Innercity School and Tattoo Festival

Walked into the cafeteria Friday morning, and realized I forgot to mention this in my post from Thursday. There was some graffiti on the cafeteria floor that was not there the day before. This is a reminder that I am working at what is the innercity school of this island. Can't say I ever remember walking into Newman Grove High School to find any vandalism. Have I mentioned that drawing on desks is a problem here? Several of the desks that I started with in my room already were covered in  drawings, village names, and such. Students have added since. Some I have caught in the act, but often I do not notice it until after a period has ended. I've had my soapbox speech on this a couple of times saying vandalism shows disrespect to the school and others' property.

Caught the early Tafuna bus again Friday morning. Good thing, too, as there was quite a bit of rain coming down Friday morning. Did our slideshow of science word projects in Earth and Space Science, which everyone enjoyed before we did a little introduction into the Earth-Sun-Moon system. Spent some time talking about mangrove environments (which are water forests in the tropic regions). I thought of Newman Grove many times today not because we have mangroves, but it simply sounds like the name.

At lunch, we saw a car in the nearby parking area that had a window broken. Looks like someone took a brick to it. More vandalism. Oye. I did see security escorting some boys to the office on my walk to the cafeteria. That's a not so positive thing I'm around. It doesn't really affect me or anything, just something I'm around.

On a different note, but still a cultural difference, it did not take me any time getting used to seeing men and boys in skirts. Wasn't even weird from Day One, although you may have expected so. Just what they do here. It is called an "i'e" (pronounced "e a"). That reminds me of another thing I found myself thinking about today. Well, I've thought about it many times, but don't think I've written it in the blog yet. Fingers.... fingernails... boys and girls paint their fingernails - not all of the time, but it's been different for me to see so many boys with fingernail polish on - black, red, pink, orange. all sorts of colors. I have also seen some long fingernails here. Random little bits of information about life here.

I was in an exceptionally good mood all day Friday. Nothing going to swipe that smile off my face. Several of my students noted I was rather happy. Here's what I told them. I am happy today because (1) it's Friday, (2) I'm wearing my new sneakers, (3) we're looking at our photo project, (4) I was heading to town to pick up my new camera that came in the mail after school, and (5) I was heading to the tattoo festival Saturday for some cultural experiences. Lots of reasons to be happy.

When I made it home I almost didn't work out, but then I knew I would feel even better after I did at least something. Too many people home to do my workout video in my room. You can hear me through the floor on the first level. haha I decided I'd jog up the hill. Made it to the top, started walking back down and decided to jog back up after I passed the guys' house. Then, I did a few run up, walk back down over a section. Reminded me of track practice freshman year of high school. We did sprints up that hill on the corner of the street where I live in Newman Grove heading toward the football field.

Then, Hannah made us dinner. She had bought some lentils and wanted to experiment. We ended up having lentil, mixed vegetable, and potato soup with a side of cooked apples. Not quite like the ones my mom makes but were still pretty good. While Hannah was experimenting with dinner I did a little experimenting. I ended up with peanut butter, honey, cereal balls. Actually pretty good after they we let them chill in the fridge for a while. Experiments were successes Friday night.

I started reading a book I really got into this week around 9:30pm. Next thing I knew it was 11pm, and I kept on reading until about midnight. Been a while since I've done that, but hey it was Friday and a really good book :-) Was a surprise in one of the recent packages from home.

Saturday morning I knew I wanted to at least do a little workout, and I decided on a ladder set of some ab exercises. Started working up a sweat in my room with that one before showering, eating some, and heading to the East side. We went out to Tisa's Barefoot Bar for the Tattoo Festival with our Florida friends (the guys) in their truck. It's abut an hour drive to Tisa's.

Here's a few shots of the location just for fun. I was really enjoying having my little camera again. So excited to finally have it after ordering it a few weeks ago. Crazy how much clearer the image is on the little LCD screen, even though my other one was only about 4 years old.

At the tattoo festival I was able to watch some of the traditional tapping tattooing going on. It's amazing how precise they can be with that method. Must take lots of practice. Tattoos are a big thing here, especially these traditional tattoos. You see them all the time - malo (artwork on and around the knees of females), pe'a (artwork that goes from the man's waist toward his knees), arm bands, leg bands, and ankle bands. Some are done with the tattoo machines like you would picture, but the traditional way is the tapping. Cool to see. I have a video, but it doesn't want to upload. Might be too big of a file now that I have this higher quality newer camera. If you're interested I'm sure you can google the process and find it or just wait til I'm back in June, and I'll show you the video.

