The newbies are here

Happy October (well, now it's technically time for "Goodbye October")! So I guess I really have been in Samoa for over a year, but it’s still blowing my mind. For those of you still following this journey, thank you for sticking with me for a whole YEAR now!

One year dinner with 13 Group 87 members and one Response volunteer!

Group 88 arrived on October 4^th, which really signified the fact that we are now the old and wise ones. One of our medically evacuated volunteers was able to return, so Group 87 is back up to 15. Group 88 came with 21 newbies. They are now in Pre-Service Training, but I am very excited for them to swear in so I can get to know them! Hopefully some will be placed in villages around me, but either way it’ll be nice to have more Americans around. We welcomed their group with an Ava Ceremony and it felt so neat to be on the other side this year. I understood what was being said and done, whereas last year it felt so strange and foreign. It’s crazy to think that one year later I perceived the exact same ceremony in a completely different way. It was entirely normal to me this year!

Group 88 Ava ceremony with 14 Group 87 and 3 Group 86 members.

October in Samoa features the biggest holiday of the year: White Sunday! Growing up, I always wondered why Mother’s and Father’s got their own day, but there was no Children’s Day. Well, Samoa has that figured out because White Sunday is Children’s Day. It’s a day where the children all get new church outfits and lead the church service. Last year in Sa’anapu, I was part of a dance and a play, which made me so nervous; I remember feeling completely out of my comfort zone. This year, I was part of 4 dances and a play, but none of it phased me at all! I’m so used to Samoan performances now. My entire church applauded me after my 2 lines in the play, so they still find it hilarious to have me perform. I did a pretty darn good job, if I do say so myself (and this year I even understood it).

Sala answers the telephone!

We are about halfway into Term 4 now. Samoan standardized tests have begun and it’s mostly preparation for the end of the school year. Standardized testing is a huge deal here in terms of food preparation. We had two visitors administering the tests, so naturally myself and the other teachers spent an entire week preparing meals for them. There were at least 4 pigs and 7 chickens each day that we had to hack up in the teachers’ room; it was quite the scene! Testing lasted about 4 hours each day and the visitors got 5 meals in that time. I’m not sure how the children did on the tests, but at least the visitors weren’t hungry. One morning they even got Palolo! Once a year (every October), Palolo come up from the sea. I’m not sure what they actually are (and don’t have internet to check), but they’re basically bright blue sea worms. Palolo is a very fancy meal here and a huge deal. This year I tried it for the first time! I won’t pretend that eating live worms was fun in the slightest bit, but here’s to me being a true Samoan!

Mmmm nothing like worms for breakfast.

Aside from casually hacking up pigs and eating live worms, I still have some American left in me! Today, I went to coordinate with the volunteer in the village next to mine (Ga’utavai) and we threw a Halloween party for the kids. Halloween is completely unknown here, so we were really combining cultures. The kids absolutely loved making costumes, carving pumpkins, and going trick-or-treating. These are the really fun moments where I’m able to share my childhood with my students.

Miss Sala and Miss Tiana as Thing 1 and Thing 2.

Happy Halloween, America! In six weeks, I’ll have officially survived my first year as a teacher.