WorldTeach Essay Contest

Drew, our field director, asked all of the volunteers to submit entries for an essay contest. I went into this assignment with a very ambitious idea of what I wanted to write, but at the end of the day, I ran out of time. The whole essay I had in mind did not come together (but I am going to continue working on it for later...), but here is the excerpt that I submitted....Enjoy!!

The Stinky Puddle

I hear the bus coming before I see it. Samoan music blasting through the speakers announces the arrival of my ride to school. I stick my arm out and the multi colored vehicle pulls off the road. I climb in, squeeze past a few passengers, and find an empty seat. It is 6:45 am, and on its way to another 85 degree day. The bus smells of sweat and cigarettes and I am thankful for the air rushing in through the window. We pass by roadside stands selling fruit and brooms. People have begun cooking, and the bus is filled with the smokey smell of bbq as we make our way into town. I reach up and pull on the thin cord that winds its way around the interior of the bus, and the driver immediately pulls over to drop me off. I begin my walk to school, past full garbage cans waiting to be dumped, the busy store, and the stinky puddle.

            The stinky puddle is easily the worst part of my walk. It sits right next to a small sewer station. After a heavy rain the puddle is even bigger and stinkier. Right after I pass the store, crowded with people running in to grab breakfast, I smell the puddle. The sidewalk is still covered with water from the last downpour. The puddle in all its brown leptospirosis-filled glory lays at the edge of the sidewalk. The road ahead is full of cars. I stand at the edge of the puddle and wait. Wait for a break in the traffic to make my way across the sidewalk. If I walk too quickly, I may slip and fall into the stinky puddle. If I walk too slowly, a car may come up and drive through the puddle, subsequently splashing me with the contaminated water.

            The white pickup ahead has slowed to go over the speed bump. Now is my chance. I gather my courage, check my balance, and walk briskly down the sidewalk next to the stinky puddle. It has rained so much that the puddle is larger than before. My flip-flops begin to slip off of my feet. I slide slightly to the right, but quickly regain my footing. However, this momentary lapse in balance has cost me precious time. The white pickup is quickly approaching. At the speed it’s going, I will never make it to the end of the sidewalk, and out of the line of splashing. I walk as fast as I dare, and brace myself. But at the last second the driver of the white pickup swerves to the left, avoiding the puddle, and leaving me dry and stench-free. I let out a sigh of relief and continue on my way.

Thanksgiving and more...

FYI:: I wrote this on Saturday, but I was not able to get on the internet until today (Wednesday)

Wow so much has happened in the last two weeks! Let me update you…

School Stuff…

Right after my last post, I was informed that one of the other social studies teachers had quit to take another job outside of education. Yes, she quit half way through the first semester. Yes, this happens often here. So since there is a teacher shortage, it’s not really possible to get a “long-term-sub” like you would do back in the states, and highly unlikely that you’ll be able to hire another teacher to take their place. So I knew that when I got to school Monday morning, I’d likely have new classes.

After some shuffling of the schedules…(at one point they had me teaching American Samoan history! Ah!)…I now have 7 new students in my 5^th period world history, making it my largest class. I also have an additional U.S. history class 2^nd period. However, since the administration wanted us to all still have a prep period, one of my classes was given to another teacher. It just so happened to be my rowdy 6^th period that I mentioned in my last post. Some of the students were pretty upset that they had to have a new teacher, and I was too. Even though they drove me crazy, I still really enjoyed teaching them. But the nice thing about Voc-Tech is that it’s a smaller school and I still see those students every day. A couple have even come in to ask me for help on their homework.

The other change is that I now have a new classroom. Yes, they moved me again! But I actually like the new room better. It is smaller and easier to keep clean (teachers clean the classrooms, not janitors). The ceiling fans actually work too. It still gets hot in there, especially with my big 5^th period class, but it’s not too bad. I’m becoming used to the heat. The only problem is that I now have a giant world map that I cannot figure out how to stick to the wall! I have tried 4 different times, using sticky tack, special tape, ect…and it will NOT stay up. I’m running out of ideas….any suggestions?

Thanksgiving weekend!!

