Cultural Exploration 38: E Te Alu i Fea?

Where are you going? Dave Matthews asked the question back in Summer 2002, but he wasn’t prying. He just wanted to know, mostly because where you are is where he belongs. It was also the theme of the Emerging Leadership Program at USC the year I was on the planning committee. “Where are you going?” It was a metaphor for thinking about the future and setting goals and that kind of thing. But here in Samoa, it’s a common practice to ask other people, point blank and matter-of-factly, “Where are you going?”

Before we get into proper usage, how about a quick lesson in pronunciation? The E at the beginning is formal, so when spoken it’s often dropped. The te runs into the alu, and the i is pretty much inaudible when spoken fast. In fact, when spoken, the phrase sounds like one word: talufea (tah-loo-FAY-uh), or if you’re speaking K, kalufea.

I’d say I’m asked this question around 4 times a day. If a student sees me around town, s/he will say hi, and then the very next question will be e te alu i fea? My pule asks me. Guys at taxi stands. Security guards. People on the bus. Complete strangers. In America you might run into a friend somewhere and ask, “Where are you off to?”, but that only comes up in specific situations. Here, it’s different. It’s pretty much acceptable whenever, wherever. There’s less social taboo around what Americans would call being “nosey.”

I think this emanates from Samoa’s collectivist culture. In order for the community to support and protect you, the community needs to know your business. I also think I get more of it because I’m a palagi, and people get curious when they see me walking down the street.


This interaction can be even more awkward when the question is asked in English. It’s usually a brusque “Where you going?” It grates on the ears.

I’ve evolved to deal with this question in two ways. If I’m asked by someone I know—my pule or a student—I always say, “Fa’atau.” I’m going shopping. This answer is both satisfying and uninteresting; it quells the curiosity.

On the other hand, if a stranger asks me, I simply point in the direction I’m walking, nod, and then continue walking. This response will annoy the asker, but it is an answer to their question, quite literally. Where am I going? I’m going this way. It’s definitely acceptable though; I know because students have given me this response when I throw the question at them.

That is the one perk of being asked all the time: it gives me free reign to ask everyone else where they’re going. And I do, on occasion. Where are YOU going?

Tomorrow’s Cultural Exploration: Niu.

I hope you’re well. Pictures below.

My rugby team playing Koa's school last Thursday.

Spectators Apong and Akari.

The boys after the game. Victorious. Undefeated.

Artsy picture of girl.

Cultural Exploration 37: Mount Vaea

“Nobody write on the grave,” Maengi called out this morning to her year 13 science students. The class hiked Mount Vaea this morning to study the canopy structure and forest stratification. Maengi invited me and the other two Indian missionaries to come along on the hike as chaperones. As 20 students filed through the botanical gardens to approach the hiking trail, the groundskeeper got alarmed. He and Maengi had a short but intense conversation, after which she warned the group. “Nobody write on the grave.”

Robert Louis Stevenson came to Samoa in 1890, and though he died only 4 years later, he immersed himself in local politics in the then-occupied Samoa. According to Wikipedia, was “loved by Samoans.” They loved him so much, when he died, they insisted on carrying his body “upon their shoulders to nearby Mt. Vaea, where they buried him on a spot overlooking the sea.”

116 years later, the hike to the tomb is popular among tourists and natives alike. At the bottom of the hill, RLS’s house has been converted into a museum. The trailhead is out back. It’s a good spot to sight-see, and beyond that, the hike is good exercise.

Mt. Vaea and RLS’s grave are definitely a source of pride for Samoa. I recently thumbed through the year 12 English textbook and found a bunch of fictional short stories centered on Mt. Vaea.

It should also be noted, as commenter Nostalgia pointed out, Mt. Vaea at times has been a hip place for young people to congregate after the nightclubs closed.

In any case, the hike offers two paths: the longer, less steep path; and the shorter, more vertical path. The first three times I went up the long way and came down the short way. Today we did the exact opposite.

I believe the foliage is technically “rainforest” although on days like today, that seems debatable. It was interesting watching the students at work, trying to differentiate between the strata. They also did in activity where they roped off a square meter of ground and sifted through it to observe the diversity of plant life and the diversity of animal life. They then had to speculate on whether these two diversities had a causal relationship.

