Thursday

Woke up about 6am this morning and put on one of my to-the-floor skirts courtesy of Omaha mom Nancy. I had some extra time this morning since I woke up earlier than needed, and I decided to go sit down by the ocean just across the street from where we are staying. I even remembered to take my nice camera down there with me today, as I noticed some interesting lighting coming through clouds.

I even set up the timer for a few shots, for those of you are anxious to see me in one of my long skirts. Plus, I hadn't really taken photos of myself yet with the island background.Then, I just relaxed up against a coconut tree and took in the breeze rolling in off the ocean. One of my most tangible memories from my trip to Ecuador 3 years ago was very similar to this moment.

First item on the agenda today was meeting the director designee and other officials at the American Samoa Department of Education office located in the village of Utulei (roughly a 30 minute bus ride from where we are staying). This is the 5th year that WorldTeach has worked in this territory. Mostly a meet and greet deal.

Came back for another language lesson, and today we worked on some pronouns, possessive nouns, and numbers. Next after lunch, I was part of a group that needed to go grocery shopping today for dinner supplies. We went to Cost U Less, which is very similar to a Sam's Club or Costco back home - buying things in larger quantities.

Finally, we had another teacher training session today where we learned the 5-step lesson plan method that WorldTeach likes us to use -Opening, Intro to New Material, Guided Practice, Individual Practice, and Closing. We then worked on little mock lesson plans in groups before having dinner this evening. Tonight's cooking group put together a pasta bar, which worked out really well. That's my story for today.