It was definitely weird not being with my parents and sisters on Thanksgiving. But on Wednesday, while they were flying off to Iowa to visit my family there, I was participating in the school activities we were doing. The kids played musical chairs, tug of war, and volleyball….as a freshman class advisor, I played volleyball with the girls, and we won! It was a half-day, so after lunch we were free to go. I headed to the store to grab a couple things, then back home to pack up my stuff. Julie and I had a room at Sadie’s by the Sea booked for the weekend. We were so looking forward to just laying around, watching tv, using the internet, and relaxing in an air conditioned room. I was even more excited because earlier in the week the weather had been bad and Julie wasn’t sure if she’d be able to get on a boat to cross over to Tutuila. But Wednesday was nice and sunny and we arrived at the hotel within 5 minutes of each other. After a bit of hassle, we got our internet passes and spent the rest of the day watching college basketball and movies on Starz. Neither one of us have a tv in our houses here, so this was a HUGE luxury.

On Thanksgiving day we woke up early so that Julie (a Wisconsin native) could watch the Packers game. Later we skyped with family and friends, then went to the café here to eat…they had a pretty good Thanksgiving buffet!! After that we planned on going to lay by the pool, but ended up taking really long naps instead.

Friday was the day of my school’s playoff game. At 8 am! So I got up early and went to the stadium. My cheerleaders met me there and the game started in yet another downpour. We were playing the number 1 team, and sadly, we lost. But the fact that we even made it to playoffs was amazing…first time in school history!! Afterwards I met up with Julie, Rosa, and Amber at pizza hut and later in the day Julie and I went and saw the new Twilight movie.  (So Cheesy!)

Almost December Already?

And that brings me here, the internet is not wanting to work right now, so I am just typing this before going to lay in the sun and will post it later. I can’t believe Thanksgiving is over. We spent the last 6 weeks looking forward to our mini-vacation, and now it’s done. But that means our next vacation (Christmas break!!) is right around the corner… it’s so strange to think of how fast time goes when you are busy just going about your day-to-day life. I only have 2 weeks of regular school, then finals week, then we are done with the semester. After finals we spend 2 days at our WorldTeach mid-service conference before heading off on our vacations. So in one month I will actually be able to SEE my family in person, and be able to hug them. I can’t wait. The month of November has flown by, and I imagine that the next few weeks will too.

I do miss my family and my friends back home, and I imagine how my life will be when I return to Washington. However there are days (and lately, more and more of these days) when I honestly ask myself HOW am I going to leave this place? HOW am I going to say goodbye to my students? It breaks my heart even now, just thinking about it. I know it will be a hundred times worse in June. I got here in July, and have been teaching for 4 months. In that short amount of time, this place and these kids have changed me. I went into education thinking that I knew just what to expect, since my mom was a teacher. I had seen the good, the bad, and the ugly sides of a career in education. I thought that I was well prepared for it. But I was not prepared for the connection and bond formed with a bunch of crazy Samoan teenagers. And I will never be prepared to say goodbye to them.

But that day is still months away! And right now it looks like it may rain..again..so instead of laying in the sun I’m going to catch more shows on Bravo while I have tv!

Until next time….

“RAIN and Other South Sea Stories”

The title of this blog is a book written by W. Somerset Maugham, who began traveling to the Pacific Islands in 1917. And it is very applicable today, since it has been raining since I ate breakfast this morning and hasn’t stopped for almost 4 hours. Usually when it rains here, it’ll pour for a good 5-10 minutes, then just rain less heavily a little bit longer, then stop for awhile before beginning again. But it seems rare that it rains this much for this long, at least as far as I have observed. So for those of you who think that I am laying on sunny beaches every day and getting super tan, you are wrong. On the week days I walk to school (where I work on my farmer’s tan), stay inside all day, then go home. On the weekends, I play hostess to my friend Julie who visits from the island of Anu’u, get errands done, relax a bit, maybe catch a movie, and procrastinate on grading until Sunday evening. When it wasn’t so rainy I’d go kayaking or to the beach with friends, but the last couple weeks that has not been possible. Welcome to the rainy season in American Samoa! If it wasn’t so warm and there weren’t so many tropical trees, I’d think I was back in the Northwest….

