Sports Days

A part of the curriculum for Primary School students includes a PE section.  To fulfill this requirement, most schools in Samoa hold Sports Days each Friday.  All of the students at the school were split up into four teams: red, blue, yellow, and green.  So for instance, the red team would consist of 6-7 students from each year with a two Year 8 Prefects acting as coach to the team.  Each Friday, the teams compete against one another and whichever team has the highest cumulative score for that Friday wins!  There are several different sports that my school plays: soccer, soccer ball throwing, volleyball, and rugby.  The most entertaining for me are the rugby matches.

Growing up in America in highly protective schools were when one played football, one played TOUCH football since there was no way the school was chancing a lawsuit if a student got tackled and hurt in PE class, it was extremely entertaining to witness students body slamming each other on the field outside my school.  And when I say body slamming, I mean it.  They’re out there full force tackling so that they both spin to the ground, grabbing onto shirts and whirling them to slam into the ground, and looping arms around necks in an effort to stop them.  The whole while, all of the watching students and teachers are laughing and having a jolly good time.  I have to say, it was more fun that I have any other day.  The best part is the boys love to do it!  It’s their favorite sport to play and they really enjoy (I’m assuming) mitigating out body slams all in the name of sport.  Even the Year 3 students who played went full force into the game as even though they didn’t quite know the rules, they all whole-heartedly joined into the body pile-up when someone had the ball.  It’s a long ways from the overly protective schools of America.

Here are a few of the better pictures I’ve taken on Sports Days:

Soccer races

Team pride!

Year 2 and 3 pile up

Vice-Principal Alapati giving a pep talk

Look at that face!  Now that's some serious rugby

Uh oh!  He's coming for you!

Parent Teacher Conferences

When I was going through Elementary, Middle, and High School, I was the perfect angelic student that all parents dream of (pffft yeah right…) and Parent Teacher Conferences were not something that I dreaded.  Now that I’m on the opposite side of the conference in the role of the teacher, I was overwhelmed when I was first asked to write report cards and conduct Parent Teacher Conferences with my 75 students’ parents.  So two weeks before the event I began to gather my resources and come up with phrases that’d serve me well, such as:

His/her reading has improved.  Ua aloalo i luma lona faitautusi.
He/she is smart but talks all the time.  E poto tele, ae tautala so’o.
He/she needs to work on… E tatau ona galuega i…

This way I could write out the reports for the kids that not only included the grades for my midterm and homework reports, but also attempted at showing the parents what I thought of their children.  For the most part, the children were all exemplary but of course there are always a few that needed a few extra comments on my part regarding either behavior or alarming grades.

One of the report cards

Once the report cards were written out, all that remained was the daunting aspect of approximately 75 parents wanting to discuss their kids with me, in Samoan.  I was confident with my phrases but the thought of unknown questions coming at me in Samoan brought back the fear sweat that I had during my language exam during training.  So when the day came around, I had my stack of report cards on one side and my list of phrases and vocabulary on the other.  The line of parents quickly formed and the first woman sat down.

“Malo le soifua lau susuga” Very polite hello.

“Malo le soifua, o ai lou tamaiti?” Hello in return, who is your child?

And the exchange went on and on and remarkably, I was able to hold my own.  It’s a true marker of how far my Samoan has come that I was usually able to understand although I was not always able to form a response.  That parent looked through her son’s report card, his exam, signed the report card, thanked me, and left.  As simple as that, the first was over and done with and the next woman slid into place behind her.  Meeting with the parents, I was able to finally connect faces with the parents of the children that I teach every day.  Almost 2 hours later, the stream of parents was slowing down until finally my last one came and left.  Not quite all of the parents had made it but my goodness it was a huge chunk.  Afterwards, all of the teachers gathered for a celebratory lunch with food provided by the parents and chatted about the different things that had happened.

The next day, one of the students in Year 5, Ioane, came by with a gift for me.  His parents were particularly thankful for the teachers and sent him to school with a lavalava (wrap-around skirt) for me that read, “We love you Mum”.  I was so touched, I instantly pulled off the one that I was wearing and replaced it with his.  For the rest of the day, Ioane had the brightest smile on his face whenever he looked at me in his lavalava.

I’m so proud of the improvements in all of my students.  They all performed so well on their midterms in my class.  I had many students place first in their groups who had never placed in first before.  I even had one boy in my Year 6 At-Risk class who broke down into tears upon seeing his first place score on my grade wall.  This is the reason I joined the Peace Corps: to see improvements in the learning of the children and to affect their lives in a constant, positive way.  Ou te alofa lo’u tamaiti aoga!  Malo lava outou!!

