Home Sweet Home...

Good afternoon, everybody!...its almost time...im almost home...im leaving tonight around 11:30 and ill be in chicago tomorrow at about the same time...its a long 18 hour flight, but well worth the wait...im so, so, so, so excited to come home...its gonna be great...this post, im hoping, will be a short one...i havent even began to pack yet...or take a shower or anything...and we've heard we need to get to the airport hella early (like 5:30) because it takes forever to check-in...i wont even go into the traumatic stories of hawaiian airlines...lets just say that they have a monopoly over the island, so they could care less about what kind of job they do...they could care less about their passengers...they might even suddenly change the flight from tonight to tomorrow night...because they can do that....its crazy...but theyre a powerful corporation...and the island, well, isnt...

the above picture is of right outside our house...of our mountain...the mist coming off the mountain is beautiful...what do you guys think of the composition of the picture, with our roof angling at the top?...i think its kinda cool...

here's a picture of our staff christmas part at The Night Hawk...it was pretty fun...there were these dance competitions (samoans love to dance!) and me and another teacher won the waltz...i got a bottle of wine!...the food sucked, but i still had a good time...

this post will be filled with pics of my students...theyre the only reason why ill miss this place...i love my students, and i love teaching here on the island...other than that though, i wont be missing much here...

last week i discussed the teenage dating situation here on the island...i mostly talked about how inexperienced and pious the kids are here...or are made to be by parents...but like all cultures, one thing is hoped to be and said to be but really is not to be...got that?...in other words, the culture wants to believe that theyre kids are innocent, naive, and sexless, but they really arent...rape and incest are rampant on the island...i wont even go into the disrespect towards girls in american samoa, but ill briefly inform you all on the rape issue...many young girls and women are raped by family members, neighbors, etc....its a huge problem...we've even heard stories of brothers raping sisters untill their adults...i think it happens so often because of several reasons...

first, sex is such a taboo subject and such a evil act (the church instills that into their brains) that its hidden and looked down upon...so, boys and men feel ashamed to think about and have sex...i think this need to have sex is bottled up within them and explodes into rape and incest...it becomes a animalistic need...a primal necessity that turns into rage and power...these rapists have probably also witnessed their fathers and uncles and brothers do this to women in the past...so its become a vicious cycle...now, im not forgiving these men for raping women, but im just trying to get into their warped minds...and their minds, as warped as they are, are still human and delicate...i think if sex was treated as a normal occurance and talked about openly to men and women, the secret world of rape wouldnt be so secret...and rape wouldnt be a dark epidemic...

second, women are simply not respected here on the island...i could definetly write a intense post about how females are treated, but ill spare you today (im too excited thinking about home to write about feminism in american samoa), but this is a major reason why theyre used as men's sexual objects...and why rape is seen as okay by men...along with this idea, women, similar to many third world countries, are affronted and spat upon if they have sex before marriage...and, obviously, rape is considered sex before marriage...so these women who are raped are encouraged and forced to keep their mouths shut...because if they tell others about the rape, they and their families will be dejected and demoralized by others in their community...and their church...kinda messed up...actually, alotta messed up...

third, i think incest and rape happens often because they live in such close and remote quarters...ive said before that the houses are very small, and many of the family members sleep together in little rooms or even in the living rooms and kitchens...so sometimes brothers and uncles are sleeping with sisters or next to their nieces...this leads to a easy opportunity to rape...maybe the men are searching for love or fulfillment or just a quickie, but the closeness of bodies has to be some reason for this problem...also, the houses are so remote...theyre in the middle of jungles...so, its, again, easy to get away with...besides, the police here arent that reliable...ill save that for another post, too...

okay, thats all i gotta say about that topic...i was quick and probably not that enlightening...but i have a lot of other things on my mind (like going home!)...i just wanted to make sure that we were all clear on the topic of sex here in american samoa...last week i talked about how no one has it here...and thats its seen as dangerous and sinful...but as you can see from this post's explanation...sex is unbridled and extensive...and covertly, guardedly, unmentionably destructive, sinister, malevolent, and deplorable...

alright, now on to the happy stuff...i got a bunch of vids of my kids singing songs...my students are constantly singing songs...usually with their ukeleles...i decided to record them on my last day of school on friday...(all of these pics were taken then, too)...we had a small little christmas party, and they were all a tad wild...but that was okay...it was a celebration, and a "goodbye to me" party...and im sure the kids were lovin that i was leavin ;-)

the first video is of my students singing "the lion sleeps tonight"...listen to that harmony!...this song can be heard throughout the day on the tafuna campus...i dont know what it is, but the samoan kids adore this song...they actually sing it wonderfully...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F_4UZRm57p0

this next video was actually a surprise...they had written and practiced a song about me...the best teacher ever!...i was not expecting it at all, and i kinda got teary eyed after i realized what they were singing about...though there is one part where they say they should get rid of me because i give too much homework...little rascals...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O5nDodXdLiA

and the last one is just a cute vid of them singing a christmas carol...damn, these students of mine are amazing...strange, energetic, and fascinating...and fun to teach...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vtAL-NxdXPQ

the infamous gene...with an impressive amount of dead presidents :-)

okay, y'all...im just gonna give my last top five list of the year...this list is gonna be different though than my past lists...i usually only do things in the world of pop culture...my favorite books, tv shows, movies, and music of the week...but this week's list will be my top five obsessions im looking forward to while back home in the badger state...so, i will never be doing this again...its a altered, special edition list...

