The end

Last blog post ever!! I don’t know how the time has come, but I’ve finished 27 months of service and I am officially a RETURNED PEACE CORPS VOLUNTEER! The day felt like it would never arrive, but at the same time I cannot believe it’s here.

My last month in Samoa was a whirlwind of goodbyes and gaining closure for this experience. It was a super busy and hectic month, but it was also an amazing month. I was able to finish my service on a really positive note. In terms of school, this whole term was dedicated to national testing, so I wasn’t able to teach, but it was great bonding with the teachers as we prepared the pigs, chickens, and cows for the testing proctors to eat. Aside from testing, my Year 7 students were super excited about our cultural exchange grant so they would stay after school with me every day and we finished the exchange! The school in America sent my students videos and a package that we were able to go through. It was incredible! Every student got multiple letters that they responded to. It was eye opening for everyone, including myself. Certain letters talked about having two mothers or divorced parents or stepsiblings. These are all unheard of in Samoa, but I was just as surprised as my students! I didn’t realize how integrated I was until seeing that these Americanisms were extremely weird to me. It was a great conversation with my students, though! They learned so much. The package included a frisbee and a baseball (first ones my students had ever seen), so we learned how to play those sports as well!

My lovely students learning all about America.

Saying goodbye to my students and teachers was so tough! We had a whole school day dedicated to my goodbye barbecue. The Year 8 boys spent the day cooking while the rest of the students sang songs to me. It was a day filled with love! Every student was told to bring me a gift (we have 300 students) and then I gave my thank you speech in Samoan and then we all danced the day away. It was a blast! As we left school that day, the students broke down in tears and I was overwhelmed with gratitude for my two years spent with them. The next day was our Prize Giving! This is the day that Year 8 students graduate and everyone gets prizes based on how well they did throughout the school year. Us teachers got new uniforms for it and everything. It’s the biggest school day of the year and it just so happened to be my last day in the village as well! I gave out 8 prizes for the top students in my 8 classes. My prizes all came from America, so they were the most sought-after gifts of the year. I also gave a speech thanking the village parents, students, and teachers for accepting me as one of them these two years. It was emotional for everyone, but a wonderful last day! As I left Prize Giving, I was given a pig and a bunch of chickens. Unfortunately those weren’t going to make it into my baggage, but it was a nice thought!

The beautiful teachers of Sili Primary School!

The night of Prize Giving was my last night in the village, so it was my family’s fiafia (party) night for me. We all gathered in our giant open fale to have a farewell get-together. The pastor came to bless my travels and we feasted on the pig and chickens that I received. After the feast I gave my speech and gave out American chocolate to everyone. It was a huge hit! However, I only had 60 bars of chocolate and apparently more than 60 family members. The craziest part is that this was only my immediate family! So, needless to say, it was a big gathering for my last night. Lots of dancing occurred and as I did my last Siva Samoa (traditional dance) everyone broke out into tears because I was a “true Samoan now.” So I feel pretty accomplished, if I do say so myself. My nieces and I stayed up all night after the adults went to sleep. I was absolutely exhausted, but I wouldn’t have wanted to spend my night any other way. Two years later and my host family is truly my family. Without a doubt, I will be back to Samoa visiting them. My nieces all want me as their maid-of-honor’s so maybe even that’ll happen! Wherever life takes me, I will always consider these people my family and I will keep in touch with them forever. It’s crazy how strong of a bond this experience created.

Me and twelve of my 60+ family members.

After my farewell barbecue, Prize Giving, and my fiafia night, it was time for me to head back to America! As I drove out of my village to my last ferry ride, it was a surreal feeling. I know I’ll be back, but I also know so much will change in the meantime. My last ferry ride was one of the smoothest I’ve had, so someone was looking out for me! And then it was time for my final departure from Samoa. It wouldn’t have been a trip home without some complications, so naturally I had a tricky time getting back to Maryland. The great part about my trip home is that it was a complete surprise!! My American family thought I was coming home a week later and had no clue I would be showing up that night. After being stranded in New Zealand and re-routed on different flights, I arrived to Maryland much later than expected and the surprise was different than expected, but I still pulled it off! With help from my best friend, Sarah, and a few of our family friends, I completely shocked my mom, dad, and sister. It was the perfect way to end these past 27 months!

