Combining families

Best. Three. Weeks. Ever! I just got back to Sili after a whirlwind 5-island trip with my wonderful family. I can’t even explain the joy involved in seeing my mom, sister, Anna, and Rich. It’s only been 6 months since I last saw them, but having them on my side of the world was incredible!

Our first two weeks of the trip were spent in Samoa learning all about my life. It was so fun showing everyone where I’ve been living and giving them some perspective on this experience. Combining my Samoan family and my American family was indescribable. We spent every evening at my house for prayer and dinner. After dinner, we would spend the night dancing or playing Jenga or just chatting. It was so cool to watch these two cultures and families combine. My Samoan nieces and my American sister have been penpals for over a year and a half now, so watching them meet in person was amazing! My American family was a huge hit; I dressed them up in traditional Samoan wear and they fit right in! The dancing was a little rough, per usual. One night I was dressed in a fine mat and had to solo Samoan dance for everyone – not my best skill.

One big, happy family!

During the days, I got to show my American family my school! Since we had two weeks here, we decided to do a project for Sili Primary School. We painted the world map in the assembly hall! It was quite the process getting supplies in Samoa, but we somehow pulled it off. After school, my students would come to help us paint. Although there was a language barrier between my students and my family, we had tons of fun painting together. We painted a Pacific-centered map so that Samoa is in the middle and it gives perspective of the world beyond this island. I can’t wait to use the map with my students! So many of them have never left Sili, which isn’t even visible on the map, so this will show them how big the world is.

Showing my village the world.

Leaving the village, my school, and my host family was very tough. Everyone fell in love with my American family! We had lots of goodbye ceremonies and gift exchanges. Naturally, this meant that my poor family had to dance in front of all 300 students and then again in front of all 40+ host family members. They were champs! I was in charge of translating all of the goodbye speeches. I probably haven’t mentioned my Samoan language skills in a while because they’re practically non-existent. Needless to say, the speeches were a little rough, but everyone could feel the love in the room so it didn’t even matter. As we drove out of the village, we had crowds surrounding the car saying goodbyes; it was so sweet!

Sili Primary School saying goodbye to our four additional helpers.

We also got to be Samoan tourists during our off time from school. We drove fully around both Upolu and Savai’i! Just driving around the islands is almost the best part – they’re so beautiful! However, we did stop at some very neat spots. On Savai’i, I took them to Afu Aau Waterfall, Alofa’aga Blowholes (used in Moana), Letui Peapea Cave, and Saleaula Lava Fields. On Upolu, we got to see my first two houses in Sa’anapu and then To Sua Trench. Playing tour guide makes me love this country and my American family seemed to love it as well. We had the perfect combination of cultural time and tourist time. They got the full experience of Samoa in just two weeks, which is very impressive!

Casual swimming break.

After a jam-packed, exhausting two weeks in Samoa, we all flew to Hawaii together for a week!! This was my last trip out of Samoa as a volunteer and it was amazing. We only had one week, but we went to three Hawaiian Islands. We arrived in Honolulu, Oahu and stayed in Waikiki, where we had an amazing American meal after two weeks of Samoan food. Then it was off to the big island! I had never been to the island of Hawai’i, but I loved it! We flew into Kona and then drove around the northern half until we got to my uncle’s house in North Hilo. It was so great being reunited with Uncle Tom and Aunt Mary! They hosted us and were incredible tour guides. They live in a Quonset hut up a mountain, so the view is just remarkable. It was my first time there and I fell in love! While on Hawai’i, we got to see Waipi’o Valley, Akaka Falls, and the active volcano of Kilauea. I had never seen active lava before, so that was super cool! I’ll definitely be making a trip back to the big island because I loved it so much.

Loving the big island of Hawai'i!!

From the big island, we flew to Maui for the remainder of our trip! My uncle Peter owns a charter boat business there and my two cousins, Maile and Wili, and their families both live on Maui as well. It was another great reunion! We stayed on Napili Bay and had such a relaxing few days. It was the perfect wind-down. We spent the evenings with family and the days snorkeling – the best combo! I also had my first American 4^th of July since 2013! We spent the 4^th at Wili’s house and set off mini fireworks and sparklers. He lives in a valley between two mountains, with goats and lots of taro fields. It’s neat because it’s so far removed from the touristy Maui. It was so nice bringing everyone together.

Wood family reunion in Maui for the fourth!

