Tuesday, September 30, 2008
I'm important, I swear!
Well, term 3 (subsequently my last term in Samoa, sad face) "started" last week. I actually will be lucky to go to much school at all this term because I was "hired" (big into the quotation marks recently) to be a volunteer technical trainer (at least we think that is what the term is). Which basically means I am helping out with the new training group that comes in next week. Which also officially means I will have been in Samoa for exactly 2 years, holy cat's potatoes! Anywho, I am helping out, with my buddy Dylan, with the life and work training aspect of things. I am really excited about it because I have soooo much information to give to the new SPED (special education) volunteers. So that is neat. Other than that, I have pretty much been spending my time sitting on a bus going back and forth from apia to my village. Things be good and busy though, plan on being home beginning of Dec and making an east coast tour. anyone, who wants to join or wants to let me crash on their floor let me know. Love to you all
Friday, September 12, 2008
Go Peace Corps GO!!!!
The sewing seminar finished today and was a huge success! Today we had a presentation of all the items the women made throughout the week. TV3 came this morning to do interviews and shot footage of the work and the women sewing. All very exciting...I think I deserve a vacation now..right?
I took this as I was walking up to the fale this morning. The women were busy hanging up their work at 6am (I arrived after 3 cups of coffee at 730am, no samoa before coffee, strict rule)
The women finishing up work with their main projects hanging behind them
Lise being interviewed by TV3
Lise, the women who I worked with to organize all this, and I. The women made me this puletasi during the week. My contribution was the reversable headband. Yah me!
Pretty women posing
This one is for you mom
Lise and Suega, a rep from the min of women who helped teach the seminar, working on my puletasi
Sewing is tiring!
Suega cutting pieces for my puletasi
This is Pila. Pila loves to dance. I love Pila
Concentrating reallllly hard...
I took this as I was walking up to the fale this morning. The women were busy hanging up their work at 6am (I arrived after 3 cups of coffee at 730am, no samoa before coffee, strict rule)
The women finishing up work with their main projects hanging behind them
Lise being interviewed by TV3
Lise, the women who I worked with to organize all this, and I. The women made me this puletasi during the week. My contribution was the reversable headband. Yah me!
Pretty women posing
This one is for you mom
Lise and Suega, a rep from the min of women who helped teach the seminar, working on my puletasi
Sewing is tiring!
Suega cutting pieces for my puletasi
This is Pila. Pila loves to dance. I love Pila
Concentrating reallllly hard...Tuesday, September 09, 2008
And Sa..moa (get it? Like "Some More")
My man! Malaki and I hangin out at the sewing seminar
Me driving Sally crazy at girls weekend with my camera holder/sock. This is probably my most efficient project over the last 2 years
And there's a nice one...
So this was lunch for the kids the other day...sugar cane. You peel it down with a machete and then chew off pieces of it and suck the sugar out, then you spit the rest into the woven basket in the middle...I remember school lunches being a little bit different...
The heaven shinning down on Manono... Stephanie's old home :-(
From left Diane, Ricky, Jacob, Meghan, and Dylan. Chillin out at Manase on the north side of Savaii. ps- Mom and Dad this is the place I was gonna take you guys if we had gone to Savaii
Commanding the blowholes to blow
Climbing down into the Sua Trench...thats me hanging off the ladderI'm a Professional Middle-man
I wrote this in village and didn't have time to spell or grammar check it...sorry in advance...
Apparently my life in Samoa is not going to slow down any time soon, not that I am complaining, but too all my devoted readers (mom) forgive me for the extended amount of time between posts. Ok so let us rewind a bit…My wonderful, crazy Godmother and her wonderful and somewhat-more sane husband came to visit me the last week of August. As always it is soooo refreshing to see familiar faces. Ricky and Diane were so gracious and def spoiled me for the entire week (oh and I loved every minute of it!). They came to see my school and watched the kids sing one day. I also took them on a tour of my island (Upolu) and the big island (Savaii) for a day. We saw fantastic beaches, blow holes, visited super-cool peace corps volunteers, and generally just had an all around good time (this is my brouchuer for people to come visit me because its just that cool here, call my secretary at “Laura’s Tours”).
After I sent them home last week, I finished up the last week of Term 2, but the fun was only just beginning…On Saturday of last weekend the girls of 77 (am referring to the 3 other girls who are the same group as me, that would be group 77, we all came together in October 2006, and while 7 boys from our group have gone home already, the girls are all still standing strong) had a little gathering. Meghan had extra vacation days so she was allowed to rent a car and the 4 of us drove/giggled around the island. We spent the night out at Lalomanu that night. It was very nice and relaxing hanging out all together…oh and kinda hilarious. I found it pretty awesome how 4 very different girls from very different backgrounds can get along so well. Yah us!
