinda of funny what comes on a bus actually; weed whackers, not really a good idea either; machetes are a big no-no unless one is a crazed killer or wants people to think so; and the whole sit on a strangers lap would never happen in the States (you know how we palagi are, not big fans of touching, we need our bubble of personal space). All this I’ve gotten used to as normal; there isn’t much that goes on concerning the bus which truly shocks me anymore. That being said, the other week coming back from Apia and just one village from mine, a fight broke out between two soles. “Great!” I thought, “I’m almost home and these idiots are causing trouble.” They started in the back and worked their way up front. They got up by me and I hunkered down as they shoved each other into me and continued the punching and wrestling. I really didn’t want to have to go back to the office the next day and explain why I had a black eye or worse. I found it very cute when the Samoan lady next to me put her arms around me and yelled to the boys “Teine Palagi, Teine Palagi!” That did nothing to stop them, but it was cute. The lady had a kid about three on her lap who was about to lose it when the boy were wrestling on top of me causing me to be shoved into them. Eventually, the bus driver and other men got them separated. The driver kicked one guy off and told the other to stay put; he didn’t want this continued in the street. From what I heard the fight was about bus fare. While money might be a big issue, $6 is not enough to warrant a bloody nose and several face lacerations. But, I believe alcohol was involved as well so that would explain most of the stupid behavior. Just another day on the bus.

Long lost dog has returned!

Well, it took a whole month but I finally found her. I was sitting on the church steps last Tuesday, waiting for singing practice to begin, when I saw the little mutt sauntering down the road looking halfway lost as always. I walked down the steps and did the familiar whistle she knows as me. She stopped in her tracks and looked at me on the fist whistle, started wagging her tail on the second, and took off running towards me on the third. I think she was a little surprised to see me after a month. I’m pretty sure all the Samoans thought it was funny to see me and the dog. Oh well, I’m glad to see she is ok. She has been a bad girl though and is pregnant…again. I have to get her de-sexed but that isn’t easy without a car; that will happen after this litter comes though. Dogs are something not in short supply here and more dogs are not needed in this country. She followed me up the road after singing (waiting so patiently for me where the old house was until singing was over) and has stayed at the house since then; although, I had trouble finding her the past couple of days so I think she went back down seaward. I tried giving her a bath last Wednesday. As with most dogs, she wasn’t a fan. It was a short bath and she still smells like a dog, but I didn’t want to stress her out too much since she is pregnant. Pretty sure my family found me giving the dog a bath amusing.

Wednesday night there were some interesting sights in the sky. I saw two shooting stars. They both had green tails and lasted 2-3 seconds so I’m thinking they may have been part of a small meteor shower. They didn’t seem like regular shooting stars to me. The really cool thing was the aura or ring around the moon (also known as a halo). When the first shooting star caught my eye I saw the ring around the moon. I’ve seen rings around the moon before, but never this big. As I looked up I put my thumb on the moon and my index finger on the ring, 3 inches or so. I’ve only seen them an inch or less. Really cool to see. Pretty soon I had the whole family out there looking at it. That was funny because I told one person; they gave an exclamation of surprise and called another until the whole family was outside staring at the moon. They kept asking what day it was because since Wednesday was the 28th the next day was the 29th and the one month anniversary of the tsunami. They thought something bad would occur the next day. I kept trying to tell them the ring was only because of moisture in the air, but that didn’t seem to be a satisfying enough answer. Oh well, it was still fun to gaze at the moon with them.

It is funny how life comes at you fast. I went from living alone and by the sea to living with a family and in the jungle. I used to fix my own palagi food but am now given Samoan food. Although, we get a lot canned foods (beef stew, mushroom soup, baked beans, etc) as part of aid given to the other family whose house was destroyed and shared with me because they feel bad I was affected more than a lot of families and I haven’t been given aid. I told them I appreciate it, but it isn’t necessary; they send over stuff anyway. They aren’t used to the palagi canned foods so they give them to me. The girls in the family tried apple juice for the first time and made funny faces. They said it was o’ona or bitter. I had a box of raisins and we put them in the oatmeal along with chopped walnuts we were given as part of the aid. I thought it was fantastic and really added a lot to the oatmeal. Charin, the 4 year old, spit every walnut and raisin out; e le masani (she isn’t used to it). That was amusing.

I am working on a proposal to get funding for a new pre-school. Of course the other, which was my house, was destroyed in the tsunami. We should be submitting the proposal soon. We picked up three computers Friday, thanks to Jenny for giving us two of the four she requested and Sara and Cale for an additional computer to replace the whole order as well as for fixing them up and keeping them safe. I’m hoping to keep a little busier on an everyday basis either messing around on the computer or actually doing my job and teaching people how to use the computer. Work comes in spurts so it will be great to have something more often to do.

When I got back from Apia and picking up the computers Friday, I was called over to the pulenuu’s house. Three trucks from DMO, Disaster Management Office, were there. Apparently, they have been trying to find me for four weeks and the last time they tried to find me I was in Apia for the fiafia to welcome the new group; go figure, I was in the village all that time except for the time they came to deliver stuff to me. Well, my family can stop being mad at the village for not giving me aid (even though this didn’t have anything to do with the village, it was all DMO). I got a bunch of cereals, canned foods, noodles, rice, cookies, soap, laundry powder, a non-stick skillet, bowls, and a box of NZ Artesian water. Since I am now part of a Samoan family I shared. I gave my family everything since they cook for me anyway. They had me keep some things, like the toilet paper, toothpaste, two packs of cookies (in case I get hungry), and the bedding for when I need to change my sheets. We should be eating really well for the next few weeks. We have enough cereal to feed an army; the kids enjoyed it for dinner Friday night. I’m interested to see what else might show up, not that I need it or really want it, but it will be given anyway since I’m a tsunami victim. My family gets well fed; I’m ok with that.

