Christmas in American Samoa

This post will catch you up on all the things my Christmas in American Samoa entailed this year. 

Thursday night after Zumba class I attended the Tafuna High School Christmas Concert. They have beautiful voices, and it was beginning to feel more and more like Christmastime. This photo below shows just the concert choir. The swing choir also performed. Some songs together and some separate. Started around 7:30, and then I think we headed home around 10. This nice gentleman offered us a ride home and we had a nice conversation in the truck. One thing that is fun about living here is talking with so many people as I ride with them.

Friday night I was picked up by a few friends from church for singing practice as they asked me to sing one special for the Christmas service on Sunday. After my practice I played with Jeffrey and Jenna (Pastor Scot and Katie's kids). This was also a way of me keeping these two occupied while their mom practiced her song. Jeffrey and I built a robot first.

Then, he asked me to build him and his sister. There they are :-)

After practice we all went and ate dinner together around 7:30, which was fun before heading home. We then had our mid-service meeting for WorldTeach on Saturday, where we had time to catch up with some of other volunteers we hadn't seen since we moved here, share experiences, and reflect on our time here. The day was over before I knew it. A few of the volunteers who are living on the outer islands stayed at our apartment for a few days, and it was nice catching up with them and hanging out.

Hannah joined me at church on Sunday. Began with a little breakfast and fellowship before the little Sunday School lesson before the Christmas service. The Christmas service consisted of Christmas hymns intertwined with the Christmas story from scripture. I was so excited as this is what we do back home. Some hymns were sang together as a congregation and some were specials. I sang "O Come O Come, Emmanuel" - the verses solo, and the chorus with my friends Siuila and Lillian. Was a nice service.

I Skyped with my parents and brother in the afternoon for our traditional immediate family exchanging of gifts. I had mailed some home and they sent some here. It was fun to do our regular thing, even though I was on a computer screen. Even though I've grown up with technology it's still kind of crazy to me how we can do things like that, but it's great.

Then, we went back for the evening service as we knew there was to be a candle lighting. Had regular Sunday night service and then we all stood in a circle around the church, lit candles, and sang "Silent Night" and "O Come All Ye Faithful". Finished with a some goodies and fellowship time before heading home for the night. Good day with some home traditions.

On Christmas Eve we met up with some of the volunteers who have been living on the outer islands, one of our friends who works at another school, one that works at the hospital for coffee at the Koko Bean. Had some nice conversation and enjoyed each other's company. Boy was LaFou Center ever busy. We could tell on our way in that it might be so as cars were backed up on the road for a while. Busy place complete with a gift wrapping section. LaFou is like the little mall if you're going to call anything a mall here. haha

Next, headed into town to check the mail. I had two packages and a handful of cards :-) All from friends and family. Even though this was my first Christmas away from home I still felt all the love and what is really important. Happy Holidays to all my family and friends! I received a Christmas gift from Granny B, which I ended up opening later that day while she watched on Skype. I also received a Christmas package from my good friend Karena. She sent me a bunch of Husker gear to remind me of good ole Nebraska - home :-) Then cards from various friends making my day.

Quite the long bus ride home from town as traffic was backed up pretty much the whole way. Last minute shoppers. Oye. Made it home and got to Skype into the Boschen family Christmas gathering for a bit. My cousin Seth was also unable to make it back home this year, and he is currently living in Houston, TX. Both of us Skyped in for part of the conversation time with the Boschen family. Was nice to see everyone and pop in for a bit. They had already come home from church and ate dinner. Good timing before they started exchanging gifts.

Pastor Scot and Miss Katie invited Hannah and I over for Christmas Eve dinner with them and the two kids Monday night. Super nice of them, and it seemed like they really enjoyed having company over. They did mention that none of the Samoans from the church really ever just come over for dinner. Really delicious food. Kudos to Miss Katie, we had fun chats (much like I would back home with my family) and got to play with Jeffrey (age 4) and Jenna (age 2). We also talked a lot about Samoa, where Hannah and I are headed tomorrow for a little trip. They even gave us each a little gift - some lavalavas from Samoa. Guess what I'm wearing my first day walking around the island over there? It was nice to sit down have a nice family dinner and enjoy each others' company for a few hours. Very nice of them to invite us over, and I am glad we went. I even volunteered to babysit the kids some time, and I have a feeling they are going to take me up on that offer some day.

Christmas Day morning, we relaxed and just chatted some in the morning before Tai picked us up to head over for Christmas lunch with our Samoan family. Remember how Hannah and I got a ride with Segi (the lady with 18 dogs), who invited us over for Sunday lunch with her family and then invited us over for Christmas. Here we are. So much food, but lots of good classic stuff including potato salad and pasta salad. Tasi, Louisa, an the family did a fantastic job. This family is a lot of fun and I practically feel at home with them. We ate, talked, made jokes, teased one another, sat around the couches, and laughed a lot. A fun afternoon. Tasi and Luisa gave us a gift, a little artwork that one of Louisa's friends works on. They are nice little square canvases. It's sitting in my bedroom now, and will one day have a home on a wall.

Here's the family photo. We have Lolo, Segi, Tye, Anthony, Tasi, Lucky, and Ioanne. Louisa, Nina, and Tai are not in the picture. Everyone who was here I had met last time we joined them for lunch except Tye. He is currently going to school in Oklahoma and playing football there but came home for the Holidays. One great family, and I feel very fortunate to have met them and be welcomed to their family gatherings. Can't wait to join them again.

Hannah and I watched the Santa Clause that night, ate some Christmas popcorn her grandma sent, and just chatted like we always do before calling it a night. Woke up Wednesday morning where I packed up for my trip to Samoa (the Independent country) and cleaned the apartment before making homemade macaroni and cheese for lunch. We are taking the ferry, which leaves at 4pm Thursday afternoon local time and will return in about a week. I will write a post on my return telling you about all my adventures over there. Happy Holidays everyone! Manuia le Kerisimasi ma le Tasauga Fou.

