The Samoan Adventure: April 2008

Its true I got a tattoo...and there might be more...This was back in November. I went with Meghan and Molly from our group. I got the bottom part of the Malu which is the tattoo samoan women usually get. Sulu'ape (the man, the mythe and the legend) is the one hammering ink into my skin. It does not feel good, but it sure looks cool. anywho here are the pics

Sulu'ape and the boys holding me down.

I was having the opposite of fun here. Go badgers!

Close up of the traditional tattoo teeth. He uses the top stick to hammer the bottom stick which has teeth dipped in ink. I would like to say again that this does not feel good.

Finished product

Back view. The diamond shape is called the "Malu" and is the symbol used for Samoan women and for protection.

Sulu'ape (the tatooist in Samoa) sixing up my leg for work

What a tumultuous couple of weeks! Somebody got married, I got bit, or should I say attacked, by dogs (again), I helped paint 2 world maps, we had “field day” at school, April fools happened (the war continues…), and we finished season 2 of Veronica Mars (I can’t believe it was Beaver!). I have maybe hundreds of pics from all of the events (save for me watching TV and getting punked for april fools) so I hope the pics I can post do all the events justice.
Last Saturday (March 29th) Ema, a Peace Corps volunteer that came in the group before me (June 2006), was married to Lafi, a Samoan guy from her training village in Vaie’e. The wedding was very nice and although it was my 4th wedding in Samoa it was the first wedding I went to that wasn’t dry! Let me just make a point of saying here that a wedding without alcohol is just weird, seriously. Anywho, my friend Stephanie (who I went to Tailand with) and Sarah (aka Texas) were bridesmaids. Ema’s parents from America came which was special. It was all very fun and for the most part Samoan, which is to say…it was hot?
This last Friday (4/4) we had “play day”. About 2 weeks ago Sina, my counter part, and I went to a sports clinic in apia for children with special needs. It was quite fun and equally educational. So, we were allowed to show off our PE teacher skills on Friday and let me tell you, it is not easy to keep 70 Samoan children entertained for 2 hours in 90 degree heat! But we did it. My personal favorite was playing a game that is basically duck, duck, goose, except substituting the words for samoan, samoan, palagi (white person)! Its these little things that no one else understands that get me through the day. At any rate, the day went off quite nicely I thought.
That night I had my teacher friend, Tina, come over with some boys in her family and help trace the world map and the south pacific map on the wall of what will soon be our new computer lab! Speaking of, the computer desks and book shelves are finished! I have also heard from a certain blond New Englander that our computers should be arriving sometime in June (after I come back from my tour of the United States). So this is all very exciting as I am sure you can all see in my colorful writing style. Back to maps- we traced Friday, Saturday we filled in the color scheme…sort of. Then Monday night I had the kids from year 7 and 8 paint the map. It was only a semi-disaster and it actually looks kind of like a map which is a victory in my book!

77 and 76 girls and Ray at the wedding. Back row from left to right- Sally, Steph, Ray, Molly, Jan, Jordan, Ema, Jame, Texas and then its meg and I in front.