News from Samoa

4/7/08

Greetings,

The Samoa group had a great weekend. They preformed their dance at an fiafia on Friday night and all of the students danced with their host families. Kelly mentioned that the highlight was when Jen's host mom lifted her onto her shoulders.  After church on Sunday the youth group had a good-bye dinner for the group. Each family contributed something to the meal and our group presented the village with a thank you plaque that we had made here in Seattle.   The youth group presented each member of the group with a cricket stick as sign of thanks. At the end of the evening all of the U Prep group gave the village a standing ovation and ran around the room giving everyone high fives.   Today they made one final trip to Apia where they stopped at the vegan bakery and also bought good-bye gifts for their families.  Their flight is scheduled to leave on time and arrive in Seattle tomorrow night.

Lauren

4/4/08

Below is part two of the Samoa update.


Annie: We just got back to our village from Savaii, the other island of Samoa. We have been super busy and the days have gone by really fast. We’ve been visiting schools, swimming, and getting to know our families. Hope you are having a good time in Seattle.

Lexi: We just got back from Savii. The beach there was so beautiful. We spent most of the day playing in the water. At dinner there was a fiafia, or in other words a dance party. After the fiafia we went to sleep in our fales which where right on the beach. I am having such an amazing time and I never want to leave.

Robert: Samoa is so nice.  The culture and the beaches are beautiful my family is very welcoming and so generous. I am enjoying my time here and it is coming to an end too soon.  I also got a Samoan haircut from my family.

Miriam: Hey all. I hope you are doing well. Samoa is amazing. I am sweating a lot, but it is worth it. The culture is vibrant and the people are welcoming. They have been helping me master the Samoan langue and I am almost fluent. I climbed a palm tree faster and higher than anyone else. Manuia le to, have a good night.

John: Hi everyone. Samoa is a blast so far. I live right on the ocean and wake up to the sunrise and the roosters. So far I partially climbed a coconut tree, harmonized with the church choir, swam daily, played a lot of volleyball, and danced with a wild lady named Jane from New Zealand.

LaShanda: Talofa everyone. I am having an amazing time here in Samoa. I actually swam with the students for the first time and they were very excited. The experience here is one that I will never trade or forget ever in life.  Auntie Sitta has been feeding me tremendously; I must have gained 30 lbs.  See you soon!

P.S. Ken, I am never coming home. You will need to find a new assistant. 


The group also wanted to update you on the dictionary drive and the mural.  Each U Prep student gave each Samoan student at the secondary school a dictionary one by one and they even had a few left over for their library. It was very emotional and the Peace Corps volunteers even shed a tear.   The map mural turned out fantastic and the students painted the U Prep logo at the bottom.   Then 140 students gave each member of our group a kiss on the cheek of thanks.   This weekend they will be practicing their dance and doing a day in the life of a Samoan video to share upon their return.

4/4/08

Greetings,

Below is an email with updates from half of the Samoa group and the Peace Corps volunteers with whom they have been working. We have high hopes that messages from the other half will arrive by phone or email today. I guess they experienced some more computer glitches.

Thanks,
Lauren

Jen: Hi, everybody! hope you are enjoying WOW week. We are having a great time! On Tuesday we finished painting the map on the wall of the Lefaga Secondary School. Now we are on Savai'i for our beach fale vacation days. The trip has been great and I have been well fed. The Samoan guys really enjoyed softball because of its similarities to cricket. Rugby in the water was a very amusing sport to watch. Last night we attended a big fiafia (dance) and we all had a good laugh or two as we tried Samoan dancing and showed them what we could do! See you soon (too soon if you ask us)!

Laura: Wow, this is amazing! Last night we stayed in open fales (houses with no walls) on the beach. It is just how I imagine paradise: warm, clear water; white sand; palm trees overhead; and good food. I miss you all, but not too much because it is so wonderful here. Fa soifua!

Morrow: So far the  trip has been incredible, and the past several days have gone by especially quickly. The island of Savai'i is so lush and beautiful and is a wonderful place to travel to. We've also been spending time with Peace Core volunteers in the area, and talking with them has been very informative and talking to them about their view on life in Samoa is very interesting. I miss you all!