My Top Five Obsessions of the Week (Special "Going Home" Edition):

5. Seeing Baby Jacob = my new nephew (my sisters keeping piling the nieces and nephews on me) was born just a couple of weeks ago, and im thrilled to see the little tyke...i usually hate babies and i think they look like crabby little gremlins, but he actually seems adorable...but maybe thats because im a million miles away...either way, im so grateful to have another healthy, fantastic new family member...

4. Chillaxin with Friends = not only am i excited to go to restaurants and malls and things like that, but im much, much more excited to hang out with my good friends...eager to joke around with and laugh with (and make fun of!) suzy, and im keyed up to partying with trish, stish, and sarah, and im delighted to be doin interesting stuff (maybe a short hotel trip?) with kristy, and im tickled by the idea of goofin around with and talkin seriously about teaching with tiffany...did i miss anybody?...im sure i did...im excited to hang out with all of my compadres...

3. Goin to the Movies with Charlie and Chase = oh, i cant wait to see some magical, imaginative, and amusing movies with charlie and chase...i love going to faraway places and adventerous journeys with them...even if its in the comfort of a comfortable, peaceful, safe, and air conditioned theater with popcorn and treats being inhaled by our happy little mouths...i have to remember to bring quarters for the arcade, too...but, really, im excited to spend time with them...and talk to them...discuss movies with them...and be silly with them...those two kids (along with claudia, celia, and ella) are my oxygen...and, right now, my lungs are needin some oxygen...

2. My Sisters = everyday while im here on the island i extremely long for my sisters...i miss them dearly and tremendously...they both are my best friends, and though the drinking of wine and coffee and the eating of guacamole and kringle brings me joy, there is no perfection on this earth like having them as my company...i, simply, love being with them...notice the few words describing my obsession with dana and shawn...there are no words to describe my friendship and love of them...they are my true companions... ;-)

1. My Mom = sure im thrilled to be soon eating her spectacular culinary dishes (BLTs, Chili Cheese Fries, Chicken Alfredo Pizza, Chimichangas, etc.), but im so much more thrilled with her...with being with her...talking with her and taking walks with her and nelly (is it too cold out there for that?!)...its gonna be most excellent...and im gonna hug her so tight that her beautiful tan will pop right off her skin...but i wont care...as long as i have her awe-inspiring heart and warmth and love, im as happy as a fat boy with cake...im such a mama's boy...and, dog-gone-it, im proud of it!...

i know i left a ton of things off this controversially short list (my dad, the roelkes, my grandmas, family, etc.), but these are just a few of the things im gonna do with zest and zeal while back home...im blessed to be going home and seeing y'all...its gonna be sweet...so, so sweet...

love ya and miss ya,

-JOE

"My best friend is the one who brings out the best in me."

-Henry Ford

Wanted: Chuck Woolery...

Hello, blog readers...how y'all doin?...im doin good here...its crunch time...im coming home in less than a week, and so i need to finish all my grading and stuff by friday...so, once again, its gonna be a busy one...this might be my only post this week...ill try to post my last one this weekend...and then im home, baby!...yay!...the above picture is of our friends house...naomi lives there with her husband and two kids...she lives like right across the street from us...its a cute little house, kinda reminds me of the cabin up in gotham...its hella small...her daughter, buella, sleeps in the living room...she's like 14...just imagine if a 14 year old charlie had to have her bedroom in the living room...but, like all the islanders here, buella doesnt seem to mind it...we party here every once in a while...and the pictures on this post document one of those party nights...anyways, i love the tree she has in her front yard...isnt it beautiful?...its a mango tree, and it looks so full and fluffy...

im gonna try to report some of my observations on dating here in american samoa...mostly teenage dating...like i always say though, this isnt going to be a time magazine expose on dating for high schoolers in american samoa...these are just some of my brief thoughts on the topic...