To end our whirlwind three-week Pacific adventure, we spent our last day on my uncle’s boat, the Hula Girl. We got to swim with the coolest turtle ever and scream at some fish that came questionably close (okay, maybe that was just me screaming). Between Upolu, Savai’i, Oahu, Hawai’i, and Maui, I had the time of my life these three weeks! I got to reunite with so many family members and be surrounded by so much love. This trip definitely rejuvenated me for my remaining 6 months in Sili. Seeing how my village took care of my family so well, I realized that I’m fully integrated and truly belong here now. It’s a lovely feeling. I’ll spend the next 6 months finishing off strong and then I know it’ll be impossible to say goodbye to this community!

Goodbye Maui, goodbye my sisters!

THANK YOU Mom, Sam, Anna, and Rich for the best three weeks ever!

Maths not math

I’m just about halfway through my second and final school year here in Samoa! How crazy is that?!

This term ended on a positive note with our district sports competition. Sili rugby and netball both advanced to the semi-finals and the finals! We were completely undefeated walking into the finals, which is incredible. Unfortunately, my rugby boys had a sad loss, but my netball girls are the district champions!! Sili netball is first place for our district! It was a very cool event because the girls had hundreds of people cheering alongside as they played. Once we won, the girls got a giant trophy and as we rode the bus back to Sili, they held the trophy out the window singing at the top of their lungs. Once we entered our village, the bus went slowly and every family came out to the street to cheer as we drove by. In a male-dominated country, it was such an amazing moment to see these girls get so much support and attention. I was a very proud cheerleader (although, I still don’t understand this whole no backboard concept).

Check out our trophy!

The end of the term also featured a Science and Math competition throughout the country. Every school had to submit essays to the Ministry of Education. I was able to work on this essay with two of my Year 7 girls and it was a blast! Of course, math is something I miss dearly, so being able to do Algebra with my girls was so much fun. Math is a universal language, so it was surprisingly easy for the girls to complete the problems. The hard part was writing an essay about it, but we got it done and maybe we’ll win! The one thing I’ll forever cry about, though, is that it’s called “Maths” here and I now actually say that awfully wrong word.

Samoa's future mathematicians.

We also got a new teacher at school! Now every classroom has a teacher, which is amazing. To celebrate our new teacher, we had new uniforms made. It’s quite the process to get 11 staff members to agree on a fabric for uniforms, but finally we came to a decision on brown (I say “we” very lightly). The next issue was the pattern for the seamstress to sew. Of course we couldn’t just do a normal puletasi (Samoan outfit). We decided on a nice design with a stripe down the front. This wouldn’t normally be blog worthy, but in this case it is because what a process all these decisions were! Of course I don’t just have a casual seamstress laying around, so one of my teachers arranged for mine to be done for me. I am ecstatic with how it turned out because it’s my first puletasi that’s not skin-tight to my body. Naturally, this means no one else is pleased with it. Many suggestions have been made to have mine redone, but I am staying strong and attempting to keep this less-tight puletasi, hoping that means I will sweat less (fingers crossed).

The ladies of Sili Primary School in our new uniforms!

Outside of school, my family compound has also experienced some change this month. When my house first became a shop, I said that it changed from pink to green, but I was mistaken. I walked home from school one day to find a neon green house and that’s when I learned the true meaning of green. So now instead of pink or teal, I live in a neon green house with neon yellow trim. It’s quite the statement in the village! The inside of the house and my room also got revamped with new “carpet” and fabric. It’s been an exciting month because it feels like I have a brand new room. The other houses on our compound also got revamped. Most are the same neon green/yellow combo, with the exception of my sister. She was able to make her family a house with walls (a big deal here in Samoa) and they painted it red and white. So, all in all, our compound is pretty much all over the place, which accurately describes the uncountable amount of family members we have. At least there’s never a dull day on this compound!

My new, real green house.

Outside of the village, Samoa’s still a really fun place to be a tourist. June 1^st is Independence Day here and this year marked Samoa’s 55^th year of independence from New Zealand. I got to go into the Capital for it, where there were parades and lots of dances. It wasn’t quite the 4^th of July, but hey the 1^st of June was still fun. We had a long weekend with the holiday, so a bunch of volunteers and I then rented our own island to celebrate! It’s the same island I casually got to rent for my 23^rd birthday, but this was my first time going back. Namu’a is a beautiful island and it’s such an amazing experience to be the only people on an entire island. The last time I was there, I failed to walk around the island because of high tide (huh, who knew that was a thing). However, this time I made it around the island!! It’s a mostly untouched island, so walking around it is not a casual, sandy walk. It’s mostly walking in the water alongside cliffs, which is incredibly beautiful and a little terrifying! But, now I’ve officially walked around and up this tiny, private island. Every night we sang around a bonfire; those are the moments I’ll definitely cherish and miss after this Peace Corps journey.