At the airport taking our last picture in Samoa!!

And with that, I am done! There’s not much I can say about these 27 months because it’s one of those things you have to live through in order to understand. They were the hardest months I’ve ever experienced mentally, physically, emotionally, etc. Peace Corps is not easy! I will forever have respect for anyone I know who survived the Peace Corps, but especially for my fellow volunteers. We ended with 14 and we all achieved incredible things during our services. Technically only 13 were left in country on our last day because of a medical evacuation, which fits perfectly with how our two years have gone. I had some of the least medical problems with Zika, scabies, lice, nickel poisoning (which got me sent home), a staph infection, and lots of undiagnosed “tropical eczema.”  I’m happy to be home and seeing doctors and regaining my health! This experience might’ve been the hardest thing I’ve ever done, but I’m also incredibly grateful. I grew more than I can explain and I know this will shape the rest of my life. Samoa will forever have a piece of my heart. Now it’s time to conquer America and see where this life takes me! I put the star on the Christmas tree and that feels like the perfect way to end this blog. I am home, I am (almost) healthy, I am happy, and I am humbled. Life is good.

This girl is in America for good!

Tofā Soifua, Sāmoa.

So many islands, so little time

Welcome to my second-to-last blog post. At this point I’m sure only my mother is reading, but it’ll be nice to look back on in twenty years time! Tomorrow starts December, which is my final month in Samoa!!

It’s been a surprisingly busy term at school as I try to wrap everything up in my service. After each week of school I was making the trip over to Amaile, Upolu, which is the training village for Group 89. I lead Numeracy sessions every Saturday, which was really busy, but also rewarding. This Numeracy program is my baby and I am so impressed with how trainings went for it; I think it can be successful! Thankfully my commute every weekend is now finished as the new group swears in next week. There were some perks to this weekly travel – one being that I was in the capital, Apia, for Halloween! I got to celebrate with other volunteers. We dressed up as fruit, which was hilarious! I was a strawberry, which was extra funny because they don’t exist here. There’s no word in the language and I haven’t seen a strawberry in 27 months. Thus, any Samoan who saw me had no idea what I was, but at least I cracked myself up!

Check out these yummy fruits!

I’ve been able to fit in some last Samoan adventures as my time living in the South Pacific comes to an end. One really awesome experience was a day of hiking! Although these islands are made of volcanoes and so mountainous, the inland sections are not occupied and have no trails. So we get to see mountains, but we never get to climb them! I love hiking, so I’ve truly missed that while living here. However, one weekend, two other volunteers and I found a wonderful hiking trail. It is actually an abandoned road that was used before the coastal road was constructed. It leads from Vaiola to Patamea and then we continued walking to Manase. Twenty miles later, we walked a good portion of this island!!! It was incredible!

Sweaty but happy hikers!

Another incredible adventure I had was for Thanksgiving. My third Thanksgiving in Samoa and by far my best! I was able to visit 5 islands within 2 days (casual)! This trip included 3 islands I had never been to before – Nuulopa, Manono, and Apolima. These three islands are located between Savai’i and Upolu and I’ve passed them about 100 times on ferry rides. I finally got to go see them! Nuulopa is a mini, private island that no one lives on. We stopped there for a couple hours to swim and it was magical. Next up was Manono. Manono is an inhabited island with quite a few villages. There are even two Primary Schools where Peace Corps volunteers are sometimes placed. This island has no dogs and no cars, which makes it perfect. We walked around Manono twice – once in each direction. It takes about two hours to walk around and the views are incredible. Some parts of the island look out to the surrounding islands, whereas other parts look out at the open Pacific. I loved Manono and could’ve easily lived there. I’m so happy I made it there before leaving!

The boat to Manono was a little more enjoyable than my normal ferry.

