Life's a (Secret) Beach...

hey, y'all...lets get this blog entry started straight away...forget the "hellos" and "how are yous" and the pleasantries...so, here we go...

on sunday, lisa, john, and i went to a'asu beach...(pronounced ah-sue)...its on the northern side of the island...in other words, its on the complete opposite side of where we live...its on the side that has almost no inhabitants...in fact, we had to hike over a mountain to get to the very secluded, private shoreline because theres no road that goes to that side of the island...it was completely rural and isolated and naturally pure...no humans and no signs of humans...well, sort of...ill describe the beautifully secret beach as i explain the pictures...and theres a lot to explain...

i became googly eyed as i saw this house sittin on top of the mountain...we walked by it right before we began to descend the mountain...it was the last house in the final village we saw before we got into the thick samoan jungle...this lonesome yet peacefully quaint home was at the peak of this majestic mountain...and it instantly became my dream home...isnt it wonderfully splendid?...when we walked by it, a woman was hanging her clothes up and the children were watching tv...and with that splendid view of the ocean and the gorgeous island, it was a dreamy, calm moment for me...sure the house is small...but who could ask for anything more?...its so fantastically wistful and charmingly organic and serenely enchanting...i love it...my barbie dream house...

these two pics above are pretty much of the same thing...the top one was taken later in the afternoon while the bottom one was taken in the morning...it took us like an hour and a half to climb down the flippin moutain...and it took us like another two hours to climb back up it...the climb back up was terribly tiring and strenuous...i was actually extremely proud of myself for hiking up that mountain...it was literally two hours of nothing but deep woods hiking up hill...there was no flat lands...just up...and up...and up...there were a couple times i thought id die of exhaustion...but i just kept pumping along and hiking...lisa had a very difficult time and she says she's never gonna go on another hike again...it was definetly vigorously arduous...but i felt so proud for climbing up it and completing the task, that i would do it again in a heart beat...i was sweating buckets and my legs felt like noodles and my asthma was goin crazy, but it felt good, ya know?...its always very pleasing and rewarding to do something you thought you couldnt do...and there were moments, climbing up that huge, endless mountain, that i wanted to give up...

that picture makes our hiking look safe and comfortable...but this was early in our hiking...we hadnt got to the steep, rocky, wet, and heavily forested areas yet...with those happy little red ants and black lizards and ginormous crabs...it was like the amazon...or a national geographic special...

when we finally got over the moutain and walked through the bushes to our secret beach getaway, i forced lisa and john to pose for this picture like they were explorers discovering a new land...i love making people pose for pictures...and they always seem to be gullible enough to do it...

so this is a'asu beach...our tropically raw and beautifully clandestine south pacific beach...oh, it was righteous, man...i felt totally cut off from our world, and entered a natural, quiet, remote, and clean isle...a paradise untouched by man...no boats or signs or electricity or streets or people...wholly peaceful and pure...it was stunning...the thing that was so awe-inspiring to me was that i never felt in my whole life that i would get the chance to feel and see something so astounding...i mean, to be at a secluded and uninhabited tropical paradise in the middle of the south pacific ocean wouldve seemed impossible to me before this day...and when i was there at the beach, i felt so lucky and grateful to be able to experience the earth this way...i dont think many people get this chance anymore...i felt really blessed to gaze at the world from this small, exquisite, unpolluted, and secret corner of the world...

john and i decided to walk into the jungle and try to discover some of the remainders of the a'asu village...you see, hundreds of years ago there were people who lived on this beach...native samoans who lived off the land...growing bananas and taro and catching fish...it seems unfathomable that people could live on that beach...but i suppose people do it on survivor all the time...anyways, we found deep in the woods this old, neglected, dilapidated house...as you can see from the pic, its been many years since anyone has lived in the house...it was kinda creepy walking up to the ramshackle house...