Casual private island surrounded by beautiful water.

That wraps up Term 2 here in Sili. TOMORROW I will go to the airport to pick up my American mother, sister, and two close family friends. MY FAMILY WILL BE IN SAMOA! I cannot believe it and I am absolutely thrilled to spend the next two weeks showing them around. The funniest part is that I have to leave Sili about the same time they have to leave Maryland in order for us all to get to the airport. That’s a little insight into transportation when you live on a developing island, but it’s beyond worth it.

Welcome to Samoa, Mom, Sam, Rich, and Anna!!!!

There's no backboard

Back to my Samoan life! We’re already halfway through Term 2, so I don’t know where the time has gone since my Cook Islands adventure.

On the last day of Term 1, my school put together it’s very first “English Day”. Each grade had to perform dances, songs, or skits all in English. This was a big moment for Sili Primary School because these were presented to all the parents. It really promoted English literacy within our entire village and the kids did a wonderful job! I was a very proud pisikoa watching all my students confidently speak English in front of the village adults.

My Year 5 babies promoting reading!

This term has been jam-packed with sports! The Ministry must have received separate funding for physical education this year because we’ve had so many sport competitions that never happened last year! It’s so exciting my students now get the opportunity to play. Instead of volleyball and rugby, this term is netball and rugby. And instead of one district tournament, our district has gotten together for three tournaments already and the term is only halfway through. I’m the biggest cheerleader ever at these competitions; I absolutely love it. However, I have to admit that netball is quite confusing. Where’s the backboard? Why can’t they move with the ball? Now, I’m not saying I know anything about basketball, but netball is just so different. Luckily my students know much more than I do because Sili netball and Sili rugby teams are both undefeated so far!!

GO SILI!

An exciting addition to my service in Samoa has emerged as my school got awarded a grant for a new bathroom block! One of my teacher’s and I worked very hard to put this application together back in February. Our final product came to be about 10 pages long! Anyways, it was approved and fully funded, so Sili Primary School will be getting new toilets and I couldn’t be happier! We currently have about 300 students and I’m not sure if we have even one functioning toilet. This grant will be an amazing asset for years to come. I’m really excited to see my village come together to make it all happen.

Our current bathroom block, but not for long.

The other big event of this month was Mother’s Day! I can’t quite explain the difference in holidays here, but for one, Mother’s Day is a national holiday so everyone gets the day off. Secondly, all holidays must involve dancing – no questions asked. The mothers of my village each had to perform dances and skits (I’ve never been so grateful to not be a mother). The grandmothers had to each give a sermon, including my sweet mama Lusia. It was a nice bonding moment with all the women, but the best part was that we all got ice cream!

Happy Mama's Day to my Samoan Mama!

So, that about covers May. I’ve lost track of how many months I’ve been here. I think June 1^st will mark 20 months! If I’m doing the math right (yes, I admit I’ve lost my math skills), that means I’m at 20/27 months. It’s insane to think this experience is almost over! Unfortunately, Group 87 did lose another volunteer. We’re now at 14. However, one of our group members returned to Samoa after about 8 months away! She’s now part of Group 88, but technically that means 15 of us are still here. I think we can all make it until the end! 

We have 5 weeks left of the term and then we're halfway through the school year!

Jumping off bridges

Perks of living in the South Pacific? Exploring the South Pacific! I got to spend my two-week break in Rarotonga, which before Peace Corps I had never even heard of (and you probably haven’t either).

The Cook Islands are East of Samoa, across the International Dateline. The funny thing, though, is that there’s no way to reach the Cook Islands except through New Zealand, which is the complete opposite direction. I wasn’t too bothered by this fact because New Zealand is my favorite country ever. So, Becca and I headed to New Zealand after Term 1 of school got out. We had about 15 hours in Auckland before our connecting flight to Rarotonga, so naturally we went bungy jumping!! When in New Zealand, right? We jumped off the famous Auckland Harbour Bridge. I’ve already been bungy jumping at the largest bungy in New Zealand, but that didn’t stop my fears this time. I was terrified! We both survived the bungy and needless to say, that was the best layover ever.

Somehow I actually look graceful in this (yes, that's me).

Once we finished bungy jumping, we headed back to the airport (casual). Now it was time for the Cook Islands! Why the Cook Islands? Well, my cousin’s mom (my ex-aunt) lives in Rarotonga and owns a tourist accommodation of bungalows right on the ocean. We went and stayed with Aunt Heidi in a beautiful bungalow. Our bungalow was lofted up so that on one side all we could see were giant waves and on the other side all we could see were giant mountains. It was the best! Rarotonga was surprisingly different than Samoa because of the waves and mountains. In Samoa, there aren’t many coasts that have waves because we’re surrounded by a reef. The waves in Rarotonga were mesmerizing! Our mountains here are all volcanoes, so they plateau at the top. However, in Rarotonga, the mountains had steep peaks. It was gorgeous!