Staff Christmas Party

All public schools released at noon on Friday, so a half day just like the radio announcement said. This meant 25-30 minute periods. We actually had all 7 periods. The first time we've had a short day and still had all classes rather than just dropping the last ones. I like this idea better. That gave Hannah and I time to run to town to purchase our tickets for the ferry to Independent Samoa for a weeklong visit over Winter Break after Christmas. Just $65 for a round trip.

Got a ride home with one of our co-workers, which was nice. Exercised for 70 minutes before showering, relaxing, and putting on my blue dress for the staff Christmas party. Funny story, somehow all four of us volunteer teachers at Tafuna dressed up in some shade of blue that night. Looking good.

Our friend and co-worker Pepe did us the honor of picking us up for the party which was being held at the Country Club in the village of Ili'ili. I've been there before. It's a nice place with live music, pool tables, and dancing. Pepe's friend Liana also came along, and I know her from Zumba. She came with Pepe for a while. They are both really fun, and the ride over there was full of laughs between all 6 of us piled in Pepe's car. This is me with Pepe and Liana.

Before dinner was served a few holiday games took place. They asked for some volunteers, and I went up. We had to try to draw a Christmas tree on a paper plate on top of our heads. My fellow volunteer Josh won that round. He won a case of butterscotch toffee with chocolate and almonds, which were interesting.

Some trivia questions about Christmas was another little game. I named all 9 of Santa's reindeer and received a big tin of Danish cookies. Yum. Then, there were some dance-offs. When I heard them say Gangnam Style was one of the songs, I thought I might as well go up for that one. We dance to it in Zumba all the time, so I could do a little advertising for Zumba class and represent the few of us Tafuna staff that go to the classes regularly. It was fun. I ended up winning that dance-off. I'm sure some of you are thinking "Jessica got up and participated in a dance competition? What madness is this?" My best friends all know I love to dance (although maybe not always the greatest, but dancing is all about having fun.) I have learned a thing or two from Zumba, and I'm sure those of you who follow my blog have seen I attend those classes regularly. I decided to give you all a little snippet of the dance that won me a bottle of sparkling cider :-)

Another dance-off commenced where they asked a representative from each department to come out. I was the only science teacher I could see around at the time, and I figured why not. Ended up winning that one, too. Maybe just because I am a palagi, one of the volunteers, or was enjoying myself. Who knows. I received another tin of Danish cookies for that and a $5 bill. Gave one of the tins to my friend Pepe. It was fun, and I'm sure some of them weren't expecting to see me get up there. Got high fives from all of my Zumba friends and others at the gathering.

We had the option of iced tea or lemonade with dinner free of charge, and I went for some good ole ice tea. They ended up setting a pitcher in front of me, which was pretty exciting. I had a total of 5 glasses, I do believe. Good stuff :-)

Here are my prizes I brought home from the fun night.

Then we just hung around, danced, chatted, enjoyed each others' company, and had a good time. Successful staff Christmas party. Only a few staff members reached the point of ridiculousness through the course of the night.

Cyclone Days

Been an interesting past couple of days with a cyclone in the South Pacific. Cyclone=hurricane. They use different terms in different oceans. After Zumba class Tuesday night, the instructors said "we'll see you Thursday, just watch out for that cyclone." What on Earth were they talking about I wondered. Arrived at school Wednesday morning in the rain to find out we were not having school. Teachers were asked to secure their rooms and then were free to go as a cyclone was on its way. Securing our rooms included shutting all the windows, taking personal items, making sure textbooks were under cover, and moving all desks to one area. The public schools are shelter sites, so we had to clear space in the room in case. 

They all told us to be safe as we headed for home. Got a ride with one of our fellow teachers to the main road, and he dropped us off by the little shopping area and asked if we had supplies like water and canned food. Well, the store didn't open until 9 so we decided to chill in the coffe shop for 20 minutes  I had been wanting to head this way one of these days for a nice Chai latte anyway so it worked out. 

Grabbed some bread, extra peanut butter, and a few canned goods. I haven't eaten peanut butter sandwiches in a while :-) Then, waited for the bus in front of the hardware store. Lots of people loading up plywood. Wednesday's weather in American Samoa mostly consisted of rain for a few minutes with rather strong winds with calm minutes with sunshine in between. Was rather fascinating. My first cyclone day. My bedroom window even got boarded up. The land family took care of all the windows around the premises. At that point Wednesday afternoon, hurricane strength winds were forecasted to hit American Samoa by Thursday morning.

Here's what the radar looked like at that point. American Samoa is the pebble sized island toward the right of the big red splotch that was currently passing Independent Samoa. 

The DOE made an announcement on the radio Wednesday night around 9:30pm canceling school for Thursday, and by the looks of the forecast at that time I would have to. As I went to sleep at 10:30pm the forecast read as follows:

Tonight: Occasional showers...locally heavy at times. Isolated thunderstorms. Lows in the upper 70s. Northwest winds 45 to 60 mph with gusts to 70 mph increasing to 60 to 70 mph with gusts to 85 mph overnight.

Thursday: Heavy rain and isolated thunderstorms. Highs in the upper 70s. Hurricane force winds 75 to 95 mph with gusts to 120 mph increasing to 85 to 110 mph with gusts to 130 mph before noon.

I was expecting to wake up middle of the night to strong winds and not really sleep much. Next thing I knew it was 3am and calm as could be outside. Huh. Woke up again at 6:30 to find the same thing. Boy weather sure can change quickly. The cyclone warning had been cleared for American Samoa but high surf and flash flood advisories and warnings remained in effect. The cyclone stalled for a while by Independent Samoa had taken a turn and was circling back around the other side of that island. The capital city of Apia got hit with some of the worst so far. You can see some photos here:

http://www.abc.net.au/news/2012-12-13/an-samoa-cyclone-gallery/4426816

The cyclone is supposed to be making its way toward the island of Fiji. Well, two cyclone days for our island but no actual hit. Keeping those in Samoa in my prayers. Have only read about a few reported fatalities, but there is some reconstruction to be done; that's for sure. Otherwise, just rained off and on here Thursday afternoon and evening, which is pretty typical weather here. So that's my story of my first cyclone days. Instead of a snow day this year, I got to experience a cyclone day.

