The Connexion Champs (Written 7/13/07)

Today was a beautiful day in Samoa – not only did it not rain, but today was a day off for me because it was time for the 'Champ of Champs'. The Champ of Champs is the 3^rd leg of school athletics for the 2^nd term: We began with inter-house athletics, then moved onto Zones and now we were at the third part of the trilogy. As before, I used this opportunity to do the best thing possible – sleep in. I woke up a little bit later then usual but I had to get in town by 9am. Yesterday, when I went to the Peace Corps office I found out that I had a package waiting for me at the post office and since Friday is kind of busy around town, I wanted to get it and get out of town as quickly as possible.

So I went and tried to catch a bus, but as is usually the case when you want a bus to be there – it's not there. Instead, I got a ride into town from a Samoan woman who I didn't even know – she just saw me waiting for the bus and kindly offered me a ride. I think that's the 2^nd time I've gotten a ride from someone I didn't know in this country – one per year. So with the ride, I got to the post office at around 9:03am. Now I was hoping against hope that this would be a quick in and out kind of deal – but I quickly remembered where I was and knew it wasn't going to happen as quickly as I wanted it to. On the card they give us, it says we can pick up packages between 9am-11am and 1pm-3pm (so only a 4 hour window to pick up your packages). Well in order to pick up your package, a customs agent has to be there to – I don't really know WHY they have to be there. They never do anything other then look at the slip and have us sign something (I think if I wasn't with the Peace Corps I would have to pay a duty for getting the package – but the regular post office folks could handle that). So even though I arrived there when the card stated, the customs agent wasn't there – so I had to wait. About 15 minutes after I arrived Meghan (Group 77) arrived to also pickup a package – so we waited together for another 15 minutes. Now around this time, one of the regular post office workers saw that we were kinda getting impatient and went to get our packages for us – but he couldn't give them to us until the 'all-seeing' customs agent arrived. The funny thing Meghan and I realized is that the customs agent would show up at 9:30am but probably still leave at 11pm (changing the start time but keep the same finishing time and inconvenience folks in the process). A few minutes before the customs agent came in, Liva – a Peace Corps driver – also rolled into the post office to pick up a package. Apparently, he got the memo that the custom agent arrives at 9:30am despite what the card says. So the agent did finally arrive and as I stated all they did was look at the slip that came with package, had me sign a book and I got my package – not exactly a reason to have one 'trained' person for the task. Anyway, neither of the packages were for me but intended to help folks in Samoa. One was for Josh's Samoan family and the other were some keyboards/mice for my school which came from my mom's law firm – these were greatly needed because our last shipment of computers didn't come with mice and keyboards (and thus has kind of hindered the improvement of the fourth lab). So with Liva picking up a package as well, Meghan and I were able to catch a ride back to the Peace Corps office instead of having to take a taxi – which was a greatly blessing, because it was HOT today.

So after spending a bit of time at the office, I also ran into Sara and Holly. So all 4 of us (Meghan, Holly, Sara and myself) headed to Apia Park for the Champ of Champs. There were a ton of kids there – but oddly enough it wasn't as packed as I thought it would be. Every secondary school in Samoa was represented there – which meant that a lot of Peace Corps who worked at those schools were also at the Park – Dylan, Robert, Amos, Aaron. Now during the Zones I talked about a school that was flying around the American flag – and I didn't get that at all. They were back this time but I found out who they were – they were Lefifi College and apparently they are known as the Eagles (and apparently the US is the only country with an eagle as their national bird). This time their athletes were also wearing blue shirts with a US Shield on the chest (think of the shield that Captain America might use). So it was good to find out why Samoans would be flying my flag at an athletic event. The strangest part is how my perspective on the games might have been different last year (Champ of Champs didn't happen last year because Apia Park was being renovated for the South Pacific Games this year) since the only school I knew was my own. But this year I know kids from my school, Faatuatua College (the kids I tutor for computer go there), Samoa College (a lot of kids from Peace Chapel go to Samoa College), St Mary's College and St. Joseph's College (our fellow catholic schools). It was definitely quite an experience, but I was a bit tracked out after the Zones and there was nothing really new happening in these events. We got there at about 11am – some students had been there since 5am – and the sun was just blazing hot. But I did what I set out to do – show my face to my students, let them know I was here and supporting them and took some pictures. When I went to take pictures of one of our students doing the discus, I ran into a former student of mine from Year 12 last year – Kuwait. He is currently going to Lefifi College (the one with the American flag) so it was good to see him again – he was one of my better students from last year and I had always wondered what happened to him. Thank goodness he's still going to college!

After about an hour and a half, I was kind of burned out and had enough track & field for the day – so Candice, Sara, myself and a teacher from St. Mary's went to have lunch at Seafood Gourmet (the one near the Peace Corps office – which mom really liked on her visit here). When we walked into the restaurant, I got the surprise of the day – I ran into Dennis and Moira Wilson. If you don't remember them, I met them last year while they were visiting Samoa. I know them through their son, Cecil, who reads my blog and will be coming to Samoa next week to start working here for a while. It was quite amazing encountering them because they had literally just got in the country on Wednesday and were planning to come up and see me when Cecil arrived. The strange part was that it felt like I was seeing an old friend – because when they left last year they said 'We'll see you next year' and I was like 'Ok, sure' but here we are a year later and they not only remember me but Moira gave me a mom like hug which was just awesome. So good times and can't wait to finally meet Cecil. Anyways – Sara, Candice, myself and the St. Mary's teacher all had fish burgers and Seafood Gourmet has one of the best fish burgers in the country – so it was a good filling lunch. After lunch, the three ladies went back to St. Mary's while I headed to the Peace Corps office – I had to do something later in the day, so it made no sense for me to go back home.

So since I was hanging out at the Peace Corps office after a sweaty, muggy athletic day…that meant only one thing: a hot shower! While it wasn't quite as hot as it usually is, it was so much better then the freezing cold shower I would have taken back at my house. So I basically hung out the office and rested for the majority of the day until about 6pm.

Then at 6pm, I headed to Peace Chapel for a youth ministry rally called 'The Connexion'. The Peace Chapel youth are starting to grow, so this event tonight was about bringing their non-believing friends to the rally to show them what being a Christian is all about. This was my first time going to the youth ministry for Peace Chapel, but it definitely felt welcoming and just reconfirmed the love that I have for kids – and helping them grow in their faith. While a lot of the kids there were from Peace Chapel, they did bring their non-Christian friends and one of the kids there was a boy named Shaka. Shaka is the son of Jackie, one of our assistant country directors, and is about 12 or 13 years old. Since he doesn't regularly go to Peace Chapel, he doesn't know a lot of our kids so I went over to hang out with him during parts of the service. The cool thing was he didn't know I was coming, so when I sat down next to him he gave me like one of the biggest smiles you could ever imagine – that was just cool to see that look of happiness from him. Alesi gave the Word, speaking about how God has a unique purpose for each of us and after the Word was given, she gave some of the kids an opportunity to give their lives to Christ. The first person up for the altar call was Shaka – I was so happy for him. We've got a new member to the Christian family! Definitely made coming to this youth rally worth it just to see him come to Christ. So odds are I'll be helping out with the youth ministry on Friday nights – gotta be a good example for the next generation of Christians.

All in all, I have to say it was probably the best Friday the 13^th I have ever had. Instead of being a day of doom and gloom, it felt like a day of connecting and renewal. Definitely a day – and a smile – worth remembering. L8r.