first and most importantly of all, teenagers are owned by their parents here...their property of their parents...so, in other words, dating for teenagers is almost non-existent here...parents are strict about not having their teenage sons and daughters date...for several reasons...theyre too young to date and to have sex...they need to focus on school...itll add drama to their lives...the church frowns upon it...etc., etc.,...even though some of my students talk about falling in love or having crushes (and i see flirting, its called "being cheeky" here, all the time in my classroom), most of them have never dated or fallen in love or made out with another person...theyve never had the experience, as of yet, to go steady with a person...to go out to eat or to the movies or whatever...they havent had the opportunity to write love letters and poems, or to sneak out of the house to have a nice round of tonsil hockey...theyve never had the chance to be in love at a teenage age...and though this might be smart on the parents part, i still kinda disagree with it...i actually really miss kids from the states who are dating and crushing and falling in love (or is it lust?)...i think this was a huge part of my high school experience and my coming of age...dating and making out and, sorry mom, having sex was fun and adventerous...it was dramatic, in a thrillingly educational way...i obviously learned a lot about myself...and i learned about other people...and love...and a million other things...really, it just made high school exploratory, captivating, and unforgettable...i think theres something sweet and enchanting and enlightening about dating while being a young person...and its unfortunate, in my opinion, that samoan teenagers dont get to go through it...

heres a pic of us partying outside naomi's house...as you can see, its a lot like camping around here...notice the guy playing the ukelele in the background...he was a horrible singer ;-)

now, as i mentioned before, i do see the parents point in not letting their adolescent children date...it is, obviously, potentially dangerous...they could get pregnant or get an STD...they could also get depressed after a break-up or get abused or raped by their lover...they could commit suicide because of their (puppy) love...these are harsh "what ifs", but still possible...however, i think the two significant things that the lack of teenage dating produces are: more focus on school work and less focus on how they look at school...the kids here, many of them, are concentrated intensely on school studies and getting good grades...theres been a few times where ive asked kids if they had a boyfriend or girlfriend, and they will almost always say "im not interested in that...i need to focus on school first...ill worry about dating while in college"...thats where i usually stare at them, shocked and dismayed...im usually thinking, "youre a teenage boy, and girls arent on your mind!?"..."youre a teenage chick, and youre more focused on school than that hot boy in math class!?!"...its amazing to me how much dating is not on their lists of things to do...afterall, they have that science symposium due...and that pre-calculus assignment...and that essay for mr. neman's class...they cant let a little butterflies-in-the-stomach crush get in the way of that homework...this is the complete opposite than the states...theres a true epidemic of high school students simply hating or, at least, not caring about their education...there has been this problem for the past 50 years in america...the american high school experience is all about dating...how many of your high school teachers can you remember?...how many boyfriends and girlfriends?...learning is second (or third or fourth or fifth) to dating for almost all teenagers in america...and theres definetly something sad and worrisome about that...

also, the teenage girls on island have a real strong self-confidence...sure, theres still low self-esteem (the things that go on at home are despicable and horrid...ill save that for a future post)...but they seem to be much more proud of who they are than american teenage girls...samoan girls dont care what they look like...they dont care what other people think about them...their opinion of their body image is that theyre beautiful...theyre feminine and pretty and worthy, without make-up and hair gel...i actually just taught janis ian's "at seventeen" (http://www.janisian.com/lyrics/At%20Seventeen.pdf) and all my classes could not wrap their minds around her feelings in this song...especially the part where she says she's an "ugly duckling"...they were completely distressed by this comment...they asked, "how could she feel this way about herself?...she has such low self-esteem!"...many of my students even said that they could tell janis ian was caucasion because "a samoan girl would never think this about herself"...technically, janis ian wasnt caucasion, but i told them that many american teenage girls do feel this way about themselves....they feel unworthy of being seen as beautiful and pretty...they feel unwanted by boys and friends and classmates...samoan girls dont feel like they need to be wanted...they dont need to be worth anything to other people...at least, as far as the physical goes...and i think this might be because teenage girls in american samoa dont have dating on their minds 24/7...it could also be that television and magazines with their smokin-hot, skinny, nude, cocaine addicted models are no where to be seen on the island...but i strongly believe that the girls here could care less about getting the boy...they could care less about looking sexy and glamorous and jessica simpson-like...they dont even think at all like that...so, as much as im all for teenage dating, i do wonder if dating amongst teenagers leads to low self-esteem and carelessness in education...maybe our teenagers should be focused more on school?...and less on going to make-out point in their buick park avenue...

this is just a picture of lisa and naomi...

i just wanted to talk quickly about some other observations ive made about teenagers dating in american samoa...

-theres no where to go on dates...theres no malls or roller skating rinks or carnivals or arcades...my kids always tell me that the only place they go to on dates is "under the banana tree"...i think thats hilarious...

-they must be cautious of who they date...the island is so small that not only does everybody know everybody else, but also many islanders are family...you dont wanna find out youre dating your cousin...or brother...and from what ive heard, it happens often...

-familes are incredibly protective of their daughters...especially brothers...so, if you break a girl's heart, or if the family simply doesnt like you, you can bet your sweet apple bottom jeans that theyll come after you...angry mob style...ive heard many stories of families and brothers going to boys' houses to beat the crapola outta them...kinda scary...so, samoan boys are very, very careful of who and how they date...

k, thats all i got to say about that...leave a message and tell me whatcha think...ill be back in "two and two"...extra points for the first person to tell me what that catchphrase is from...

this is a picture of our friends...thats william and a girl he's been seeing named tala...the other guy is larry...yeah, the visibly drunk one who cant seem to keep his eye lids open...he's actually naomi's husband...yup, he's palagi...he used to be a teacher, too...he's taught all around the world...most notably in china...he's retired now...you can also see our friend named vailima...the samoan beer!...he always steals my slippers...lil thief...

alright, here's this week's list...