An announcement was already put out that Friday students are dismissed after lunch for who knows what reason. Welcome to island life. haha Guess we'll see if we really need to stick around, if not Hannah and I are gonna catch a bus into town and pick up our boat tickets for our little week-long holiday break trip to some of the other Samoan islands.

On a different note. I meant to mention in my post about eating with Segi's family that I learned tha there is corn grown on this island. I mean we had eaten corn on the cob some days at school, but for some reason I assumed it all came from somewhere else. Nope, they grow some here. I needed some new produce so I walked to a stand a short walk from my apartment. Scored with some corn on the cob ($1 for 5 ears), cucumber ($1 for 3 long ones), and yellow banans ($1 for 5). After my second workout for the day (as I got a bonus one in with the whole day off), I decided all I wanted was some this scrumptious plate from my produce score. I love locally grown fresh produce! Threw in a slice of bread, and if I do say so myself this picture looks just about as delicious as my little dinner really was. Now to make that corn one of these days. It's always been good any time I've had some on island so far- at school, at the church Thanksgiving dinner, and at Segi's.

From Christmas Spirit to Coral Sperm and Lots of Great Stuff In Between

One of my little friends at church, Noelle, had given me this cute little hair piece a few weeks ago. I had told he I thought it was pretty, and she said I could have this one because she had like 5 at home as they had made them at VBS. I finally wore it to church as I thought it went nicely with my outfit that night - shades of purple. On the way back home saw one house decked out in Christmas lights. One of the first I've seen, although I guess that's probably because I'm usually not on the road at night. You know... since the buses stop running at 6pm and we don't have a car and all.

One of the girls that work on things every morning in my classroom before school and often during lunch drew me a nice "Merry Christmas" on the chalkboard. It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas. Minus the snow and cold weather, of course. haha I did find myself thinking about how there are a lot of people who don't have white Christmases throughout the world. I may not be shivering but I can feel the spirit of Christmas around me - the important part :-)

I found a nice quote one day this week that I really enjoy. 1) It was said by Captain Jack Sparrow - one of my favorite characters. 2) It's a nice summary of a concept many people struggle to grasp. If you read my previous post, you would have seen that I dealt with some behavior issues Monday and Tuesday, but did you really get my spin on it. The situation is what you make of it, and this quote made me smile when I ran across it this week :-)

I found myself doing a little doodling during some work time one day that I gave the students. I'm not very artistic as practically knows - especially my students, but this is one little thing I've doodled many times over the years. This little flower vase. What do you think? No Picasso, but not too shabby either. haha

I even branched out a bit and tried something a little different. I was a bit impressed with the dimension I added in this one. Check out the corner of the wall back there. The table is a little rough looking, but oh well.

This week at Zumba I found myself taking note of all the people around me. The Zumba classes I attended back in the States were at college, and it was some students and staff - women all the time except a few occasions. Here, I Zumba with some other teachers, some administrators  older Americans, working girls my age, Samoan ladies of the generation above me, some kids, football players who show up for fun in the back some times,  some little Asian ladies, big firemen, an older Filipino man, and one guy with a really long beard. Then you have our great instructors - a pretty feminine guy and a girl with some nice biceps. What a fun group with lots of energy!

Thursday and Friday flew by and after a workout, Hannah and I sat down and enjoyed a few movies together with some chocolate and wine. Girls night for sure! We watched Mean Girls first, and then She's the Man. We had fun making comments on the extreme girl world and the guy world. These two movies definitely complement each other well. Random, but it was a good night.

Saturday morning I woke up at stinking 5:45am on the money even though I told myself I would just wake up when I woke up. My circadian clock sure is on top of its schedule. 5:45am is when my alarm goes off during the school week. haha. I woke up and did a little reading before heading West where I planned to relax in the sun for a few hours in a little secluded spot I had all to myself. Here she be :-)

I picked this spot as I knew it was off the path where no one ele would likely be, and I could work on that island tan a little bit that everyone expects me to come home with. haha I also knew there would be a nice breeze right here, and it actually felt cool at just the right times :-) Just relaxed and did a little reading. I am currently reading a book about a guy who moved to a highly remote island in the Pacific and talks about his two years spent there. Interesting so far. Our Field Director had mentioned it at Orientation, and one of my roommates got a hold of a copy.

I had enough of the laying around and decided I felt like climbing around on the lava rocks a bit. As I made it to the top of one, I noticed a nice little tide pool down below and decided I'd head down that way. Beautiful little thing with some nice coral and fish.

I decided to jump in a few times and played around with the timer on my camera. I found a custom timer setting where I can also tell it to take a burst of photos - like 3 in a row. Pretty cool. I didn't quite get one of my jumping in, but here's one of my not so Olympic medal winning splash. haha

What a nice little spot though and really easy to get to. Samoans just don't head past this one point at Sliding Rock much. I'll be heading back, even though I'm not a big fan of the feel of salt water. Lots of saltwater up my nose after my jumps into this little pool, but it was still refreshing in its way. A nice serene location :-)

Then, I met up with Hannah for lunch in Nu'uuli. I decided I wanted to order the mac and cheese off of the kids menu. Wasn't really feeling like a salad, and it was a cheaper option - bonus. Hahaha I'm laughing already before I even write the next part of this story. Are you ready? I was getting anxious for my nice little plate of mac and cheese to come out to find my eyes widen and take a double look as it appeared that I had just been served some Easy Mac in a restaurant. Haha Oh boy. It took Hannah and I a little while to stop laughing. Not what I was expecting, not that Easy Mac is bad... but in a restaurant? hahahahaha is all I have to say. Not going to be ordering that again there any time soon - although it was a large bowl and I do like Easy Mac, but I was really looking forward to some homemade stuff. Guess I'll just have to make my own one of these days :-)

We walked down to Lion's Park after that to sit in some shade, chill, and chat a bit. We discussed some politics, which was fun. Not one of the first things you'll catch me talking about but enjoyable, nonetheless. After a while there we started walking toward Tafuna, made a stop at the bank, and then decided we could use a little cool off in some A/C and thought about chilling in McDonald's or KFC for a bit. McDonalds wasn't quite so cool Saturday, so we moved down to KFC which really worked as you will see. Sat there and chatted for a while enjoying a little drink, and we found ourselves discussing the dogs on the island and a few experiences we hadn't quite accomplished yet, one being a to'onai - the big Sunday family lunch.