I didn’t hear the results of their study, but I enjoyed the scientific spin on the hike. And the view from the top is pretty great.

Tomorrow’s cultural exploration: E te alu i fea?

I hope you’re well. More pictures from today’s hike below.

Boys observing.

Students with valley vista in the background.

The square meter activity.

The group. I'm right in the middle of the photo, just below the NZ on the girl's t-shirt.

Teine.

Cultural Exploration 36: Pets

In America, the term “pet” has evolved over the past century from once meaning “domesti- cated animal” to now meaning “quadrupedal family member”. As the average nuclear family has shrunk from many children to 2.5, the need for companionship has increased, and pets have taken on that role. The pet industry has grown, the veterinarian workforce has expanded, and pet healthcare is becoming more and more of a sensible option. This trend hasn’t taken hold in Samoa as of yet, and so the difference in pet care can be pretty vast.

I remember one day in training, a member of Group 81 came back from lunch totally disgusted. The person’s host sister had kicked the family dog—this wasn’t a disciplinary tap on the nose or chastising the dog for being particularly swarthy or rambunctious. This was a run-of-the-mill kick to let the dog know who was boss, and it captures the head-butt of Samoan culture versus American. On the one hand, pets deserve our adoration; on the other, pets are consigned to their sub-human role.

This conundrum is fully visible in my host family’s dog, Rocky, in Fausaga. Rocky is the paradigm of Loyal Pet. He follows, waits, protects as necessary. And yet my host family gives him the mediocre treatment: table scraps, water where he can get it, a swift thwap! on the head when he needs disciplining. It’s a perplexing back-and-forth. One would expect a maltreated dog to act out, not embody the archetype of the loyal, protective pet. And yet Rocky abides.

This is a far cry from the American pet experience; no chew toys or leashed walks in the park, no visits to the vet or Milkbones, not even a pat on the head or even a makeshift dog house.

Being a pet owner is awkward at this intersection. I keep Scout inside, buy her canned cat food, and had cat toys sent from America. I’ve rarely seen host country nationals treat their pets this way. And yet Farmer Joe offers a wide variety of designated pet food, and Samoans who come to my house don’t think it’s strange the way I treat my cat.

When my student Amanda came to drop off my camera, she was accompanied by her two sisters, and the three played with Scout for a while. “Your cat plays a lot more than ours,” one sister said. It’s probably because Scout is still technically a kitten, but I think it could also be that I play with Scout a lot and she’s used to having a playful relationship with humans. Typical Samoan cats have a rougher life.

Dan 81 made a joke about the whole thing:

Two cats meet up, one fed by the merciless streets of Apia, the other from a well-fed Peace Corps-raised background. ‘So what do you eat most nights?’ the Peace Corps cat asks. 

 ‘Whatever we can find; chicken bones, rice that falls on the floor, maybe a papaya rind,’ the hardened cat replies. ‘How about you?’ 

The pampered cat replies, ‘Oh, I have a little mound of canned chicken with a side of jellymeat.’ 

There’s an awkward silence, and then the hardened cat eats the pampered one.

There’s a feral cat that hangs out on my porch occasionally. It’s missing part of an ear. Scout has run into this cat 2 or 3 times. I’ve pulled her out before there’s been any confrontation, but I’m pretty sure Scout wouldn’t fair well in that fight.

Tomorrow’s cultural exploration: Mt. Vaea.

I hope you’re well. Pictures below.

Rocky is one of the best dogs I've ever met.

Scout laying in the warmth of fresh laundry.

18 Months!: The Story So Far and FAQs

This morning marked exactly 18 months since we landed here in Samoa. It’s weird how in some ways it feels like we just got here, and the last 18 months has gone by in the blink of an eye—and on the other hand, it feels like we’ve been here forever. Being here this long, life has become a lot more routine, and the stuff that used to stick out as great blog fodder is starting to become ordinary and banal. My sense of shock has been dulled, I guess. I’ve got to work on keeping fresh. In any case...

The Story So Far (as continued from January 9, 2010)

I flew back into Apia roughly 72 hours before Chris flew in to visit from The States. I showed him the sites. We hit up the Falese’ela River Fales with Jordan, Blakey, and Briony. After seeing the Papase’ea Sliding Rocks on Survivor Samoa, we went there. And I introduced him to Pinati’s.