My Top Five Obsessions of the Week:

5. Punky Brewster = i gave my sister dana the season one dvd set of this classic television show, and she was awesome enough to send it to me a couple of months ago...im on the final episodes, and, man, do i have punky power!...punky, henry, cherie, mrs. johnson, allen, margo, and, of course, brandon bring me velveeta-ish cheesy happiness every time i watch them...yes, its corny and childish, but those "very special" episodes are nolstalgic, innocent, and cute...will punky find a home?...is brandon really gonna be put to sleep?...did punky really just lie to henry about his broken video camera?...will punky, margo, and cherie make up and become ketchup sisters again?...and will punky accept that crack from those older, drug using kids?...im even obsessed with the "It's Punky Brewster" cartoon spin-off...with the lovably annoying and odd gloamer...essentially, i think the show makes me long for the easy, magical days of childhood...

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Punky_Brewster

4. Hamburger Helper = this is the single man's life-saver...a wife-in-a-box...(i know, thats so sexist of me)...this stuff is so simple and fast and cheap to cook...and the rainbow of beefy flavors are so various and good, too...there's cheeseburger macaroni, and cheesy lasagna, and beef stroganoff, and cheesy beef taco...so much burger!...so much noodles!...so much packet powder!...and who doesnt love the small white glove mascot...he could help my hamburger any day...dont get me wrong, once im off this god forsaken island ill probably never eat this stuff again...but for now, with practically no grocery stores or food products at all, im sticking with this yummy daily dinner...

3. My Nativity Scene = i think i talked about this in a past post, but my mom just sent me my first nativity scene...its so adorable...and special to me...i set it up and put candles around it... jesus, joseph, mary, the cow, the angel, the three kings, the shepard boy, and the rest of the wacky gang are all there to remind me of christmas...i put fake snow around the scene, as well...cause we all know there was snow in bethlehem...but since when have nativity scenes been factually accurate?...i mean, my jesus is caucasion...how about yours?...sometimes i like to play with them and make them talk...sometimes ill even make the shapard boy karate chop one of the three kings...only cause he can...either way, baby jesus is my favorite...i handle him with tender loving care :-)

2. Top Chef Recipes = oh, yes i did!...i just put two -- count'em two! -- food things as my top obsessions of the week...what can i say, the way to my heart is through my (enormously fat) stomach...though i havent actually made any of these meals, some of the recipes on this wonderful show (once again, no one i know seems to be watching this diamond in the rough) seem to be deliciously superb...damn yummy...the last episode had a breakfast challenge and all the food looked so satisfyingly tasty...especially elia's "organic breakfast, lunch, and dinner"...a salty, sweet concoction...heres just a couple of the meals i want to try (hint, hint, mother)...

http://www.bravotv.com/Top_Chef_2/recipes/episode_7/elim/elia.shtml

http://www.bravotv.com/Top_Chef_2/recipes/episode_3/elim/betty.shtml

http://www.bravotv.com/Top_Chef_2/recipes/episode_6/elim/elia.shtml

http://www.bravotv.com/Top_Chef_2/index.shtml

1. Christmas Music = i love christmas songs...and ive been playing them around the clock since november...call me mrs. shenkenberg, but holiday tunes bring me joy and peace and memories...theyve especially brought me bliss and pleasure while ive been on this island...the songs are like sugar plum fairies...they bring to my heart memories of childhood and my family and of good times...i miss everyone, and im so elated to be able to go back home and spend christmas with all of you...but for now, christmas songs are what keep me comforted and at peace...and true happiness is setting up the nativity scene while drinking a glass of wine and listening to classic, divine christmas music...by the way, sarah mclachlan has a new christmas album out and its excellent...if you liked diana krall's and jewel's past christmas music, than youll love sarah mclachlan's...very serene and lovely...also, james taylor has a new one out, too...though i dont like it that much...i think im gonna do something no one has ever done in the history of mankind...im gonna put a list within a list...yes, im gonna give you my top five favorite christmas songs...and here they are...keep in mind, my favorite christmas songs change yearly, and im not gonna put the versions i like best....cause lord knows theres many versions of all these songs...im just gonna tell you the songs that bring me the most cheer and contentment as im on this island...

5. All I Want For Christmas is You = mariah carey's super

contribution to christmas!

4. Christmas Time is Here (from a Charlie Brown Christmas)

= i wanna go ice skating!

3. O, Holy Night = moves me to tears...keep that on the dl!

2. I'll Be Home For Christmas = i couldnt leave this one off

the list...not this year!

1. Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas = i hope all of you

have a delightful and safe and peaceful holiday season!

wow...that was hard to do...theres so many great christmas songs...leave your lists!...

alright, ill write one more post later this week...then ill be home!...love ya and miss ya...

