Placement, Pets, and the Last Sunset in the World!

I have been at my placement almost 2 weeks! I live in a little house in a village called Gataivai. There are no home addresses in American Samoa, so if I want to tell someone where I live, I tell them that I live in Gataivai, behind the gas station and up the hill. My house is surrounded by palm trees, banana trees, breadfruit trees, papaya trees, mango trees, and is about a one-minute walk to the ocean! My village is pretty central and is just a quick walk to the Laundromat, delicious ice cream, a mart, and a big market where people sell local food and goodies. There are challenges of course, such as the smells from the sewage plant, the geckos, the termites, and the many other bugs that also call this house their home. 

Besides the critters, my village is great. I come home everyday to children playing volleyball in the street and running around with their homemade bow and arrows. My neighbors are wonderful. Just the other day I heard a knock on the door and it was one of the young girls who live next door with a plate of bananas. Bananas here are absolutely delicious and much sweeter than the one’s on the mainland. My roommate and I went to thank our neighbors and we ended up talking with them late into the night and eating dinner with them. They are very sweet and extremely generous. There are three girls who live next door that are in 5^th, 7^th, and 8^th grade, as well as an adorable 7-month-old baby boy. (Hey Nicolle, the girls love Frozen and so of course I had to show them our Halloween costumes. They were huge fans of them!)

My favorite part about this house is the animals! Our landlords have two dogs and a cat (as well as chickens and roosters of course). The cat’s name is Sushi and loves to come in our house and sit on my lap when I’m reading outside. The dogs are named Sulle and Lady. They are great watchdogs and they protect the house. Every time I leave the house the two dogs will walk me down to the end of our street. My neighbors say that eventually they will walk me all the way to school and act as my “protectors”. 

            All of the volunteers that have placements on the outer islands of Manua have officially left us. It was sad to say goodbye, but we plan to go over to Manua for Thanksgiving! I miss living with all the other volunteers at Voc-Tech, but luckily Tutuila (the main island where I live) is quite small and it is very easy to visit all my friends in their different villages. Some of the volunteers live in Pago Pago, which is only about a 40 minute walk from my house.

            I have showed up for the “first day of school” three different times! It was supposed to start on Thursday but kept getting pushed back until Monday. That’s just how things work here and you have to learn how to go with the flow. I am OFFICIALLY the ELA (English Language Arts) teacher for 2^nd grade at Matafao Elementary School. Many of the elementary schools here have adopted something called Dual Language. Instead of all school being taught in English. The schools that are participating in Dual Language are now teaching in Samoan and slowly adding in English. By high school, the goal is to have everything be taught in English. Matafao Elementary is beautiful and is RIGHT on the ocean. It is only about a 15-20 minute walk from my house and the entire walk is along the ocean. I don’t think I will ever get over how beautiful this island is, and my walk to school reminds me everyday. More updates on my school will come SOON. I do not have wifi at my house but I do have it at the laundromat that is close to my house and at school! 

Here are some pictures of what else I have been up to! I will post pictures of my school and house in the next blog. 

Teacher Induction (The Palagis (white people/foreigners) in the front are some other WT volunteers)

 

 

Kait on our walk home from school

Hiking through the jungle to find a hidden beach.

Opening to the hidden beach!

The beach we found!

FUN FACT: For most of the beaches in American Samoa (unless they are clearly marked "PUBLIC") you have to ask permission to swim at them. As I think I mentioned before, all of the land is owned by Samoan families. It is viewed as rude and trespassing if you go on someone's land and swim in the ocean without asking permission first. 

On the west side of the Island, when you see the sunset…you are seeing the LAST sunset on Earth of the day. Unfortunately there were lots of clouds on this day…but we will get many chances to the see LAST sunset in the world.

I hope everyone at home is well! I'm having a great time here so far:)