Finally decide it's about that time we head home and stood at the road and stuck out the hitchhiker thumb in hopes of a ride home. Two vehicles later a vehicle pulled over, and first thing she says is sorry about the dog hair. I bring my dogs with me to work during the week. Right away, I thought "Oh boy, what are the odds considering what Hannah and I were just discussing?" We talked about how the dog situation here is kind of sad - lots of dogs, lots of sickly looking dogs, no spade or neutering, and some vicious ones. So, she takes her dogs to work. Wait, it gets better. She has 17 dogs at home. 17! hahaha She has them all fixed, and she is actually trying to do some education on the island on the issue. Her name is Segi, by the way. Make sure you pronounce that "g" like it has an "n" in front of it :-)

She has a cocoa plantation in her backyard working some guys who are stationed in Utah and wanted to plant some here. She also does a lot of fundraising for breast cancer, as she was a survivor herself. She is currently 57 years old but a very active lady. She was really cool to meet. She proceeded to invite us over for lunch with her family on Sunday - the to'onai. Another one of the things we had just been discussing at KFC. Yes, please! She said she would come pick us up at noon and take us to her niece's house.

Came home to a package from my grandparents and mom that one of my roommates brought from the post office. I was excited, as I knew what a few of the goodies were. I decided to put the Grandma Wingert Christmas cookies in the freezer and pull them out later as I still have some of the sugar cookies that arrived last week. Plus, my mom's chocolate oatmeal bars I asked for were in this box as well. Oh, and some almond bark pretzels. I was actually thinking about those a few days ago, so they were a pleasant surprise.

I decided on an hour long workout - one I'm a little sore from on Sunday as I tried a different one. R remember I had my mom send the set of DVDs I had so I could change it up. Felt good, though. After my shower, I filled up a glass of milk and enjoyed one of my scrumptious chocolate oatmeal bars. Mmmm. Another nice taste of home :-)

I fell asleep out on the porch Saturday night, woke up at 2 and moved inside. Next thing I know it is 5:30, but I said nope you are going back to sleep. Didn't wake up til about 7:10 - that's better :-) Started out my day with a few hours chatting with one of my good friends from college, Shalimar. She is currently working with Americorps in Berkely, CA. We've been emailing back and forth, but it was nice to sit and chat for a while about all sorts of things. Right at noon a vehicle pulls up, and it is Segi's niece Luisa here to get us. The dinner was behind held at her house, and Segi was busy cooking. What a beautiful and enjoyable dinner. Conversation went in so many different directions, which I really enjoy. Almost felt like I was back home, with the mashed potatoes (I LOVE mashed potatoes), corn on the cob, three discussions going on at once at the table, and good times had by all.

Luisa's husband Tasi works as the attorney for the governor here, and he attended school in the States. Nina, another of Segi's nieces, grew up in Maine and recently moved down to American Samoa. They were all welcoming and fun to talk with. We've been invited to join them any time we like and even on Christmas day for dinner. So nice of them. I'm really glad we decided to sit in KFC ofor a bit on Saturday, stuck out that hitchhiker thumb, and ended up getting this ride with Segi - where it all started. Definitely will be going back now and then for some to'onai, conversation, and laughs :-)

Alright, I sure hope you are all ready for this. This has got to be the closest I am ever going to get to being on Food Factor or one of those crazy eating shows. One Samoan tradition is going out to the reef after full moons in October and November to collect these worms that live in the coral, collect the sperm, and then eat it. They call it palolo. When we first heard about this, we thought we have to try that while we are here, but then the opportunities didn't really come. I asked around a bit, but it seemed like it was something more people did in the outer islands. I almost thought this opportunity had passed. Low and behold, here on the table at Luisa's was a bowl of palolo. My face lit up as we were getting the chance to try this stuff. Tasi even commented that this is the caviar of Samoa. Here you are my family and friends, my hand with the little piece of bread with a scoop of some coral sperm that entered my mouth. Tasted a little squishy (Hannah used the word fishy), but I didn't think it was highly weird or anything. Not much taste, but it's really cool to now say that I've done it! Eat authentic coral sperm in Samoa... Check :-)

Another nice weekend for the books with some little adventures, going with it, and being in the righ place at the right time :-)

From Rain to Sunshine

From Rain to Sunshine... This post will lead you from Dreary Monday to Terrific Tuesday and all that was in between.

What a Monday. Dreary Monday to its fullest meaning. Woke up to a cloudy rainy morning, still wasn't feeling the greatest, and a headache that was distracting. Usually my sinus headaches are simply annoying and don't affect much I do throughout the day, but boy did it Monday morning. Switched my lesson plan as I couldn't think well that morning. Could just tell I wasn't feeling so hot at lunch time. As for lunch itself - wasn't much for me to eat Monday. The homemade pizza was a bit weird and dripping in meat, but I ate some of the crust with my huge helping of applesauce. They were out of corn, so I had crust and applesauce. Delicious. haha I mean I'm perfeclty okay with a huge helping of applesauce - healthy and fulfilling, just odd, and then seemingly lucky only one more class to go for the day.