“Frontier Weddings”

Last week, my U.S. history classes were given the task of giving  a presentation on Settling the West. One of the topics (taken from a little side story in the textbook) was Frontier Weddings. My 6^th period class is filled with 12 rowdy junior boys, 3 of whom play football, and one girl. They were split into groups to do the presentation and given about a week, with some class time to work on it. Of course most of them procrastinated and did not get anything done. Come Friday, the Frontier Weddings group did not have their poster ready but did not want to lose 25% by waiting until Monday to present. However, they had to have some sort of visual. So they decided to throw together a little skit and after giving the information, acted out a “Frontier Wedding”. Since it was Friday, and the last class of the day, I let them run with it.

The Groom was a football player who refers to himself as HBK (Heart Break Kid). The bride was also a football player, and easily one of my largest students. Their third group member was helping to narrate the story. The pastor was yet another football player who often leads the prayer in the mornings during my first period class. (Yes, first period. His own 6^th period class had been having a sub all week and weren’t doing anything. So I let him come in to help them with their skit). Now, all of these boys have already found themselves a very special place in my heart. However, they still drive me nuts on a daily basis. The “wedding” that ensued was by far the funniest thing I have seen in the classroom since I’ve arrived here. The bride had tied his football jersey over his head and was letting out high-pitched girlish giggles throughout the ceremony. And although this was a “frontier” wedding, set in the American West, much of it was conducted in Samoan. After the happy couple was pronounced man and wife, they hugged and the rest of the class cheered. Then the “pastor” made a comment in Samoan and the only word I caught was “virginity”. All the students turned to look at me, to see what my reaction would be, and I had to put my clipboard in front of my face because I was laughing. All in all, a very entertaining class.

“Friday Night Lights”

Speaking of my football playing students, the Nu’uuli Voc-Tech Wildcats have surpassed the odds and made it to the playoffs! Last night we beat Samoana High School 24-0. We still have one game left next week, which is also our senior night, and playoffs are Thanksgiving weekend. My cheerleaders are still doing well, and learning 2 new cheers each week to add to their repertoire. Since we won, and have senior night coming up, there will undoubtedly be an assembly or pep rally of some kind this coming week. Of course, since this is Samoa, we likely will not know anything about it until the day of. If we’re lucky, the day before. But that’s just how it goes here. The last couple games have been a bit surreal. There I was sitting at a football game at 7:00 on a Friday night in November. And it was still warm enough to wear just a t-shirt, jeans, and flip-flops (or slippers, as they are called here). It was a bit strange since I usually associate football games with cold temperatures, mittens and two pairs of socks.

I know I have been a bit horrible about keeping this updated. The week days are always filled with work to do, and the weekends are never long enough. Also, my internet situation is not the most reliable at the moment. We currently do not have internet at our house, but can access it at school (though not facebook). Some days (like today) I am able to go to McDonald’s and use the free wireless. It’s inconvenient, and frustrating at times, but it also forces me to focus on other things, instead of just wasting the day away mindlessly surfing the web.

Speaking of Surfing…..Christmas in Hawaii will be here soon!! I can’t wait!!!

That’s all for now folks……stay tuned! And keep in touch! Leave a comment or write to me. My email is miss.mills.amanda@gmail .com

Manuia le aso!

what a week

Wow, last week seemed to take so long! And that’s even with having school canceled on Monday.

I got to school Monday morning all ready to go. Right away, students were asking if we were going to have school that day. I couldn’t imagine why they would think it’d be canceled. That is, until some of my 3^rd period students came in and told me that the septic tank had busted, and that there was no food. I wasn’t entirely sure how these two events were related, so I found another teacher and asked her. Turns out the septic tank had, in fact, busted. (or as Ashley’s freshmen would say, “Miss, someone put bombs in the toilet!”). The result? The cafeteria had been contaminated and the cooks could not prepare breakfast or lunch. Since the students could not be fed, they ended up being sent home after 1^st period. Us teachers, however, had to stay until 4. Lame. But I went to Carl’s Jr. and had lunch, then got some work done and my classroom cleaned, so it was a productive day. 

Since I only taught one class on Monday, I woke up Tuesday thinking that it was actually Monday. We had a football game after school that day. However, our football games are usually on Thursdays. So I then woke up on Wednesday feeling like it was Friday. My brain was just all confused, and never really did recover. School was shortened on Friday for the Parent Teacher Conferences after school. When I finally got home, Julie had already arrived from Anu’u and we went down to pizza hut and had an amazing (if not entirely healthy) end-of-the-week meal. Which included cinna-sticks, of course!