this cemetary right outside the house made it even spookier...ive told you guys before that samoans bury their dead in their front yards...well, as ancient as this house mightve been, it looks like they buried someone here back in 1992...we were guessing it was a grandmother who maybe grew up in the house or maybe built her family in it or had ancestors that lived in it...either way, it was not only kinda scary, but it was also kinda neat to step back in time...imagining what her life was like in a'asu was magical, and as we continued to explore the house cautiously and adventurously, it was like walking into a time machine...a samoan history exhibit...

let me just tell you, i dont believe in ghosts at all...but after hearing tons of samoan legends of haunting spirits, i couldnt help but be tremendously frightened as we examined the dirty, dark, and forsaken home...but it was exciting...

this jesus statue was on a table in the house...i just had to take a picture of it...reminded me of suzy and our short obsession with everything jesus back in high school...what was up with that phase, sue?...we loved us some jesus...

those two pictures were of the back of the house and john sneaking back there...the bugs here were terrifying...you cant really tell but in the picture of that old, rundown door you can see crabs crawling up the door frame...those two big black dots are jurassic park-like crabs...it was damn gross...

i dont want this post to be too much of a history lesson...because i dont want to bore you...and im also not that educated about the history of american samoa...but a'asu beach is also home to "massacre bay"...in a nutshell, french explorers, one of the first group of westerners to set foot on the samoan island of tutuila (our island), in the 18th century got into a mysterious battle with the villagers of a'asue beach...no one really knows why the fighting began but, of course, the samoans were blamed for it...many people believe, including many samoans, that the islanders were cannibals and tried to eat the french men...but i dont think this is true...there were a ton of samoans killed in the battle (another part of this history thats still unknown is how many samoans exactly lost their lives) and only about 11 french guys...i just dont think the samoans wouldve tried to eat some men with guns and ships and cannons...i believe the french men, like all white men it seems, just wanted to conquer more land or something...or were just freaked out after seeing the dark skinned, tribal, spear-in-hands people...whatever happened, theres a memorial in the jungle off the coast for the french men that died...seems silly to me that theres no memorial for the samoans that died...but once again, the misunderstood minority gets the shaft...

what i find really fascinating about this massacre bay history is that many samoans that i talk to actually go on the side of the white french men...they tell me that many samoans, hundreds of years ago, were cannibalistic, ferocious, and untamed wild natives, and that they probably did try to kill and eat the french men...thats fine and dandy to me, but i also think that theres some sort of shame that samoans feel about their culture and past...in the 19th century, john williams brought christianity to the island and everything changed for its people...they began to believe in the bible instead of the island gods...they began to wear clothes and act like good little christians...they began to use electricity and become "civilized"...all my samoan students believe that john williams is the savior of the island people...he saved them from their brutish and feral ways...he brought them jesus and enlightenment...he made them sophisticated...my students are often embarassed to discuss how their ancestors used to worship island gods and maybe even had cannibalistic sacrifices...they feel guilty about how the ancient samoans used to be tribal and undomesticated...they feel ashamed and mortified by their pasts...so much so that theyve begun to see the white man as their salvation...and have even begun to blame themselves for violent events like massacre bay...they refuse to believe that the french couldve been at fault...it was their own people that are at fault...and thats incredibly sad and interesting to me...they should be proud of their history...no matter what it was...even if their ancestors were cannibals...heck, i think cannibalism is kinda cool...who doesnt want some hannibal lecter-ish cooked and salted human thigh every once in a while?...tastes like chicken...