My wall of exam scores

Faitala, my #1 student in Year 4 At-Risk Group

Orion, my #1 student in Year 6 At-Risk Group

Time Change

Spring forward, Fall back.  Most people use this simple phrase to remember the time changes that occur each year.  I forgot one simple thing however, I’m south of the equator!  This means that those months that I usually associate with winter are now summer and visa-versa.  This really messed with my brain when we had our time change a few months ago.  In my mind, it was spring which meant the clocks were going forward an hour.  This was obviously not the case and the clocks went back an hour since of COURSE, March, April, May are fall months.

Samoa has a very interesting view on time changes.  I happened to be in Manase during this last time change on a vacation.  I was at my friend Kiri’s house on a Sunday and she woke up for church at her regular hour (with the time change taken into account), and woke up to find that her family had already left for church.  Apparently the vast majority of activities in Samoa just shift their start and end times by an hour.  So if something had started at 9am, it now started at 8am.  Which made no sense at all to us confused foreigners.  This continued at the resort the next day where we informed that dinner would no longer be served at 6:30 but would be at 5:30 instead.  Why even have a time change if you’re just going to shift your start times????  When school started after break, sure enough, school was starting an hour early.  However not everyone showed up that early so there wasn’t much structure for the first hour.  It seemed a haphazard way to go about the time change.  I wonder what it’ll be like in October?

Honestly though, I can understand why it’s done.  The sun in Samoa is particularly brutal and the traditional Samoan day starts at sunrise.  So no matter what the clocks say, people will get up with the sun and go about their schedule like normal.  So maybe its us foreigners that are odd about enforcing a time change?

Yogurt Maker

Coming across foreign food in America is fairly easy if you’re willing to spend money.  For instance, yeah you can get a carton of strawberries but it’ll cost you an arm and a leg.  Yogurt is another one of those things that you can buy but runs around 15USD for a carton of it.  It’s one of my favorite things to eat for breakfast in America and it’s a great kick-start to the day (also it works wonders on your digestion while eating an unfamiliar diet!)  When I was over at Allyson and Josh’s house in April I saw that they had a yogurt maker with them.  I asked about it and apparently they had bought one while in Apia.  And so began my quest to find the ever elusive yogurt maker.  It was apparently sold at a store called Myna’s and for weeks on end I went up the hill each time I was in Apia trying to find it.  Well last week I finally did.  Last night I made my first batch of Peach Yogurt and it was amazing this morning when I opened it up and had my first taste of yogurt.  It was pure heaven in a bottle.  Thanks EasiYo!

A Typical Day

Seeing how teaching is the main that I do day in and out while in Samoa, I wanted to give all you readers a look into what I each day with the school!

A Typical Day:

I usually wake up bright and early at 7am after the sun’s already been up for an hour or so.  After a leisurely breakfast of yogurt or oatmeal I’ll put on my puletasi and get ready to go.  At 7:45 I’ll start out towards the school on my bike and it’ll take me about 15 minutes to get through the village and up the dirt road.  As I pass through the village, people going about their morning work will wave and say “manuia le aso!” or “have a good day!”  My school is about ¼ mile up a dirt road into the country and on rainy days it can turn into a mini river with hidden potholes.  Not so fun on a bike.  As I pull up to the school around 8, the kids are already in the thick of their morning Samoan reading exercises.  I walk past the computer lab and almost 60 kids are sitting on the floor, reading various Samoan books out loud to each other.  A few of them wave and call out “Morning Michelle!” and then go back to their reading.  I spend the next 30 minutes in my room working on finalizing lesson plans as kids filter in and out asking for help or just socializing before their day starts.  My brother Daniel usually saunters in with a few of his friends and takes the highly sought after job of cleaning my classroom.  Believe it or not, sweeping is an extremely sought after job and kids’ll argue over who gets to do it.  In just over 5 minutes they’ve swept the floor, cleaned the mats, and emptied the trash.  Good as new!

At 8:45, morning prayer starts.  3 days a week, all of the children file outside and line up by class year, girls in front and boys in back.  The teacher will have them march in place with shouts at intervals for “left turn!”, “about turn!” etc and all the school will move as one, usually with the year ones and twos not quite understanding the English and turning any direction they please.  After a few minutes of that, the students will sing their prayers which is quite beautiful to listen to.  Each day, the teachers will choose a different passage from the Bible to read to the kids and the kids will follow along in their Bibles which they’re supposed to bring to school.  When the Bible teachings are finished, drum roll begins and all students turn to look as the Samoan flag is raised.  Right after the flag raising, all of the teachers will file among their students doing a check for correct clothing, having a handkerchief, having clean fingernails, and for the older grades that they have a Bible with them.  The boys also get their hair checked where if the teacher grabs their hair and their fingers are able to grasp something, then their hair is too long.  Usually if someone has something wrong with their clothing then they’ll get a rap on their head.  After inspections, the Principal talks to the school about topics of the day such as issues with food, upcoming exams, or other such things.  The end of the assembly comes by having the students march in place, turn towards their classrooms, and march to class.  After the students have walked away, the teachers and I will usually stay out for the next 10 minutes or so and gossip or chatter about happenings for the day.  I’ll maybe understand 30% or so of this since it’s all in Samoan.

