Just a broken leg

The other day I walked to soccer practice after school as usual. We're supposed to have practice everyday but sometimes no one shows up, or the field is in bad condition from too much rain, or everyone decides they'd rather play basketball instead that day, etc. so I never really know if there will be practice until I get there. On this particular day, as I approached the field, I heard one of the girls I play with yell "Abby!" from across the road. I looked over and she slid her hand across her neck. "No practice?" I yelled. She nodded her head. "Go home?" I yelled. She nodded her head.

I saw the coach standing over there, too, so I crossed the street. He was going to take home the 3 players who had showed up. "Get in the front," he said. So I did, assuming he was driving. But he got in  the back and this old, unkempt, skinny (a rarity in Samoa) guy got into the driver's seat instead. He placed is 40 oz. Vailima (the local beer) into the cup holder. I watched as it sloshed over the rim a little. Well this is good, I thought to myself as none of the other 3 passengers said anything. The old man did a 3 point turn to get out of the drive way without hitting anything which was a good sign I thought. In the middle of this he says to me, "Don't worry about the beer. I do it all the time. I'm used to it." "Oh," I replied. This did not put me at ease.

Successfully turned around, we began to slowly pull out of the driveway. There were, of course, the usual few dogs milling about. I assumed, as I'm sure the driver and the other passengers did as well, that they would get out of the way of the slow moving vehicle, because, after all, this is Samoa where it really is survival of the fittest for these mangy creatures. Without altering his course, the old man continued to head out of the driveway through the dogs, which is when I heard a very audible thump. Again, everyone remained silent and we continued on our way. I poked my head out the window and looked back toward the driveway, where one of the cuter (term used very loosely), smaller dogs was limping around. I cringed at the sound of it's whining and whimpering sound that only injured animals make. Still everyone remained silent. WHY AM I IN THIS CAR? I said to myself. The old man said to me, "Oooh did I really run over a doggy?" I couldn't discern his tone. Was it concerned or more celebratory, because, let me tell you, there would be plenty of instances on this island where one would celebrate the death of a gross, vicious dog. "Uhh...yeah," I said to him. "And actually I'd like to get out and walk now, if you wouldn't mind pulling over. Watch out for those chickens on the side there." This is what I SHOULD HAVE said. Hindsight is always 20/20.


We continued to drive in silence. Thank goodness it was only about a quarter of a mile to my house, we were not on the main road, we passed about 2 other cars, and we were going about 20 mph. As we approached my house the man asked me what my name was and I told him. He then said to me, "You can call me Uncle. Everyone knows me as Uncle. Everyone calls me Uncle." "Umm...ok," I said, thinking to myself, you will forever be known to me as Drunk Driving Dog Crushing Creeper. In any case, I made it back unharmed.


I asked the coach the next day, "Did your [Drunk Driving Dog Crushing Creeper] Uncle kill that dog yesterday?" "Oh no, just a broken leg I think," he replied. Well that sounds like a death sentence for a dog on this island.

So what is the point of this story? I don't know, just that something like this would never happen in the U.S., at least with such nonchalance. Things like this continue to shock me even though I've been here for 11 months.

Bittersweet Endings

It's hard to believe that my time here in American Samoa is coming to an end! I only have 2 more weeks of teaching. It's going to be weird to adjust back to living in the States. There are some things that I am really looking forward to in the US that I've been thinking about a lot (especially when I'm eating yet another tuna sandwich), but at the same time I know there are things that I will really miss.

Things that I will miss:

--The little tiny yellow bananas (fa'i) that are one of the most delicious things I have ever eaten. I had a "regular" banana when I was in Sydney and it was pretty disgusting. I don't know if I can go back to eating those dull, mushy things that genetic engineering has sucked the life out of and that we call bananas in the US.

--The abundance of fresh limes, coconuts, and papaya. I didn't even like papaya before I came here.

--My favorite students, fellow WorldTeachers, and other friends I've become close with during my year here. It's going to be extremely hard to say goodbye, knowing that I'll probably never see most of my students and Samoan friends again.

--Weird/Cool names. I play soccer with a kid named G-Well (this is not his actual name). It stands for Ganster Well, as in he's a good ganster. There is also a kid, and I'm not kidding, named Bill Clinton Tino. That is his actual name that his parents gave him. I like to cheer for him at basketball games just so I can yell "Go Bill Clinton!"

--my popularity. I have never been so popular in my life. The three of us at Leone are the rockstars of the west side and we cannot go anywhere without have copious amounts of students shout and wave at us. On second thought, it might be nice to have a little anonymity when I get back home.

--riding in the back of pickup trucks, especially at night.

--being so close to the ocean at all times. As well as so many other cool natural things, like mountains, waterfalls, awesome snorkeling, etc.

--Playing soccer with the Leone village team every day after school. This has become my favorite part of the day. It's a stress reliever after a day of school and it gives me a chance to meet and socialize with Samoans my own age. Most of the players are not very skilled, but it's still fun to play, and, as G-Well told me, "All you have to do is run and try!"

--the musicalness that surrounds the island. Samoans are always, playing, listening to, or singing music. Yes, sometimes the 10 phones of students each blaring a different hip-hop song can get obnoxious, but other times I really enjoy it. I love when the students sing the prayer every morning. They can all harmonize and have beautiful voices. I love the random times when I'll be sitting at, for example, a sporting event, and the person behind me will whip out a ukelele and start jammin.