Oh, but the wrong class to have left, I tell you what. haha Darn that 6th period, sometimes. Had a few students I had to chat with afterwards after trying to make it clear that their behavior was unacceptable in my classroom. Apologies all around and we left on good terms. I like to end things that way and not leave it badly for the next day. Some of them just don't seem to care on days, which makes it harder to want to stand up and share cool stuff with them. Continuing with my dreary Monday, but don't worry it has a happy ending :-)

I left right after school, speed walking down the road, stopped at a store for some more tea bags, and then caught a bus right away to go home. Then, I make it home feeling sick to my stomach. Think my system was simply out of whack. Ended up chatting a bit with some of my girls back in Nebraska online, which was a nice surprise. Then, I decided to just lay in my bed for the night, watched Harry Potter, and drifted off to sleep around 8:30pm without the fan running mind you as there was actually a little breeze with the rain. Ahhhhhhh :-) Oh, and I also put together a new Zumba outfit before heading to bed Monday night. You shall read more about that at the end of this post. I was pretty proud of it.

Anyways... As I awoke 3 minutes before my alarm sounded Tuesday morning, I realized I did not remember waking up once through the night. How bizarre, but a fantastic feeling. I needed it, and I felt eons better on Tuesday. I immediately could tell how much more energized I was, and you could see it in my lesson for the day. Felt good to be back at it swinging strong. Some different players in the "drive Miss Boschen crazy game" during 6th period game today. Even after we just revisited the classroom expectations. Oh well, Tuesday was a terrific day.

A singing group from Independent Samoa was currently on island touring around, and they made a stop at Tafuna High School for a little PR and fun during our 7th period. Sure felt like I was a ta Justin Bieber concert or something when these guys walked on stage an the girls started screaming. haha. Oye. The championship football and volleyball teams were also recognized at this assembly full of song and dance. May have been the most singing I've witnessed at a single school assembly yet, I'd say.

4th period and 2nd period were FANTASTIC. We accomplished a lot and had a great time doing it. It's invigorating as an educator to have a class that's engaged, paying attention, being respectful, and allowing you to be yourself in front of them. Plus, not  having to give anyone the teacher eyes). This ought to make you laugh.

1st period, I had one student sit here, then think he was just going to walk out. I don't know what goes through their heads sometimes, especially as this wasn't the first time this has happened. Like I'm not going to notice. I found it interesting on this particular day as he had just asked me why he lost points the day before, and I told him it was for being late. Obviously I know he's here, and I followed him out after I got the others started. Found him sitting with a group of boys around the corner, including another of my students. Back to class boys, and all of you should be in 1st period right now. Us? Yes, or I'm taking you to the office. They all scattered. Well... that was fun :-)

Then, first period thinks they don't need to pay attention as we are revisiting the classroom expectations. Alright, who wants to get up here and try teaching? I had one student thinking he was going to be smart and do it. Got up there, and I sat down acting just like all of them. How did we feel about that? Low and behold they all were on much better behavior after that. Fun little twist in my day. I'm telling you, no matter how many bad moments may happen throughout the day I don't let anything get to me, and I drink in the good moments. I watch others struggle with this concept day in and day out. You can have a good day if you yourself make the decision to have a good day no matter what. 

Boy, I think this post is much more invigorating then the last one. Must be because I'm feeling so much better today. Now to just finish flushing that cold out of my system. Wrote this up Tuesday after school before heading to Zumba, where I am wearing my newest Zumba outfit. Black capris with little blue design on the side (courtesy of the clearance bargain my mom found) topped with a white t-shirt I cut and tied on the sides. If you ever see Zuma instructors, you will understand why I am calling this a Zumba outfit. For your viewing enjoyment... haha

Various Thoughts and Occurrences

I want to start off this post by commenting on the little book exchange I've got going on with my students. This is why I brought books into my room to sit on the shelf, for any of them to borrow as they wish. Even though one ended up getting ripped, I taped it ip; one of my students borrowed a  few a week ago, and every other day she comes in and tells me how much she's enjoying reading them. Another student picked up another one today, and I think I mentioned this last week that a student actually brought in a few books to add to the little pile I have here. Reading is fun, and I'm glad some of them are enjoying the books I've had sitting here. Our own little book exchange :-)

As you may have noticed in my last post, I've been doing a lot of reading myself lately. Finished another book on Tuesday. I sometimes forget how easily I can get lost in a book not wanting to put it down. Such a good feeling. The book I finished on Tuesday was the second in a trilogy, and the third one does not get released until March 2013. I'll be itching for that date. I was actually introduced to this autor Cassandra Clare by one of my awesome professors of Religious Studies at Morningside. I've read all of the books in her first series minus the one that will be released March 2014 and have enjoyed the prequel series, as well. Good stuff if you're into sci-fi, fantasy, a little romance drama, action, and some good vs. bad. I started another book that had been sent from home, and I finished it Friday afternoon. I posted a photo of my new books on Facebook and made the comment that I finished another one and maybe should slow down, but.... nah :-)

There may be times where I only have one post for the week rather than two, and this is one of those weeks. I hope those of you who are still reading enjoy what I write. I sort of just write this like it's my journal, where I'm not necessarily creative in my writing. Just write what I'm thinking. I know some friends have told me it that it sounds like me when they read it, and that's how I like it. All Jessica Boschen :-)

I've been a little under the weather this week, which I felt coming on last Sunday. Stuffy head, little runny nose, and some congested coughing to boot. haha Man, this is the fourth time I've caught something like this since I've been down here. Maybe the climate really doesn't like me :-) Oh well, doesn't dampen my spirits. I think the rain dampens me enough, literally. haha Fighting off a little influenza isn't new to me, of course. This did lead me to give lessons that were much more student driven with independent work time. Not worth me to stand up and lose my voice.

Turns out, the students can actually handle independent work time well. I made a list of tasks on the board, and most of them just went at it. They must be used to this in their other classes. So I ended up letting them go with this style of learning for the rest of the week. I felt significantly better on Friday after feeling a bit sluggish the previous three days.

The students didn't have to come to school on Wednesday as we teachers were attending a DOE conference about the new Common Core standards that will be implemented next year. A few educators from the States were here giving presentations, and they did have some interesting things to say. We volunteer teachers found that these other teachers here behave like our students do in the classroom, in a sense. For example, at the end of the presentations they ask if any one has any questions. "Nooooo," was the response. Listening to the Tafuna teachers around me, it sounded just like the students in my classroom. I can't quite explain it, other than I almost felt like it was my students sitting around me. All four of us volunteer teachers at Tafuna looked at each other and grinned when this happened.