This traditional Samoan style tattoo is done by hitting a comb made out of boar's teeth into the skin repeatedly with a mallet. The design is completely free-handed. My friend Melanie had one done on Sunday and she had no idea what it looked like until it was done. All of the patterns mean something, but we're not quite sure what yet. Here is a photo of Mel's tattoo - a thigh band:

Here are some photos of the tools:

This is Tisa, the owner, who also happens to be an environmentalist. This was the 9th Annual Tattoo Festival - all started by her. Her husband Candyman, built the bar and is from Australia.

Her'es a couple guys with a bunch of the traditional tattooing, who participated in the kava ceremony at the opening of the festival.

This is Miss American Samoa who also participated in the kava ceremony. Kava is a ceremonial drink.

Here's a couple girls who did some traditional siva (dancing). I was really excited about seeing some of this cultural stuff while at the festival, so I'm really glad I was able to go.

Frank let me drive the truck home, which took us longer than an hour as we stopped for some burgers (well, I just ate some fries, cole slaw, and part of the bun). Hannah and I shared a meal. I also had to make several stops to drop everyone off at their respective homes. We had a full truck  leaving Tisa's. Then, I came home and finished reading my book. My mommy knows me so well. Thanks for sending Blood Red Road by Moira Young. I couldn't put it down, as you will have noticed in this post. Will be another great addition to my bookshelf at home (a handmake bookshelf by my grandpa, by the way). It felt really good to be so enticed in a good book again since I hadn't been reading much while I've been here other than Tuesdays with Morrie.

At Church on Sunday part of the message was about being stewards of God's creation, a rather cool topic for me. I found myself two steps ahead of the message as we went. This was actually presented during Sunday School time, not regular service. I was also able to Skype with my brother for a bit on Sunday in between church services, which was nice. I also got my workout in for the day - "Tight Buns and Killer Legs" and ladder set of ab exercises.

I've been meaning to take a photo of some of the beautiful flower arrangements that some ladies from church put together that sit up on the altar. Since I have my new little camera, I took it along with me to night service and took a few photos. Aren't they beautiful? There are little stands that sell arrangements like this that I alway see on the weekends along the road. All plants grown here, I do believe.

Site Visit, Science Words, and PTC

Monday morning got a ride to school with a nice guy who works in the are. One of the first questions people ask you here is if you are married. When I respond "no", the next question usually is "Do you have a boyfriend?" This guy asked if I had a Samoan boyfriend. "I don't need a boyfriend," was my response, and that made him laugh but it closed that subject. haha. I lied once and told someone I had a husband to stop any further questions on the matter. Really common question here, and not just from men. Women ask me, too.

Classes went pretty well on Monday before heading to Zumba class. I had a feeling it might really kick my butt since I had been sick over the weekend and hadn't exercised much, but it wasn't too bad. Yay Zumba! My field director was there again, and we had a great group. Ran a little late, and the ladies who usually offer me a ride home were not there, so I high tailed it for the bus stop. I decided to jog more than half of the way there, and I got on a bus at 5:55pm.

I had been given a mango at church Sunday, had one more banana to finish from the batch my roommate picked up, and a cucumber sounded good. I chopped all three up, and had a little fresh veggie and fruit salad. Good stuff :-) I love me some fresh veggies and fruit. I officially decided I am practically a vegetarian again. I had done it for 4 months before moving here, as I mentioned in an earlier post. The only time I may eat a little meat is if it is really hard to refuse or seems rude from my perspective; perhaps, I will find myself at a dinner at a Samoan house one day, where meat is the main course. I have respect for the culture here and people's varying views. I have also told myself no more soda. I hardly drink it anyways, so I might as well not have any at all. Good goal to have. Anybody with me? I have a feeling my mom and aunt won't give up their Diet Pepsi. haha Right?

Tuesday morning got a Tafuna bus right as we walked out to the road. Got some stuff ready for class, although I was mostly ready to go. I was very excited for my activity in my Junior classes. We are starting a new unit - the universe, and I wanted to recover our idea of what science is. I chose the word "curiosity" as my one word definition for science. I asked the students to choose words, and then gave them each a piece of paper to creatively show me that word. My Field Director was in my classroom during 3rd period for my site visit, and she gave me some good feedback. Said she can tell I'm rolling with the punches and not letting myself get bothered by much or stressed out - something many people find hard to do. She also gave me a few tips on things I could try incorporating. We had a nice little chat, which was cool.

Zumba again after school, which started even later as JROTC was in the cafeteria doing some stuff, but my ladies were there to give me a ride. Ended up waiting with one of them for a bit til her husband picked us up and had a nice chat. She actually teaches Math at Leone but lives in Pava'ia'i close to me.

