The evil mosquito

Several things about this blog post make me feel like a real Peace Corps volunteer. First and foremost, April 1^st, 2016 marked 6 months of living in Samoa! It’s insane that I’ve spent half a year here already. That’s 2.2% of my life (yes, I’m missing my daily math)! With half a year gone, I feel like I’m really a part of this country now.

Another unfortunate occurrence that makes me a real volunteer is that I officially got Zika (the mosquito illness). As a volunteer in Samoa, it’s a right of passage to get Dengue, Chickengunya, or Zika. They all come along with the territory. Luckily, Zika is the mildest of all. With that being said, it was still not fun. I had a 6.5 hour journey between islands before I could even see the medical director and then 6.5 hours home as well. The disease only lasted about a week and I survived, but I’m hoping not to get any other sicknesses while being here!

My beautiful Zika skin (head to toe).

With the 6-month mark, April 1^st was also the last day of Term One! There are four terms in the school year, so I’m ¼ of the way through the year. Teaching has been going really well and my library is still a huge hit. Easter involved an entire week of dance choreography instead of classes. The lack of separation between church and state was very apparent when a student was being strapped to the cross as Jesus. These kids are great singers and dancers, though, so it makes for a wonderful performance!

Jesus on the cross for our Easter production!

With the end of each term comes a two week break!! No matter how much I’m enjoying teaching, it’s always nice to get a break. I spent a weekend staying in beach fales (huts) and snorkeling with some other volunteers. It was great to celebrate the end of term one and beginning of break! There was real snorkeling on this part of the island, which was really cool. I’m absolutely terrified of fish and learned quickly that screaming in a snorkel doesn’t exactly work. While staying here, I ran into a camp counselor of mine from 7 years ago. She’s from Ireland, so you can just put together that coincidence yourself. It was crazy!!! Even living on the other side of the world, I’m still amazed at how small it is.

It's hard to smile in a snorkel.

The first week of break, I spent at Gataivai Primary School (two villages away) helping out with a camp. Myself and 5 other volunteers helped run an “Olympics” Camp! There were about 100 kids who attended and they got to learn all about different countries and sports. We had an opening ceremony and everything! I even demonstrated ribbon dancing and looked like a real ballerina (I hope you laughed when you read that).

Some kids with their Olympic medals (and some sore losers).

The second week of break, the Gautavai volunteer (one village away) and I ran our own camp. I chose some of my best students and walked them to Gautavai Primary School in the mornings to meet up with her students. We ran an “A Healthier You” camp dealing with washing your hands, brushing your teeth, exercising, and nutritional eating habits. The walk is only a little over two miles each way; however, it does involve braving the Sili River. I like to think that I have become an absolute pro at this river. On the down side, the first day of our camp involved torrential downpour and all my students and I fell in the river. In hindsight, it was hilarious, but at the time when I had to use a stick to pull a kid away from the waterfall drop, it was a little terrifying. Needless to say, I’m no longer as cocky about my river-crossing abilities.

I love my students!

All in all, it was a great first term and break. It’s really refreshing how much students love school and blows my mind that they were ecstatic to walk over 4 miles each day to school to learn how to brush their teeth when they could have been enjoying some down time.

Bring it on, Term Two!