Staging in Hawaii was incredible solely in the sense that I
got to meet my other Peace Corps Volunteers! We are the 87th group
that has gone to Samoa and there are 22 of us. There were originally 23, but
someone dropped out before Staging, so that doesn’t really count. The other 22
of us are going to make it through all 27 months, I’m insistent upon that fact!
Groups 85 and 86 are both still in Samoa, but there are only 14 volunteers left
combined, so all of our group really needs to stay! Among the 22 people in my
group, there are 8 males and 14 females. I am the youngest person!!! It’s one
thing to be the youngest in your group of friends by only a couple months.
However, this is being the youngest in a group of 22 and being one of the only
ones who just graduated college. I am here among a PhD, a published author,
AmeriCorps alums, Teach for America alums, people who have taught abroad for
years, an aerospace engineer, a mother, etc. The list goes on and on. As
intimidating as that is, it also just makes me appreciate this opportunity so
much more. We were told that over 2,000 people applied for this specific Samoa
program. I feel so incredibly lucky to be working besides these amazing people
and to be one of the 23 accepted. Also, as the baby of the group, I have 21
protective older siblings who will always look out for me (35, including all Peace
Corps Volunteers in Samoa).
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| What a perfect looking group of people! |
So, Hawaii was great. Our flight to Samoa was at 2am on
Friday and we arrived at 7am on Saturday (professional time travelers). Most of
Group 87 was sitting next to each other; however, my seat was next to a Tongan
man. This was a great first interaction to begin my Samoan experience. After
some talking with this Tongan man, he decided that I should be his wife. I told
him I was young and in no rush to get married, so he offered me a pig that he
would roast for me (he brought out pictures and everything). It was quite the
strategy to get a wife, I might add. I politely declined, saying that I needed
to be in Samoa for 2 years, so it wasn’t good timing. He upped the offer a
little bit and decided to build my parents a brick wall around our house if I
would bring him back to America with me (I got some nice brick wall pictures
also). Again, I politely declined, but I got to learn so much about Tonga and
it really opened my eyes to the experience I’m about to have. He was completely
serious, which just goes to show that living in America is a fantasy for people
in these cultures. Anywho, I survived the flight and came off the plane not
married, so that was a success. We walked down the stairs of the plane to a
huge welcoming committee with banners and leis. It was awesome (but it was also
7am after no sleep).
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| The view over Hawaii. |
We went straight from the plane to the Ministry of Education
for our Ava Ceremony. I can’t even begin to describe this ceremony. It was
honestly the coolest experience of my life thus far. It was probably half an
hour of this man talking Samoan (some yelling and singing also). He would then take
a hay whip and whip his own back and then the floor over and over again. After
having no clue what was being said (or done), it was time for us to drink the
Ava. However, before we drank it, we had to speak a line of Samoan. I had
practiced for a while on the plane, but was still so nervous! Anyways, I
survived and drank the Ava (which, by the way, is a hallucinogen, no big deal).
It tasted like dirt water. No matter how many times someone tells you it tastes
like dirt, you never quite understand that until tasting dirt. So, essentially,
it was delicious.
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| My new lava lava (skirt) for the Ava Ceremony. |
We’ve been in the capital, Apia, all week, getting settled
into Samoan culture. I’ve already learned quite a lot of Samoan; our language
class is intense! We start every day with a Samoan song and prayer (sometimes
even a dance). We had a day of water safety training, aka go to the other side
of the island to a gorgeous resort, go on a boat and swim in the warm ocean.
So, that day of training was super tough. The other days have been filled with
information, language, cultural scenarios, and immunization shots. Nights are
filled with games, family dinners, and group runs, so we’re getting pretty
close as a group. It already feels like we’re a family and I left Maryland less
than one week ago!
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| Life's not too shabby. |
Anyways, week one in the capitol is over and we are off to
village life! Ten weeks in Sa’anapu, here I come. In Apia, we were able to
purchase internet access (hence me posting this). However, for the next ten
weeks, we are officially off the grid. Wish me luck; I’m very excited to meet
my host family and begin integration into Samoan culture!
Peace out, Apia... Tālofa Sa’anapu!
