The Final Days (Written 12/12/05)

Well before I get to today, let me tell you about my Sunday real quick. It was obviously our first Sunday back in Apia and you know what that means for me – Football. So I woke up early and Josh and I went to the Kofi Haus to watch the early game. We got there in time to see the Colts vs. Jags game and while it was a blowout it was good to be able to see at least one of the Colts games during their attempt at an undefeated season. Also during the game Josh and I went to the nearby McDonald's to get some breakfast/lunch and it really felt like I was hanging out with friends back home – that's exactly the kind of feeling I needed after 3 weeks of the village. Who knew that McDonalds would be the source of normalcy during my time here – but it won't be a regular part since the value meals cost $15.50 tala here (which is like $7 in the states) and there is no such thing as a $1 tala menu. Once Josh found out that Minnesota won and Chicago lost, he went back to the hotel and soon enough Bryan came in to watch some of the second game with me (Cowboys vs. Chiefs) and that was a good game, especially the ending. What was really cool about the game was that I basically got to watch a full day of football (except for the Sunday game which didn't sound to appealing) with two of my favorite people in the group – who could have asked for a more relaxing day. Watching football with Peace Corps Volunteers who care about football – wow! Something I was not expecting from my experience here.

Now onto today – it was kind of a blah day, going through a few of the little details before we swear-in on Wednesday. We can really feel things slowing down and our energy is just gone because we're so close to the end. So we met the office staff today (which we have seen throughout our training but don't really know) and then we went to the Nutrition center to find out how to eat healthy in Samoa, They encouraged us to build our own gardens and to avoid eating a lot of pulagi foods here because they're both expensive and unhealthy for you. While my living situation would not be conducive to starting a personal garden, I'll do my best to eat healthy here somehow – wish me luck. At the very least, I'll lose weight because I don't cook a lot and thus won't eat a lot! The nutrition session took up the rest of the morning into the afternoon and we came back to the hotel at about 1pm and basically had the rest of the day off after a mini life and work session with Kevin. That's when I did the massive posting to my blog and then came back to hotel to rest for a bit. The fun part of the night came when I went to the Kofi Haus again to watch the Monday night game between the Falcons and the Saints but for some reason they played the game live here and I missed the end of it so next time I have to get there at around 3pm in order to see if they're doing it live or on tape-delay. But when I got there, there were people from Group 74 there having dinner and I was able to sit down and have a nice little chat with them. The thing that was cool about it was that it felt like I was sitting down and talking to old friends and it didn't feel awkward at all – which is something I could not have said 3 months ago. Also, I got to watch Around the Horn for the first time in 3 months, and being able to talk with guys who were interested in it like I am was simply a Godsend! But there are only 49 volunteers here, so at some point I had to get comfortable with some of the volunteers already here – it was just strange to have that feeling right before we sworn in as actual volunteers. I hung out there for a bit, but then walked over to Italiano with John (from Group 74 – a UGA Alum) for the farewell dinner for Emma & Travis, two volunteers from Group 71, who were leaving later on tonight. Again, the same feeling came over me again as I sat with the group of people there – that we were friends and they considered those of us from Group 75 members of the volunteer community even though technically we weren't. It seems that over the 3 months prior we've just built a good relationship with these guys that they like hanging out with us – and as a trainee, that's a great feeling to have. The cool kids like you! But it was also strange realizing that in about 6 months time we'll be doing this exact thing for Group 72 – and we'll keep doing it until it's our turn. Crazy! Every time you say hello to a new person you have to say goodbye to someone – it's a vicious Peace Corps life cycle. Fortunately we've got a big gap between now and the next group we have to say goodbye too – enough time to get comfortable with our Samoan lifestyles.

Also, I realized another trick to make my stay in Samoan not feel as long as it's going to be. We will only be in Samoa for complete football season (college and pro) because we came in halfway through this season and when we leave in 07 we'll leave before the end of the NFL season and the end of the college season which are the BCS bowls. So one football season, that's not to shabby. Anyway, the clock is ticking on our time as trainees – tomorrow is our last day before the big S-I! And it seems that almost everyone who is in country will be there, I hope that says something about how our group has reached out to people rather then the good food that's going to be there. J Anyways, I'm tired and need some sleep – talk to you l8r.