Wednesday morning caught the Tafuna bus that has been coming about 7:10. Stood out there for a while with no luck on a free ride. My Junior students presented their science words in class, and I was pretty proud of some of the thinking outside the box that went on. Here's a few examples:

This project turned out really well, and I had a lot of fun with the photos. Lots of colors. They turned out really well. :-)  One of my favorite activities thus far.

My photo was the example.

With my seniors, I decided to give them a break from note taking and discuss some photos. I had been looking through some of my Ecuador photos the other day and realized that some that I have taken in American Samoa remind me of them. I thought it would be cool to put some of them side by side and have a little compare and contrast discussion about these two locations. Here's an example:

Walked to the intersection, making one stop for a few groceries. I purchased some honey and immediately thought of my brother during his senior year of high school. That boy guzzled honey by the bottle. I also bought some slices of cheese. I used to eat those all of the time when I was little. Good memories of home :-)

Made it home and didn't have much energy to exercise. I did a little, but then decided it wasn't going to happen. Instead, I got a good amount of reading in. My mom sent a few books in my last package, and I'm really getting into one of them right now. Feels good to just sit and read for aw hile again. Then, I went to bed around 8:00. Mighty early Wednesday night.

Thursday morning caught the earlier Tafuna bus, decided to hit the bank before sitting down in my classroom. I didn't have much prep to do, and I knew we were going to have a short day for Parent Teacher Conferences (PTC) in the afternoon. Turns out I only had to teach two of my regular five classes. I did have to sub during my prep period, though, in addition to that. I shared some photos from Ecuador with them. Didn't feel like just letting them loose to waste time today in my classroom.

Morning flew by really quickly, then it was lunch, and then time for 3 hours of sitting in my classroom waiting for parents to come. I ended up having about 9 parents stop by if I remember correctly. Considering I have around 120 total students, that's not a very good percentage. Oh well. I got some lesson planning done for next week. The parents I did meet were very kind, and we had some nice little chats. I don't have any major problems with any of my students. I even got one nice compliment from a mom on my puletasi. I wore my blue one today. She said I look really nice in it. Thanks. The fashion here is growing on me, and I've been able to add my own flavor to it.

Now, as I currently finish this post I am sitting in my classroom before Zumba. I went through some of the photos from my webcam, as I know the students take pictures of themselves sometimes. I completely forgot that I have found videos of them lip syncing to songs before. Well, here is a shorter one for your viewing pleasure. Those boys. haha

Time for Zumba, so this is where this post ends for now. I will likely go home have some healthy food for dinner (although I must admit I've bought an ice cream cone a few too many times this week and had a little chocolate cake the other night. Ooops. haha. All the ice cream was eaten before I went to Zumba, though, so I burned it right off.)

Hope you all have a nice weekend. I will be visiting Tisa's Tattoo Festival on the East Side, so we shall see what all comes of that. Really cool cultural event that I'm excited to check out. Don't worry Mom and Dad, I don't plan on getting a tattoo. :-)

Silence, Dogs, and Champions

First, here is a photo of my rearranged room as promised. The desks are in groups of 4, and my colorfully redone quote is above the chalkboard.

When we arrived Friday morning, the principal said we would be receiving a present and to pay attention to the bells. Sounded like school would be releasing early. I didn't have anything too exciting planned for Friday since we had just finished mid-terms anyway. I ended up trying a silent tactic on my students Friday. Not necessarily because my throat hurt and was a bit raspy, more so because I wanted to show them that we could be accomplish things without talking. I wrote all of my directions on the board, which included ridiculous things like put both of your hands on your head when you are ready. We ended up with a list of words dealing with science on the board, exactly like I wanted. I copied them down and will be using them for Tuesday's class. Here's a fun quote and food for thought:

"Silence is also speech."

School released about 15 minutes into 6th period today. Teachers had a quick meeting, where there was some food supplied by the PTA. The JV football coach asked if I was going to be at the game Saturday taking pictures. "Yes, sir. I'll see you on the sidelines." Then, I left right away for the weekend to begin.

I walked to LaFou, where I picked up a few things before catching a bus home. This is about a 30 minute walk all the way to the shopping center. Then, after I made it home I wanted to get some exercise in. Even though I've been a little under the weather and had some sort of virus, working out makes me feel better. Sort of feel like I sweat out some of the impurities. Did part of my "Tight Buns and Killer Legs" video, jogged up and down the Hill, and then took a little jog down the road. Came around a corner and next thing I know there was a black dog on my heels. Ah crap. I yelled "Haloo" right away, which they told us to say to the dogs. It was too late and close for me to pretend to grab a rock. The owners also saw it and called it off. Oye. I haven't had too many run ins with the dogs yet.  I made sure I slowed down and walked past this house on my way back home, though.