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

http://www.tamug.edu/mast/aasu/aasu.html

john and i went swimming in the ocean...it was wonderful...though the ocean creeps me out a bit (the whole undertow thing gives me the heebie-jeebies), i still love swimming in it and letting the waves crash over me...i even like the salt water...most people hate it, but for the same reason i dig chlorinated water, i like the taste of ocean water on my lips and skin...im weird like that...i was so happy and thrilled to be in the ocean that i even was brave (or crazy?) enough to stay in the water even after we saw two baby sharks (yup, sharks!) swim right by us...and, sure, they were babies, but they were still almost as big as my arm...so im sure they couldve bit my face off or something...but i didnt care...the beautiful paradise and clear, warm ocean water had me entranced and careless...

dont these pictures make you feel like youre in a episode of lost...i swear, you can almost see jack, kate, sawyer, hurley, locke, and the others...and if you look carefully, you can see the hatch...and the smokey monster thingy...

these final two images were taken at the peak of the mountain...its the southern end of the island where the villages are...remember the south side is inhabited...it was so magnificent to see the island from the top...to see how vast the blueness that surrounded us was and the minuteness of the leafy rock that i was living on...and to see those tiny villages made me feel even smaller...but at the same time, i felt grand...i never believed i would see the world like this...and there i was, seeing it like this...it was a glorious and superlative moment...i wanted to scream "im the king of the world"...dont worry...i didnt...but i fantasized about it...and leo decaprio was there with me, too ;-)

alright...i wrote way too much on this post...damn it all...why didnt you guys stop me!?...anyways, leave some messages...you guys have been doin pretty good...and im always elated when you respond to my posts...some of you have been writing me emails, and thats cool, too...of course, you dont want me telling the universe an embarassing story about you...

k, bye...love ya and miss ya...

-JOE

p.s....just wanted to inform y'all that the last greys episode of the three parter sorta rescued my sentiments on the show...im not gonna explain why, but i think it was back to the old greys anatomy and the wonderful soapy drama of the characters...though it suddenly seemed like the whole ferry boat disaster disappeared after meredith was found drowned, didnt it?...and the whole heaven thing was so after-school special, "the more you know"-type cheesy...remember that classic family ties episode where alex p. keaton goes to that dream-like heaven place?...i dont remember exactly what it was about...ten points to the person who can remember the specifics of that episode...anyways, thats what it reminded me of...

"O lands! O all so dear to me -- what you are, I become part of that, whatever it is."

-Walt Whitman, The Land

Make It Work...

hi, kids...its joe again...and its time for another excellent blog entry...im as tired as all get out...so im gonna try to make this short...but you know how that goes...

this post is mostly gonna be about our junior prom at tafuna high school...it was on wednesday night...and it really wasnt a prom...it was called "junior night"...and it was a lot more casual (kids just had to wear black and white) and a lot different than proms or dances in the states...here in american samoa, their important, legendary, and wonderful "prom" is the senior ball...in other words, no proms here...but i have all juniors, so i decided to go to their night of celebration and i have a few observations on how different mainland high school dances are compared to this island's high school dances...

before i discuss that though...id like to thank all of the great advice i got from my last blog entry...it seems like many of you think i should stay...thats kinda what i figured youd all say...but i think i agree with you guys...so ill probably stay for another year...but who knows...my mood changes like the ocean tide...

that image at the top is of me and a student of mine...taua...as you can see we're both wearing black and white...the theme to their dance was black and white...im so fat...

the picture above is what the decorations or set-up for the dance looked like...it was just in our gym and they got the food catered from a local business...the students mostly sat at the tables...but parents were also invited and they sat on the bleachers which arent shown in this picture...can you imagine parents at a prom in the states?...the teenagers would boycott!...i would have never wanted my mom to be sitting on the sidelines of my high school prom...no offence, ma...but obviously their culture is different...parents are everywhere...theyre omnipresent...and kids dont seem to mind too much...

