Is this real life?

We have landed in American Samoa!! After flying from Spokane to Portland, then to LA, the ever awesome Ty Hatcher picked me up from the airport and took me to the hotel where all the volunteers were staying the night. we hung out for awhile, then went to get dinner and then donuts at this amazing little place. It was so good to see a familiar face after I landed! After I said goodbye to Ty (my last goodbye before leaving!), all of the volunteers met down in the lobby before we headed to bed.

 My good friend Ty, right before buying me donuts!

The next morning, we left the hotel at 7 and made our way to and through LAX. After a 5 and a half hour flight to Hawaii, a 4 hour layover, then another 5 hour flight, we were in AmSam! It was 9:30pm local time, which is 4 hours behind the west coast. We were greeted by Drew and Allison, current and former feild directors for the program, plus a woman who is the principal for one of the high schools. I was able to call home and luckily got ahold of mom right before going to bed.

This morning, most of us were up early to watch the sunrise, which in itself was worth the trip! So far today we have gone from Nu'uuli (where we are staying) to Utulei, to do activities, a scavenger hunt, and general exploring. we have a bit of downtime right now before starting our first lesson in Samoan language!

Wow this is long, but one last thing! We were all warned that our teaching placements could change at any minute, up until the days before school. Sure enough, mine changed right before I left home! I will (as of now) be teaching at Nu'uuli Vocational High School (which is where we are staying right now for orientation) and I will be teaching......drum roll please......SOCIAL STUDIES!!! I could not be more excited! I was assigned English before, which I was perfectly happy with, but history and geography are my passions and I have my degree in Social Studies Education, so this could not be more perfect. Just keep your fingers crossed that it won't change again!!!

I miss you all, keep in touch, and keep reading!