New Island Address

Please note my new address - anything mailed previously, I'll be able to pick up in Apia.

Some of the training gang - Lisi, Elu, Ses, Sia, Lumafale (trainer), Tam (trainer) and Onofia (trainer).  We stopped to see the waterfall that's in the background.

Written Saturday night, December 18, 2010

Today started very early.  I got up at 5:15 a.m. so I could take a shower and be ready to head to the wharf at 6:00 a.m.  The fly in that ointment was that the hotel turns off the water at night, so unless I wanted to stand under a dribble, no shower.  Luckily, I’d showered the night before.  Hadn’t washed my hair, though, but that’s no biggie since I’d be getting sweaty and windblown soon enough.  Yes, my hygiene standards have shifted a bit.

Tried again to get on the internet but no luck there.  Looked outside to see how progress was going on packing our piles of stuff into the truck but no one had arrived to start loading the stuff we’d stored in the PC office.

I won’t go into the details, but eventually we were on the ferry, just in the nick of time.  We enjoyed a smooth hour ride under grey, cloudy skies.  One thing I learned is to trust the Samoans.  When Nanai said everything would fit in the pickup and van, including all eight of us and the two Samoan drivers, I didn’t believe it.  As they were loading the vehicles, I didn’t believe it.  As they were piling suitcases in the bed of the truck, higher than the top of the cab, I didn’t believe it.  We arrived with everything in Savaii.  I’m a believer.

One of the buckets I bought, along with everything I’d packed into it is missing, but all things considered, made it here just fine. (Update – one of the other volunteers picked up my stuff by mistake and will drop it at the PC office in Savaii this week.) The bucket was to use for washing my clothes.  I may splurge at some point and buy a small washer.  And when I say small, think of a dorm sized fridge. I can get one for about $400 tala, which is really a lot, but amortized over the two years, given how much laundry I’ll do, it’s not bad.  Plus, the spin function will help things dry faster, which is key here.

Our new families met us and mine hauled me and my stuff home.  It’s the same family that I stayed with for a few days previously.  She’s a first grade teacher at my school and the vice-principal.  Her husband is in construction and works their plantation.  They have three sons and 2 daughters and two grandchildren.  One daughter and a niece (18 and 20) share a fale with me.  I have my own room, which is large enough for a comfortable twin mattress on the floor and all my bags of junk.  And my three red plastic cases of Vailima.  No beer in them, just the cases.  Since I first saw them I had the idea that I could use them for storage.

Furniture is really expensive here so most people (in my limited experience) use suitcases to store clothes instead of a chest of drawers.  As a consultant I used to travel a lot.  Over a million miles on Delta.  That meant living out of a suitcase for most of the last 16 years.  I’m sick of it and want to be able to put my clothes away where I can see them.  Plus, the clothes tend to mildew in the suitcases because of the humidity.

I figure I’ll scrub the plastic beer cases, turn them on their sides and stack them up.  I’ll roll my clean t-shirts, skirts, undies, etc. and store them in the little built in cubbies for the beer bottles.  Because they’re not solid, there will be good ventilation to keep mildew at bay.  And, because my friends are wonderful, I have a supply of dryer sheets to keep everything smelling fresh.  Brilliant, eh?

Plus, if need be, I can whip them out as chairs or tables.. All for just $6.90.  Yes, I do plan to go back college day’s décor of using boards and cement blocks for bookshelves.  I plan to wrap the cement blocks with the same fabric I use to make my curtains.  I also plan to make giant floor cushions (think bean bags, without the beans) for furniture, made from a contrasting fabric.  Martha Stewart of Samoa, that’s me.

Anyway, that’s in the future, when I have my own house.  I’m supposed to meet the man who owns the house I’ll be moving to next week.  I hope he calls, since I don’t know his name or number.  He’ll be making some improvements on the house himself and since he’s headed to New Zealand next week, looks like he won’t start until January.  I really like the family I’m with now and want to stay close to them, even after I move.  But I’m ready to get settled in a permanent place of my own, with my own bathroom and kitchen.

More about the family…the Mom and Dad speak English, although prefer Samoan, which is understandable.  The 18 year old, 24 year old son and the 28 year old son, who’s here from Apia for the holiday speak excellent English.  My language teacher will be happy to hear that my family was impressed with how much my Samoan language has improved since I was last here. 

On our way home from the wharf, I used the “good driver” line, which is commonly used here.  We don’t have anything to really compare.  PC staff described it as supporting the driver by cheering him on for doing a good job.  If the driver swerves to avoid a dog, pig or human and is successful, you say “good driving!”  If he misses, you use “talofai!”, which means “what a pity” in slang.  For a second after I said it, there was silence and I thought I blew it.  Then they all burst out laughing.  They just couldn’t believe I knew what to say.

The dad was talking about me in Samoan as we waited for the girls to prepare lunch.  I understood what he said and commented on it.  More laughing.  They said they’d have to watch out, since before they could have said anything and I just smiled and nodded.  That’s still mostly still true, but sometimes I get lucky and they say an entire sentence with vocab I know.  Mostly it’s random words that I understand.  I’ve also learned that just because they say Pisi Koa or Palagi and I’m the only Pisi Koa and Palagi in the room doesn’t mean they’re talking about me.  Actually, it usually does, but not necessarily. 