this picture is of grace and tavita...arent they a cute couple?...as i may have told y'all before, teenage dating is not really allowed here on island...families strongly look down upon it...grace is in my english class and she's always telling me the drama behind her and tavita and their families...for the most part, their families like both of them...but they just dont like them together...because dating shouldnt get in the way of school and church and growing up...anyways, she's so funny telling me how they kinda have to hide their love away...keep their love a secret...or at least beg their parents for permission to go out and stuff...theyre such funny little teenagers in love...theyre good kids...theyre actually both foster children...theyre parents couldnt take care of them, so theyve both had rough childhoods...but theyre always smiling and gracious...theyre gonna get married one day and ill be in their wedding ;-)

if you havent noticed in past pictures of my students, samoans have this odd way of posing for cameras...its very strange...yet highly amusing...for example, the picture of b.j. and sam above...what the heck is that kid doing with that sucker?...he's either pretending to be in a blow pop commercial or something much worse...my students think theyre too cool for school, man...and theyre so vain...are all teenagers like that?...or just samoan ones?...

this is another sweet couple at tafuna high...mira and maka...theyre actually two of the most popular kids at school...he's the star football player and she's the rich girl in all the clubs...her parents own the checkers fast food joint...his father is a big preacher at a church...so these two youngins have it made...well, they appear to...

one big difference between this samoan high school dance and mainland high school dances is that there was no slow dances...i know, isnt that sad?!...its obviously because teenage dating is so taboo, but i still think this ruined the magic and wonder of a high school prom...without any slow, romantic ballads, samoan proms have none of that splendid teenage awkwardness of asking the opposite sex to dance and touching the opposite sex and falling in love with the opposite sex...or the same sex, whatever you prefer...i mean, there was just no romance in the air...then again, the samoan prom was more about friendships and memories...samoans dont have that feeling of shame or embarassment when they come to their prom alone or with just friends...which is kinda nice, i suppose...but i still think there shoudve been some "wonderful tonight" or "in your eyes"...how can there be a high school happy ending (sixteen candles, anyone?) without the token prom dance?...its just so wrong...

the reason why i called this blog "make it work" is because many of the dresses the girls are wearing were actually made by hand...yup, either by their moms or aunts or by some of the phillipinos who live on the island...isnt that mind-boggingly awesome!...maybe its only because i adore project runway, but i think it would be so cool to design and sew your own dress...and some of the dresses at the dance were absolutely fabulous...this is one aspect of the samoan prom that i really enjoyed...the commercialism and materialism of proms in the states is outrageously outta control...i mean, expensive gowns and gaudy flowers and fancy dinners and flashy stretch limos and picture taking overkill and much, much more...proms have become like mini-weddings...theyve become posh, extravagent, and indulgent...adding to the selfishness and greediness of many american young people...that isnt to say that the samoans dont believe in luxury or beauty...they most definetly do...but their beauty and opulence seems to come from within...it seems to be more real and more humble...more earthy...theyre beauty was home-made and delicately constructed with their own hands...not bought from boston store or jc penny...their lavishness also seems to be more creative and individual...afterall, its very unlikely for two girls to be wearing the same dress when theyve created their dresses themselves...anyways, look at some of the gorgeous dresses and think about how they were made by hand...i cant keep myself from thinking that tim gunn would so encourage them to "make it work"...now "carry on"...

theres some fafafinas...

dont these girls look magnificent?...as you can see, these girls are probably just as garish and materialistic as american girls...but remember, these dresses may have been made by their mothers...and theres also only one high school dance every year at tafuna...in the states, theres homecoming, sweethearts, saddie hawkins, prom, etc....so these girls have been planning and constructing their fabulousness on this memorably superb night for a whole year...either way, their femininity and their sass and divaness are completely on display...and i think its totally righteous...makes me wanna play dress up...just kidding...scared ya, didnt i?!...

thats me and john, a friend and fellow teacher at tafuna...he's obviously a fafafina...and im obviously the hottest man EVER!...

huh?...wait a second...i think thats a palagi!...wow, its a miracle...actually, she's half-samoan...

i revere this picture...again, my kids love to pose...and look at these kids pose...they didnt even plan that...it just happened...but they look so cool and suave...and gangsta...and kinda nerdy, too...thats naco, tee, tiso, teutu, and anesi...all really entertaining students...i love working with teenagers...its never a dull day, thats fo sho!...

