Lost in translation

I don't even know where to begin. I don't think the best writer in the world could even begin to describe the last week of my life. So, I guess I will apologize to everyone at home because much of this blog will be lost in translation.
We arrived in the small village of Ma'asina last Saturday afternoon. The village is maybe a quarter of a mile long with all of the fales lined along a road looking out on a large ocean bay. Behind the houses is a massive mountain covered with rainforests and a massive rock cliff on the right side. There are also 2 gorgeous waterfalls streaming down the side of the mountain. It was probably the most overwhelming and unbelievable place I have ever seen. When our vans pulled into the village we were ushered into a sort of fale, which is basically a large room with a roof and no walls right next to the water. The people of Ma'asina were waiting for us and we had a traditional ava ceremony. Afterwards the women brought us breadfruit mixed with some sort of sugary mixture and coconut juice. At this point my buddy Chris who was sitting next to me leaned over and suggested that we pour a little coconut juice out for the poor peace corps volunteers in Kazikstan. After our light snack, our trainers announced our names and our host family names and we grabbed our luggage and headed to our host family's houses. Sally and I were paired together again and our host family lives pretty much right across the street from out training fale/center. Our compound is made up of 3 fales and a little cook shack of sorts in the back. Walking up to the house was totally overwhelming and exhilirating. There were children, pigs, chickens, dogs, and cats running everywhere. There is a nice little volleyball court in the front and most of the area in between the houses and behind them is covered in lava rocks. We went inside the first house where our host mother and father's room was. Our host father is the talking chief of the village and our host mother is so happy and animated. Neither of them speak any english...or they haven't spoken any to us yet. When we walked into this house we walked into a big sort of living room I guess, which is where we ended up having all of our meals. Our host parents room was off to the right. If you walked straight across the room you would go into the kitchen area and then Sally's room was the second one on the right. Continuing through the house you can walk out the back door and take a sharp right to head over to the fale where I lived. My fale was pretty much a big room with no walls, except for my room which was all closed in. My room was a very nice size with a mosquito net and a mattress on the floor. Our toilet and shower were right behind the house I stayed in. After we dropped off our bags we went out front to play frisbee with some of the kids. Between 6-630 the church bells sounds for everyone to go the their houses for evening lotu (prayer). After about 15-20 min my host brother blew a conch shell which signaled that everyone should be in their houses. This is then followed by about 30 min of prayer. My first experience with this evening lotu was completely overwhelming (sorry I know I keep using the same adjective, but it is really all i can think of to describe the situation). There I was sitting on a floor in this fale next to the ocean surrounded by wonderful Samoans who have graciously taken us into their houses. They have so very little, but yet they were all so happy and thankful for eachother and everything that they do have. I was just so in awe of their way of life I almost cried about 5 times. After lotu was dinner. In Samoa it is tradition for guests to eat first while everyone else stares at you. We also ate on the floor siting cross legged. At any rate, we tried to not seem awkward and stumbled through dinner with our 4-5 Samoan phrases.
I think that most of you would not be surprised to hear that after a week in the village my best friend is an 8 year-old (her name is Saliuega and she is the bomb!). But, some of you might be a little surprised that I spent my Saturday night sitting in a Catholic church with about 10 Samoan children screaming samoan songs at the top of their longs. It was awesome! They wanted to "teach" us the songs before church the next day...It was hilarious! I also must confess that i fell in love with a Samoan while I was in the village. His name is Vitale and he is the son of my host brother. And also he is apporx 1 1/2 years old and the CUTEST thing I have ever laid eyes on. When ever he would see me he would just sort of have this blank stare and then I would smile at him and he would jsut get this huge grin across his face, everytime!! One of the last days of the week I was going to class and I gave him a hug goodbye and he actually cried when I left! When we left the village at the end of the week I tried to smuggle him out with me, unfortunately I got caught.
It rained a lot during the week, but we were able to take walks after lunch most days and by the end of the week almost everyone knew us and would wave and call "Malo Lola ma Seli" when we walked by.
We have our volunteer visit this week where we go and stay with other volunteers for a few days and observe their life and work. I believe I am going to Savai'i which is the "big" island. I think I will be taking the 1 1/2 ferry tomorrow morning. I can't wait to check out Savai'i and hang out with the PCV's there. But for now it is back to class in Apia.