Sedalia: Hey all! Today we are checking out some blow-holes on a beach here on Savai'i. It is unsayably beautiful here - coconuts grow wild here, and everything is lush and vibrant (fodder for my writing!). After the blow-holes, we're visiting a gargantuan waterfall. Tonight, when we return home to Upolu, we will be practicing our dance performance for tomorrow night's fiafia (dance party). We're all gross and grubby and loving it (its kind of liberating. I haven't worn heels in days!). Tell my mum I love her! best, S

Iris:  Talofa!  I have decided to stay here in Samoa.  I know this may surprise some of you, but I have a new mother, father, older sister, and highly extended family.  You may try to change my mind, but I have already made arrangements.  My fale is being built by the creek (my shower) and Kelly has set up an arranged marriage with the soon-to-be minister of our village.  It is difficult for me to write this note in English because I'm quickly losing my native language and adopting a new one.  I don't wear pants anymore, only ielavalavas, and, as my tan continues to darken, I turn more and more Samoan by the second.  I hope you enjoy life in Seattle as I decide whether to swim in the ocean, rest under the palm trees, or eat my brains out.  Talofa y'all!  Ilise

Kelli: Hello U Prep.l  We are enjoying wonderful weather, great hospitality, and a busy yet well paced schedule. I am very proud of how our students are investigating and learning from Samoa.  We just finished a very cool world map project at the secondary school for our district.  We can't wait to share our experience with you upon our return and we thank you for your support in getting us here.

Jordan and Aaron (Peace Corps Volunteers): We are having a great time watching the U Prep students throw themselves into Samoan culture: they are doing a great job of trying to blend in and absorb as much of the culture as possible. Last night, at the fiafia, we loved watching the students dance with each other and the Samoan boys who joined in on the Savaii trip. Robert even got into the action and danced with an assortment of Samoan women! We are consistently impressed with the positive attitudes of the group, and with their interest in learning about the country. They have been great sports, especially in handling the heat, different foods, and cheeky comments by some locals! We are thrilled to be joining in the fun and really impressed with the students (and chaperones) We have one final request: We really, really miss mexican food- will ya'll have some burritos and salsa for us??

4/3/08

Greetings,

Email is still down in the village. However, the students have written an email and saved it on a Peace Corps volunteer's computer in Apia. Jordon, the volunteer, should be sending me the email tomorrow.

In the meantime, the group has been in Savii, the other island that makes up the nation of Western Samoa. They traveled there by ferry accompanied by 5 members of the village. While there they had the opportunity to walk along the beach, swim in the ocean, and participate in an afiafia dance.  Today they are heading to view a waterfall on the island, as well as lava rock blow holes, and walk in the canopy.  They will return to Faleseela this afternoon on the ferry.

I will send you the students' email as soon as I receive it and thank for you patience with an unreliable internet connection.

Lauren

4/1/08

Unfortunately, the internet was down again last night in the village so the students' message did not come through. However, I did get a report from the leaders.

Last night the group began their maps mural project. They are doing a map of the world, one of Polynesia, and one of Samoa's two major islands (Savaii and Upolu).  They used a projector to make the gridlines for the map and today the Samoan secondary students along with our group are painting in the countries.   This is a large task, but an excellent and very sustainable project that the school will use for teaching geography.

Everyone is doing great and despite the warm weather sunburn has been avoided.

The group will do its best to get an email out to us as soon as they are able.

Lauren

 

3/31/08

Greetings,

The Samoa group wants you all to know that they have composed an email themselves but have been unable to get to a working computer network. They are hoping to get a message sent by tomorrow.

In the meantime, yesterday was Sunday and a sacred day in the village. The group attended church with their families for 2 hours. They all sat with the youth choir and sang with them during the service as well. Each student spent the afternoon with their host families and met as a group at 4pm to share their experiences. Since Sunday is a sacred day there is no swimming, sports, etc. so our students really learned a lot about the strong role religion plays in the lives of Samoans.

They are also practicing for participation in the afia fia festival next Friday which is a celebration of gratitude through dance and music.  Tomorrow they will be working with the secondary school to paint a mural of a map of the world to be used to teach in the school.

I will send you their email when I receive it.

Lauren

 

3/28/08

Kelly and LaShanda checked in and the students are doing great. Traditions day has been a lot of fun for them.

Iris, Robert and Annie plucked a chicken as well as Kelly and LaShanda. John cooked the pig. Jen and Lexi did a great job carving coconuts and taro. Morrow and Miriam became excellent weavers. Sedalia asked some great questions during the minister's lecture on the history of the village.  Laura was able to attend a special island dance with her hosts and share her experience with the group. Finally, the whole groups says that what they appreciate most about the Samoan culture is the amazing collaboration in the village.
 
More to come.

Lauren

 

3/27/08

The Samoa students were also unable to get to a computer, but they too are doing great.  Today they visited the village's elementary school and yesterday had the opportunity to play volleyball and swim in the river with the youth group. Tomorrow they will have "Traditions Day," and the village will come together to teach our students how to cook traditional Samoa foods and participate in the harvesting of crops.