October 11th was White Sunday, Samoa's equivalent of Children's Day. It is the one day a year that children do not have to do chores, get to choose the menu for meals, and are served before adults. Normally, kids are working hard to serve the adults in the family, so this is supposed to be their "day off." Naturally, because this is American Samoa, the day revolves around church services. For weeks, children are practicing bible verses, song and dance routines, and skits to perform at church throughout the day. In the morning, there is a service for children to share what they've worked on (they ALL recite a bible verse and participate in numerous other routines). The morning service lasts anywhere from 3-5 hours. Then, families go home to have their Sunday tonai (BIG lunch), where children are served first. Then, after an afternoon rest, families return to church to participate in more skits and songs.
My school had an assembly to celebrate White Sunday, and I want to share with you a video of one of my favorite Samoan songs. I have no idea the title, but this is the 5th and 6th grade classes dancing to the song, cutting away to my students Solomona (boy) and Asenati (girl) participating from the audience. One of my absolute favorite things here in American Samoa is seeing Solomona dance and sing to religious music!
Saturday, December 18, 2010
Ua E Manumalo
This is one of the many religious songs on the soundtrack of American Samoa... Thought I'd share this with you all! :)
Saturday, December 11, 2010
General Blog Update
In case you didn't notice, I removed the "Mail Call!" tab from my blog. The lack of reliable internet access has forced me to make this decision, since I can't keep up with updating my posts, let alone the extra tab. I will try to send emails when I get packages from here on out (though, often I can't), and I will definitely keep sending snail mail thank yous so that you know that your packages arrived here safely.
On the mail/package note, I've heard rumors of the complete disorganization of the post office here in American Samoa at the holidays, so don't be surprised if it takes a while for things to get through. I'll send good vibes into the universe to try to combat this, but I wanted to send out a warning to you so that no one goes into a panic. Keep your receipts so that I can track packages down as necessary! Thanks, in advance :)
On the mail/package note, I've heard rumors of the complete disorganization of the post office here in American Samoa at the holidays, so don't be surprised if it takes a while for things to get through. I'll send good vibes into the universe to try to combat this, but I wanted to send out a warning to you so that no one goes into a panic. Keep your receipts so that I can track packages down as necessary! Thanks, in advance :)
Butterflies!
In October (yes, it's been a while), my students did animal reports. Part of their responsibility was to create a model of their animal in its habitat. Solomona went one step beyond creating a model and actually brought in caterpillars in his habitat box.After my glowing reaction, he brought 5 chrysali (chrysalises?) in, attached to leaves. We hung the leaves in our windows and hoped for the best, not knowing how transporting them from their original location would fare. All hatched into butterflies before our eyes! What an amazing opportunity to witness the miracle of nature.
Quick Words of Thanks
A message from Katerina
A message from Al-Roni
A message from Solomona
A message from Asenati
A message from Hosanna
An AMERICAN Samoan Thanksgiving
I have worked the past 4 Thanksgivings, so one thing I was especially grateful for this year was a day off! Determined to spend my favorite holiday IN the country (a territory of the country, but still American soil), I had a wonderful stay-cation for Thanksgiving break.
Thanksgiving morning was spent with fellow volunteers in Utulei, whose host family created an umu (traditional oven) in which to cook their turkey. An umu takes about an hour to prepare and about 45 minutes to cook the turkey. Sure beats 4-5 hours slaving away in a kitchen, huh?
First, rocks are heated and placed on the ground. Then, the meat and other dishes are added. They, in turn, are covered by more rocks before adding several layers of leaves. Finally, old, wet leaves (or wet newspapers in this case) are added on top to trap the heat and smoke inside the cooking mound.
Thanksgiving morning was spent with fellow volunteers in Utulei, whose host family created an umu (traditional oven) in which to cook their turkey. An umu takes about an hour to prepare and about 45 minutes to cook the turkey. Sure beats 4-5 hours slaving away in a kitchen, huh?