And the final stop on this whirlwind island-tour Thanksgiving was Apolima! Apolima is also inhabited with no cars, but it is much smaller than Manono. There’s only about twenty houses, all arranged in a semi-circle surrounded by cliffs. It is truly what I envisioned Samoan villages to look like before moving here. The tricky part about Apolima is that you have to be invited there in order to go there. It’s not a place with a ferry that anyone can visit. However, one of my fellow volunteers, Craig, was bestowed a Matai (chief) title on Apolima and therefore was able to invite me! We got to stay with the Pastor for two nights and it was just as magical as Nuulopa and Manono. On Apolima you can hike up both sides of the crater and get a view of the entire village. It is just breathtaking. The whole island is solar-powered and every house has a water tank. It’s truly self-sustainable. There are no schools, so the school children take a boat to Upolu every Monday and stay at school for the week, taking a boat home on Friday. We were able to catch the school boat back when we were leaving and it was so fun riding in a mini boat with all the children!

I'm so lucky to have been invited to this beautiful island.

Aside from my weekend adventures, school has also been wonderful. These last couple months of my service have really pulled everything together and I couldn’t be more grateful. One giant accomplishment is that Sili Primary School now has brand new, fully functional bathrooms! We finished our grant!!! After applying for the grant in February, having it accepted and being rewarded $35,000 in April, to now having it complete in November: it has been a process to say the least. Getting supplies to a remote Samoan island is not easy, but we did it! My villagers were at school until about 11pm each night building and connecting pipes. I was honestly speechless to see how hard everyone worked and how much everyone cared! It is hard to bring a village of 5 different churches together, but that’s exactly what this project did. On Wednesday, November 29^th, we had our ribbon-cutting grand opening. LDS Charities, who funded the grant, came along with all of my village pastors, Matai, and untitled men. It was one of the biggest ceremonies we’ve ever had! There were pigs and cows and fine mats and Ava and all of the above! My village truly went all out. Not only that, but three of my fellow volunteers showed up to support me as well! I think I was too amazed to even cry, but I would’ve been crying if I could’ve. To see so many people come together and support this cause all for my wonderful students just filled me with gratitude: gratitude for my village, gratitude for this grant, and gratitude for my other volunteers. It takes a village and WE DID IT! This new bathroom block has 10 flushing toilets, two sinks with running water, and two showers with running water!

New bathrooms for Sili Primary School!!!

With that ceremony completed, my service is really coming to a close. No more late nights putting pipes together, which I’ll surprisingly miss. We have only two weeks left in the school year and it’s starting to hit me that I’m actually leaving! In these next two weeks I’m going to finish up my cultural exchange grant by putting together one last package to send to Maine. Then, my school will have a Christmas production, and finally we will have our Prize Giving! I am really trying to soak in time with my teachers and my host family because I’m going to miss them all so much! Everyone has really become family these past two years. Not only that, but my fellow volunteers have also become my family. It is such a weird feeling that we’re all leaving and going our separate ways. Luckily, we had one final get-together dinner where we were invited to our Country Director’s house! It was the last time we will all see each other and it was a night full of happiness and reflection. I’m so grateful these people came into my life! We began as Government-issued friends, but luckily have turned into life-long friends.

Group 87 together for the last time!

Here comes December and my final month of service! Bittersweet, bittersweet, bittersweet…

It takes a village

HAPPY TWO YEARS!! I cannot believe I’ve lived in Samoa for over two years now. This has been such a crazy experience and it’s really coming to an end now.

With time passing so quickly, I’m realizing I won’t be living on a South Pacific island anymore, which is a very sad realization. A few volunteers and I spent a weekend at the beach to soak in our remaining time here. We stayed at Falealupo and I’ve actually never stayed there before. It’s the Western-most point of Samoa, so it’s where the last sunset in the country happens; it’s gorgeous! I was also able to travel all the way around Savai’i again, stopping at the Blowholes and the Canopy Walk. I’ve done all of these touristy things before of course, but it’s nice to get one last chance to do them. The Blowholes will forever be my favorite!

The last sunset of Samoa.