This did remind me that I never mentioned the dogs at home one night Hannah and I came back. We walked in on the big driveway, and I usually walk in by the store. Well the whole pack of dogs saw us and barreled toward us, ready to attack. Read all about the vicious dogs of Samoa before I came. Learned my lesson to always walk in by the store, not the big lit up driveway where they all hang out at night. Close enough for me. I'm not scared of them or anything, as in it doesn't stop me from doing what I want to do.

I woke up Saturday morning with the plan of walking all the way to the football stadium for the JV Championship game, which I knew should take me about an hour. Left home a little after 7am, and decided I wold head West first and take the Ili'Ili road, which should be a shorter trip then heading all the way to the Tafuna road. I know there's a big group of dogs down this way, but I figured I could give it a shot. When they saw me, I almost turned around and got on a bus, but then I realized I was inches away from my corner. So, I bent over and grabbed some pop cans and they turned their little tails around and darted away. That's right you dogs. Not stopping me from my big walk this morning.

Made it just before the beginning of the game. I planned that one out well. Took out my camera, and hung out on the sidelines. I knew I would get some good shots today with the natural light and up close action.

Game came down to the last 2 minutes of play, tied 40-40. There were a lot of flags, so it was a long game. It was getting intense.

The crowd was very excited and involved. This is part of the student section.

Tafuna pulled it off and ended up winning 48-40.

This is the head JV coach in the white visor, who I've chatted with a few times. Really nice guy. Congrats to him and the JV football team on winning their 5th Championship game in a row.

Spent 3 hours at the football stadium for this game. Then, I caught the third bus that came by as they were filling up with people after the game. I headed into town, where I ran a few errands including purchasing a pair of sneakers. I had seen these last time I was in Fagatago and was very tempted to buy them. I figured I can get my $19.99 out of them before the end of the year. I wore sneakers like this all the time my senior year of high school, and it felt good to put them on. Rocking my new Asian knock-off Converse. Haha.

One thing I found at the store on Friday afternoon was this Organic Chai Tea Latte concentrate. I love chai tea lattes, and I decided I'd splurge a bit and give it a shot. You just mix it with milk, heat it up, and Voila! Delicious chai tea latte. The warm tea made me feel better, as well. I had one each morning over the weekend, and one in the afternoon, as well. Yum yum yum.

Received a couple of packages in the mail - a care package from my mom and the projector my aunt helped me get for my classroom. Soooo exciting! I haven't used a projector in my classroom since the first week of school, as the one the office has available for use for all the teachers who do not have access to a Smartboard or department projector is hard to get a hold of and apparently seems to be missing today as I write this. Now I have one that just stays in my classroom, that I can use whenever I want. Thank you, Aunt Kristin! This will help change the pace of my classroom and allow me to show my students more of what we are talking about. Everyone knows how much I love pictures :-)

I had lunch in town at DDW Cafe, where I had a nice house salad. Then, after finding out what all was in my packages, which included a Halloween card, some surprises in Chistmas wrapping paper, and a few useful supplies, I took a little nap Saturday afternoon. We were invited over to the volunteer houes in Kokoland for an autumn afternoon. My friend Mike carved a pumpkin, toasted some pumpkin seeds, and made some fall beverages with pumpkin spice and ginger. Delightful stuff. Can't say I've ever eaten toasted pumpkin seeds before, and they were absolutely delicious! We also began a Halloween movie marathon. First up was Hocus Pocus, a classic. I decided to leave after the first movie, as I was already tired and needed to get some good sleep in. Didn't sleep very well Friday night, and I want to get over this cold as soon as possible. I also intended on hitching rides home, avoiding Taxis, so I figured it would be wiser to do that at 7:30 than at 10pm.

Really lucked out, and I mean it. Waiting at the intersection in Kokoland, one of the Tafuna teachers came by and gave Hannah and I a ride to the main road, as they were heading East not West. No problem, we'll figure out a ride the rest of the way. Got Lucky - yep, his name is Lucky. I know Lucky from church, and he drove by heading East but turned around and gave us a ride home. He said we shouldn't be walking at home in the dark. We were not planning on walking home, thank you. Hoping for a ride, and then there he was. He's a nice kid, and I was thankful for the ride in his dad's truck. It was also fun to chat with him outside of church.

