First Day of School!

The only other person who showed up for the teacher's meeting. 

Written Wednesday, January 26, 2011

School officially begins on January 31, 2011. I heard earlier this week that we’d be having a teacher’s meeting on today, Wednesday, January 26, 2011. I was told to be ready to go at 8:05 a.m.

I was excited. I’m more than ready to get this show on the road. I did my nails, laid out a puletasi and packed everything I thought I’d need in my briefcase and went to bed early. I woke up early and was disappointed when I went to take a shower. Instead of regular water flow, there was very little water pressure. It happens fairly regularly, which is annoying because one thing worse than a cold shower is a cold shower with only a trickle of water.

I finished my abbreviated shower and put on my puletasi and even put on some make up. The nails and make-up, by the way, weren’t to impress my new boss and co-workers. They were just to make me feel more like my old professional me and give me a boost of confidence.

I was ready at 7:30 a.m., so had some crackers and peanut butter and a cup of American Cocoa. (Thanks, Donna!) At 7:55 a.m., I saw K come out of her fale, heading to the bathroom. At 8:02 a.m., I saw K start her laundry. Hmmm. Since she’s not dressed and told me we’d be leaving at 8:05 something seems to be amiss. Also was confusing was that the resident driver had driven off at 7:45 and hadn’t returned.

At 8:15 I asked K what was up. She seemed confused. Why was I asking when we were going? “Not so early. No one will be there this early.”

She said we’d go after she took her shower and got ready. And, after our driver, who was at the plantation feeding the chickens, returned. We headed out about 9 a.m.

She was 100% correct. We were too early. When we arrived at 9:15 for a meeting scheduled to start at 8 a.m., the only one there was the guy using a weed whacker to cut the lawn.

We waited for 15 minutes or so, chatting and swatting flies. Then she made a couple of calls. The first apparently was to the former principal, who was working in Apia. The second call was to have someone come back to take us home. Seems that the meeting had been cancelled due to weather (it was cloudy) and the new principal was supposed to have told us the night before.

While we were waiting for our ride, about 9:45, another teacher arrived for the 8 a.m. meeting. K told her the meeting had been cancelled.

I came home, changed into my everyday clothes and am typing this. The sun is shining, although there are clouds on the horizon.

I’ve heard that if the dress rehearsal for a play is a disaster that means that opening night will be stellar. I’m hoping the concept translates to school in Samoa. Since I’m scheduled to leave for Apia to attend a PC meeting on the early ferry tomorrow morning, not returning until Sunday afternoon, it looks like I’ll first meet my new principal the first day of school.

Based on what I’ve experienced so far, along with what I’ve heard from previous volunteers, this will not be an isolated incident. Things starting much later than scheduled or not happening at all is very common. Locals laugh as they call it “island time”.

I’m a nut about punctuality. My weather-watching father was also a clock watcher and I learned young that being punctual was important. I was in firm agreement with the facilitator of a time management course I took years ago when he said “People who are chronically late are simply rude and showing their disrespect for others by wasting their time.” So I tend to be just a wee bit obsessed with punctuality.

I figure two years of “island time” will have one or maybe more of these results:

• I wait one-too-many times for something to start and just jump in the ocean and start swimming for home;
• I learn patience and get a lot of reading done while I wait for events to start;
• In two years, after returning to the U.S. I am at least an hour late to everything.
P.S. In case you were wondering what a well-prepared PCV teacher carries in her briefcase for her first teacher’s meeting:
• 1.5 liter of bottled water
• Blank pad of paper
• 2 pens
• Toilet paper
• English/Samoan Dictionary
• List of common Samoan slang terms
• Mr. Kindle, who prefers to always be by my side