-JOE

p.s....i was gonna put pictures of baby jacob as one of my obsessions of the week...he looks so cute!...but i dont wanna start putting family and friend things in my obsessions lists...i only wanna stick to material, worldy items...but just know, im so obsessed with dana's new infant...i cant wait to see him!...

"I have wandered all my life, and I have also traveled; the difference between the two being this, that we wander for distraction, but we travel for fulfillment."

-Hilaire Belloc

The Miraculous Vericose Veins...

Malo...oka, im so, so sorry for not posting in a while...yeah, yeah, i broke my promise of posting every other day...go ahead and make me feel guilty...its just that this week has been CRAY-ZAY...ive been busy with soccer, school, history day (i was chosen to be a judge for the students' history projects), friends, etc., etc...you all know how it is...just plain craziness...but, like ive said, its probably a good thing...i need to keep myself busy on this island...or else ill go nutty...the above picture and all the pictures on this post are actually more pics from our famous hiking trip...you know, the one where i almost died!...the picture is obviously of a bell tower at a church...perfect for this post...this post is gonna be about my wonderful adventure at church last saturday...and how im back to my atheist self...this post'll have nothing to do with the culture of american samoa (for the most part), but like much of my experiences here, ive learned more about myself than the island...the culture of me...kinda like the show Lost...get stranded on an island, even a wildly mysterious and fascinating one, and youre forced to look deep into your self...though youd think the eerie island would be the thing being observed...but yeah, here we go...

so, lisa and i decided to go to church last saturday because we heard a great speaker was going to be giving an inspirational speech/sermon...now, lisa, a much more religious person than i, hasnt been going to my church because she doesnt really like it...i wont go into why, but she did, as did i, want to see this speaker...ive liked this church up untill this night...i mean, i mostly was going because i loved the people...but i also like singing and dancing, and thats what kinda church this is...anyways, about a minute into his speech i could tell that it wasnt going to be good...everything i despise about religion and, specifically, christianity was festering in every word he said...it was, in my opinion, the opposite of holy or righteous and godly...it was the anti-christ, i tell ya...i dont know if this encounter with extreme christianity was scarier than my other scariest encounter with fanatical christianity, but it came pretty darn close...ill explain that experience first...

a few years ago, my sister and i went to shawn's old church for a play that was getting rave reviews...the entire "morality" play presented humans and their fate in either heaven or hell...for example, theyd have the teenager who commited suicide...of course, she went to HELL!!!...with SATAN and his HORNS and FLAMES and EVIL LAUGH!...and then theyd have the mother who didnt believe in christ...and though she lived a good life, when she died in a car accident with her daughter, the daughter went to heaven while the mother went to HELL!!!...and this wasnt the worst of it...at the end of the play, they told the audience that if they wanted to go to heaven they should go through the doors at the front of the stage...those were the pearly gates to heaven...but if we wanted to go to HELL we would walk out the back doors...i, absolutely, wanted to go to HELL...so i strolled out the back doors...my sister was taken away and made to go into the doors to heaven...and then they "saved" her by lecturing her on the power of christ...that night still makes me sick to my stomach...though i understand they only wanted to help and inspire people who were in need of inspiration (and im sure they have helped many people), i still believe that this is the opposite of what i want out of religion and god and inspiration...im just not the person to be inspired by fear...or anti-love...and i do think that saying a teenager who commits suicide is going to HELL is anti-love...its hateful, shameful, and callous...

okay, so on to the speaker and his very "inspirational" words...ill just write about some of the horridly despicable things he said...remember, i do understand that some people need this type of representation of religion to get by in life...i truly think the reason why this night, and that other charming night, was so frightening and sickening was how other people reacted to this...my church, the people ive grown close to and respected, adored his speech...and eat it up like french fries and mayo...thats why i got so upset about it...im not trying to be judgemental of others...im just saying that its not my cup of tea...and its disheartening to me to think that it is my church's cup of tea...anyways, here's why i found this speaker to be upsetting and disappointing...

-the man kept on reiterating the connection between money and the lord...he not only said that to not have god in your life is like being poor (which i understand the metaphor he's using, but i still dislike the mention of money while talking about god...and what does this mean, that being poor means you dont have god in your life?...huh?), but he also said, literally, that when you have a nice car you have god in your life...he kept on discussing the relationship between monetary things and the lord...that the lord will bless you with a car and money and a house and a successful business if you have the lord in your heart and soul...i completely disagree with this...but the people in my church didnt...they egged the speaker on by having all the business owners go up and be blessed by the man...or the lord...i kept thinking, and what if their business failed that year?...what if they had to sell their family car to get by?...does this mean the lord wasnt truly in their hearts?...or was he too busy blessing the family next door with a brand new S.U.V.?...and what if youre "poor" (whether you have a lack of money or just have a lack of love/life), does that mean you dont have god in your life?...because, essentially, what this man was saying was that the only reason to have the lord in your life was to become happier...to become richer...to become more powerful...to not be "poor"...barf on my face!...