After my touristy weekend, Group 89 arrived! This was my third Peace Corps Ava Ceremony and my second on the other side. I can’t believe two years ago I was sitting there, amazed and confused. At this point I completely understand everything that happens and it’s not unusual at all anymore. We got 17 new volunteers and they seemed very excited to be in Samoa! I won’t get to know this group as well, but I’m happy to have them here and continue this legacy.

Group 87, 88, and Response Volunteers welcoming in Group 89!

The weekend before school started up again was my third and final White Sunday here! White Sunday is children’s day in Samoa and it’s always full of new outfits, dances, skits, and lots of food. This year I learned our dances and skit the night before, which is very typical and exactly how I did it the previous two years as well. My first White Sunday was my first ever weekend in Samoa two years ago and now I was so much more comfortable performing in front of everyone. I didn’t think twice about it this year. During our skit I got shot, so it was a very amusing day – a great last White Sunday here!

Sad to be leaving behind my acting and dancing days! 

In other news, my last ever term of teaching has begun! Two years and 7 previous terms, I’ve made it to my last one! It’s definitely bittersweet as I teach my last ever classes and wrap everything up. This term is focused on my grants! My year 7 students and I put together a video for the middle school in Maine that we’re doing a cultural exchange with. It was such a precious video and we’re going to put together a follow-up, teaching the American students how to cook Samoan food! The American students sent us a package and will send videos as well, so it’s a really neat project. Also, over the two-week break, the men of my village built our new bathrooms!! They’re not completely finished as we’re waiting for some final materials, but they look amazing so far. I wasn’t able to be there to help, but arriving back at school and finding a brand new building was such an incredible feeling. It takes a village and I absolutely love mine for putting this together!

My students can use the bathroom now!!!

Outside of school, we had palolo season! Palolo are some type of worm sperm that only emerge once a year in October. They only come for a three-day span and only from about 4am-7am before the sun rises. This year I got to go palolo fishing! We woke up at 3am and headed to Satupa’itea, a neighboring village. I didn’t actually want worms swimming around me, so I stayed on a cliff and watched, which was so perfect. It was amazing to see! There were hundreds of flashlights lining the entire coast. It was probably the most light pollution I’ve ever seen in Samoa. It was a great bonding experience with my host family and three years of palolo later I finally got to go!

Fishing crew at 6am.

This will be a busy term as I balance hanging out with other volunteers for the last time, running Numeracy sessions for Group 89, finishing up these grants, and soaking up host family time! I’m excited about everything that’s happening, though, and I think it’s a perfect way to end my time here.

Here’s to my final 8 weeks in Samoa!

Started from the bottom

I’m back in Samoa!! What a crazy month of change, but now I am settled in for my remaining three months of service. October 1^st will mark TWO YEARS in Samoa, which absolutely blows my mind. Like any journey, it has been a very long process but has also flown by. I cannot believe I’ve lived here for two full years!

After some much-needed healing, I got medically cleared to return to Samoa and I was ecstatic! My skin condition completely cleared up with a couple treatments from two different American dermatologists. I’ll never really know what it was – mango allergy, vitamin deficiency, nickel poisoning, etc. I’m just very grateful it cleared and I was able to return. My remaining time back home was wonderful. I got to take my sister to her first day of 10^th grade, which was so nice because I’ve missed so many first days. Departing is never easy, but since this was an unexpected trip and I really wanted to finish up my time in Samoa, it was a little easier this time around. Only three months remaining!

Final airport goodbye with this tenth-grader!

Arriving back in Sili was really exciting! My medical evacuation happened so unexpectedly and quickly, so it was really nice to see my family and village again. I brought back an entire suitcase of clothing, so my nieces and nephews had a fashion show my first night home. My teachers had a welcome back lunch for me and construction has begun on my bathroom grant, so being back at school was great. I’m definitely feeling nostalgia for those moments that I won’t have next year! We’re straight back into homework help in the evenings and it’s surprisingly refreshing being “home”.

Homework help wouldn't be complete without selfies.