Chris’s visit and Group 81’s mid-service conference overlapped by a day, so I saw him off and then got in a van at the airport and went directly to the conference. At the conference we in Group 81 patted ourselves on the back and confirmed how impressed we are with ourselves. Then it was on to the All-Volunteer Conference where morale was a bit lower.

In January, I also revealed I adopted a cat, Scout, back in October. My life has come to this: living alone, owning a cat, and posting things on the Internet. Thanks, bachelor’s degree.

School started at the end of January with the obligatory week of cleaning. I got to use the spreadsheet I developed last year to aid in putting together the school schedule. It doesn’t make the schedule, but it does damn near everything else.

There was brief controversy when I had to cut my year 12 class down from the 55 students who were showing up down to the class limit of 24. There was begging and hurt feelings. It was ugly.

All was forgiven once school got into the swing of things in February. We had a big celebration to commemorate the opening of the new art building on campus, my year 13s fared well on their presentations from around the world, and I started singing with my year 10 English class.

Volunteers got together for the Superbowl and the  Ministry of Education’s awkward computer teacher conference, where I gave a presentation on the Peace Corps textbook volunteers have been developing for the past 7 years. Quite the party.

February marked the first time my group has experienced a hurricane warning, and we also evacuated to higher ground when tsunami warnings were issued after the earthquake in Chile.

In March I was asked to teach Science and coach rugby—two positions I am seriously under-qualified to hold (Although I must say, I’m a pretty competent science teacher.). I mostly just watch rugby and keep time on game days. Incidentally, my team finished their season today. They finished 5 and 0. That’s right. Undefeated.

A squad of travelling veterinarians came through town to hold free animal de-sexing clinics in and around Apia.

I also noticed a Guinness shortage in the country, but that didn’t wreck Group 81’s coming together for St. Patrick’s Day. There were, of course, lots of other Peace Corps there as well.

On the actual St. Patrick’s Day, I headed to American Samoa for a dental check-up. And a Carl’s Jr. check-up, of course.

Finally, I spent 4 days in Savaii this past weekend on the big island, Savaii, spending Easter snorkeling and shooting the breeze and generally having good time.

Oh, one last thing... It’s been ridiculously hot these last 3 months. Relentless, unseasonable heat and humidity. It’s been rough.

And that’s the story so far.

FAQs

When do you come back? You come back soon don’t you? You’ve been there a long time.

I will be back in The States in December. I do not have a specific date yet.

Well are you coming back to visit? We should hang out. Get lunch. Or get drinks.

I’m going to Hawai’i in May, but I won’t be back in the lower 48 until December.

And then what?

What do you mean?

After the Peace Corps? Then what?

I still don’t know. I’d like to go back to school in Fall 2011, but I’m still unclear on what degree I’d like to pursue, or where I’d like to go. I’m taking the GRE next month, and from there I’ll start narrowing things down.

What’s up with the sidebar? It says you only posted 9 times in March? Slacking off a little?

I’m not sure what’s up with that. Blogger updates that automatically, so I don’t know what’s causing the problem, nor do I know how to fix it. I believe I posted 31 times in March. The last day I missed was February 3. Something's up though.  March's posts show up in February, February's in January, January's under the 2009 heading.  Very strange.

Tomorrow starts a new round of cultural exploration. If you have ideas for cultural exploration, please submit them in the comments section or email them directly. Tomorrow’s topic will be Pets. I hope you’re well. Pictures below.

The River Fales Hike in Faleseela, Lefaga.

Cat and mouse.

Art teacher Isaia shows off the schedule in chalk.

Ulas ready to be distributed at the Art Building Opening Ceremony.

Phil and Koa (and their beards).

Me and Phil's host sister Fipe evacuating to higher ground in the middle of the night.

Rugby Practice.

Akanese and Asolima.

The parade for the Manu Samoa, fresh off their victory at the Hong Kong 7s Tournament, at the end of March.

Good Friday at Lusia's on Savai'i.

Innerspace

Today I struck back. I admit, the problem had been getting to me. I asked Phil over the weekend, “How do you keep your antivirus updated? Is there a way to download the updates separately from Avira?” No, he told me, you have to uninstall the program and then install the completely new version with the virus updates. He waited a moment, stared off into the distance and then asked me, “What have you been doing to keep your computers updated?” Nothing, I answered. He laughed.