The first Monday of the break between 2nd and 3rd term was actually one of my busier days. So once upon a time I talked to the Women’s Committee in my village and they expressed interest in obtaining sewing machines in order to make clothes for their kids and possibly start a small business selling clothes and whatnot. Well, writing the grant and purchasing the sewing machines was easy, hell it was even a piece of cake getting the machines from Apia to Tafatafa, the headache we’ve been dealing with for almost a year now is getting someone to come out and teach the women proper maintenance and use of the sewing machines. After months of back and forth with various NGOs and Ministries in Apia we were finally able to convince the Ministry of Women to come out and teach a week long seminar to our women. Monday was the first day and it was amazing. The Ministry came out at 930am and stayed until 430pm. In the first day all the women (there were about 12) made a pair of shorts and a collared shirt! At the end of the day I walked around to each lady and they held up their work and told me who it was for in their family. It was so amazing looking around the room at all these women sewing clothes for their kids and husbands and knowing I had some part in that. I couldn’t really stop smiling. I left the women briefly at 2pm to walk over to the school and teach a computer class to Year 8 (even though school is on break, they still have to go because Year 8 exams are coming up in October and this is the big crunch time). All in all a very busy and satisfying day.
Rick, Crazy and I at the blowholes in Savaii
Crazy enjoying Samoa
Sally cracking us all up in th beach fales
!!!!!! I love 77 girls! !!!!
Me and the Women's committee posing with all the goods we received from a NZ grant! Yahoo sewing machines!
All the ladies sewing me new clothes..
Chickens want to sew too!!
More women sewing...you might notice the little house in the middle left with the bright tin roof...that is my house and that is the school building peeking out of the right side of the frame...nice commute eh?
Malaki helping Ella with her sewing. Does it get any cuter?
Apparently my life in Samoa is not going to slow down any time soon, not that I am complaining, but too all my devoted readers (mom) forgive me for the extended amount of time between posts. Ok so let us rewind a bit…My wonderful, crazy Godmother and her wonderful and somewhat-more sane husband came to visit me the last week of August. As always it is soooo refreshing to see familiar faces. Ricky and Diane were so gracious and def spoiled me for the entire week (oh and I loved every minute of it!). They came to see my school and watched the kids sing one day. I also took them on a tour of my island (Upolu) and the big island (Savaii) for a day. We saw fantastic beaches, blow holes, visited super-cool peace corps volunteers, and generally just had an all around good time (this is my brouchuer for people to come visit me because its just that cool here, call my secretary at “Laura’s Tours”).
After I sent them home last week, I finished up the last week of Term 2, but the fun was only just beginning…On Saturday of last weekend the girls of 77 (am referring to the 3 other girls who are the same group as me, that would be group 77, we all came together in October 2006, and while 7 boys from our group have gone home already, the girls are all still standing strong) had a little gathering. Meghan had extra vacation days so she was allowed to rent a car and the 4 of us drove/giggled around the island. We spent the night out at Lalomanu that night. It was very nice and relaxing hanging out all together…oh and kinda hilarious. I found it pretty awesome how 4 very different girls from very different backgrounds can get along so well. Yah us!
The first Monday of the break between 2nd and 3rd term was actually one of my busier days. So once upon a time I talked to the Women’s Committee in my village and they expressed interest in obtaining sewing machines in order to make clothes for their kids and possibly start a small business selling clothes and whatnot. Well, writing the grant and purchasing the sewing machines was easy, hell it was even a piece of cake getting the machines from Apia to Tafatafa, the headache we’ve been dealing with for almost a year now is getting someone to come out and teach the women proper maintenance and use of the sewing machines. After months of back and forth with various NGOs and Ministries in Apia we were finally able to convince the Ministry of Women to come out and teach a week long seminar to our women. Monday was the first day and it was amazing. The Ministry came out at 930am and stayed until 430pm. In the first day all the women (there were about 12) made a pair of shorts and a collared shirt! At the end of the day I walked around to each lady and they held up their work and told me who it was for in their family. It was so amazing looking around the room at all these women sewing clothes for their kids and husbands and knowing I had some part in that. I couldn’t really stop smiling. I left the women briefly at 2pm to walk over to the school and teach a computer class to Year 8 (even though school is on break, they still have to go because Year 8 exams are coming up in October and this is the big crunch time). All in all a very busy and satisfying day.
Rick, Crazy and I at the blowholes in Savaii
Crazy enjoying Samoa
Sally cracking us all up in th beach fales
!!!!!! I love 77 girls! !!!!
Me and the Women's committee posing with all the goods we received from a NZ grant! Yahoo sewing machines!
All the ladies sewing me new clothes..
Chickens want to sew too!!
More women sewing...you might notice the little house in the middle left with the bright tin roof...that is my house and that is the school building peeking out of the right side of the frame...nice commute eh?
Malaki helping Ella with her sewing. Does it get any cuter?
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