Being back into my Samoan routine also means back to my evening runs and it feels great! Lately I’ve been meeting three other volunteers for evening walks because we all live in neighboring villages. My first weekend back, I decided I would run/walk from Sili to Salelologa. Salelologa is the “city” of my island, where all shops are located along with the wharf. My phone tells me that it was a 12.4-mile journey and it felt wonderful! I love that I know the island well enough to do that. Once I arrived, I got to swim in the crystal clear water all day with other volunteers and then take the bus home. It was perfect and I can’t believe I hadn’t done it before. Again, I’m definitely in the nostalgia phase of trying to do everything I can here before leaving.

Ran 12.4 miles to float on a slice of pizza.

I arrived back in Samoa just in time for my Close of Service conference. COS is something that we have looked forward to since the very beginning. Technically, we still have three months left, but we have to complete our Close of Service conference before the new group arrives. The conference took place at one of the nicest resorts in Samoa; I had never even been there before! We had sessions on writing our resumes and cover letters, interviewing, job searching, etc. It was a really helpful and productive week! We also got to reflect on our service and talk about re-integration into the U.S., which will be overwhelming for us all. It was actually such a productive week that I never once put on my bathing suit, even though we had an infinity pool and the ocean right outside our room! It was one of the best week’s I’ve had here and I’m so proud of us all for making it.

Great looking group at our Close of Service!!

This was our last training, so it could very well be the last time Group 87 was altogether. It gave great closure to this experience. We bonded a ton as the remaining 14 of our group. From 22 to 14, we are the survivors!! It feels so great to have made it and this week was the perfect reward. We’ve gone through so much individually in these two years, but also so much as a group. Two years ago we were at our Staging conference in Hawaii, just meeting each other for the first time, and now these people are my family. It’s been crazy and it’s been challenging, but we did it!

Started from the bottom, now we're here.

I’m sad that COS is over, but also excited for my remaining time here. Next week, Group 89 arrives! With this new group, we’re actually starting a new program here in Samoa. Right now, there’s only one program, so every volunteer is an English Literacy teacher. However, with this new group, we are starting a Numeracy program!! Those of you who know me know that math is my thing, so I’m ecstatic! This program is actually starting as a result of meetings we’ve had with the Ministry of Education in Samoa and also meetings we’ve had with Peace Corps Headquarters. It’s neat being so involved in the process. Directly after COS, I headed to the capital to plan out the Numeracy program here. A couple Peace Corps staff members and I created the Logic Model to submit to Headquarters and then planned out the entire framework. It looks like I’ll be going to Group 89’s training village in order to conduct the Numeracy trainings, so that’ll be really rewarding. I can’t believe I have such a big role in implementing this pilot program! Living in the capital was really nice, involving good food and hiking! My Country Director took me to Malololelei, which looks out over all of Apia.

Casually hiking above Apia while developing a Numeracy program!

Term 3 of the school year has officially ended and we’re now on a two-week break. I can’t believe it’s already the last term of my second year here! This break has already flown by with all of my work in the capital. I’ll spend the second week of break at the welcoming Ava Ceremony for Group 89 and then smoothing out the plans for Numeracy trainings. Before I know it, my third and final White Sunday will be here! I’m trying to soak up all I can in these three months and end on a high note. With COS and the Numeracy program and my grants, it’s all coming together and I’m in a great place!

Happy TWO YEARS IN SAMOA and happy CLOSE OF SERVICE!!!

The year of change

Hello from AMERICA and hello from 24-year-old me!! I can’t believe I began this whole experience right after my 22^nd birthday and now I’m 24; it’s crazy how time passes! It’s also crazy how much changes in such a short period of time. The incredible three weeks spent with my family feels like a year ago, even though it was my last blog post. I’m currently writing this post from my house in Maryland! So, a lot has changed already in my 24^th year of life.

The year 2017 marked 50 years of Peace Corps in Samoa and in July we had a big celebration for it! This 50-year reunion brought back volunteers from all different time periods. We had volunteers from Group One come back to visit and celebrate! I can’t imagine coming back to Samoa in 50 years; it must’ve been surreal for them. This reunion began with a parade through Apia, the capital of Samoa. We followed the Samoan band and stopped traffic throughout the capital. It was such a fun experience! I ended up carrying our banner and leading the parade, landing myself on the front page of the national newspaper! This was big news for my village when one villager found a copy of the newspaper – famous Sala!  