Vent of the Week:

okay, i might be ruffling some feathers by saying this...but how stupid has greys anatomy gotten in the last two episodes!?...ive actually hated this "very special disaster" edition of greys...ive despised the episodes so much that i needed to express my frusteration with it to the world...i think it all started on that episode a few weeks ago where there was a patient who had toxic blood...yes, toxic blood!...and it began to kill the doctors who tried to work on the patient...it was silly and almost hilarious to see dr burke and mcdreamy and all the other doctors at seattle grace dropping like flies in the o.r....and then the interns had to run in the surgical room to perform the surgery one at a time and in small one minute increments...holding their breaths...it was like a bad survivor challenge...i almost could hear probst saying "immunity's back up for grabs...wanna know what youre playing for?...a doctorates!"...and then came this dumb ferry boat disaster and the whole show goes down the tubes...i hated the first part of this trilogy a lot more than the second part...and im hoping that the third part gets better, as well...but here are just a few reasons why i loathe the latest three-part "very special disaster" edition of greys...

-the drama of this show is strong enough with its characters and their encounters with eachother and their patients...we do not need crazy, catastrophic medical tragedies to become emotional with the show...in other words, i think the writers are being lazy in trying to manipulate viewers by coercing emotions through huge, copious, unbelievable catastrophies...whenever the show does this, when it has weird and wild medical calamities, the show becomes ridiculously asinine...

-the characters have become utterly, sickeningly self-centered...they always have been...and ive always kinda liked that about the show...the characters are real and human...but i think this disaster has proven it in shameful ways...as hundreds of people are dead and in pain, grey and mcdreamy are fighting about god knows what...and burke and yang are fighting about who to tell about their wedding...and iggy is selfishly excited to get her hands on a real surgical drill instead of the greasy tool she heroically used to save a man's life...(by the way, what was up with that nasty "i believe" speech iggy gave where she told george not to marry callie?...was that the right time?...as his best friend grey was about to die in the next room!?)...the only seemingly caring character on the show seems to be karev...and thats just wrong...

-that spooky, annoying, wide-eyed little girl who cant act...

-its become way too E.R...and i hate that show...

-and last but not least, the ending of the last episode was so unreal and manipulative...what more could this show do to try to hook viewers in for next week?...and i dont mean that in a good way...out of all the people in her life, grey meets up with denny and that guy from last years superbowl episode in heaven?!...huh?...how much more spectacle could this have?...not only is she about to die (which we all know wont happen!), but she also has to suddenly meet up with two popular characters that have already died?!...man, what do they think we're stupid?...oh, wait...im sure many of you are thrilled for this week's episode...

actually, tonight's...so, tell me what you think of my vent...am i wrong?...am i the worse greys fan ever?...dont get me mistaken, i still love the show...but gimme a break!...

(did you guys hear about the news of the greys anatomy spin-off?...its gonna star addison...sounds kinda promising...im so in...i love that red-headed, used-to-be-bitchy character...and taye diggs will be in it!...score!...http://www.ew.com/ew/article/0,,20012530,00.html)

one thing id like to point out is that these pictures can be a tad misleading...it may seem like many of these kids are rich and rolling in the benjamins...but thats not true...i think, as i said before, since theres only one dance their entire junior year, many of these kids and their families save up and plan for this very special night...and, youve got to remember, much of their clothes have been hand made...so, yeah, these samoans look stunningly beautiful and luxurious, and it took a lot of heart and dedication to make it happen...

another thing i kinda liked about the samoan version of prom is that its also casual...the top pictures are perfect examples of that...its optional to just come in black and white pants and t-shirts...yeah, it kinda ruins the splendor and sumptuousness of a fancy prom youd see in the states...but it also gives a option to those students who cant afford lovely attire...these kids, most likely, dont have the money to buy flashy tuxedos...and thats a-okay...

