First of all, on Saturday we had International Volunteer Day (IVD) which was held at St. Joseph's College (the same college Ryan and Charles work at). It was a day where a lot of the international volunteer agencies (Peace Corps, JICA, Australian Youth) along with some local Non-Governmental Agencies (NGO) got together to show unity but also get their message across about what their organization does. It was also a chance for us to share little bits of our culture with Samoans on a larger scale then just trying to influence our communities. The two Peace Corps related NGO's were there as well – Avanoa Tutosa and Taimaiti Malosi (Strong Women), so Peace Corps was just all over the place. We also did two sports related activities with the Samoans – the first part of the day, some of the Peace Corps volunteers played a game of softball against the Samoan softball developmental team….and the volunteers got their butts whooped! I didn't see the whole game, but the Samoans were batting with authority and pitching well – I think they are getting ready to compete in the South Pacific Games next year, so they are looking real good right now. I wonder if we had like an elimination style tournament, who would win – JICA, Samoans, Peace Corps or Australians?!?! Anyway, they played softball in the hot sun for a little over an hour to two hours and thus when the game was over, a lot of the volunteers were just dead tired. Unfortunately for me, I was in charge of trying to organize flag football for the second half of the day and since almost all the volunteers were dead tired – it was looking like I was going to have to do it myself. Fortunately, Jeff (Group 77) volunteered to help me out in getting it organized and Jan (Group 76) wanted to play so she could help as well. Since it was almost the end of the day when we started, I really didn't expect to get that many people to play – but the weather and the Samoans were good to us: the weather was overcast (i.e. no sun) and we had about 11 people playing on both sides, so we ended up having more then enough people. Jeff and I played all time QB just to help run everything a little better. This game of flag football went a lot better then the first one, it didn't turn into a game of rugby like 3 seconds after we threw the ball – but once again, this proved that it's going to be hard to teach these folks who are so use to rugby how to play football, but it shall be done!
The best part of the whole flag football deal was the fact that after playing only an hour of flag football – these folks were tired! Now, I know you're probably saying "I would be tired to after playing an hour of flag football", yes yes I know – but some Samoans play rugby for hours on end without getting so tired they quit, but that happened when we played flag, thus proving it's not as easy at it looks. Even when you don't get the ball or aren't going to get the ball, you still have to run at full speed – which isn't always the case in rugby. I think that was the highlight of my day on Saturday – they were tired!
Now, I know it's been a while since I talked about football – but I just have to talk about what a great game Monday night was – if you were a Chicago Bears fan (and from the sound of the crowd there, apparently St. Louis is full of Chicago Bears fans). It was just awesome being able to see my Bears dismantle the Rams and clinch a first round bye. This time last year I was just lost and confused in terms of what was happening in the NFL and now I can at least watch two games a week – how awesome is that. While this team may not be good enough to make it to SuperBowl, if they don't face Carolina/Steve Smith in the first round, they should be good enough to make it to the conference championship…and if they do, I will have to find a TV in New Zealand to watch their game. For a Chicago fan who was only 4 when the Bears won their last SuperBowl, for them to be able to clinch the division two years in a row, clinch a first round bye and possibly homefield advantage – it's feeling a lot like Christmas!
Now on Wednesday, we officially welcomed Group 77 into the ranks of the volunteer community – they're a part of the family now! Apparently, the Capacity Building groups (the odd number groups) are the only ones capable of getting all their people through training – Group 77 was able to accomplish that feat. It looks like Group 75 started a very nice trend – but will they be able to get all their people through 2 years of service…now there's the rub. They once again had their swearing-in ceremony in the village – this time Ma'asina – so I didn't feel like spending half a day doing that, but I did go to their swearing in party later that night. Unlike Group 76, I felt I knew a lot of this group better before they became volunteers which helped during the party because there were fewer awkward conversations and moments – that or I'm becoming more social. Nah, must be because I know them. Anyway, Sarah and Vik (Group 76) put together a nice little swearing in party slideshow sort of as a get to know you for the current volunteers and a "Do you remember the trainees/volunteers name?" – it was actually a lot of fun and allowed the new volunteers to learn a little bit about the older volunteers at the same time.
And now, we (Group 75) have officially been volunteers for one year – it's crazy man. I knew I would get to this moment, but it's still a crazy thought to know I've literally been in country (without a break) for one year. We are now the junior group – not quite at the top of the heap and yet not quite wet behind the ears either, it's a good mix. One thing that I remember thinking about a year ago was "which group (outside of my own) would I be closer to at this point?" and I think someone told me it's usually the same group that came in during your year – so for me it would be Group 74 – and during the swearing in party, I realized that was true. Because we have been in country the longest now and are the two "oldest and wisest" groups, you do feel a sort of bond with the same year groups that just can't be replicated with the newer groups. Don't get me wrong, we'll still click with all the new volunteers but Group 74 and 75 have about a 9 month lead on the newer groups. So it was one year ago today that we were just fresh faces on a wild and crazy island and now we're just wise old volunteers who know the ropes…it's definitely a different feeling. But with the end of the volunteer refreshment season, it shall be a good time of bonding with Groups 76 and 77. The end is not near yet…except for the end of my time in Samoa. I'm leaving in 2 weeks…..for….New Zealand! Tick tock baby!
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