Woke up Sunday morning, headed to church, came home and made some pasta with a side of fresh cucumbers. One of my roommates picked up some cucumbers at the market, and they definitely made for a good lunch. I took a little nap and worked on my lessons for the week before going back for evening service at church. Pretty good day before trying to fall asleep before good old Monday morning at school. The weekends always go by too fast, don't they? Relatively speaking, of course.

Mid-Terms

This week has been flying by. Monday morning got a ride into Tafuna with our landlords, which was nice. I finally told them about how our fridge doesn't shut all the way (we've been using duck tape), and they brought up a different one on Tuesday afternoon. Rather exciting!

The school day went by a bit slow, but that's because I'm not really teaching this week. It's mid-terms. A lot of study time, questioning time, and test-taking time. Monday good review with my 1st period as they took the exam Tuesday, and all my other classes handled their study time well (at least they remained quiet).

Left right after school, as I had everything ready to go for Tuesday. Decided to do the "Tight Buns and Killer Legs" workout video twice with some abs in between, which took about an hour. Then, I finished out my workout for the day by jogging up the Hill. One day off of that but back on it.

After a simple yet scrumptious peanut butter and banana sandwich for dinner (I really am never too hungry for dinner/supper, as I have been exercising regularly and get a decent breakfast and lunch at school). I find myself basically a vegetarian again. I officially gave it up before moving to American Samoa after being veg for 4 months, but I was worried about offending locals in certain situations. For instance, at the landlord dinners or at church, I haven't refused a scoop of meat out of respect. I'm also slightly curious, so wanted to try some things. I'm still not officially vegetarian again; I'm a bit of a flexatarian at the moment. Anyways, just something going on right now. I don't ever cook meat at home, and often at school lately I've been skipping the meat or picking it out.

Anyways... that was a sidetrack, but I find it interesting. I spent some time looking at my photos from White Sunday, and I decided I really liked some of them in black and white. Here they are:

Tuesday got a ride in the back of a pickup truck to the intersection before a walk down the Tafuna road (more exercise). I stopped at a store on the way, as I did not have much reason to be at school too early and bought myself an orange juice (as I've had a bit of a bug and it's going around school and an iced tea to enjoy during my prep period). Both good decisions :-)

The school day ended early at 2:05pm Tuesday as scheduled to allow for some teacher grading time and various meetings. At first I wondered what I would do with myself until Zumba started at 4:30 as were back on track for it this week. As I finished grading and checking some emails, I decided to do a little exercise in my classroom until it was time for Zumba class. I stretched, did some warm up moves from my "Tight Buns and Killer Legs" video, did some ab exercises, some jumping jacks, and shuttle runs. All in my classroom, yep. haha Went to Zumba already sweating a bit.

New thing with Zumba today, another instructor and her class joined us in the cafeteria. I guess they don't really have a space for their class, so we may be doing class together for a while. This was the biggest Zumba group I had ever been a part of, which was cool, and we went at a seemingly faster pace. Very aerobic, which I enjoyed! Zumba for an hour, and then I caught a ride to the bus stop with one of our Vice Principals. Got off the bus, dropped off my bag, and went for my jog up the hill. Figured I could end my workout for the day after all that. Classroom workout, 1 hour of Zumba, and the uphill jog.

Lots of rain on Tuesday. It was down pouring for a while this morning while at school, still going some at lunch time. Water everywhere. Then, Tuesday night after it turned dark, some more major downpours accompanied by a little thunder and lightning. Some of the biggest downpours I've seen yet while here.

I had originally set my alarm early thinking I might get up and exercise before school on Wednesday, but then hit the snooze or thought I did at 4:45am. Next thing I know I roll over and it's 6:05am. Little past my normal time of waking up. Still plenty of time to get ready, though. haha Ended up walking out and getting a ride with our landlord again. He dropps us off about a block away from school as he turns at an intersection. Then, luck so not be have it, it begins to downpour as we are walking. Make a pit stop for a coffee from McDonald's as we were plenty early and just sounded good. Had my umbrella (It's always in my backpack), but water still runs down my back, especially when I share my umbrella with a friend. Very thankful to have my backpack with a water resistant liner that my dad sent me. I was not worried about my laptop at all :-)


Got a ride to school with a really nice couple on Thursday for our last day of mid-terms. Speaking of mid-terms... boy, I was a bit disappointed in how many students tried to cheat. I mean a bunch tried on my few quizes, too, but I had been explaining beforehand that I would be highly disappointed if I caught them doing it. Plus, I had told them time and time again, exams were a small percentage of their overall grade; so it's not worth it. Rule #1 was no talking during the exam. I took off points on all but maybe 5 students today for that.  Had to follow through, especially since this is one way some of them try to cheat. I have been amazed by how hard some of them try to cheat. I guess it probably went on more than I realized back when I was in high school. As they all ended up finishing before the end of the period, we had a nice chat about why I had some exam rules listed on the board and why cheating really isn't worth it. I had told them from day one that exams had to be done, but that is not what I wanted to focus on in class. All is well, part of being a teacher. Everything single one of my classes, though. Oye, I was getting frustrated with some of them for it, but by the time I administered my last exam I found myself laughing at the fact. My seniors seemed to realize how stupid it was, especially after I told them how many points the exam was actually worth.