here's a clip of william jumping into the nuuuli waterfall...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DvpAvpt03Zg

here's a clip of aipopo jumping from the rocky cliff into the waterfall...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TShi3Al7IXc

alrighty then...thanks again for the tremendous help on the last blog entry...keep leaving those messages...and then i wont have to put up any embarassing stories or pics of you...y'all are lucky tonight...im hella tired...so i dont wanna write anymore...but still leave me your thoughts...what do you think of the samoan "prom"?...what do you think of my vent?...what do you think of the new greys anatomy spin-off show?...and dont you think i am the hottest palagi EVER?!?...especially with my sexy pua...(thats the black necklace thing im wearing)...

k, love ya and miss ya...

-JOE

"I travel a lot; I hate having my life disrupted by routine."

-Caskie Stinnett

It's a Rerun...

Aloha, beach boys and girls...how y'all doin?...im alright...i had a nice and long three day weekend...happy presidents day!...its great being a teacher...so many holidays...anyways, i called this here blog entry "rerun" because it consists of two things you guys have already seen from me...first, i have more pictures of the waterfall...we just went again today and i took some more pictures...and many of you might get deja vu...second, im gonna ask you guys a question im sure ive asked before...but its gettin down to the wire...so i gotta have a plan ready soon...and i need y'all's help...

today, william and i went swimming with some of his soccer girls...here's a picture of the shoreline...we drove everywhere tryin to find a open, safe beach...we ended up just goin to nuuuli waterfall...the waterfall ive been to before...it was fun though...refreshingly cool...its been hella hot here, so the icy, rushing water was perfect...

we tried a beach that we had to drive through a jungle to get to...it actually reminded me of the land and off-roading up to the bluff...we were all sittin in the back and dodging branches and holdin on to our lives...all we needed was some booze, and it wouldve been totally up north...it kinda made me homesick...but thats okay...

okay, the big question i need to ask y'all is whether or not i should stay in american samoa or not for next year...my contract is for two years, but i can leave when ever i want...ill have to pay for my plane ticket back and i may have to answer some heavy concerns of schools that will ask me why i broke my contract...other than that, i can go...lisa is definetly not staying and she's started her job search already...william is most likely staying, though he doesnt know for sure yet...as for me?...i dont know...you see, i do have to make a decision soon though because i need to start searching for a new job and make a new resume and all that crap....i realize ive written before on this blog that id like to maybe teach somewhere else...like africa or hawaii...but im startin to think i dont want to do that...but maybe i do?...i cant make decisions...especially when my mind changes every day...what do you guys think?...i know ive asked this question, sorta, before...but i need some good, reasonable advice...cause, as i said before, i need to make a decision...should i stay?...or should i go now?...here is a brief list of pros and cons to staying in american samoa...

PROS to Staying in AS:

-my students...i absolutely love my students...and, surprisingly, i love my job at tafuna...although many things in the culture piss me off and the administration and the DOE is useless, i really enjoy working with my students in my classroom...i feel like i have a lot of freedom with my curriculum and im able to have a cool and relaxed relationship with my students...on the mainland, schools are cutthroat and busy and impersonal...its hard to explain, but i feel like my students appreciate me and im able to have a friendly yet respectful relationship with them...in other words, i truly love my job...and i know that finding a job you really adore is difficult to do...

-the overall cultural experience...though i think ive learned a lot about samoa since being here, i dont believe ive even begun to scratch the surface of this complex, ancient, and amazing culture...yes, i complain about it all the time...cause its so different than the states...but the experience of integrating myself into a odd and unique and foreign community has always been a dream of mine...and slowly but surely, im becoming a part of this island...and its wonderful...most of the time...

-the ability to see the world...i know, i know...this isnt really happening...but i still wanna see surrounding islands (cook, easter, and fijian islands) and new zealand and australia...the only problem is finding someone to go with...lisa and i kinda are planning a trip for when school ends, but she's kinda "checked out" already, so i dont know if thats gonna happen...i might have to start goin by myself...which is sorta depressing...but its better than not goin at all...right?...

