I have a house!

I have a house! Yeah! So I went back to my village last sunday to move in, but I don't think my fam was quite ready to let me go, so I stayed one more night in their house which was fine. Monday morning there was a matai meeting at my Samoan Dad's place and I got to be the taepo. This was exciting because that means that in this very serious meeting with all of the chiefs in my village (matai is like the chief of the family) I was the only girl and I got to mix the ava. Ava is this ground up root that they mix with water at traditonal ceremonies. The ava is put in this sort of cheese cloth and then I get to squeeze and mix it with water in this huge ava bowl. Really cool, I did OK with the help of the matai's sitting around me, except the ava ceremony part of the meeting takes about an hour and a half and my legs completely feel asleep (you have to sit cross-legged the whole time because it is rude to point your feet at people in Samoa and the 4 talking chiefs were sitting across from me and since I had the ava bowl in front of me I couldnt exactly readjust). So when the whole thing was over the matais told me to go sit by my Samoan father on the other side of the fale. Not wanting to show weakness I stood right up and discovered that my legs from my knees down no longer worked or had feeling, thus I nearly toppled over into the ava bowl before I was caught by one of the matais. Gracefull...Im going to be deported...They all laughed and I tried to explain in broken Samoan the importance of circulation to the lower parts of my extremities, but I dont think we really understood eachother...sigh
That afternoon after much anticpation I finally moved into my cute little house next to my school. I love it! It has two rooms and the first room you walk into is my bedroom/living room. The next room has my little gas stove, fridge, sink, toilet, and shower. Its so cute and I LOVE being able to cook for myself again and actually make food from home, like salads! Although, the family that lives across the street from me fines me quite interesting and I don't think they believe I actually can cook because every day they send over one of the girls who is 17 with two plates of Samoan food for me. Haha, it is so sweet. In Samoa everyone lives with a huge family usually extended relatives and all, so I think they believe I am lonely or feel sorry for me that I am alone therefore every night I have company for dinner.
Wednesday Meghan (Meka) moved into her place. She had to wait a few extra days because she is living with a family and they had relatives staying in her place. So I rode my bike down to Siumu in the afternoon to visit her. It only takes 45 min on bike! Her house is also very cute and purple and orange, but in the middle of a family compuound hence lots of people watching her all the time. Regadless, she is happy and I am happy that she is close. Jordan (from group 76 who came here in June and swore in in August) lives 15 min from Meka in the other direction from me. So we are all excited to many girls nights since we are all close and because I got my computer and 3 dvds of family guy yesterday!! I love you mom and mary, you dont even know!
Thursday the 3 of us girls decided to meet at a waterfall between where we live. That took about 30 min on my bike and it was awesome. We spent the day jumping off lava rock waterfalls into little pools about 15 feet below. It was amazing.
So all is going swingly down on the southern side of things. I am in Apia at the moment and will be heading back to my village for a bbq on the beach because it is Uncle Iese's last day before going to New Zealand tomorrow. Yeah. Family thanks again for the packages, they were amazing! I am especially excited about my Bush second term cards. You do know I technically work for that government, right? Love and kisses to all!