Breakthrough (Written 11/21/05)

Today was our first day of language in the village for our 3^rd stay and it was all language – all the time. So a pretty mundane day – right? Combine that with a village that couldn't buy a breeze if they were on sale and you've got a day where you have a hard time learning and retaining things. Well the highlight of my day came when Silao (our training manager) came into our classroom to see how we were doing and also to give us a copy of the EAP (Emergency Action Plan) that we're suppose to go over before our mock simulation tonight. Well on top of the folder the brochures came in was a letter from Fono (our Safety and Security director and the guy who will run the simulation tonight) written in Samoan. So I was looking at it and Silao jokingly said "You can't read it" and I took that as a challenge and you know how I am when people say I can't do something. So I got the paper, and with Bob's help, was able to translate the letter without help from the trainers. While we didn't translate it word for word, we were able to pull the basic information out of the letter. Both Silao and our teacher for this week, Leata, were impressed by our translating skills. I was also impressed because we had no clue what the letter said but still were able to read it – something we would have not been able to do 7 weeks ago so we're definitely making progress as we head for our language exam in two weeks. So that was definitely a nice way to highlight an unbearably hot/humid day in the valley. So I'll be back in a few to tell you about our EAP Consolidation activity – there's a cyclone coming we have to prepare for! J