Pretty great house for vacation!

Our bungalow was about a fifteen-minute bike ride to a beautiful, touristy lagoon perfect for swimming, snorkeling, kayaking, paddle boarding, etc. Most mornings Becca and I would bike to the beach and spend the day there. It was incredibly relaxing and beautiful! Muri Lagoon has four mini islands right off the coast, Motutapu, Oneroa, Koromiri, and Taakoka. Throughout our vacation we ended up swimming, kayaking, and paddle boarding to all four islands. Once on one of these mini islands, you could look back at Rarotonga and see the mountains. I could’ve stared at that view every day (and I mostly did)! Muri Lagoon is also full of resorts and restaurants, which makes it perfect for vacationers. In Samoa, we barely have any restaurants (there are none on Savai’i), so we took full advantage of having real food options. It was a delicious trip! There’s even a night market in Muri full of all different vendors, including a crepe stand and a pie stand.

Paddle Boarding around the crystal clear water.

A couple days we ventured away from beautiful Muri Lagoon. One day we biked around the entire island! This probably sounds more impressive than it actually is. Rarotonga is only about 20 miles in circumference. It’s the biggest of the Cook Islands, but it’s still tiny! Throughout our trip we probably went around the island at least 15 times, but only once by bike. I have to admit my biking skills are not quite something to talk about, but I did survive (with a very sore butt). It was a super cool way to see the island! We got to see the touristy parts, but also the residential parts. Even though it’s a Pacific Island, there were still many differences to Samoa. Every house had walls and plantations were actually planted in organized rows! It was very interesting to compare cultures and lifestyles.

Our modes of transportation for the week!

Another non-beach day was spent hiking across the island! Again, it’s a tiny island, but we walked from coast to coast straight across the diameter. The Cross-Island Track takes you straight up to “The Needle”, or Te Rua Manga peak. The Needle is a very accurate term for it because the peak is straight up. Many American hiking trails wind a little bit, but this really took us straight up and straight down. Once at the peak, you could see both coasts and only mountains in-between. It was gorgeous and a perfect day activity!

Becca and I at "The Needle" with the ocean in the back.

All in all, in was a great vacation. It was so sad to leave, but we had a blast! Rarotonga provided the perfect mix of relaxation and adventure that we needed. It’s the cutest little island, surprisingly catered for tourists. We biked around it, hiked across it, swam, kayaked, and paddle boarded to four surrounding islands – it was active, but not too active. I loved seeing another Pacific Island and finding the similarities and differences to Samoa. Getting out of Samoa definitely gave me a much-needed break and now I feel ready and refreshed for the rest of my Samoan adventure. Plus, who can say they’ve been to the Cook Islands?! I’m living a pretty nifty twenty-third year of life. Thanks Aunt Heidi for hosting us, thanks Becca for accompanying me, and thanks Rarotonga for being so wonderful!

Easter brunch with Aunt Heidi.

Now it’s back to Samoa for Term 2!

From pink to green

April 1^st will officially mark one and a half years in Samoa! I can’t believe in 9 months my service will be complete. It’s been quite the journey, to say the least.

There’s only one week left of school until our term break, which means I’ve made it through my last ever Term 1 at Sili Primary School. It’s been a very productive term for my classes. My classroom also got revamped! Instead of just concrete floors with woven mats, I now have a linoleum sticker covering the concrete. Samoans call it “carpet”, although I can’t quite agree to that terminology. Whether or not it’s carpet, it still has made a huge difference! The first day I had my new carpet, my students came in and immediately started doing snow angels and rolling around on the floor. It was quite the scene!

We love reading on Miss Sala's new carpet!

This term also involved a first for the Ministry of Sports, Education, and Culture here in Samoa! The ministry organized a sports competition for my district (8 primary schools) in rugby and volleyball. Knowing that the competition was approaching, school ended at lunch every day so that the boys could practice rugby and the girls could practice volleyball. Our hard work seemed to pay off because Sili got fourth place in both sports, which is not too shabby. On the day of the competition, the girls even got to show their knees and wear shorts! This is unheard of in Samoa. It was a very fun day and I have to say I was a great cheerleader!

The cutest volleyball huddle there ever was.