A few of my senior girls stayed after class and helped me sweep my floor and ended up giving my room a makeover. They wanted to put the desks in groups, so I figured we'd give it a shot. I decided to move some of my posters, and one student redid the quote I have above my board. Starting the 2nd quarter with the room slightly rearranged. I'll post some photos on my next post. Didn't have a camera with me today. It was super nice of them to help, and I'm digging the new vibe of the classroom, especially with some ideas I want to try this quarter.

Then, I treated myself to a soft-serve vanilla ice cream cone Thursday afternoon before a 2:00 meeting, as I had a good chunk of grading done; besides, I simply had a hankering for one. Yummy. Vanilla ice cream - my favorite dessert :-)

After our staff meeting, I did some more grading before heading to big Zumba class again. Fun and sweaty time! One of my new favorite Zumba moves reminds me of the chimney sweeps dancing to "Step In Time" in Mary Poppins. Some of you may know exactly what I mean.

My Field Director for WorldTeach was at Zumba today. When she saw me, she came up and said "I saw there was a pulagi up here". Haha yep, that's me. Got a ride home with Pepe, one of the teachers, and then I jogged up the Hill, and then did about 20 minutes of "Tight Buns and Killer Legs" before chilling out for the night. Feeling good :-)

Friday through White Sunday

Did my workout and jog up the hill after school on Thursday. Then told myself in order to make my goal of 5 days in a row of jogging up that hill that I was going to have to do it in the morning, as I would be home too late from the football game. I did it. Jogged up about 6am, showered quick, and got ready for school. Although it was a bit rough, as my body is not used to exercise in the morning, I made my goal for the week.

Finished off the coasting week with the all of my classes but one handling work time/ study time well on their own. I've been wearing my hair in a little bun a lot lately. Buns are commonly seen down here and the norm. My hair has finally grown out enough to the point where I'm able to make it all stay up. It's a rather small bun for now, but a few of my girl students commented on it a couple times this week.

School ended early Friday unexpectedly, ending after 6th period. This didn't really affect my classes at all as 7th period is my prep period. Although, given the way 6th period behaved Friday I wished for a bit the bell could have rang 50 minutes earlier. haha

I really didn't have anything to do, as I am caught up on my grades, so I left school at 2:30 myself and headed for Nu'uuli Falls. Nice little journey in my flip-flops - the one day I didn't bring my Keens. Learned that lesson, but it actually wasn't that bad since I've been on that trail many times. Had shorts on under my skirt, so I was able to ditch the skirt when I made it to the trail. One of the teachers picked me up after I had walked about halfway to the trail head, which was nice. Warm Fridy afternoon. Took the little trail back to the Falls, swam a bit, and then just sat there and enjoyed one of my favorite places on the island.

Headed for some dinner about 5pm, and then caught a bus to the football field for the games. Both JV and Varsity won, and the 1st half of the Varsity was a bit more exciting than they have been thus far. Still won by plenty of points, but a closer game this time.

Some students in the stands:

View of the mountain behind the scoreboard:

The boys were sporting some pink Friday night for Breast Cancer Awareness:

I actually stood on the sidelines for half of the Varsity game this time for some photos. Got a few good action shots. Obviously the lighting was lacking as this was a night game, and I do not have my external flash here. It was fun to be on the sidelines again, as I did this frequently in high school, and some in college. I felt rather small on that sideline though with all these Samoan football players. haha

Got a ride home with the principal, and we made a stop at the school gym before heading home. The team always gets back together here, and it was a cool thing to witness. The coaches talk to the boys, they sang a song, and the principal said a few words before the boys had some dinner. I didn't realize they did this after every game until now.

