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.