At the end of the conference we were filling out some evaluations, and one of the questions asked what one thing is that would really help with the learning in your classroom. I noticed some wrote more resources or a projector. I love my projector! It has made a world of difference in my classroom, allowing me to use more visuals during instruction; yet, I did not find myself writing down more resources like some around me. Yes, resources are great, but we can always make do with what we have. I have found that you can have a great classroom with limited resources. One thing that you need is a classroom that has common sense and basic respect. This has been improving in my classroom, but something I keep coming back to as a new educator. I'm looking forward to having discussions with friends and family back home when I return on this subject. It will be interesting to look back over the whole year. Right now, as the semester is approaching I have found myself doing a little checkpoint study of my time here.

The Internet was out in my classroom both Thursday and Friday, but I'm getting more used to not being around technology 24/7. I even forgot my cell phone at home on Thursday, but I don't really use that thing much here anyway. You would think that after a whole day away from the Internet that it would be the first thing I did when I got home, log on and check if there's anything I missed. Well, not quite the first thing I did when I came home. After Zumba class, came home with Erica, drank a glass of lemonade, showered, ate a little, and then found myself checking my computer real quick. Saw my friend Ryan was online and wanted to ask him about his new job, and then he asked if I wanted to Skype with him and Sarah quick. That was fun. I haven't Skyped with either of them in a while, so that was nice before reading a little and hitting the hay. My week days are pretty routine now - get up early, school, exercise, eat, read, and go to bed. Don't forget church Wednesday nights, then the weekend is whatever I feel like at the time, usually some exercise, church, reading, conversation, and little adventures.

Speaking of church. We've been singing Christmas songs lately. Some even started before Thanksgiving, which I usually frown upon. haha Anyways, all are the traditional ones I'm used to singing at Christmas Eve service every year, so good feelings of home :-) When we sing "Angels We Have Heard on High", I smile inside as I feel my mouth making that perfect O shape, the one you see in clip art of carolers all the time. Learned one new one I was not accustomed to called "In the Cave". Getting in the Christmas spirit, even though it's not cooling down outside.

Went to church Sunday morning to find Christmas decorations up.

Jenna, the Pastor's daughter came and sat with Hannah and I for a while.

Hannah came along with me to watch our little special and filmed it for me. Here's a clip for you. This is the 2nd verse and chorus for "Without Him". I sang soprano - part of the harmony.

Here's our singing group: Richard, Lillian, and Miss Heidi.

Since I had the camera figured I'd get some photos with my different church friends, and I was wearing one of my Samoan puletasis. Here I am with the Tongan boys. They're my van buddies: Junior, Paia, and William.

I was having a discussion with Pastor Scot on the way home from church Wednesday night about some politics. I had been wondering how the electricity on this island came from, and I learned that it comes from big diesel generators. Wow. I've never heard of that one before. Very interesting. So, the electricity price fluctuates with the price of diesel. He also told me that there was a shortage when the tsunami hit in 2009.

Eyeglasses... One of my roommates and I have been discussing eyeglasses lately. I have my reading glasses here, and I've been a good girl using them when I sit and read my books. She needs a new prescription, so we were asking around where to go. We've taken note that not many people on this island really have glasses or contacts for that matter. Several of our students might struggle with classwork because they simply struggle to see the text and board, and we know some of them did as they recently got their hands on some glasses. There may be a need for access to eyeglasses here. Huh. Something I've been pondering lately.

Friday night we attended the Teacher of the Year banquet on island, as our group was invited by the Teacher Quality division of the Department of Education. Very nice ordeal. We were served Samoan size platters of food. We each had our own PLATTER. Check it out. Oye.

Obviously way too much food for us palagi. One of our fellow teachers at Tafuna won the Territorial Teacher of the Year Award, so we got to take ulas up to him given to us by our principal. Ulas are like leis. Here's a picture of one that we all were presented with when we arrived to the event at the auditorium in Utulei. When the awards were announced, different people walk up with these ulas and place them on the winners. It's a cultural thing here. Stacked up to their foreheads at some points. haha It was fun to get to take one up though.

Here is one of the table centerpieces that they let us take home to have on our table for a while.

The four of us volunteers who teach at Tafuna got a photo with our principal and one of the VPs, as we were all dressed up at this formal event.

These are some of my fellow volunteers on the island.

This is my Field Director through WorldTeach.

 This is Jessica from Iowa who went to Creighton in Omaha.

Here is Hannah, my awesome roommate.

Left the apartment around 7am Saturday morning with Hannah headed to our new favorite spot - Suala's Restaurant for some breakfast and hanging out in the air conditioning for a few hours before meeting up with the volunteers in town at the post office. Oatmeal sounded good as I still felt a little sick but significantly better. The side of fruit really brought it all home for me - hit the spot :-)

I had a package, Hannah had 2, and one of our other roommates had 2, so we were standing there with a stack of 5 boxes. Some of the boys I know from church happened to be there and they offered to take our packages and drop them off at our place later so we could enjoy ourselves in town for a bit rather than getting straight on the bus. Very nice of them. This led us toward the ocean, where we ran into another volunteer, sat, and chatted for a while. Then, off to the public library, where I read through parts of a book about choosing good foods to eat - natural ones, not processed. Took me a while to pick a book to flip through.

Hannah noticed a bunch of kids in the children's area, and we went to see what they were doing. Ended up helping some of them with their little Christmas lantern project. Found out they have these little youth activities ever Saturday morning. May stop in some more to help out from time to time. Here is one of the girls I was helping - Ulina.