--The generosity of Samoans. Samoans, even strangers, are always willing to give you a ride somewhere if they see you walking on the side of the road or share their food or any other belongings that they may have.

Things that I will miss...not so much:

--finding ants in my cereal...only after eating half the bowl. Or having a dream that ants are crawling on me only to wake up to find that there are, in fact, ants crawling all over me. And while on the subject of tiny annoying creatures, I will also not miss cockroaches, mosquitoes, or termites. Sometimes the termites are so bad in the bathroom that I have to turn off the light and brush my teeth in the dark.

--some of my students

--sweating. ALL THE TIME. Sometimes my favorite part of the day is taking a shower. Not because my day was that bad, but because taking a shower feels so good--a 10 minute break from 24 hour sweating.

--disgusting bathrooms. I'm really looking forward to bathrooms that have soap and where the toilet paper (if there is any at all) isn't stored on the floor.

--The vicious, disgusting, sick, gross dogs that want to eat me.

--Tuna. And all things tuna related: the tuna canneries that make me want to barf every time I ride past on the bus; tuna cannery workers who are basically a smaller, mobile version of the cannery in terms of odor;  mega mayonnaise tubs; endless amounts of tuna sandwiches.

--being around so many people who don't really seem to care about anything. From my point of view it seems that there are way too many people (students, teachers, other Samoans that I've met) who just seem to exist instead of live life. This is disheartening  because I think a lot of them don't realize what they could do if they set their mind to it and really put forth some effort. I can't tell you how many times the vice principal has used the phrase "Let's hope and pray" in reference to something she wants the school to accomplish. This isn't my idea of a solid action plan, but it's the mentality of many Samoans.

--all the meat. Every Samoan meal has rice and many different kinds of meat. It is often some kind of questionable processed thing. And barbecued means smothered in some kind of ketchup-like gross sauce. I'm not a big meat eater, and I especially stay away from processed meats, so I'll be happy to leave behind the abundant platters of "barbecued" spam or whatever it is.

-Not being able to go anywhere (because the buses don't run) after 6 pm and on Sundays. It's always a rush to try to go anywhere after school and get back before the buses stop running and Sundays are just boring without transportation. There are taxis that are available at any time, but they aren't volunteer budget friendly.

--the equatorial sun. My fair, freckly skin needs a break!

23!

My chalkboard

Last week on Tuesday was my 23rd birthday! It just happened to coincide with teacher appreciation week at school, so I told my students that they had to be double appreciative.

Teacher appreciation week was pretty awesome in itself. Each of the classes--freshman, sophomores, juniors, and seniors--were in charge of one day of the week, so the freshman had Monday, etc. Then on Friday everyone got the day off. In the mornings the students gave teachers ulas made of candy as they entered the office. An ula is the equivalent of a lei. They can be made out of flowers or candy by wrapping the candies in plastic wrap and tying them together with ribbon. Then breakfast was provided for the teachers in the library before classes started. I use the term breakfast lightly because it was really a massive spread of food ranging from donuts to tuna sandwiches to spaghetti. Of course there were always at least 5 different kinds of meat/processed meat product (spam anyone?). The class was also in charge of providing lunch for the teachers. This was not quite as elaborate and consisted of a styrofoam container of meat and rice and maybe some other stuff delivered to your room at the beginning of lunch.

The girl next to me made me a cake!

Since my birthday was on Tuesday, this meant it was the sophomores' day for teacher appreciation week. I teach freshmen, sophomores, and juniors, but I teach the most sophomores and they are probably my favorite class. When we were in the library eating breakfast, they surprised me with a cake with candles that said "happy birthday" and everyone sang happy birthday to me. It was a chocolate cake with chocolate and peanut butter frosting and was delicious! I shared it with my first period because the girl who had made the cake was in that class, and we ate cake while we watched a movie on my laptop because "Miss, we should relax on your birthday!"

So we relaxed all day, and I got various presents of candy ulas, flower ulas, brownies, and cupcakes. We watched movies and played cards. I love playing card games and I've started playing Speed, a game that I've played in the States, and Sweepie, a new game that I've learned here from my students. My favorite part of Sweepie is the way that all Samoans throw down there cards to make a satisfying slapping sound when they hit the table or desk. This is the part I've had to practice the most. I also enjoy how they call the cards "pepas" (papers). I have a Sweepie rivalry with one of the seniors. He's from Tap Town (Taputimu) and, as you can see from the chalk board photo, I rep 2L or Tuala (Vailoa). I have not managed to beat him yet, but I have been practicing for our next rematch.

Also in the morning while I was in the library enjoying breakfast, Amber came to ask me for my classroom key "for no reason." When I got to my classroom after breakfast, I saw that they had decorated the door with construction paper that said "Manuia le aso fanau, Abby!" which means "Happy Birthday" in Samoan. They also taped up some ribbons and some baby decorations of giraffes and zebras (Thanks Quinn!), and there were balloons decorating the room. It was beautiful!

So goodbye 22! It was an excellent year. 23 is looking pretty good, too.