Zones of Samoa (Written 6/21/07)

Yesterday (Wednesday) was another glorious day we teachers like to call – a break. No, we didn't get a break for a national holiday or anything of that sort…we got a holiday for sports. It seems that this is the time of year where the schools hold events called 'Zones' in which the best athletes from each of the colleges (high schools) in Samoa compete against other schools in their Zones (kind of like a division matchup in football). Chanel College is in Zone A which includes St. Mary's (where Sara/Candice are). The inter-house athletics that we had last week plays into the Zones because the best athletes from those inter-house competitions are then placed into the Zones competition. We are in Zone A, St. Joseph (where Ryan/Holly/Charles are) and Faatuatua (the school of the kids I tutor) are in Zone B – so we had our competition on Wednesday and Zone B was today (Thursday).

So as is my way, I didn't go down to Apia Park at the same time as everyone else. Instead, I took the time to just take it a little bit easy – give myself a haircut (that's the beauty of going with the lowcut haircut…easy to maintain and it can be done at any time) and then I headed down to the office for a little morning internet time before heading to the park. While I was at the office, I ran into Sara and Candice – neither one of them was going to the park to watch their school, so basically I was the only American there (this would become very ironic later on). So after doing my errands, I went to the park at about 10:30am – the same Apia Park where Chanel College did their Sports day last week – and when I was about a block away from the park, I could literally here the cheers of thousands of students. I was like 'uh oh – this is going to be crazy'. And just to show how different this was compared to our games last week – last week I got in free because I was a teacher, this week I had to pay $3 in order to get in. Once I was in, I walked out onto the deck like area of the stadium and looked up into the bleachers…the place was literally packed with students from 6 different schools. It took me a while to adjust to just the amazing sight of seeing so many kids in one place – you have to keep in mind, since Apia Park was being renovated last year the Ministry of Education decided not to have Zones, so this was my first time seeing this spectacle. It took me a while to finally find my Chanel College students – the other schools just kind of dwarfed them in terms of size. Oddly enough, the Chanel College kids were sitting right next to the St. Mary's girls. Now remember how I said I was probably the only American at the park – well apparently one of the schools really loves the US because they were flying both the Samoan and US flags in their section. I didn't really understand the point of it but this same section of students would sometimes chant "USA – USA – USA" during parts of the track events. I guess they were just repeating what they see done on TV, but it was quite weird hearing a whole bunch of Samoans chant USA over and over again. Heck, even one of the students from that school ran their race with the American flag in their hands (they didn't win – so I don't know what the point of the flag was). It was something, let me tell you.

One of the things my kids know is that when we are at any event, I'm usually there taking photos which will appear in the magazine/yearbook at the end of the year (and on this blog). This was the first time I've taken their photos while they were surrounded by kids from other schools – so some of the other schools were like 'What? They're getting their pictures taken? Why?' – it was quite funny to me. Since Chanel College isn't the most athletic school in the country, I thought that I would see my students try to get excited by the events but end up disappointed. Instead, quite a few of our athletes came in second and first place during their respective track events – apparently earning a spot in the 3^rd major athletic competition of the year entitled 'The Champ of Champs' which brings together ALL the colleges of Samoa at one event (instead of splitting them up into groups like the Zones competition do). The events that were run were pretty much the exact same track events which were done last week – the only difference was that there were more kids involved and the Chanel College students were wearing shirts with numbers on them to identify them to the judges.

I only stayed for like 2 and a half hours – but that was more then enough for me. Kevin, our principal, was a real trooper and stayed at the even the entire day (it started at around 8:30am and ended at around 3pm). Since I had to do tutoring later on that day (at Paul/Viv's house which is literally right across the street from Apia Park), I wanted to go back to the office and take a nice hot shower…..the true highlight of the day for me.

This time, the athletic competition seemed to have taken a bigger toll on some of our athletes (even though fewer students actually participated in Zones competition) because quite a few students were missing from class today. That's just one of the problems of having a big event like Zones in the middle of the week – it gives people an excuse to skip day(s). Today, Jewell – Paul and Viv's oldest daughter ran for her school (Faatuatua) in Zone B. I don't know how well she did (I'll talk to her next week) but from what I heard she came in first from the rear position….which isn't the best way to win any race.

Anyway, the next big athletic event is Champ of Champs on July 13^th. Now that one should be a doozy because it will be the best stress test for Apia Park before the South Pacific Games (which start on August 25). We'll see how well that park can survive thousands of screaming kids at one time – should be a lot of fun to watch and take photos/videos of. L8r!