Plans to go to the beach were sadly foiled by the weather. However I did receive a package in the mail from mom, and spent much of my Saturday afternoon relaxing with some new magazines. Yesterday, Sunday, was a rough day for me emotionally, missing my family and then receiving more upsetting news from home. We are allowed to take 3 personal days during the school year, and I am taking one of those today. It is very much needed, and hopefully will rejuvenate me.

This week is spirit week, so we are having dress-up days, contests, and I think even a school dance. There will likely be class meetings to practice the performances for the PTA fundraiser on Saturday. This coming weekend is also the Tattoo Festival at Tisa’s on the East side of the island. It’s supposed to be really cool, so hopefully I can head out there to check it out.

I’m currently at McDonald’s, using the internet. Ours has not been working since Saturday morning. Unreliable internet access is just one of the many things I have gotten used to here.  Another is having to try 5 or 6 times to reach someone on the phone. Or having the rain pouring down one minute, then clear blue skies the next, multiple times a day. Or the little geckos running along the walls of my house. They eat the bugs, so I don’t mind them. At times I can get a bus within 3 minutes of getting out to the road, but I’ve also had to wait up to half an hour. If the schedule is going to be changed at school, we often don’t know until the morning of. Which is part of the reason why I have been operating on “Samoan time” since the end of July. 

1 month until my Thanksgiving mini-vacation at Sadie’s!

2 months until I see the fam in Hawaii!

4 days until the weekend is here again!

Sorry it's been so long...

So I just realized that I haven't posted anything for awhile....I apologize :( I will try to do better!

I am currently on the little island of Anu'u with my friends Julie and Rosa, who are WorldTeach volunteers at the elementary school here. Today is White Sunday, which is a special day for kids in American Samoa. They get dressed up in white and perform songs, skits, and dances during church. They have mother's day, father's day, and white sunday is just for the kids. So I went to church with Julie this morning, and got to see the festivities...it was great! Afterward, we went and ate with a family that she's friends with, then ate and ate some more! I will put pictures up when I go back to Pava'ia'i tomorrow...

Time is flying by and there are so many things happening. It's a bit hard to process it all and put it into words, so I'm just going to list some of the things that have happened since my last post about kayaking...

1. School is going really well....we are at MIDTERMS. Half way through the semester already, I can't believe it!
2. On Friday our high school had their Mr. and Miss NVTHS pageant. It was hilarious! I loved it. They are making a dvd, so I'm going to buy one.
3. Last weekend I went out to Tisa's Barefoot Bar on the east side of Tutuilla with Amber. It was so nice, relaxing with a pina colada! We were going to swim, but then saw some reef sharks swimming close to shore, so decided not too...later we saw whales in the distance. So cool!!
4. Two days ago was the first Friday of the month, which is when there are a lot of people and vendors at the market in Fagotogo, so we went to check it out....Julie and I were interviewed on the spot for the TV show Flight Night!! I'm pretty sure it's on YouTube, if you want to try and find it. I'm going to look for the link and put it on here...
5. I don't have a microwave, but at a friend's house I had POPCORN for the first time in almost 3 months!! It was amazing.
6. One of my students took the ASVAB test, and a vocab word I had taught them was on there. He was so happy that he knew it, and I was so proud!!
7. I am SO thankful to my friends and family who are emailing, calling, facebooking, skyping, sending things, and staying in touch in general. I feel so out of the loop sometimes, it's so nice to hear from people on a (somewhat) regular basis.
8. One of my students moved to California. Saying goodbye to him after just 2 months of school made me emotional. How am I going to say goodbye to the rest of my kids at the end of the year? I don't even want to think about it
9. One of my good friends from college got married last weekend...She asked me to be a bridesmaid, but obviously I couldn't be there. I would have Loved to, though. Congrats to the new Mr. and Mrs. Wells!
10. In just over 2 months I will be seeing my family in Hawaii for Christmas!!!

So that's what's been happening in my life here on the island....again, I will try to put up pictures tomorrow (if my internet is cooperating)

Manuia le aso!!

