In order to get everything done, I had to get an early start on the day – usually I go into town around 1-2pm, but today I went into town at about 10am. The main reason was to help out at ClickNet and spend as much time as I could with Eugene. You see, tonight is the night that Eugene and his family (Jackie, Shaka, Eva and Helen) leave Samoa and head for Tanzania (in Africa). Jackie accepted a new position there within Peace Corps and tonight they are off. Even though I've only known Eugene for a short amount of time – you know that feeling that you get when you meet someone and you automatically click with them? That's the feeling I get around Eugene – he's a fun guy and has made my last few months in country a lot more interesting. ClickNet will remain open while he is gone to help his family settle in Tanzania and he should be back in February – but of course, by that time I will be long gone. So I helped do a few odd jobs around the shop before I had to head off for lunch with Father Pio (the new principal of Chanel College).
When I headed off to have lunch with Pio, I ran into Kirstin – a member of Peace Chapel – and we had an interesting conversation about Lorna and Zonder's wedding on Friday. The main point of discussion was what to get them – in Samoa they do not have wedding registry's so that makes it amazingly hard to find the right gift for a couple. I went with the universal gift – money – but Kirstin was having trouble figuring out what to buy the couple. So we went over household goods and the traditional toaster and stuff but still couldn't come up with something concrete. Once we came to a standstill in terms of gifts to buy, I ran around town for a bit more before running into Kirstin again and this time she asked if I had ever seen her office. Kirstin is a lawyer and since I have never been in need of a lawyer in Samoa (Thank goodness), I didn't even know where her office was. It is literally right around the corner from ClickNet, so I decided I should probably see this place at least once. From the outside you would think it was a pretty small place, but once you step inside it's absolutely massive and look's just like a corporate law office back in the states – I was really impressed. So we went into Kirstin's office and saw where she spends a lot of time – she's a bit of a workaholic sometimes – and her office was huge as well. I knew she had a law degree from the University of Auckland, but I also found out she has a degree in Arts from the University of Auckland as well. Also, since Samoa has been influenced by New Zealand who in turn have been influenced by the British, a lot of the law traditions have a British background. This comes into play because I saw a robe hanging in the corner of Kirstin's office and asked her what it was for – apparently she has to wear a robe when she argues a case in court. I asked her if she had to wear those puffy white wigs and she said that they had just gotten rid of that practice not to long ago. She explained to me the background the robe and wig, but it's still interesting to see that stuff still be used in courts today.
Time was flying by so fast today that I was like 20 minutes late for our meetup at Seafood Gourmet, but I arrived just before he left to go back home. For the past week or so, Pio has been entertaining his mom and aunt from Fiji and I have been busy during the evenings most nights, so we decided to have a farewell lunch instead of farewell dinner. Since Pio said I could have anything I wanted, I got the striploin steak that Seafood Gourmet offered – this was the first time I ordered it during my two years here (even though I come to Seafood Gourmet a lot) and it was absolutely delicious. Pio and I talked about his plans for the school next year and how he will motivate the teachers – he's promoted 3 of the teachers already – and supposedly has all the teachers for next year in place already. I also found out that none of the priests coming in next year will be Samoan (the first time in a long time that has occurred). Pio will be stationed at Chanel College for at least 6 years, so if I can come back to Samoa within the next 5 years he should still be here. During my lunch with Pio, Stephanie (Group 76) came by to say goodbye. She was in town with a few of her kids from Manono – apparently she was taking them on a little adventure day in Apia as a reward for the stop students at the primary school on Manono. She took them to McDonald's, then Skippy's and to the movies – it was about 5 kids so it wasn't a cheap reward. It was strange saying goodbye to Stephanie because she's one of the first volunteers that I came into contact with through my blog first before actually meeting her. So a year and a half after her arrival, I'm leaving her and her group is now the senior group – it's the circle of Peace Corps life.