I’m unclear on why, but for whatever reason, Samoan flash drives are sated with virus files. I don’t know what corrupted websites pass them on, nor what drives my students to such websites, but talking with other volunteers—Peace Corps and otherwise—the virus problem in Samoa is a cyber epidemic.

Last year things got so bad with students’ flash drives wreaking havoc on my server, some of my computers were rendered useless, and even my personal laptop took a beating. I had to completely banish flash drives from the computer lab this year.

Results have been lackluster. I’ve caught some of my most trusted year 12s and 13s red-handed. Usually they’re trying to copy music to or from their flash drives, pirating as indiscreetly as possible. On one hand, I empathize and stand somewhat impressed by my students; it takes a certain amount of familiarity to upload and download music so freely.

On the other hand, I’m a teacher, and therefore a micro-authority on piracy and copyright infringement. It’s like being a member of the Canadian Border Patrol during prohibition: it’s your job to keep the rascals out, and yet, the authority’s collective effort is so ridiculously ineffective, one feels silly for getting so riled up about the whole thing.

So today I took steps to deal with the problem. Based on Phil’s recommendation, I downloaded the new installation of Avira last night with the most updated virus definitions. Then during my year 13 class, I walked the students through deleting the old antivirus program, restarting their computers, installing the new antivirus, and running a complete system scan with the new antivirus in place.

I’d braced myself for a downpour. As I’ve said before, my server is sated with viruses, so much so you can’t plug a flash drive in without it being tainted with at least 15 different virus spawns.

With the help of the year 13s this morning, we conducted a thorough system scan of every computer in the lab, and much to my surprise, the scans came up nearly empty. I caught 3 viruses. Either my computers are cleaner than I thought they were, or the virus scanners allowed quite a bit through the cracks.

In either case, today’s activity with the year 13s went as well as one would have hoped. They stayed together through nearly during the entire process, and during the long virus scans, we managed to fit in a game of Hokey Pokey.

I’m looking forward to repeating the whole process next month.

I hope you’re well. Picture below.

I think when I go back to The States, I will miss the variation of color and style in Apian architecture. It isn't cookie-cutter or run-of-the-mill by any standard.

In Defense of Food

I don’t know what to eat. I wanted to get some boneless chicken breasts at Farmer Joe on Sunday night, but the packaging leaked chicken juice, so I opted for steak instead. I’m not a big meat-eater, and buying steak still feels weird. In any case, the plan last night was to have steak and taro, but the stove ran out of gas before I could cook either. I got the gas today, but I didn’t thaw the steak. So tonight I had taro and papaya and banana and a glass of milk. Not the squarest of meals, I admit.

Much of this food weirdness springs from the fact I just Michael Pollan’s “In Defense of Food”. In it, he presents three simple rules to eat by: eat food, mostly plants, not too much. His basic thesis is western society has stripped foods of their natural composition and tries to make up for it by fortifying food with only a small handful of nutrients. His solution is to return to the basics by, among other things, eating “food your great-grandmother would recognize.”

The book itself is rather boring. Pollan dives into the minutia of what he calls “the reductive science of food” and “nutritionism”. This makes for some slow going.

On the other hand, he makes a good argument, and it would be a good idea to implement some of his suggestions in my own eating habits. Let’s be honest, my diet of peanut butter and jelly and macaroni and cheese could use a makeover.

And what better place to return to a traditional diet than here living among an indigenous culture which—pre-pisupo—cultivated some pretty healthy eating habits? That pre-pisupo caviat is a big one though. The dreadful Western Diet Pollan talks about so much has crept into Samoa in all the worst ways.

On Saturday afternoon, Phil and I watched 3 kids walk out of a faleoloa in Savai’i, each carrying a bottle of Coke, an ice cream cone, and a bag of Twisties (read: Cheetos). White bread, in all of its refined glory, is ubiquitous. Canned corned beef practically acts as a secondary currency. In the village, Asolima loves to serve me deep-fried fish.

By the time I left America, I had a pretty good handle on eating nutritiously—spinach salads and apples and bananas and a glass of milk with the occasional trip to In-N-Out Burger. A burrito here and there.

Here in Samoa though, there are very very few leafy greens. Farmer Joe sometimes has watercress, and the open-air market often offers bok-choy. It was no coincidence that my first dinner in New Zealand last May was simply a huge bowl of spinach.