A Perfect Saturday

The last couple weeks have been a bit of a rollercoaster. There have been definite highs and lows.

Lows: being a little sick, and having things happen back at home.

Highs: getting my own classroom (Yay!!), getting my cheerleaders’ uniforms, and having fun around the island.

But let me just focus on what an amazing day I had yesterday. (For the record, I am completely healthy and over my cold). Yesterday I had such a good day, which was needed after a particularly tough week at school. My friend Julie spent the night Friday. She teaches on the little island of Anu’u, which is 2 bus rides and a short boat ride from Tutuila, the island I’m on. She and her roommate come over to Tutuila most weekends to get groceries and other essentials and hang out with people here. In the morning, we both had a cup of the coffee my mother sent me. I’m not a big coffee drinker, but I do love International House coffees. Mom had sent me 2 tins of my favorites, and I had been looking forward to having some all week. (It takes too long to boil water to have some in the mornings before school) After getting ready, Julie went off to do her shopping and I went over to the post office to send some letters and meet up with my friend Alison. Alison and I then went kayaking for a little over an hour. It’s hard for me to describe how I felt out there on the water. It was so relaxing to float and talk, then paddle around looking for sea turtles (didn’t see any). Plus the views around us were of course gorgeous, and the water is the most incredible shade of blue-green. It was simply amazing, and something I will defiantly do again, several times. After kayaking we went and got lunch then some home-made snickers ice cream. Then I went home and sat on the porch and read a book, while listening to the cheers coming from the Laundromat. (Western Samoa was playing Wales in the rugby tournament, and the Laundromat has a TV with cable so everyone and their mother was crowded in there watching) 

All in all, I could not have imagined a more perfect Saturday. 

 

 Alison and I out on the water

 

 Me being silly

This is the area that we kayaked in

Another Day, Another $12.50

Yes, we averaged out our monthly stipend (helps to pay for food and transportation) and it looks like each day that we go to school we are making about $12.50. It’s a little under $2.00 an hour. Ah the life of a volunteer!! But school is going well, even when testing, and meetings, and the lack of supplies make it more stressful. My kids are pretty good for the most part (they have their difficult days) but I am enjoying teaching them, and enjoying my time here.

Yesterday I may have enjoyed my time here a little too much. I was out at a beach snorkeling and stuff and when I got home, realized how bad I am at applying sunscreen. I’m pretty red, especially my lower back, from floating around in the water looking at fish. I forget that the sun is WAY more powerful here than at home. At home I rarely burn and if I do it’s never painful and hardly noticeable. This one is defiantly the opposite. But I guess I learned my lesson, and next time will pay extra attention to getting sunscreen EVERYWHERE. 

I knew that there would be times when I would miss home, and recently I have been. Mainly for one reason. My uncle was in a farming accident and was badly injured. He is still in the hospital, on the road to recovery. So my cousin organized a ‘harvest bee’ for him, and people from our small community came out to help cut his wheat. A news crew from Spokane went out to capture the action, and I was able to watch the video tonight. It defiantly made me emotional, and I can’t express enough how thankful I am. It has been hard for me to be down here knowing what my family is going through. However, knowing that they have so many amazing people supporting them and holding them up is almost overwhelming for me. This is why I will always love small towns, and I am so thankful to call Oakesdale my home. If you would like to watch the video, the link is right here: http://video.kxly.com/watch.php?id=26995

Labor day weekend means a 3 day weekend, which means a 4-day week next week! Ah! Yay! Right now the Tafuna teachers who also live here in Pava’ia’I are hosting some Peace Corps volunteers from Western Samoa. It has been great talking to them and hearing about their experience and comparing it to ours. They have been at their placements for almost 2 years now and go home in December. I can’t even imagine being gone that long, and really admire their commitment.

Speaking of home, I will not be going home for Christmas (won’t see Washington again until June!) but I will be meeting my family in Hawaii for the holiday. I’m so excited to see them and I know it will be an amazing week. I was originally planning on going to New Zealand, but I’d definitely rather see them. I am hoping to hit NZ for spring break, fingers crossed! Right now, however I am focusing on teaching and enjoying my time here on the island. It is going by so fast. I have been gone almost 2 months and teaching for a month now, where has the time gone?