First, rocks are heated and placed on the ground. Then, the meat and other dishes are added. They, in turn, are covered by more rocks before adding several layers of leaves. Finally, old, wet leaves (or wet newspapers in this case) are added on top to trap the heat and smoke inside the cooking mound.
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| Adding the food to the umu |
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| Steaming deliciousness |
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| Covering the umu with banana leaves |
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| All done! Removing the hot leaves and steamed bananas (yum!) |
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| Mackerel and coconut cream in coconut shells... delicious! |
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| Removing the food - note the tongs (scroll down for picture) |
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| A cooked turkey, and lamb shanks, and taro, and cooked green bananas |
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| Doesn't it look amazing? The green are mango leaves added to enhance flavor. |
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| Mmm! |
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| With one of the cooks (Junior? - can't remember his name)... He was very drunk by 11am... Umu and beer go hand in hand. |
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| Samoan tongs |
Vatia Reads! Video
I put together a video of photos from the first month of Vatia Reads! This is an absolutely incredible program that our students LOVE! Our school has a population of about 70 students in grades 1-8. We average 40 students coming to each session on Mondays and Wednesdays. Every morning, I average 18 students coming in to exchange their books for new ones. We could run a successful program 5 days a week if we had the manpower to do it, as students ask daily "Is there Vatia Reads! today?" It breaks my heart to tell them no on our off days.
The power of one blog post explaining the book situation at my school and asking for donations of books has led to something incredible. I thought that perhaps two or three people would fill up a flat-rate box with old books laying around the house, but you all amazed me! You, my blog readers, have contributed to a library of over 700 books! I am grateful everyday for the love and support you have given my students and me. Being able to share these resources with the Vatia community through my outreach program (Vatia Reads!) is an incredible experience. Vatia is a ... unique... place. Your books have helped improve the lives of the children here, giving them something to share with each other, to talk about, to look forward to, to cherish, and to enjoy. As you'll see at the end of the video, I've come upon students reading in the most beautiful places, students who might otherwise be out causing trouble or simply sitting around the house. One of my toughest 3rd grade students (I teach 3rd grade science in addition to my 4th grade class) just lights up at the opportunity to come to Vatia Reads! He wrote a Thanksgiving card to me, thanking me for the program. I, in turn, have to pass that thanks on to all of you. When the emotional roller coaster that is teaching in my village is on an uphill climb, Vatia Reads! is part of the chain that grabs onto the slipping cars and pulls them up and over the peak. This video is intended to show you a bit of the excitement on the children's faces, some of our activities, and to be a tribute to your support. Thank you all for inspiring this amazing part of my life.
The power of one blog post explaining the book situation at my school and asking for donations of books has led to something incredible. I thought that perhaps two or three people would fill up a flat-rate box with old books laying around the house, but you all amazed me! You, my blog readers, have contributed to a library of over 700 books! I am grateful everyday for the love and support you have given my students and me. Being able to share these resources with the Vatia community through my outreach program (Vatia Reads!) is an incredible experience. Vatia is a ... unique... place. Your books have helped improve the lives of the children here, giving them something to share with each other, to talk about, to look forward to, to cherish, and to enjoy. As you'll see at the end of the video, I've come upon students reading in the most beautiful places, students who might otherwise be out causing trouble or simply sitting around the house. One of my toughest 3rd grade students (I teach 3rd grade science in addition to my 4th grade class) just lights up at the opportunity to come to Vatia Reads! He wrote a Thanksgiving card to me, thanking me for the program. I, in turn, have to pass that thanks on to all of you. When the emotional roller coaster that is teaching in my village is on an uphill climb, Vatia Reads! is part of the chain that grabs onto the slipping cars and pulls them up and over the peak. This video is intended to show you a bit of the excitement on the children's faces, some of our activities, and to be a tribute to your support. Thank you all for inspiring this amazing part of my life.
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