A Day of Rest (Written Oct 23 2005)

This was our first Sunday in the village and it was also our first day without anything school related to do in the village. Two experiences in one day – joy! Well the day started when the whole village went to falesa (church) at 9am.  My family gave me a white lavalava, white shirt and white tie to wear to church – I looked very impressive (and every family I passed along the way told me) and they gave me a Samoan bible to use (which was useless since I'm not that good at Samoan yet). The service itself was pretty much like it was in Apia, only this time it was all in Samoan. Luckily the trainers were there with us to help us through the rough spots of the service. Also, the prayer section of the service seemed to take a solid 20 minutes – I almost fell asleep a few times because it was so long and I couldn't understand what he was saying. Oh, I forgot to mention that each of us trainees arrived at Church separately and with our respective families and when each of us arrived the kids in Sunday school would turn and stare at us. We're like rock stars in this village because this is the first time they've hosted outsiders and this is the first time they've seen foreigners. Its hard to imagine living such an isolated life, but they are very content with it so God bless. Anyway, once we got done with Church we all went back home to spend time with our families. This was cool because it was a chance to hang out with my Samoan brothers for a bit. There are four of them and I only know the name of the oldest (Akaima). This afternoon time with family reminded me of why I love America – there's always something to do even when resting. And maybe that's why Samoans think we're always in a rush – we constantly need to keep our minds busy and the village life is just so slow. Later in the afternoon, all the trainees gathered back at the training center for a little studying and a lot of comparing notes about our families and a lot of us came to the same conclusion we're all city-folk, not village-folk. While a lot of our families are nice, we all feel a need to constantly interact with them and speak Samoan (even when we're tired and our brains have shut off). The person having the roughest go is Julya. Her situation is the nightmare situation everyone wanted to avoid when they came to the village. Her family is neither the healthiest or cleanest family in the village and it is definitely testing her character. Its times like this where the Peace Corps turns into the Marine Corps – no matter how great our situation, we never leave a person behind. So we have to be there for her to get her through these five weeks of hell to get to 2 years of awesomeness. While this is a test for her, its also a test for me – when I feel comfortable in my situation, will I reach out to help another trainee in need? While I can't hang out at her house (parts of the village already think we're dating – trust me, we're not), when we're altogether at the training center I can provide an ear for her to talk to. So if you could, pray that Julya can get through the next few village stays and that this experience leads to more personal growth.

After I got back from studying, I got to do something I've never done before – I got to watch TV with my brother. While the movie (Racing Stripes) wasn't something to write home about – the fact that I was watching TV with my little brother (11) was definitely a bit trippy. Once we got done with the movie, we went out onto the porch and ate freezy pops from the family store (my family runs the town store) which was cool. Even though I can barely speak Samoan – kids are kids all over the world and just hanging out together on the porch is what kids do – that was one for the books. He also taught me this game where you have 5 rocks and throw one up while picking another one off the ground (its hard to explain but easy to show – a WDE tradition). Let's just say it takes quick hands to be good at this game and my younger brothers have quick hands. So it was definitely a packed day in Falevao but the village life is not for me – it only makes me yearn for the city even more. This stay has also made me realize how I need to be connected to what's going on in the world – I can't stand being out of the global loop. I also found out that Holly (a fellow trainee) is my aunt – so I'm definitely a family man in the Corps! Uh-Ra!