Saturday morning headed to the post office with Hannah as she was expecting some packages from home. We stopped at the Matai Restaurant in Fagatago first for a good breakfast. I had pancakes and the giant cup of coffee like last time. Saturday morning waiting in line for your packages is interesting. We met up with Dan, who lives down that way (so they are the ones with our box key). All of us volunteers share a box together. We get all the yellow slips (just like home) from the box, and then head to the back of the post office. You hand them over, and then wait in this little room until they call out your number, then we go grab the boxes. Little different from back home, but this is the one post office for the whole island.

I got a few cards from some of my friends. We've been writing back and forth like pen pals. From day one in my room here, I've been hanging some up on my wall with a few other things in my bedroom. My decorations, you could say. I feel like I'm living in a teenager room again. haha Let's see how full my wall is by the end of the year. It's fun :-)

Spent the rest of the day Saturday at the apartment, relaxing, reading, chatting, and did my workout. Tight buns and killer legs followed by a jog up the hill. Yeah, made it 6 days in a row! Past the goal of 5.

Sunday morning Skyped with my Mom, Dad, and brother

White Sunday! White Sunday is a tradition here, basically a program by the children and youth at church, where they all wear white. All the roommates came with me to the church I've been attending, and it was cool to experience. Brought me back to the days of our Sunday School programs back in Newman Grove. They even sang one song I knew every word to that I remember singing when I was their age - "Standing on the Promises".

Here's a few photos of the children.

This is Jenna, Pastor Scot's daughter.

Then, there were two baptisms that took place outside for two young men becoming official members of the church. This was a cool experience for me, something I was hoping to see after I learned last week that this church practices full immersion baptisms. Didn't take long, but it was cool to witness.

Finally, we had the big traditional lunch afterwards. Good food and fellowhip.

Relaxed at home for the afternoon, and Skyped with my cousin Seth in Houston, who is getting married in June! Super exciting. I also Skyped with my friend Karena in Lincoln. Then, decided to go back to church for evening service. I am so glad I did! They had "family night". Families took turns going up front, sharing a little something, and then leading a song. There were some really good and heartfelt stories, and you can see how much this church family means to all of the members. So, I ended up being gone for another 3.5 hours, but it was a cool thing to be a part of before heading home and to bed.

Have a great week!

Coasting to Mid-Terms while Jogging up the Hill

Back to the old hay grind Tuesday morning after the relaxing and much needed three day weekend. I find myself hitting the snooze on my alarm more frequently this week. That's alright this week though, as I really don't have any lesson planning to do. Sometimes I would wake up early to finish a little bit of my notes for the day or something like that. My routine this week has been wake up to the alarm at 5:40am, lay around for 10-15 more minutes, stretch, get ready, and then check my emails in the morning before heading out the door at 6:45am to find a ride. Got a ride on the little Tafuna Bus Tuesday and Wednesday morning and then a ride with a brother and sister from Leone to the intersection on Thursday.

Rather laid back week in my classroom. Finished up some notes on the new information with my students on Tuesday,  and then gave them some work time Wednesday and Thursday to do any catching up or make-up work they needed to before we begin reviewing and studying for mid-terms. Most of my classes are handling the work time well. 

I've been fighting some sinus pressure headaches this week, thanks to the shift in the weather season. Something I'm used to, but it's uncomfortable at times. I felt kind of weird and out of it on Tuesday. Did some push-ups in my classroom during prep and lunch on Tuesday trying to get my blood flowing. I also miss my chiropractor. Had a feeling it would catch up with me eventually being away from my check-ups and adjustments. I've been on top of doing the stretches he taught me, which were helping me make it through until recently. I'll work this kink out of my neck one of these days. Another thing I'm used to and just deal with it.

No Zumba class this week as many of the other participants are busy with their children getting ready for White Sunday, which is a tradition here. I am looking forward to being there on Sunday for it to see the children sing and then partake in the lunch and fellowship afterward. Anyways, so no Zumba, but I've still exercised every day. Remember how I jogged up the hill Monday after my workout and abs in my room, well I've done the same thing each day this week. Feeling pretty good about it. Wednesday was a little rough making it all the way to the top, but I'm going to stick with it. Not sure how, but I need to try some photos or video so you can get an idea of this hill I've been jogging up and down lately.

I printed off all my mid-terms on Wednesday, getting ahead and letting myself coast right into next week. Nice break for me and my students before we pick it back up after the exams, and I plan to start implementing or trying out some new tactics and ways of covering the material. Developing as a teacher.

I made a few photo collages on Wednesday, and here they are for your viewing. I like to put photos together every now and then. Hard to choose which ones to use though, as I take so many. haha

By the way, I enjoy the contact I am able to have with home even though I'm in another part of the world. I love letters, cards, emails, video chats, and little phone conversations. The Internet allows me to keep in touch with several family members and my best friends from college. Been here almost 3 full months, so more than 25% of the way through my service here. Wow, that is so weird to think about. Often people ask what my plans are for afterward, and my answer is I don't really know yet. I mean come on, if you know my story you know that I made my decision to come here for a year in a matter of 3 days. Yep, 3 days. You never know where life is going to take you.