CONS to Staying in AS:

-family, family, family...did i mention family?...yeah, i sometimes feel like im missing out on being with my family...spending time with them and growing with them...family is the most important thing to me...so why arent i with them?...if i were to die tomorrow, wouldnt i have rather been laughing and playing with them?...than spending time alone on a random island in the south pacific?...if i stayed in american samoa, could i last a whole nother year away from my family?...is it worth it?...missing out on another year of charlie and chase's life?...missing out on ella's and the rodriguez family's life?...another year without my mom?...and shawn?...is staying here pointless?...when my family is the point of my world?...ya know?

-boredom...as exciting as this island can be (i learn something new about myself and my relationship with other humans and the earth everyday), it also can be excrutiatingly monotonous and humdrum...for the most part, im working...at school or soccer practice...if im not doing that, im reading or writing or watching my downloaded television...sure i go out, too...but not nearly as much as i would if i were back in wisconsin...i miss the good ol' days of malls and restaurants and movie theaters and cafes and hotels and bars and the plethora of other things to do in the modern world...hell, i fricken miss bluemound for christ sake...why suffer in a practically third world culture when i can have anything and everything whenever i want it in south eastern wisconsin?...applebees and starbucks and taco bell and fun world...roller skating and museums and fancy fondue eateries...im gettin bored stiff sittin here just thinkin about it...

-my biological clock...yup, its startin to finally tick...and its almost at midnight...i mean, think about it...im 25 years old...almost 26...if i were to stay another year, ill be leaving at 27...twenty flippin seven!!!...thats old, man...and ill be old with nothing...ill be coming home to no house or possessions...obviously no husband...or family of my own...im kinda startin to feel like i need to work on those things...i wanna have kids of my own and a family of my own...and i should start workin on those things...otherwise ill be alone for the rest of my life...even though i dont really want to begin settling (having a job and family for the next 30 or so years doesnt look all that thrilling to me), i still kinda feel like ive spent enough time alone...ive learned all that ive needed to learn about myself and the world, and id like to start learning about a boyfriend of mine...or my children...ya know?...or do i have plenty of time on my biological clock?...

so yeah...let me know what you guys think...i need your advice...you guys usually have intelligent things to say...and i need to make a decision...should i stay a 2nd year in american samoa?...or should i go home?...you decide for me...please...

theres william...he actually had enough guts to jump from the rocky wall...i wouldve done it if they had a latter...its not really heights that scare me...its more of climbing that frightens me...does that make sense?...

Suzy's Embarassing Story:

since suzy didnt leave any message on the last blog, i gotta tell y'all an embarassing story about her...y'all know that suzy and i have been friends for like 10 years, so trying to find only one embarassing story to tell is very difficult...theres so many!...but here's one that i think y'all will like...there was this one time when suzy and i were to meet at the movie theaters to see the sequel to bridget jones' diary (how she got me to go to that ill never know!)...anyways, i was running a little late, so i told her to go into the movie and ill just walk in and try to find where she's sittin...well, there must have been two screens for the movie, cause when i got there and walked into the theater she was no where to be found...i sat watching the beginning of the movie for a while, thinkin maybe she just went to the bathroom or something...finally i got up to go find her...well, i finally did discover her...and she's sitting in the wrong movie!...well, it wasnt the wrong movie...it was bridget jones 2, but she was watching the one that started much earlier than the one we were planning to see...in other words, she was watching the ending of bridget jones thinking it was the beginning...she sat there and saw the last 20 minutes of the movie!...believing she didnt miss a thing!...what a weirdo!...so she saw the ending of the movie...and she didnt even notice that it was the ending!...and so we finally went to the correct theater to watch the movie, but it was kinda meaningless for suzy cause she already saw the ending (something with a big romantic triumph of renee zellweger and hugh grant happily kissing in a fountain)...how embarassing is that?...almost "la quinta" embarassing ;-)

now ive warned all of you...leave a message...or ill write an embarassing story about you...im evil...and manipulative...