After we came home from church, got to open the care package that came in Saturday. Lots of little surprises. There are some Christmas presents from my parents, brother, and aunt I am not opening until closer to that time - some maybe even Christmas day. Some of Grandma Wingert's sugar cookies! Also, a jar of bread and butter pickles from Grandma and Grandpa Wingert. Thanks for sending something for my vegetarian diet. Love these things :-) I never imagined I'd get so many packages while here, but they are a lot of fun. I've heard there may be a few more on the way, too. Mail is fun, no matter what it is - unless it's bills and ads, of course. haha

Thanksgiving

Be prepared for a bit longer post this time around. I decided to wait until the end of Thanksgiving week to put together an entry. Lots to talk about.

The photos from my "Science is..." project finally came in the mail; so, first thing Monday morning I made a couple collages and put them up on the wall. Had students checking it out all day. I'm rather happy with the way it turned out. Definitely my favorite project we've done in class so far.

I had a guest speaker in on Monday morning for my Earth and Space science classes. He talked to my students about exoplanets - planets around other suns/outside of our solar system. He knew a lot about the research that is being done and is really interested in it. It was nice for my students hear someone else talk about astronomy (the unit we are currently on) and someone who is really excited about. Some of it got a little technical, but overall it went well. One class was really engaged and asking questions throughout the presentation. These students can definitely be a tough crowd, which I warned the speaker about ahead of time.

Rumor had it that we would be having some sort of "Field Day" on Wednesday, so probably not much for class time. I decided it might be a good idea to wait on more textbook material until the start of the new week and give a fun presentation on my experience working at the zoo a few summers ago. I have so much fun standing up there talking about my experience there, the fun animal facts I know, and why I enjoyed that job. Outreach education! Definitely don't think I am cut out for being a full time classroom teacher. Outreach education is where my passion in science education lies. Whenever people ask me what part of science I really enjoy, my answer always is "Outreach education", which I then usually have to explain. I describe my experiences with the Creature Outreach program I was a part of at Morningside College and my camp counselor job at the Blank Park Zoo.

I had put together a slideshow of photos I had taken at the Blank Park Zoo that I then talked about. I hadn't really realized this before until one of my students pointed it out, but this Grey crown-crested crane from Africa is totally doing the disco.

Dropped the last period of the day on Tuesday for teachers to go vote in the runoff election. They had so many candidates the first time around for Governor and Lt. Governor that they had a runoff election between the top two contenders, which is pretty common here. I grabbed some soft-serve ice cream, finished some grading, and did some reading on my computer before heading to Zumba class. Still doing Zumba class Tuesdays and Thursdays. The instructor that led our small Tafuna class before we joined up with these others said to me," Boy you sure are consistent about coming, aren't you?" You bet I am :-) I told him how I exercise at home the other days, and some times even come home after Zumba and do another little workout. I like to change it up, so it's nice to have Zumba two days a week.

Arrived Wednesday morning to find the schedule of the day to say 1st Period and then Field Day activities. No lunch we asked of the office? Lunch is being served with breakfast. Tell the kids to eat now. We went to breakfast to find that they literally were serving both lunch and breakfast - so twice the food. "Oye," was all Hannah and I had to say to that. haha

So Field Day was practically just a little competition among the different classes. It was funny for me to watch all these darker skinned island kids hide from the sun. Left school about 10:30 that morning as I wasn't finding the competition too exciting.

Stopped at a produce stand on my way home for some banans and a papaya. This was my first papaya I had purchased. I had them at school and liked them, but then as I cut it open I found this little surprise. Fascinating how there is this perfect star shape inside. Biology fascination moment.

Ended up in a spontaneous Skype date with the Stocks - Uncle Ron and Aunt Kristin before I did my workout for the day. Nice to talk with them and catch up :-) Hannah and I were the only ones home for this long weekend, so Wednesday was the beginning of lots of chats about whatever, chilling, and little adventures.

Thursday morning I was able to Skype into the Wingert family Thanksgiving and chat a bunch with my grandparents. My younger cousins all popped in and said hello, and it was cool to see everyone and talk with them even though I wasn't physically sitting in the same room. Gotta love technology for allowing us to come together like that.

Then, Hannah and I went to the picnic Thanksgiving lunch at church. Here's the boys grilling the BBQ chicken. It was cool to watch them use these leaves to spread water and oils as they cooked rather than a brush like I would see back home.

Okay so you see lots of chicken. After church Wednesday night, it sounded like there was going to be a lot of meat at this Thanksgiving picnic. I made some stuffing to bring, and I wasn't super optimistic about being able to eat a vegetarian Thanksgiving plate. Surely someone would suggest I try this or that and I would have kindly obliged. There was sashimi (raw fish), little spring rolls that had meat instead of veggies, turkey, and BBQ chicken. For the non-meat options I found white rice, my stuffing, mashed potatoes, steamed veggies, salad, and dinner rolls. I did it! I successfully ate a vegetarian plate at my Samoan Thanksgiving. Felt pretty good, and I know some of you will likely roll your eyes when you read that. haha All delicious stuff and quite satisfying.

There was some volleyball being played prior to lunch, and I partook in a few games. It was fun, and I think I was a little better at it than they expected.

This is what your feet look like when you play volleyball on a parking lot covered in black lava rock.

Can't forget dessert. Had some rocky road ice cream in a cone and a piece of pumpkin pie. Yes, I did just say pumpkin pie. I didn't really anticipate having pumpkin pie this Thanksgiving. Mmmm. Got Hannah and I talking about some different things we eat back home, some of those things you think about around the Holidays - especially a Holiday away from home. Still not a homesick feeling, just fun to talk about. You'll see me mention that again later in this post - one of these foods I thought of. Then, I spent the afternoon doing lots of reading. Got a workout in, of course. Had to work off some of those Thanksgiving calories ;-)

Friday morning Hannah and I grabbed breakfast at what was Primo's and has now taken on the name Saula's. We've been wanting to try this place out for quite some time and finally did it. I had french toast and fruit. Look, it's french toast made from french bread. How cool is that? Delicious stuff, very friendly staff - the chef even stopped by to see how everything was.