I’ll usually teach 4-5 groups each day, all at around 45 minutes each.  The classes usually involve going over homework in the beginning and practicing speaking English with simple questions like “What did you do yesterday” and “What will you do this weekend” as a warmup.  I’ll then go over the lesson and leave the final 5 minutes or so for a game.  I’ve taught a few different games to my class but they’re most of all obsessed with JENGA and something called Tip Tap Toe that involves hand slapping, rock paper scissors, and some fast thumb action and head turning.  I’ve never seen it before Samoa but the kids really like it.

All the kids from the school stuffed into my room for assembly

Lunch is between 11:00 and 11:45 and the teachers all eat together in the science room.  There’s a small kitchen in the back of the science room and they’ll usually make rice, chicken, or curry for the teachers as well as copious amounts of tea.  Lunch involves lots of gossip and jokes.  After you’re done eating, a student will bring to you a bowl full of water for washing as well as a towel to dry off with.  After lunch I’ll finish with my groups and then at 1:00, the bell will ring signaling the end of the school day.  As I leave school, the kids, especially those in years 2 and 3 will get super excited and run around my bike, racing me down the dirt road.  It’s definitely one of my more favorite parts of the day.

And that’s that!  I’ll make it home by 1:30 most days and then it’s rest and relaxation from there.  Every now and then kids’ll come over to my house to work on their homework with me but otherwise it’s pretty quiet.

Walking my bike down the road for me

My word wall 

Sunsets in Samoa

What is it about a sunset?  They happen every night and yet each one is so different and awe-inspiring in their own way that you can’t help to watch night after night.    The sunsets in Samoa are at an entirely different level of colorfulness than what I’ve seen back home.  Every night I look out from my fale and in a span of roughly 30 minutes the sky turns from a light blue, to pink, to fire orange, to purple.  It’s amazing to see the changes in such a short time.  It never fails to be awe-inspiring and I’ve tried to capture the beauty a few times with my camera.  Below are just a few of the better ones.  Enjoy!

A Thousand and One Uses for Lavalavas

•A sheet for when you crash on your friend’s floor.  Keeps both the cold and the cockroaches at bay
•Stuff it in a pillowcase so you don’t have to pack a pillow when you crash on your friend’s floor
•A tablecloth.  Whip it off your body and it’ll brighten up any room
•Sew it up and it makes excellent drapes
•If someone happens to cut themselves, wrap it around them and you have an instant bandage!  Wrap it tighter and you have an instant tourniquet!
•If someone happens to have an item protruding from their skin, you can doughnut wrap the lavalava and it’s a great circular bandage
•At the beach, why pack an extra beach towel when you can simply take off your skirt and lay it down?
•In fact, why do you need an actual towel…ever?  Lavalavas may not be the most absorbent but darned if they don’t dry fast.
•Say you’re walking outside and BAM!  The sun starts burning you.  Why get out of it and into the shade when you can once again simply whip off your lavalava and drape it over your head.  Instant, portable, shade.
•Well someone has to say it: clothing
•Makes an excellent whip with which to whip your unsuspecting brother while he’s sleeping
•Stuff an end into the tea spout and drape the rest over the kettle and it’ll keep the tea hot for an eternity!
•Ladies, don’t feel like wearing a bra in the morning?  Simply pull your lavalava up and around your chest and voila!  No need to walk around in a bra.  (Sidenote: only ok for around your house)
•Tie a knot around your neck and you’ve got an excellent, child approved cape to zoom around the house after your brother

In closing folks, the Lavalava is an excellent new invention, introduced here only over 100 years ago by visiting (prude….cough….) missionaries who didn’t wish to see half naked natives. Buy yourself one today, and you’ll soon find it an integral part of your routine.  Enjoy!

***Side note:  We actually received emergency water safety training from some Australians who advocated the use of a lavalava as an emergency bandage/tourniquet.  It’s a really great idea as there’s always someone around with one and the fabric is such that it’ll staunch the blood nicely.  Its part of a program that they were doing across Samoa to train staff at resorts.

Madi and I hiding in the shade of our lavalavas

Brad with his wicked new Rock me Jesus lavalava!