this is a pic of one of the village boys that was at the waterfall...i have no idea who he is, but he was smoking while we were there...yes, smoking!...i think he was like in 7th grade...obviously, smoking is a problem on the island...mostly because theres no real law enforcement on it...all the little stores around here have no problem selling to minors...so some kids start smoking at the age of 10...kinda sad...but i think this is a phenomenon that happens in many poorer, third world-ish places...like mexico and south america and africa, etc...

in honor of the salters goin to disney world (without me!...the man who says that "disney land is the most beautiful place he's ever been"...the man who is obsessed with everything disney!...the man who wants to live with mickey and minnie!...the man who adores disney world!), ive decided to devote this week's list to their trip...like always, it was extremely hard to narrow the list down to only five attractions...they better make sure to visit each of these attractions...and think of their uncle joe :-)

My Five Favorite Disney World Attractions:

(ive decided to focus on only the magic kingdom...though i think EPCOT is spectacular, this is the most important park to see)

5. Tom Sawyer Island = my imagination runs wild even at my age when i explore this wonderfully playful isle...the best time to go?...at dusk when the last steamboat to the island leaves...its gorgeously calm and secluded...just like huck and tom wouldve liked it...

http://disneyworld.disney.go.com/wdw/parks/attractionDetail?id=TomSawyerIslandAttractionPage

4. Splash Mountain = yeah, the dip down the waterfall is screamingly exhilarating, but the best part of this roller coaster are the bright and happy characters (like brer rabibit) that sporadically appear throughout the ride...they sing and smile and sing some more!...and if the colorfully surprising, blissful ending doesnt make you the happiest person on earth, i dont know what will...zippa-dee-doo-da!...

http://disneyworld.disney.go.com/wdw/parks/attractionDetail?id=SplashMountainAttractionPage

3. Liberty Tree Tavern = best place to eat in the entire kingdom!...not only do you get a thanksgiving, family style dinner with delicious turkey and mashed potatoes and cranberry sauce, but you also get to dine with mickey and minnie and goofy and donald...its yummy and entertaining...and an excellent picture taking opportunity...yes, its a little pricey, but its also a really big dinner that fulfills your appetite...lets just hope you dont have a big wet spot on your gray shirt...cause minnie'll make fun of you...

http://disneyworld.disney.go.com/wdw/dining/diningDetail?id=LibertyTreeCharacterDinnerDiningPage

2. Peter Pan's Flight = a kiddie ride that'll make everyone feel like they can fly...when you soar over london and never never land in your rickety, plastic ship, you truly feel magical and become breathless...alright, im a nerd...but it really is an astonishingly uplifting little ride...claudia and celia will love it...

http://disneyworld.disney.go.com/wdw/parks/attractionDetail?id=PeterPansFlightAttractionPage

1. Pirates of the Caribbean = i was nervous to put this number one on my list...only because theyve updated it with stuff from the movie...like now captain jack sparrow makes an appearance...usually this would make me hella excited...(i loved the movies)...but im hoping the new version is still as adventerous and captivating as the old one...this is one dazzlingly funny and imaginative ride through the world of dangerously drunk pirates...the ride i always look forward to...and though no one believes me, i swear one of the animatronics came to life and winked at me...the one that sits on the bridge...look for him...i swear he's alive...and winking!...

http://disneyworld.disney.go.com/wdw/parks/attractionDetail?id=PiratesoftheCaribbeanAttractionPage

those pics above are of a girl going into the cave by the waterfall...its really awesome in there...dark and scary and lonely...but tight, too...

alright...this was a long post...but make sure you interact with it!...give me some advice on whether or not i should leave the island next year...did i forget about any magic kingdom attractions that you love?...

miss ya and love ya,

-JOE

"Only those who will risk going too far can possibly find out how far one can go."

-T.S. Eliot