Aside from school, my home life is probably 99% different than it was last year. What used to be a pink house is now a green shop. I was gone for a weekend and when I came back, there was all of a sudden a shop in my house! With Samoa being located in the middle of the Pacific Ocean, products and food that can be imported must be very processed in order to make it here. So, Samoan shops mostly sell packets of ramen noodles, tinned fish, and corned beef. Sugar is our other big seller, and that’s about all the shop sells. It’s not quite what Americans would imagine when hearing about a shop. Regardless, my house has now been running as a shop for about a month now. My students find it hilarious to be able to come shopping and see me. I’m too busy with school to really work at the shop, but I’ll help bag sugar when I can. I’m a pro at measuring sugar now!

My new living quarters (shop on the left, bedroom on the right).

I’ve also been able to do more exploring around Samoa recently. It’s hard to believe a year and a half later I still haven’t seen everything, but it’s true! I’m working on it and hopefully will have seen everything by the end. One weekend, a bunch of volunteers and I went on a waterfall hike! It was on a rather undeveloped part of Upolu, hiking up the Falese’ela River. The hike itself was about 6 hours long and probably the coolest hike I’ve done! We were essentially walking through the river the entire time (I was an absolute pro because of my Sili River practice). Throughout the hike, different waterfalls popped up and we ended up jumping off most of them! The craziest part about jumping off waterfalls is climbing up them in the first place. Those who know me know I’m definitely not a rock-climber, so scaling the side of these waterfalls was quite the challenge. However, I think I jumped off about six waterfalls that day, the tallest one being 50 feet high!! Talk about an adrenaline rush. Samoa is so neat because it’s completely undeveloped land and not even marketed or advertised for tourists.

PCV's hiking through a river for 6 hours!

Another exciting thing that happened this month is that my cousin and her family came to visit! This is the second time they’ve visited during my service, the first time being in June. It was so fun to see them again! I’m so lucky I’ve had visitors and gotten to see so much family during my year and a half so far. While they were visiting, we went to Togitogiga Waterfall, which was another first for me! It’s on the southern coast of Upolu and it’s in a national reserve. Yet again another instance of gorgeous and untouched waterfalls! It was so fun to explore and see my American family members again.

Thanks for visiting again, Maile and family!

As the term comes to a close, I am packing my bag and heading to Rarotonga, Cook Islands next week for break! How lucky am I that I get to explore the South Pacific so much?!

Time for some island hopping!

Young and skinny

Second year as Miss Sala, here we go! I’ve officially been back in Samoa for almost two months. I don’t know where the time is going!

America already feels like a distant dream and I’m right back into my Samoan life. My host family was extremely happy when I arrived. My entire checked bag was gifts for them! The children all got backpacks and clothes, while the adults got purses and chocolate. It was like Christmas morning (except in Samoa, there is no such thing as gifts on Christmas, so it was even better)! I showed them pictures from my trip back home and they didn’t recognized me! Apparently seeing my hair down was a big shocker!

"Wait, Sala, who is the girl in red?"

While home, I got a mini fishing rod for Christmas, so I’ve tested out the waters. So far I’ve caught three fish, but the most impressive thing is that I cut up one of the fish to use as bait for the others. Have I mentioned that I’m scared of fish?! Nowadays I can hold a live fish and even cut up a dead one (although, there is still lots of screaming involved). I haven’t broken out my pocket fisherman in Sili yet, but the time will come.

Yes, it's a mini fish, but I'm still terrified!

Upon arriving back in Samoa, Group 87 had our Mid-Service Training. It was at a wonderful resort and it was amazing to be together as a group again. Every day after training sessions, we would go in the ocean until the sun set. The South Pacific is really a great place to watch the sun setting! Our training involved bringing a counterpart from our schools. When the counterparts first arrived, we did an introduction where we had to describe our partner using two adjectives. Most of the pisikoas were described as “hard-working” or “determined”. Well, my counterpart described me as “young” and “skinny”, so I’m really winning at this whole teaching thing.

Group 87 after 16 months in Samoa.

We’re already halfway through the first term of the school year! My students were so happy to be back in school after a two-month break. It’s nice being back this year and already knowing the teachers, the schedule, etc. I feel much more comfortable at school and it really feels like I belong. The teachers and I have our inside jokes. Every morning they laugh at me for running the previous afternoon (it’s really unheard of here) and I in-turn laugh at them for not running. We have a good system of laughing going on! I’m still teaching pullout groups from years 4, 5, and 6. I have a total of 8 at-risk groups and 3 advanced groups. In addition, this year I am co-teaching! So, once a week I teach all of year 7, working together with their teacher. It’s been very fun so far and the students are already learning a lot this year!

Miss Sala's classroom, year 2!

It's hard to believe Miss Sala has only ten months left of this crazy journey!