"Life's an adventure."

"Live life with no regrets."

Be confident with who you are and where you are. I know I am where I am supposed to be, that's the cool thing about life. :-) Alright off my philosophical soap box for now. Just something that's always in the back of my mind.

Manuia le aso.

Three Day Weekend

Friday was another successful smooth day in the classroom continuing my lesson on the states of matter with my Juniors and finishing discussion on cephalopod basics with my seniors. Left school a little early. I even had time to finish my lesson plans for the next week and turn them in already. That was a great feeling, especially with this three day weekend ahead of me. Headed to the market for First Friday for some dinner with fellow volunteers, got a ride home with some guys who work at the Culinary Academy restaurant. One had a really cool story about moving here from Independent Samoa and how much he enjoys his job. Definitely going to have to stop at the restaurant for some food, had been wanting to, their hours just don't work with my schedule so well. Gonna make it happen at some point, though.

Saturday morning headed to Leone for a hike with a group of us from Sliding Rock to Fagatele Bay. The map said it was about a 1.2 mile hike one way. Some steep spots going toward Fagatele, but I can definitely tell I'm getting in better shape. I really enjoyed this hike. Ample time on the trail in the trees, with a few spots where there was a nice view of the ocean with a cool breeze. Right up my alley. Once we made it to Fagatele Bay, the rest of the group swam, but I didn't feel like swimming. I decided to hike the trail back by myself, a good place to think. Was in a thinking mood. Some of the others were going to go back another way. Great hike! You know I like hiking :-) Well, I generally just like walking around in nature, taking it all in and letting my mind wander, think, and enjoy.

This is a view at the spot that is known as "Sliding Rock" in Leone. The trail we took is a bit hidden if you don't know to look for it. No sign on this end.

Cool cracks in the rock. I took this photo by holding my camera lens down at the level of the surface.

Along the trail we saw several of these coconut shells tied to trees. Ended up deciding that they were some sort of trail markers, perhaps. This trail was made by NOAA, who manages Fagatele Bay - the National Marine Sanctuary.

A beautiful papaya tree I saw along the way (we were around the area where there are remnants of an old village).

I took some time to do some of my botanical shots - up close fun angles of some plants. Here is one, but I took several more.

I really like these trees, and the water was a different blue in the background on my hike back.

This was a really neat spot that we sat at enjoyed for a while amid the hike. Reminded a few of us of some sites we saw on the little island of Anu'u.

Came home after my afternoon hiking adventure, had some dinner with Hannah, just chilled, and chatted with some of the girls.

Went to church Sunday morning and spent most of the afternoon relaxing and taking it easy out on the porch. I also finished reading Tuesdays with Morrie by Mitch Alborn. A really great book! An inspiration telling a true story. Short little book I had brought with me and had been meaning to read for a while. I recommend it!

Woke up Monday to find my friend Mike had uploaded some photos he took the weekend we had went to Anu'u. I completely forgot he had taken this photo of Andrea, Frank, and I (R-L).

Hannah and I had planned the night before to just head into Utulei and find a place to just sit and enjoy the ocean view. We got off the bus, checked out a campaign party going on for a bit, walked to the post office, stopped in a few shops, and then parked ourselves at Sadie's by the Sea, where we drank several glasses of iced tea, shared some lunch, and had some delicious dessert. Spent three ours just sitting, relaxing, and chatting at an outdoor table. Really glad we did this. As we chatted, I found I had a list of things I wanted to do when we came back home. Had to be a little productive this weekend, although I had already finished my lesson plans for the week.

Had a productive late afternoon/early evening writing my mid-term exams and taking care of some business. Working out was on my list of things to do when I came home. "Tight buns and Killer Legs" and a set of abs followed by jogging up Kenko Hill. Up until today, anytime I jogged up the hill I jogged to the guys' driveway then walked to where the pavement ended (so only jogged maybe 3/4 of the way up). Today, it was feeling really good jogging up, so I figured I might as well go all the way. Made it! Walked back to their driveway, stopped and did another set of abs, jogged most of the way back down, until I decided to sprint back up a small chunk three times in a row before finishing the descent. Endorphins were kicking! Finished with one more set of abs at home before calling the workout complete.

Off to help make burritos for Pava'ia'i girls' family dinner. Have a great week!