But perhaps the westernized diet and the search for leafy greens are just complicating the issue. I guess the plan should be to get some taro, some esi, and some tuna steaks and just kick back. Oh yeah. And some coconuts. Coconuts are good.

I hope you’re eating well. Picture below.

Jazzercize en masse outside the government building this evening.

Two punk rock chicks at the grocery store this afternoon. Those tapered pants have got to be like an oven in this climate.

The Calm Before the Storm

There wasn’t much on the agenda for today. I thought about having lunch at the fish market, and one of my year 13s from last year wanted to come by to work on her university assignment. Neither of those things happened. The student, who was supposed to show up at 10:00 this morning, texted at 10:06 to say her family was busy today, and she’ll come tomorrow instead. Fine. So I walked to the fish market, only to realize today was Aso Malolo, the day of rest after Easter, which means we essentially get 2 Sundays this week, and then we move straight on to Tuesday.

If there’s any argument for religious pluralism, there’s always someone to keep the shop open.

In any case, the rest of the day was pretty uneventful. I stopped in at the Peace Corps office, I found a wireless location to download some podcasts, I sat at the pool for a while at a nearby hotel, and I went jogging at dusk.

There were a few people here and there milling around doing as much of nothing as I was. Many of them were taxi drivers, desperate for a fare. The pizza place and the local bars were open when I ran past them this evening, but up until that point, Apia was a ghost town. I had little to do, and nowhere to go. It was a good day to relax.

That’s just as well because starting tomorrow things are going into high gear—especially at school. We’ve got 3 more weeks of classes before the midyear exams start, which means 3 weeks to whip my English and Science students into shape. I got to see the year 10 exam for English at the moderation meeting last Wednesday. It’s brutal.

Science isn’t much better. I have 3 separate units left to teach my kids in as many weeks: the respiratory system; microorganisms; and the first unit of book 3, which I haven’t seen yet.

I used to hate it in college when a professor would meander through the semester taking his sweet time, and then get to the last couple weeks of the course and move into warp speed. But now I’ve become that guy. Ugh.

I also need to do some home improvement work before I leave for Hawai’i in May, so that’ll keep things busy.

And as if that wasn’t enough, my natural gas stove ran out of fuel tonight, which means I’m going to have to beg my pule to take me across town to fill the tank, and then I’ll have to spend another hour at the office trying to get reimbursed.

I suppose it was good to have a day of rest today because these next 3 weeks are going to be long.

I hope you’re well. Pictures below.

Scout is starting to get a little more ambitious and daring in her gecko hunting. You can see the lizard she's going after at the bottom right corner of the poster on the left.

I noticed this at Farmer Joe last night. Note the row of white bottles on the shelf third from the bottom, less than a meter off the floor.

Here is a close-up of the bottle's label. Oops.

Boat and Photos

Scout and I are back in Apia. Despite waiting 2 hours for a bus that never showed and a taxi driver who took his sweet time picking us up, we made the boat with seconds to spare. In addition to carrying people across the isthmus, the boat also ferries cars. Usually the cars are loaded on after the people are already on board, but today I had to walk the narrow paths between cars, cat in box in hand, up to the front of the boat, where I realized the doors to the upper levels—where most passengers ride—were locked.

So I sat with the cars and a handful of passengers who were staying down there by choice. The car compartment has no windows, so it was a strange way to ride a boat. I hear some people prefer to ride on the bottom because being low and near the center of the boat is a good way to avoid seasickness. I, on the other hand, like to look out and the horizon and watch it move with the listing of the boat. Not an option today.

But after a while I took out my book and wiled away the time. And now we’re back in Apia.

I figure I’ll keep today’s post short so I can catch you up on pictures from the past couple days.

I hope you’re well. Enjoy.

This is the inside of the air-conditioned cabin of the new boat. It's got seats, not benches, and passengers are not allowed to lay in the aisles contrary to the common practice on the other boats.

Blakey and the cat (inside her box) on the new boat Thursday morning.

The upper level of the new boat is outside (and therefore not air-conditioned), but it does have a translucent roof, and laying in the aisles is allowed up here.

The air-conditioned level has a canteen/snack bar where they sell saimini and tea and coffee among other things.

Also, there's a lady who walks around selling coffee. It costs $2.

