Prizegiving (Written 11/30/05)

Today was kind of a blah day in school today. We had to present a project about different community ideas based upon observations and other HR related terms. Even though we covered a wide variety of topics from domestic violence, to special needs in Falevao to promoting self-reading (no one in this village seems to read for leisure than if they do read it's only the bible and they do it by a schedule) almost all of us started our projects on Sunday (even though we've known about the assignment for about 3 weeks – takes me back to my college days) and Kevin was impressed by the topics we covered. Goes to show that even in the Peace Corps the mantra of "work smart, not hard" still holds water.

The real fun did not begin until 6pm (6:30pm island time) when I went to the prize giving ceremony for Satuala (my 5 year old brother).

 

Satuala, isn't he the cutest!

 

This was the first special event for someone one in my family, so you know I had to be there. So prize giving is a mix between a graduation and a huge celebration for the kids, but it was not even close to what a US graduation looks like. There was singing, dancing, speech and a swimsuit contest – it looked like a Ms. Falevao pageant was going on. About half of the trainees were there and by the way we were taking pics you would have thought we were parents. Oddly enough, even though I've known Satuala for only four weeks now – I definitely wanted to be there to support him and take lots of pictures. Also, I found out the last name of my family – Sione. So in Samoa, my name is Matusi Sione or MS – just like in the states. After the kids were done with the main part of prize giving, each of the kids came up individually and danced ( surrounded by family and friends) as people put money in a bucket for them (at the end of the event, they read how much each child had "earned" but I don't know where the money goes). While I didn't siva (dance) [there was a lack of men there and I'm saving my energy for our own FiaFia on Saturday] Julya went up there on 4 different occasions. And the crowd absolutely loved it.

 

Julya and Candice getting down

 

My family liked it so much that when I got back home they said that Julya and I should be uo ("friends") which when said about someone of the opposite means to date them. Had to shut that one down real quick – so if you come to Samoa and someone asks to be your "friend" make sure they don't mean "uo" otherwise you could be in a sticky situation. This pre-school prize giving was not over until 10:30pm (way past my bed time) and by the time it was over at some point the entire village had shown up for this event. Instead of a diploma Satuala got a gift package which included legos and some candy because next year he starts going to the primary school in the village – so that should be a lot of fun for him (he'll be at the same school as his two older brothers). In all,  it ended up being a better night than I expected and I was very glad to be there and share the experience with my Samoan family. L8r.