It is still really weird to drive past Poutasi on the bus. There is still a lot of debris. They had to knock another building near the secondary school down because of water damage. The area near the school looks pretty cleaned up; although just a giant field for the most part now, but just to the side where there are more trees there is a lot of tin used for roofing and wood scattered everywhere. It is a little unnerving to be on the bus and when we get to Poutasi everyone turns their head to see how the clean up is going. My village will change soon too. Those of us whose houses were completely destroyed by the tsunami aren’t returning to where we once lived. Many of the families whose houses were not damaged at all or only minor water damage sustained are starting to move up to the road as well. They are pretty scared to live down in the village center near the sea and I can understand their wish to move inland to be safer. I was a little unhappy to hear a matai knocked his house down just so that he could get aid. His house sustained no damage, yet he is taking advantage of the disaster. From what I’ve heard, this is happening all over Samoa and I’m sure it happens worldwide, but that doesn’t make it right.

The best part of my days, besides the nap which is a cultural requirement, is right around dusk. I love watching the bats fly around. The palm trees are mere silhouettes, the sky is shades of blue, pink, red, purple, and orange, and the air is starting to cool off from the warm day. The bats emerge from their mountain roosts and fly out in search of the evening meal. The bats are peaceful things to watch at the end of the long days.

Getting Back in the Swing of Things

I’ve been back in the village about a week now and am enjoying living with a family. I’m just off the main road now, so it is much easier to catch the bus. I don’t have to walk 15 minutes to get back to my house while carrying a back of groceries and after walking around all day in Apia. It is a totally different atmosphere than what I had before. Usually, only four people live there, but because of the tsunami we have an additional six people living there. We had another two as well, the parents of the people I am living with, but they are building a house just up the road and already have a small fale up where they sleep. The others will move out as well. They are re-building where the old fale was by the sea.

There are two kids in the family four and six, and for now a one year old and a one month old. It is fun to see the kids play. They do the funniest things. The family tells the one year old, Alofa, to “Fai maso” (flex your muscles) and little Alofa does a strong man pose, flexing her little arms and grinning ear to ear. It is so funny. The kids were playing the other day when Alofa got the best of the four year old, Karin. Alofa was terrorizing Karin who was lying down trying to watch a movie. Alofa comes running towards Karin so Karin put her foot up to try to stop Alofa. Instead of being stopped by the foot on her chest, Alofa acted like she was going to eat Karin’s foot. Alofa’s reaction to the foot on her chest was so quick; no time lost thinking at all. I cracked up laughing. I take the kids on walks and we watch movies together. It is fun to be around the kids.

Anita is the mom of the family. She is like a Samoan sister to me. When I lived alone, she would invite me to her house for dinner and to hang out, even gave me papaya and ripe bananas. She was the one who saw me not doing anything but sitting around after the tsunami and invited me for lunch at her house. She immediately started getting a room together for me. Anita takes care of me, but doesn’t overwhelm me which can happen sometimes in a Samoan family. She lived in town and was really good friends with other Peace Corps Volunteers, so she knows we palagi need alone time sometimes. Salesa is her husband; he said he would protect me from the cheeky boys. I really like this family so I’m glad to be living with them. They gave me a nice room in their house, even my own bathroom in my room (no more out house).

Now that I’ve been back for a week my things are starting to be returned. I was walking with the kids on Wednesday evening when one of the men in the village was waving for me to come over to his house. I went over and he gave me my dive watch and a pair of eyeglasses back; I was shocked. I know him and his family and they too are really nice so I’m not shocked they would be nice enough to give my things back, but just shocked in general I got things back. I’m glad about getting both back and especially happy to get the glasses because I only have one extra pair of contacts left. I have horrible eyesight so it is nice to be able to wear the contacts during the day and put my glasses on at night. This way I can save the contacts until more come by mail.

Taua, a matai who is a really helpful counterpart, has been going around finding out where my stuff is. I’m so glad to have him as a friend. I got a suitcase back, beat up pretty badly but who cares, a pair of shoes, my external hard drive and thumb drives (don’t work, but that’s ok), and most shocking cds & dvds (really scratched but appear to work). Not everything, but it is a start. I’ve washed everything, but I’ll be finding sand in all of these things for years to come.

The women on my Peace Corps committee and the pastor’s wife washed my clothes they found. I was shocked to see how clean they got everything. You can’t even tell the clothes went through a tsunami. I didn’t get much back, just 4 puletasi (what a shock those wouldn’t get stolen, but t-shirts which are clearly mine, like have things which say Peace Corps on it, I see kids wearing), 3 t-shirts (not the good ones I wanted, but I’m not in a position to be picky at this point), a rash guard, that is very useful to have back, and a few other random things. I was hoping for some other things, but I’m glad I got these things back. It was very nice of the women to wash everything for me. I’m glad I have good Peace Corps friends who gave me extra clothes they had. Whenever we volunteers get together, at least one person will be able to say I’m wearing their shirt.

So I’m glad to see that living in the village for over a year did make a difference with some people. I’m glad to have the women on my committee and Taua looking out for me. Now I have a family to look out for me too.

It is weird to walk on the paths in the village center and not see my house or be going home. I’m going to have to get used to not seeing the ocean all the time and not going to sleep or waking up to the sound of the crashing waves. It is odd to see where my house was; gives me a weird feeling. Not fear or anxiety, just weird not being able to go back to the way things were.