Goodbye Samoa!

Well, Im back in the exact place where I started this adventure some 27 months ago...my parents kitchen table.  Who knows if Im any wiser, but Im definitely older.  I wrote the following post the day I was moving out of my house in Tafatafa (11/21/08).  Thank you everyone for your love and support over the last 2 years.  I may or may not start a new blog, Ill let you all know, but for now the Samoan adventure has sadly come to end....enjoy the last blog!

How did this happen? There is no way I have been here for 2 years. I am currently sitting on the floor of my now semi-empty house.  Of course I waited until the last minute to pack (5am the day I am getting picked up).  The Peace Corps car will be here soon to move me out of Tafatafa…for good.  It doesn’t seem real at all.  This was such a wonderful and humbling experience…and incredibly frustrating and heart-breaking as well.  Most of all I will miss the kids from my school and a certain 6 year old boy in particular.  They taught me so much in the way of patience and love. 

Yesterday I had my goodbye “party” with the school.  I was doing ok until I had to say goodbye to the sea of big brown eyes.  I remember when I first came to that same room 2 years ago and all those eyes bore into me with unabashed curiosity.  In 2 years I fell in love with each and every one of them.  Samoan children are so full of life and many of the adults try to beat that out of them at an early age.  I tried to give them an opportunity to be who they wanted to be and to think for themselves, but in the end I think I was the one who learned from them.  They showed me how to take joy in the little things in life and to laugh at my mistakes.  To have to look into all those big brown eyes and say goodbye…well I’ve done easier things in my life.

It really has been a long and strange trip.  How do you just leave a place like this?  How do you just say goodbye to people you have lived with, worked with, bent over backwards for, cried with, yelled at, laughed with and just sat and talked to about everything and nothing in particular?  I guess there probably is no right or wrong way to leave, so I won’t.  I hope a part of me will live on in those big brown eyes.  I hope they stand up for what they want, read books from their new library, learn to type on their new computers and ask questions without feeling shameful for not knowing the answer. 

“Who can say if I’ve been changed for the better, but because I knew you I’ve been changed for good.”

But before I get into the swampy area of complete corniness (hmm maybe too late), I’ll hop off my soap box and clean out my fridge which has a faint smell of rotten fish and moldy cheese.  I won’t be able to post this until I get home as Mary and Dad don’t know I am coming home for Thanksgiving, Mom and I tried to surprise them, we’ll see how it goes…Thanks Samoa for the tears, laughter, patience, smiles, vailimas, friendships and 20 extra pounds. 

Signing off from Tafatafa…I’m out!

On the plane..they actually let us on
Me with baby Dan who was Meg's (unbelievably cute) nephew at the airport
Dave, Samoa and I.  My last dinner.  They made me a pig and sashimi..mmm
My (actually Dave's) beach
Seb (Dave's son) and Dave, shaving the pig for dinner
Sina and Nerisa (my BFF in the vil).  Mom gave Nerisa that shirt
The kids peaking into the office
Issac and Malaki

And the 2008 Book List is:

1/22/08 - Heart of Darfur, Lisa French Blaker - This is written by a Kiwi nurse who did Doctors without Borders in Darfur.  Not the happiest book, but I really enjoyed it

2/3/08 - Friday Night Lights, H.G. Bissinger - Not so much about football as it was about how messed up this little Texas town was in the 80s, very interesting

2/11 - Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, J.K. Rowling - Had to re-read it because its just that good

2/19 - The Clan of the Cave Bear, Jean M. Auel - I love Ayla!!  Very cool book to read when living in a culture that doesn't get you and you don't really get them

2/25 - Northern Lights, Philip Pullman - This was the beginning of my fantasy stage.  Very much enjoyed it

2/27 - The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe, C.S. Lewis - Classic

3/4 - The Other Side of Haight, James Fadiman - A novel about living in California in the 60s...I've read better

3/24 - Living Poor: A Peace Corps Chronical, Mortiz Thomsen - By a guy who did the "real" PC back in the 60s in South America.  Made me realize how much better we have it, pretty funny too

4/3 - History's Worst Decisions: and the People who made them, Stephen Weir - So promising and so disappointing

4/15 - The Valley of the Horses, Jean M. Auel - Part 2 from Clan of the Cavebear.  First book was better, but still kinda entertaining

5/31 - The Hobbit, JRR Tolkien - Classic, loved it

6/11 - Prince Caspian, C.S. Lewis - Wanted to read it before the movie came out.  Fun

6/16 - Stranger in a Strange Land (unedited version), Robert Heinlein - Wow!  I mean really made me rethink a lot of things.  Im currently recommending this to anyone and everyone, so read it

6/24 - The Subtle Knife, Philip Pullman - 2nd of the Dark Materials trilogy.  Good

7/20 - D-Day, Stephen Ambrose - Started out good, ended up dry

7/23 - Into Thin Air, Jon Krakauer - My first Krakauer experience...loved it!

7/30 - Three Cups of Tea, Greg Mortenson and David Oliver Relin - Mortenson got lost after climbing K2 and then decided to spend the rest of his life building schools in Pakistan...umm cool!  Helping people is neat

8/8 - The Amber Spyglass, Philip Pullman - Last of the trilogy.  Between this book and Stanger I think these were the most influential books I read this year.  Very cool

8/14 - Into the Wild, Jon Krakauer - Kid wonders around doing cool stuff, but kinda dumb about it and gets himself killed in Alaska...not a bad book though

8/27 - The Mammoth Hunters, Jean M. Auel - 3rd book from Clan, this is where it starts to get trashy and stupid

9/23 - Acts of Faith, Philip Caputo - A novel about aide workers in Africa.  AMAZING!  Very intense but soooo good!

10/2 - Infidel, Ayaan Hirsi Ali -  Muslim woman who ran away from her family.  Also just an amazing story and its true!  Ayaan is pretty much my hero

10/19 - All Quiet on the Western Front, Erich Maria Remarque - Been meaning to read this one forever.  Novel about boys in WWI, beautifully written and very sad.

10/29 - Under the Banner of Heaven, Jon Krakauer - History of Mormons and the inspiration of my halloween costume.  If you want to get really mad at the stupidity of certain humans, go ahead and read it, I dare you.

Currently reading Until Proven Innocent which is about the Duke Lacrosse boys who got severely screwed over by their own college and the American judicial system back in 2006.  Also a book that makes me a little bit angry, but I promise other than that I am really very happy.

Hope you all enjoy my reads and if you have any comments about my reviews or suggestions for my 2009 reading list I would be more than happy to hear them!