-the speaker talked and talked about how he has "saved" and "cured" people during his sermons...another big pet peeve of mine about religion...he said he'd see angels over peoples heads and ask them to come up and be blessed by the lord...he said he had a woman come up who had been having troubles getting pregnant...he touched her belly (or the lord did) and she wrote him a letter the next week saying how she finally got pregnant...and he even bragged about how he helped a blind man see and a crippled person walk...its a miracle!...what lisa and i thought was the most hilarious miracle he performed was this one time where he was giving a sermon and a woman told him that when she got to the church she had been suffering from vericose veins and that by the end of his sermon her disgusting vericose veins had disappeared...miraculous!...lisa and i were laughing our heads off during that story...first of all, do people really believe that miracles like these ones really did happen?...and, second of all, do people think these are even "miracles"?...in my opinion, i find these to be tragedies...i believe that jesus wouldve wanted this woman to love her vericose veins...to embrace the veins!...and love herself...this isnt a miracle that she magically was cured...its actually kinda sad...i mean, she hated herself for having the visible veins, and what did she learn?...that jesus hated them too!...so he got rid of the popping-out veins...jesus said, "you have me in your life, and i completely agree with you...your vericose veins are ghastly and repulsive...lets make them go away!"...but what if her veins wouldnt have gone away after his sermon?...what if that woman still couldnt have a baby?...what if the blind man was still blind for the rest of his life?...is jesus not in their lives?...did he fail THEM?...or did they fail HIM?...once again, may this notion of religion barf on my face...ravioli barf, please...

-lastly, the speech began to become a wild roller coaster of insanity...he began to talk about how people, when honestly touched by the lord, will lose control of themselves...yes, ala speaking tongues and rolling around on the floor...he said that when he gets touched by the lord he will often become stiff and fall to the ground and become paralyzed by his touch...he said much of his audience begin speaking in tongues and begin to laugh or cry hysterically and uncontrollably...this terrified me as is, but suddenly the people around us began to speak in tongues...and then they began to laugh...slowly, the whole church began to laugh...feverishly and frenziedly...he began to pronounce that they were being authentically touched by the lord...that they were in true happiness and joyfulness and that god was in their bodies...this is when it became more than scary or sickening...it became down right unnerving and enraging...lisa and i actually got up and left at this point...we were so freaked out and dismayed...what really makes me angry though is not only how these people, my fellow church friends, followed and commended this man's beliefs and practices (because i do feel like those people really did believe that the lord was touching them...and, i suppose, thats a good thing), but i also became infuriated by how this man made me feel about my relationship to god...and lisa's, too...we felt like and were made to believe that the lord wasnt "touching" us...that he wasnt in our lives...or that we werent in his...the man, and my church, made me feel like i have no connection to the lord...afterall, i dont have a car...which apparently means i dont have jesus in my heart...i, as well, still have a cyst in my cheek that id love to be ridden of..."dear, god, its me, joe, could you make this lump evaporate?...or are you not in my soul?...and, also, god, what are these red spots in my underwear?"...i also didnt speak in tongues or roll around on the floor or become stiff or laugh hysterically...did that mean something was wrong with me?...with my relationship with the lord?...the man made me feel inadaquete...i even began to feel like those people were right and i was wrong...that my friendship with god was a crock of poop...now, technically, i dont really believe in a god (especially after this night!), but still...this idea of religion and god and inspiration is manipulative and mean-spirited and, actually, uninspiring...anyways, lisa and i were having none of that...hell's no!...that man couldve barfed on our faces and we wouldve been more inspired by that than what he had to say...cruel?...yes...but he made me a atheist again...how cruel is that? ;-)

alright, ill get off my high soapbox...but thats the beauty of blogs, right?...having the ability to speak your mind to the world...and now you guys can tell me, and the world, what you think...oh, and remember that this post was pretty much a free-write...dont forget, this is a diary of mine...so, in other words, dont expect sophisticated dissertation-like writing...i havent organized ideas or done research or anything for that matter...by the way, thanks for the awesome advice from the last post...especially to the person who suggested having a team set of shoes...and tiff, im so excited to talk to you about your milwaukee teaching adventures...isnt it fun?!...

k, before i leave, i just wanted to give y'all some links...here's some links to articles about all the chaos goin on down here in the south pacific...there's coups (i love that word!) going on in fiji and tonga...soon itll be american samoa...and ill be in the middle of a war zone...or maybe i can be the leader of the coup...and i can say "coup" all day...coup...coup...coup...

http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/HL0612/S00114.htm

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20061208/ap_on_re_au_an/fiji_coup

all these coups are even effecting jeff probst...survivor is being filmed near fiji for next season...

http://popwatch.ew.com/popwatch/2006/12/tk.html

and here's the official tafuna high website...its hardly ever updated...but yeah...

http://www.tafunahigh.com/

alright...love ya and miss ya...