Marching through Apia with the Peace Corps parade.

Among the 40 or so returned volunteers who came for the reunion, was a former volunteer from Sili! I believe I’m the fourth ever Sili volunteer and it was really neat to meet another Silian. She served in Sili in 2010 and I loved getting to discuss the changes and our different projects within the village. She actually stayed in Sili for a week and came to school with me! She applied for (and received) a grant for us to do a cultural exchange project this Fall! My seventh grade students put together a Samoa box full of letters, questions, handcrafted books, and Samoan artifacts. A sixth grade class in Maine will open this box and send an American equivalent back to Samoa once the American school year starts. It’s really neat to be able to connect these students with one another and learn about a different culture.

Preparing our Samoa box to send to Maine!

So, the 50^th anniversary was a wonderful get together. I hope to return to Samoa one day for another reunion! July was filled with preparations for the reunion as well as preparations for the cultural exchange grant, which made for a very exciting month. August then began with my first ever race! I’m sure those of you who know me had to re-read that sentence because I am not a runner. I can barely run! However, running has been a wonderful pastime here in Samoa and when presented with the opportunity of running a 10k, for some reason I agreed. It was definitely a rough decision and I believe I came in second to last place, but I completed it! I ran the race in my normal running attire, shoulders completely covered and knees double covered with leggings and a lavalava (skirt). So, somehow, my life progressed to the point of running my first ever 6-mile race in a skirt. Now that’s a weird sentence.

A classic example of male vs. female attire.

The 50-year reunion, grant, race, wait, how did I possibly end up in America??? Well, August took a crazy turn of events. I was medically evacuated home for a skin condition I’ve developed while in Samoa. It’s not major, but it was undiagnosable and Samoa doesn’t have dermatologists. The skin condition progressed really rapidly in the last six months and was certainly affecting my life, but I never imagined being sent home. Zika, lice, scabies, you name it, I’ve probably had it! However, this skin infection got me sent home!! So, I got a call one morning while teaching that I needed to leave my village in the next hour to catch my flight home. It was a whirlwind of events as I rushed to pack and explain everything to my village. I hardly got to say any goodbyes, but luckily I did get to say goodbye to my host parents. They both ended up sobbing into my shoulders, so it was a really sad departure. With Peace Corps medical evacuations, you have 45 days to get cleared and return. However, getting cleared can be a tough process, especially at the end of service. This is not going to stop me because I WILL finish my service! I cannot even imagine not finishing my 27 months when I’ve already survived 23 of them.  

SURPRISE I'm home with my sissy!!

As overwhelming as it was to be sent home, of course I have loved seeing my family!! It’s been wonderful! I’ve had to take it easy and I’ve had doctor’s appointments to attend, but being able to watch a movie with my family on the couch at night is incredible. Seeing my sweet pets, my 94 year old grandmother, my college roommate, my high school best friend – it has definitely helped the fact that I was sent home! My baby sister got her learner’s permit and I’ve been able to help teach her how to drive! I also ended up being home for my 24^th birthday, which was so unexpected. Being surrounded by friends and family (in AMERICA) was an amazing start to year 24. It’s already a year of change, but I know it will continue to be as I (hopefully) return to Samoa, finish my service, move back home, get a job, etc.

A real American cake tops off year 23.

So, a very unexpected blog post coming from America. The good news is that I’ve been home for two weeks and my skin condition is on the mends! I feel much, much better and I should be cleared and on my way back in no time. It’s going to be a crazy last four months as I prepare for my real departure. This temporary departure gave me a mini idea of how insane December is going to be. I can’t even imagine saying goodbye to my host family! Luckily I’ve been able to call them while home. I’ve also called my school and been able to get all of our grant deliveries done while home. Once I get medically cleared, I’ll be returning to a very exciting end to my service! I’ll be completing two grants, I’ll prepare for another volunteer to hopefully replace me, and I’ll say goodbye to my insane 27 months spent in Samoa.

But for now, it’s time to heal and get medically cleared!