Where to begin? My life is now back to being somewhat
normal, just not in a normal location. I’m starting to feel like I am no longer
a college student (although the consistent later nights and early mornings
would make my body argue differently). I
have real responsibilities and I have students that depend on me. They are in
hands for the next year and it is my responsibility to teach them as much as
possible.
My landlord’s family is wonderful; Logoleo and his wife
treat me and Madeline like we’re their kids. We actually call him Leo and his
wife Momma. They check in on us and make sure everything is fine. They bring us
food, give us money to put in the church offerings, and tell us when everything
is happening. It’s safe to say they’ve welcomed us with open arms.
On Saturday I went fishing with Leo, his son Asila, and
Madeline. Unfortunately, I forgot my camera, but we caught three fish and I
don’t remember any of their names. Leo actually did all the catching; Madeline
and I sort of wandered the coast taking in the breathtaking beauty. We fished
out of the national park, so it was great to be able to go in and see it. I
guess there are wild boars in there, so all I could think about is Lord of the
Flies. There are also lots of butterflies and moths, for someone like me who
HATES butterflies and moths, this was more terrifying than being worried about
being taken out by a wild pig.
After a few hours fishing, we came home. That afternoon Leo
and Neta (Momma’s niece—the heroine of the centipede story) took us to see the
other side of Ta’u- Faleasau and the village of Ta’u. These places were much
more like beach villages. They are sea level, the front yards are sandy, and
the housing style in slightly different than Fitiuta. Hard to believe that a
drop in elevation and only a 6 mile car ride can drastically change your
surroundings that much. Here is a picture of the views from the other side of
the island. The Wharf for Ta’u is located on that side, so if you look in one
picture, you can see the wharf and a sign made out of seashells in the side of
a mountain, “Welcome to Manu’a.”
That evening we went to Momma and Leo’s for
dinner where we had taro, coconut crab, the fish we caught, and some other
little things.
Sunday was spent going to church. One of my 3rd
grade students sat with me. The whole service was in Samoan, so I had no idea
what was going on, but I nodded along and followed the actions like I did. A
few times my student would see that I was doing something wrong, he would elbow
me and whisper, “Teacher!! CLOSE YOUR EYES.” Hahah I listened. The reverend
welcomed us to the church and the community during the service, which was
nice. After church we went to Momma and
Leo’s and had a big lunch. Again we had taro, breadfruit, boiled bananas, pork
chops, chicken, fish, soup, and corn beef and cabbage. Interesting mix, but it
all tasted pretty good.
When I don’t spend my time lesson planning, which is how I
spend my weekends because I have to turn in a weeks worth of plan’s Monday
morning, I spend it attempting to cook. I made some cookies Saturday for us to
eat Sunday. Then last night I made breadfruit fritters. If you don’t know what
breadfruit is, look it up. It grows on a tree and it’s a pretty weird
texture. Anyways, I used the fruit to
make dough and then made cinnamon sugar fritters. Here’s a picture of the
finished product!
After only eating a few I took them over to Leo’s because I
didn’t want to eat the entire thing. However, when I went I thought I would
just drop them off and be on my way, but Momma wouldn’t let me leave until she
had food to give to me. I left my house with fritters, I came home with 2
chicken thighs, 4 hot dogs, and 4 chicken tails (I don’t even know what these
are). Clearly they mean business when it comes to sharing food.
I’m still trying to figure out the mailing situation here.
It’s hard because I’m not on the main island, where my mail gets sent. So
typically I have to wait an additional week before any of it actually comes out
to Manu’a. I’ll keep people posted as I get my mail. For people who are sending
me stuff via amazon, sometimes they will send you an email saying that they
left it at the post office or they tried to take it to my house; please know
that EVERYTHING ends up at the post office because they don’t deliver here. It
is our job to pick everything up. So don’t worry, it should be getting to me in
due time.
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