-JOE

p.s...."oka" (sp?) in samoan means "oh, my gosh!"...

"Direct your eye right inward, and you'll find a thousand regions in your mind yet undiscovered. Travel them, and be expert in home-cosmography."

-Henry David Thoreau

How Much is That Dog in the Window...

Talofa, y'all...hope you had a nice weekend...i sorta did...friday we went to a performance of "The Nutcracker" at ASCC (American Samoa Community College)...yup, samoans doing a ballet!...dont believe me?...ill try to leave some links to some videos at the end of this post...it was the first ballet ever done in the south pacific...it was pretty good...you guys know me, dancing and music and performance are a few of my favorite things (along with bright copper kettles)...i think dance is beautiful...compared to the states, im sure the ballet was mediocre, if that...but the one thing ive learned here on the island is that mediocre can sometimes be beautiful...even the ugly can be...or at least, you should try to see the beauty in the ugly...did that make sense?...if not, see the brown-bag-blowing-in-the-wind scene in American Beauty..."Sometimes there's so much beauty in the world i feel like i cant take it"... :-)

anyways, saturday i did errands and went to church...which ill tell you guys about later this week...lets just say im back to my old self again...an athiest...you guys didnt think that would last long, did ya?...and sunday, today, im just getting a bunch of stuff done...ill be missing a whole week of teaching while im home with you all, so i have to lesson plan and prepare for that week...its kinda crazy...alright, lets begin the post...

the picture at the top is of a little convenience store here in fagaima (my village)...the island is filled with these little stores...most of them are owned by koreans...which i could discuss in a future post, as well...the stores all look like this one...shoddy and ramshackle...these are where we have to do most of our shopping...the nicer stores are far away...these stores dont really have anything except chips, raman noodles, and vailima...i love this picture though because of the layers in it...theres the store, and then theres that ginormous tree, and then the mountains in the background...its so deep, man...lisa says i should be a photographer...which isnt a bad idea...im obviously attracted to and fascinated with the visual and images...i mean, i love movies, tv, books (which i need to create images in my brain to enjoy), and plays...but i dont think im that good...im mediocre...

this is another reason why i love this image...the tree behind the store is absolutely marvelous...its my favorite tree on island...and, yes, trees do get my undivided attention and respect...remember, i do have one tattooed on my back...this tree is so ancient and enchantingly exquisite...just imagine how long that tree has been there...there probably used to be velociraptors jumpin out of them a million years ago...hell, it probably used to be in the ocean...with sharks swimming through it...look, i know im a geekazoid...but i think its wonderfully superlative...

okay, isnt this the saddest looking dog of all time!?...well, unfortunately the island is infested with dogs like this one...wild, diseased, sickly, and dying dogs that no one cares for...it actually is disgraceful...and also really scary...they bark and growl at people...lisa and i even got chased by a pack of them...we've learned to live peacefully with them...usually, if you pretend to pick up a rock, or even begin to throw rocks at them, the feral dogs will run away...but im still hella terrified by them...ive heard many, many stories of them biting people...even after the people threw rocks at them...so, im kinda afraid of dogs now...i hope i wont be scared of nelly or trigger or badger when i get home...i might instinctively swing a stick at them...or chuck rocks at them...

believe it or not, this dog actually looks pretty healthy compared to many of the undomesticated doggies...sometimes they have no fur or they have some sorta skin disease that makes them look like pathetically grotesque monster dogs...and sometimes their nipples are the size of pumpkins because of their untamed, contaminated breeding...whats really annoying about it though is that the samoans dont do anything about the problem...solving this wild dog issue is at the bottom of their (nonexistent) list of things to make the island better...more safer...and more visitor-friendly...the islanders often complain about the dogs, especially after i tell them how frightened i am by them...but then when you go to their houses, their yard will be covered with these ailing, skeleton dogs...they say that theyre their dogs...but why dont they get them neutered?...or even put leashes on the damn things?...or, at least, fences?...the samoans simply dont care...theyre the opposite of america, where pets are seen as mini-people...or parts of the family...i mean, we fricken dress up our dogs and take them to day care and buy them food in cans and clip their nails and cut their hair and reward them with bisquits and play catch with them...we EVEN educate them on how to be better dogs..."sit Boo Boo sit, good dog!"...samoans simply dont see the dogs like that...pets?...unheard of and silly to samoans...dogs are just there to them...dogs are supposed to be wild, i guess...like squirrels...but even so, the island is swarming with these suffering, deathly, and repulsive animals...they should be put out of their misery...and killed...no living thing deserves to live like the dogs do on this island...its torture and inhumane...of course, this is coming from a guy who is from a culture that feels dogs should be treated humanely...so, maybe the samoans have it right...afterall, dogs are animals...not humans...