Both levels allow passengers to sit outside and watch water go by.

The northern coast of Upolu as seen from the new boat.

I don't remember this from last year, but I guess that's because I spent Good Friday in Apia last year. Apparently it's fairly common to construct a cross and put it in the middle of your front yard on Good Friday. It's a little like hanging your American flag on Memorial Day or something like that, I guess. Although the cross makes it look like you're going to have a ritual crucifixion, which is kinda weird.

Phil, Blakey, and I sat down to play cards, and the cat wandered in and sat down directly opposite me, as though she wanted to be my partner in Bridge. It was funny.

I don't have much to say about this picture. I like the storefront.

Phil and Blakey eating lunch at Lusia's on Friday.

I like this picture, so I'm posting it twice. Doesn't it sort of look like a more tropical version of that popular Pink Floyd poster? Left to right: Slovenian tourist whose name escapes me, Leah 82, Dan 81, A.J. 81.

Comfortable

Savaii and I have had a rough relationship. It all started with my second visit during which my iPod and camera were stolen from Phil’s house. They were recovered a month later, but the experience left a nasty taste in my mouth. Later I lost my camera during at our cinco de mayo celebration, and shortly after that, my parents and I had an unfortunate run-in with a taxi driver. Given all this, and the fact I dropped my camera in the ocean yesterday, it’s a little surprising how smooth and easy-going this weekend has been.

Okay, the trip over was a little stressful—mostly because of the cat. Things the cat likes: string, chasing the laser beam, expensive cat food. Things the cat doesn’t like: being cooped up in a sweltering cardboard box for six hours. Blakey and I thoroughly enjoyed the new boat in all of its pristine glory; the cat tolerated the trip, only because of the air conditioning. The second we stepped into Savai’i’s humid heat, the cat got really really cranky. She was pissy for the rest of Thursday.

Other than that, this trip’s been the relaxing holiday for which I’d hoped. Early in the week, word went around about staying at Aganoa Beach Fales on the south side of the big island. Financially and logistically, this didn’t appeal to me, and it turned out Blakey and Phil felt the same. Besides, a bunch of us got together at Lusia’s last night—a much more accessible venue, so it’s not like we’re being completely antisocial.

We needed to be at Lusia’s yesterday sometime between noon and 4:00 p.m. That kind of window allows for a lackadaisical outlook to the day. No rush. We’ll get there when we get there. Even though life in the Peace Corps is markedly slower than life in America, it’s still rare for a day to be so relaxed and unencumbered.

Today has been even slower. We all woke up mid-morning, and given the heat, we decided to play cards for a while outside in the faleo’o behind Phil’s house. Blakey was picked by one of her Apian friends, and Phil and I along with Trent 80 decided to head into town to get lunch.

We ate at a small restaurant in Salelologa right on the ocean, Le Waterfront, which has good, reasonably priced portions. It a beautiful spot. Too bad I threw my camera in the ocean.

In any case, the general success of this weekend seems to stem from the fact that we’ve been here long enough we’re much more in control of the way we spend our day. Or perhaps we’re better at discerning between what we can control and what we can’t, and maneuvering the system accordingly.

In that sense, the Peace Corps’s policy of having volunteers stay for 2 years makes sense. As much as I feel like I’ve been drowning in work lately, I feel like I’ve also learned to maneuver that system more capably.

We’ve hit our stride. Maybe between now and December is when the magic happens?

I hope you’re well. Pictures tomorrow.

Weekend Update

Haha. The jokes were funny yesterday, but I think we sacrificed a bit of truth-telling. So here’s how things have gone so far this weekend:

• One year ago at the Peace Corps Cinco de Mayo celebration, my camera was kicked off the dock into the water. Tonight, it was my own fault. By chance, I grabbed my camera, and it bumped my hand and then bounced off the bench and then into the water below—off the same dock. I jinxed it this morning when I asked Blakey if she thought I should bring my camera to today’s event. It was a less-than-ideal end to the day.
  
• Blakey and I did indeed take the new boat from the wharf in Apia Harbour yesterday morning. Overall, the ride was great. The boat is bigger, the listing is smaller, the air conditioner excellent. The Prime Minister really was on our boat (though he didn’t sit one row in front of Blakey), as did the Manu Samoa, the national rugby team. Rather than watching a movie during the voyage, we watched recent Manu Samoa games. When was the last time you sat in the same room as a national sports star and watched old clips of his/her performance? The experience was fun and surreal and awkward.
  
