A month after arriving in American Samoa I decided I should finally start a blog! For those of you who don't know, I am volunteering as a teacher in American Samoa through a program called WorldTeach. I am teaching science (chemistry, biology, and physical science) at Leone High School which is in Leone on the main island of Tutuila.
Twenty-two other volunteers and I started our adventures on this island with a 3-week orientation at Nu'uuili Votech High School. We lived together in the classrooms there and went through some intense training classes to prepare us for teaching. We also learned a lot about Samoan culture and language and did stuff like get cell phones and set up bank accounts.
Orientation went well and by the end I felt like I had known all the volunteers forever, but we were definitely all excited for move out day! Amber, Quinn, and I moved into a small house in Leone which is located on the western side of Tutuila. We have a lot of friendly dogs that live around are house and a bunch of neighborhood kids who love to hang out with the new world teachers! We also have banana, lime, lemon, breadfruit, papaya, and coconut trees in our yard.
We started teaching on August 8th. My classroom was a mess: lots of dirt, broken desks, broken fans, and ants and cockroaches. I spent the weekend before school started cleaning everything which was pretty tiring and gross. So far teaching is going well, but the first couple weeks are mostly busy work. A lot of kids won't register for school until a week or two after school has already started, so everyday I get a few more kids in each class. I think things will get a little more interesting once my classes are settled and I actually start teaching.
More updates and pictures to come! But it took me a month to even start this blog so don't expect too much!
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