i feel like im some sorta liberal, tree-hugging, animal rights activist in this post...but lisa and i really want to send these pics to PETA (People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals)...in the past, this organization has pissed me off...i am so for tormenting mice and making them go through agony for us to find the cure to cancer...but like i said before, something needs to be done on this island about the pitiful dogs...the dogs shouldnt be living like this...they shouldnt be living at all...maybe if i got bob barker to come to the island and inspire the people to spay their puppies, the situation would get better?...lets all write letters to mr. barker...

by the way, if i do get bit by one of these gross creatures, theres no way for me to sue...none of the dogs wear collars and none of them are registered...so, i hope i dont get bit...

the next thing i wanted to write about was a question i have for you all...you guys seem to give good advice, and now i need it again...okay, theres a boy on my soccer team who needs shoes...the boy, named aiipopo, also goes to my church...so i know the kid pretty well...he's an awesome kid...he has a lot of energy and enthusiasm...he always has a smile on his face, and is always giving me a helping hand during practice...anyways, aiipopo needs shoes for soccer...he's been playing in his bare feet (yeah, ouch!), but he wont be able to do that for long...all the players need sneakers or cleats soon...ive talked to his mom about it and she has said that their family simply cant afford them right now...even though he loves soccer and is talented, he has 3 other siblings that need to be taken care of...ive been thinking about buying him a pair of shoes...theyre only like 40-50$...so i could definetly fit the shoes in my budget...but im worried about how people will take this donation...or act of charity...first of all, i dont want the family to be like "oh, look at this palagi (white guy) who thinks he can just fly in here with his cape and save us with his money!"...i dont think that they would feel this way, but you know what i mean, right?...an off-island caucasion giving shoes to a native samoan can be seen as pretentious and pompous...second of all, i dont want to embarass the boy or his family...they go to my church, and i dont want people finding out about it...i mean, the mom may feel humiliated that she cant afford shoes for her son...though she shouldnt be...and aiipopo might feel embarassed by the action, too...he might believe that i think he needs help...and he might be mortified by this...what do you guys think?...i know cultures are different everywhere when it comes to gifts and donations...i think that samoans are usually grateful to recieve gifts...but is this kind of gift different?...am i giving charity to a family that doesnt need it?...am i being a ostentatious white guy?...who thinks that all people browner and poorer than him needs aid?...once again, tell me what y'all think...

lastly, while looking at the stars the other night i was thinking about how strange it is that i see a different part of the universe than you guys...at least, i think i do...though im not really into star gazing (thats for suzy), i think its weird that i have different constellations than you guys (nope, no big dipper here)...i think that is so crazy...here's a link to a constellations page...i think my constellations are in the ES locations...

http://www.astro.uiuc.edu/~kaler/sow/const.html

http://www.wunderground.com/sky/ShowSky.asp?TheLat=-13.80000019&TheLon=-171.77999878&TimeZoneName=Pacific/Apia

also, i just wanted to scare you guys a little bit...yesterday, lisa and i went to the post office and the shore line was like nothing we'd seen before...the tide was incredibly low, and the beaches were ten times bigger than they usually are...if you didnt know this, when the sea is sucked back like that, thats often a sign that a tsunami is coming...we were really scared...we also heard from people that the emergency alarms sometimes dont work, and that people in the states will hear about a dangerous weather storm coming towards us faster than we hear about it...kinda creepy...well, they think the tide was so low because of the typhoon in the phillipines...where only about 1,000 people have died...pray for me people!...

http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20061204/wl_afp/weatherphilippinestyphoon

oh, here are those links to those videos of "The Nutcracker" done here on the island...and, you betcha!...thats a fafafina...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=98Zi8ntIw54

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AQ1mWuAoq3E

alright, thats it for today...ttyl...love ya and miss ya...

-JOE

p.s....thanks mama for the awesome st. nick package...especially for the nativity scene...i almost cried when i opened that...i have my first nativity scene!...and the baby jesus is so cute!...speaking of baby jesus, here's some dialogue from talladega nights...you know, that hilarious nascar movie with will ferell...this is when ricky bobby (will's character) is saying grace with his family at the dinner table...classic...i like baby jesus the best, too...how about you?

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Ricky Bobby: Dear Lord baby Jesus, we thank you so much for this bountiful harvest of Dominos, KFC, and the always delicious Taco Bell. I just want to take time to say thank you for my family. My two sons, Walker, and Texas Ranger, or TR as we call him. And of course my red hot smokin' wife Carley, who is a stone cold fox.

Cal Naughton, Jr.: mmm-mmm...

Ricky Bobby: Dear tiny infant Jesus...

Carley Bobby: Hey, um... you know sweetie, Jesus did grow up. You don't always have to call him baby. It's a bit odd and off puttin' to pray to a baby.

Ricky Bobby: Well look, I like the Christmas Jesus best, and I'm sayin grace. When you say grace, you can say it to grown up Jesus, or teenage Jesus, or bearded Jesus, or whatever you want...

Cal Naughton, Jr.: I like to think of Jesus as a mischievous badger.

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"The worst thing about being a tourist is having other tourists recognize you as a tourist."

-Russell Baker