We then took a bus into town. I got off just on the edge of Utulei to go on a little hike. I took the Blunt's point trail, which takes you up and along the mountain past several WWII gun sights. I hadn't been on a decent hike in a while, and boy was I dripping the sweat like crazy. I noticed how wet the strap around my little camera was getting from being around my wrist. Next thing, I know my camera shut off. Appeared some of my sweat must have dripped in by the battery. Ugh. I knew it would be okay after it aired out a bit, but I was having fun taking random photos along my way. Then, I see this crab who was living in a Gerber jar. Yes, the Gerber jar was his shell. Crazies thing, and my camera wasn't working at the time. I'm sure you can picture this for yourself, but man I sure do wish I could have gotten a picture of him.

When, I got to this spot where I could see the harbor below and felt a nice breeze, I decided to sit for a while and read my book. I also let my camera sit out in hopes that it would dry out some. That did the trick, it turned back on for me after that. I almost went back on the trail looking for the crab with a jar for his shell, but I figure he could be anywhere by now. Instead, I enjoyed the nice spot I had found, reading 3 chapters of "Clockwork Angel".

I decided I should head back on the trail as I had plans to possibly catch up with Hannah and grab some ice cream before we headed back home. I kept going on the trail, and then I end up in someone's back yard. I kept going and found myself among many houses up along the mountainside. I always wondered about the houses up there, and now I found them. I almost felt like I was in Greece for some reason walking down the steps in between the houses of Fagatago.

Finally meandered my way out to the main road around 12, which was nice timing as I just received a message from Hannah asking if I wanted to meet for ice cream. I took a photo of the mountains behind Utulei, so you can picture me walking along the top of these. That's what my hike was for the morning. Definitely not a long hike, but I was taking my time, enjoying myself, and sat and read for a while.

After Samu's ice cream - the best on island (it's homemade), we headed home to Pava'ia'i. Did some more reading, researching on the Internet, and relaxing. So, one of the home foods I found myself craving after talkin with Hannah about them, I decided to make some rice pudding. She had no idea what I was talking about. Found myself sitting in the Midwest as I was eating this. Nice bowl of warm white rice, drenched in milk, with a sprinkling of cinnamon on top :-)

I got to talk with one of my mentors from college on the phone for about an hour on Friday, which was cool. Bruce is currently living in Minneapolis on his sabbatical from Morningside. He's working on a book. It was great to catch up on the phone.

Saturday morning I had a Skype date with the Boschen family Thanksgiving. Got to see everybody there, which was nice. The connection ended up dropping, but it was nice while it lasted and I wanted them to all get to enjoying their time together. Love all of my family, and it was nice of them all to try to include me for a bit on the family gathering virtually since I couldn't physically be  there. I am mighty thankful for my family :-)

Hannah and I met up with Sara, one of the volunteer teachers in town, to help check the mail. I had a few letters. One from my Granny B and one from my friend in Amanda in Kansas. Sending and getting mail is rather fun. Everyone I Skyped with this week asked what was hanging on the wall behind me, and I explained it is all of the mail I get. Covering more wall little by little :-)

We got a ride with a family to drop off the packages at Sara's house for the other volunteers, and then they offered to take Hannah and I home as they were heading that way. Score! Sat in the back of the truck with Krystal, who I discovered is the sister of a guy who comes to Zumba class. I recognized her dad up front. She was fun to chat with and very friendly. We ended up having them drop us off at Saula's, the place we had breakfast the day before, as we wanted to try lunch there and then just relax for a bit. Nice place, good food, friendly staff, plus they have A/C and Wi-Fi. We were both looking for a few hours of sitting in some A/C. A little luxury on the nice long weekend.

I've felt a little sinus infection or cold coming on again, so I was looking forward to enjoying some coffee while we sat in the A/C. I start sweating more when I drink something like this at home. haha I mean come on I sweat just sitting in my room reading at 8am, as the Boschens noticed that morning when we Skyped. I'm used to it, though. Not complaining. Look at how cute and sophisticated my coffee looks. They also brought out some complimentary muffins for us to try.

I ordered the house salad, and then the chef came out and introduced himself asking for our names. He then asked if I was a vegetarian  Yes. He said he's been looking at adding some more vegetarian options to his menu, including a lentil loaf - so like meatloaf without the meat. Kind of exciting that there's going to be a restaurant on the island that has a few vegetarian options laid out. We will definitely be back.

I'd say this little place is about a 25 minute walk from home, but with the beating sun we weren't in the mood for walking all the way home. Grabbed a pineapple at the produce stand before waiting for a bus or ride. I had my thumb out, and this nice chatty guy picked us up and drove us all the way home. Two free rides in one day, gotta love it :-)

I did not pick up a pineapple just because we were interested in some fresh fruit this time. You all know how much I'm loving the fresh fruit here, though. Hannah had the brilliant idea that we should make a little Samoan Christmas tree. We decided a pineapple top would make a good little tree. Then, we added some different pieces of Samoa. Here it is - our little island Christmas tree:

Did some more reading. I ended up finishing "Clockwork Angel" before 5:00. Here's the stack of books that have come in the mail from my mom. Not all in one package - a couple different ones. I have now read the red one, yellow one, and gray one. Started on the one you see at the bottom, then I will be opening the mystery ones. They may be in Christmas wrapping paper, but she said as soon as I finish the others I can open them up. Remember, can't be without a good book :-) I may have to think more about investing in a Kindle one of these days. I just love the feel of a book, but a Kindle might be handy for traveling endeavors in the future. I'm such a nerd some times. haha

We've talked about an official night of bat watching for a while. Just something we wanted to do since they flying foxes are sort of unique here. I suggested we do it one day this weekend.  Sliced up some fruit, grabbed a few cups of yogurt to dip them in, and one bottle of Moscatto. Hannah and I took our goodies up the hill where we knew the bats flew right down and around, plus there's this nice view in the background. We do have bats down by our house, but it was nice to sit up at a different spot, watch the bats, chat, and enjoy ourselves.

It was cool to watch the clouds and lighting change above the ocean.

I'm not much of a wildlife photographer, but this was one shot I got that made me think of Transylvania  haha. Nice way to end a Saturday - some bat watching with my roommate.