After the lunch, I went back to the shop for a bit before Eugene gave me a ride over to his house to see the kids before one last time. Man, it was surreal walking into their house and seeing all their stuff gone (their major items were packed earlier this week and will take about 3-4 weeks to get to Tanzania). The house was just bear and that's when it really began to hit me that they were moving – this wasn't a bad dream, it was really happening. Fortunately, I didn't have to say goodbye just yet – Jackie asked if I wanted to see them off at the airport and I was like 'Sure, that'll allow me not to say goodbye for a bit longer'. I had to go home though because I had a dinner appointment with Glenn and Gardenia (a couple from Peace Chapel that I am really close to). So I was dropped off at home by Jackie, got a bit of a rest and then 20 minutes later Glenn, Gardenia and Genius (Gardenia's brother) came by to pick me up. For dinner we went to my favorite restaurant of the last few days – Seafood Gourmet! I didn't go with the steak this time – I care about my health – and just went with the seafood platter. Even though I've known Glenn and Gardenia for most of my 2 years here, this was the first time that we had gone out and had dinner together. It was pretty nice and we had interesting conversations about food, social networks (Bebo is the most used social network in this part of the world) and movies (Glenn is a huge movie buff). It was a good time and a lot of fun – we went to about 10pm and literally shut Seafood Gourmet down…we're such a partying bunch! After dinner they dropped me off back home and I had about 30 minutes of downtime before I was picked up by Papu (a Peace Corps driver) to take me back down to Jackie/Eugene's house.
I arrived at the house and helped with the loading of the Peace Corps vehicles with their stuff. After doing one more run through of the house to make sure there was nothing left, we were on our way to the airport. The dividing of people into the vehicles was pretty funny – Jackie originally wanted Eva and Shaka to ride with her and Eugene and I would ride in the same vehicle. The kids were like 'We want to ride with Marques', so we had to rearrange the seating and the kids ended up riding with Eugene and I in one car. 45 minutes later we were at the airport and helping to unload their stuff. Peni and Thea, a Samoan couple Jackie and Eugene are close to also came along to the airport. I was afraid that the folks who came to the airport would drop them off and then head home (their flight did not depart until 2:30am) but fortunately, they stayed until the very end. Sii – a Peace Corps staff member – also stayed to help Jackie/Eugene get all their luggage and stuff properly onto the plane (in the states, she use to work for Delta Airlines so she's pretty knowledgeable about airplane luggage and how to get through the red tape). The Check-in process took about 30 minutes, so at around 12am we were just sitting around enjoying each others company for the last time. I really appreciated being able to spend a lot of time with kids (Shaka, Eva and Helen) – I'm going to miss them. We also noted that there is an internet café at the airport – sponsored by SamoaTel –and they charge 5 tala for 15 minutes, 10 tala for 30 minutes and 20 tala for an hour. That's just plain highway robbery right there.
After an hour and a half of waiting, the time had finally arrived. This was my first major goodbye during my time here (while it's hard to say goodbye to members of my group, I know I can/will see them again. With this family, I don't know if I will – I hope I will, but it's not guaranteed). There were a lot of tears and hugs…I will really miss Shaka, felt like he was a little brother to me. And I still remember meeting Eva for the first time during training when she would come up to me and hit me all the time (that's how I know kids like me, when they attack me for no reason). I thanked Jackie for all her help over the past 2 years and being a great and motivated APCD. Of course, the hardest goodbye was Eugene – it's going to be tough not hearing his laugh or being able to joke with him at the shop. He once said one of the main reasons he opened the shop was to get his mind working again – well, he got my mind and my excitement working again over the last few months. He wants to open a ClickNet in Tanzania – hopefully that happens and if I ever make it to Tanzania, I will check it out. If you know me, you know I don't cry to often and I was just fighting back the tears. I almost caved when Shaka turned back around to wave goodbye but I was able to hold on. It's still hard for me to believe that they are gone – that I won't be able to go to their house and see them. Such is the life of Peace Corps and man does it suck! I got home at about 3am and was just dead tired. This is of course good news because I have to get up early and help with the grand finale of my Peace Corps adventure…Lorna and Zonder's wedding.
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