They don’t live right on the beach here, but close enough to hear the waves, faintly.  And enjoy the sea breeze.  Far enough to have a head start uphill if a tsunami hits, which is reassuring.  Especially since I felt my first earthquake here today.  Was sitting and chatting with the 28 year old and I thought one of the girls had come up behind me to shake my chair.  Nope, very mild earthquake.  The deal with earthquakes is that they cause tsunamis.  But only major/long lasting earthquakes.

The challenge for both me and my new family will be to get to know each other and set some boundaries that we’re all comfortable with.  I’m not quite a guest and not quite family so we need to find our way.  The Samoan PC staff told me to just be direct with them and I have been.  They suggested I sleep in the open fale with the girls and I declined.  They seem to understand.  I asked if I could cook some of my own meals.  I explained that I love to cook and as much as I like Samoan food (and I really do), I also like to make some Palagi food.  They were fine with that.

Cooking for myself will mean lots of vegetables.  Soups and stir fries.  Healthy stuff that I have had very little of since coming to Samoa.  It’s only about a 20 minute bus ride (and the buses here seem much less crowded than on Upolu) and less than two tala each way to the farmer’s market in the city. By the way, the “city” has about 6,000 people.  It’s the largest town on the island.   It’s called Salelologa.  It is the only place with restaurants (other than the resorts scattered around) on the island.  And, the only “large stores” similar to what they have in Apia, just smaller versions.

After dragging my luggage to my room, we had a big lunch with a giant fish, taro with coconut cream, and some tasty meat, prepared sort of stew-like with a sauce.  After that, we went our separate ways for a rest.  I chilled in my room with my best friend, Mr. Kindle, and had a nice nap.

Since then I did a bit of organizing of the luggage and boiled some water in my new kettle.  My sister Fa had one and I’m beginning to see what the rest of the world raves about.  It boils a bunch of water really fast and is quite handy.

More conversation with the 28 year old, with occasional side conversations with other family as they went about their business.  They set up a small table for me to use in the open fale (where the only electrical outlet is) and provided a surge protector, which means I can charge all my electronics and use my computer.  No internet, but that’s ok.

I think I’ll enjoy my time here and am so appreciative that, once again, a Samoan family is willing to take me in and feed and house me and treat me as if I’m part of the family.  Any Samoan will tell you it’s fa’a Samoa – the Samoan way.  They aren’t doing it for money (because they’re not being paid, since I’ll just be here temporarily) they’re doing it because it’s the right thing to do. As an adult, I am expected to contribute in some way, so I’ll be bringing in food (vegetables, staples like salt, sugar and flour and TP).

I was asking about rules of the village.  It seems that I’ll be able to walk out to the beach fale (a 2 minute walk) at night by myself and even up to the nearby store, although I’ll avoid that since I know that walking 15 minutes alone, especially at night would make them really nervous.   It’s not about controlling me, it’s about respecting me so much they want to make sure that I’m safe and have no negative experiences. 

It’s also because, as I think I’ve mentioned before, that Samoans don’t like to be alone, for the most part, so they assume we’re sad and lonely if we’re alone and want to help us by keeping us company.  One Samoan friend confided that she really needs alone time sometimes and her family doesn’t get it.  They seem to think that because she works for PC, some of our Palagi rubbed off on her.  For me, it gives me a taste of how Obama’s daughters feel, having someone assigned to accompany and protect them, everywhere they go.

Last night in Apia for example, I was coming back from my impromptu trip to the store to get water. The store is next to the hotel/Peace Corps office. Peace Corps has a guard in front of the office and I stopped to say hello on my way back.  He was chatting with two young men and I could tell that the discussion turned to me as I approached.  They started asking me about the ‘bad guy’ who was mean to me.  I have no idea who they meant, but they believed they’d seen a Samoan man be disrespectful to me. I just found it interesting that a young guy would bother to notice what was going on with a 60 year old stranger.  But that’s just it.  To them, I’m old and white and have status and everyone watches out to make sure I’m ok and treated well.

Sia said it was like what we’d feel like if the Queen of England stopped by for a visit.  We’d pull out all the stops and make sure everything was to her specifications and that nothing dangerous or unpleasant happened to her.  Much like being a guest in Samoa.

It’s 8:15 p.m. now.  I just checked my new water filter and it’s already treated almost two gallons.  Lovely to have control again over how much water I can drink!  Now, we’re  getting to ready to put up my mosquito net over my bed.  The PC nurse gave me a white one rather than khaki green.  We agreed it was much more romantic, and you know how Mr. Kindle and I are.  The weather is a bit cool tonight (and apparently always a bit cooler than Upolu, which is fabulous) so it will be a good night for a cuddle with Mr. Kindle.

My room.  That's a mosquito net hanging over my bed.  The photos on the wall belong to the 18 year old who's letting me use her room.

Another view, showing the cool Vailima cases.

The other half of my room.  My suitcases are sitting on top of the families stuff.  I've got them sorted so it's easier to get at things.  The white bucket next to the wall is my "washing machine".  The blue plastic pan is where I keep all my food/kitchen stuff.  There's a table they set up outside for me to do my cooking.  I've got everything I need.