• My student Amanda brought my camera back on Wednesday afternoon, right on time. The camera was in great shape and had absolutely no damage whatsoever. As skeptical and cynical as I’d been about lending my camera to a student, everything turned out fine. It wasn’t until tonight when I inadvertently knocked the same camera into the ocean below my camera was wrecked. It was by my own hand, and I feel like a jerk for doubting my own student.
  
• Scout did indeed make it on the boat ride, although it was not a fun experience for cat or cat owner. That said, she seems happily adapted to Phil’s house, and as cranky as she was after yesterday, back to her old self today. I can’t wait for the ride Sunday.
  
• Snorkeling at Phil’s is great as always.

I hope you’re well.

Odds and Ends Thursday 49

We had school today. All my yapping about boats on yesterday’s blog, and Maengi gets home at 10 last night and tells me that while I was at the moderation meeting yesterday, the teachers decided we needed to have school today and pushed back the Aso Maliu assembly to this afternoon. I left school at 1:00 p.m., sprinting to catch the 2:00 bus to make the 4:00 boat. I’m stressed, the cat’ s annoyed about being in a box, the ferry is filled to the gills with people. The weekend got off to a miserable start, but now I’m at Phil’s, and Blakey’s here too. Here are some odds and ends from the 3 of us:

• ME: I started reading “War and Peace” today. 932 pages to go.
  
• PHIL: I have a cat now. One of my year 10s brought a kitten to class, and I took it away. Not knowing what to do with it, I put it in my house until afterschool. And then I still didn’t know what to do with it. So I kept it. He’s got dark grey fur, lighter grey spots, and white paws. I call him Trousers.
  
• BLAKEY: I took the new boat this morning. It’s great! 2 levels of seating, and they sell coffee for $2. I sat near the front, and about 5 minutes after I sat down, the Prime Minister boarded the boat, and sat in the seat directly in front of me! I talked to him a little. He went to the school where I teach.
  
• M: I borrowed some paint from the art teacher to touch up my wall where the person who lived in my house before me had scraped off a bunch of the paint. I’ve got a yogurt cup of white paint sitting on the table, when the cat sees a gecko run across the wall. I moved to avoid the cat, bumping the table. The paint, of course, toppled over—on top of the cat. I washed off what I could, but she’s definitely whiter than she used to be.
  
• P: Paul’s been teaching me to play ukulele. At this point, the only song I can play is James Taylor’s “Fire and Rain”. I play it a lot.
  
• B: Last Tuesday, I ate 7 avocados.
  
• M: I have a rash on my ear. I’m not sure what’s causing it. Maybe my pillow? Maybe my headphones? Maybe the guy who sat next to me on the bus ride to the host village last week? It doesn’t itch, it’s just bumpy. Phil and Blakey blame the cat.
  
• P: I have been specially chosen by the Savai’i Sports Council to be the IT guy at their monthly meetings. Mostly I just set up the laptop and the projector and then sit off to the side. Sometimes I get to correct the date/time on someone’s cell phone. Either way, I’ll include it on my resume.
  
• B: I was at cricket practice at Apia Park on Wednesday. The coach for the women’s national team happened to be at the stadium for a meeting. She watched practice for a bit and then invited me to try out for the Samoan National Womens’ English Cricket team. We’ll see.
  
• M: I punched an Australian volunteer in the face this past weekend. We were at a local eating establishment, and he was one table over from me. He slandered me and called me rude names. I thought about throwing my fork, but instead I just punched him. He had it coming.
  
• P: I recently purchased a Swiss Army Knife that has 85 different tools and implements. It weighs 2 pounds, and it’s 9 inches long. It’s not the most practical thing in the world, but it’s kinda cool. Also, it came with a specially embroidered fanny pack.
  
• B: While snorkeling this afternoon, a barracuda bit my foot. I kicked it in the face, and it swam away. Luckily there are no sharks in the reef, and the bite was superficial.
  
• P: I’ve decided to extend my service for a third year.
  
• B: I’m engaged.
  
• M: I’m pregnant.

That’s all we got for this week. I hope you’re well. Picture below.

Phil.

Blakey.

Me.