The Sacrificial Lamb...

Hey...im coming home...tonight!...well, i wont be technically home until tomorrow night...and im so excited...although i do want to come home to see all y'all, another reason i need to get home ASAP is...umm...well, i guess youll hear all about it when im home...just some drama...with a friend...sorta...anyways, this should be a short post...i just want to do a list and thats it...i still have some packing and cleaning to do...so yeah...lets get this party started...

the pictures above are obviously of my classroom...er, at least, my old classroom...im hoping we'll be in the new building next year...and itll be a step above this ghetto room...but it was sad to clean and finally lock up the classroom with no windows...or even screens...so many memories...so many headaches...

those images were taken at a friend's house a few weeks ago...it was a taco fiesta...and, damn, the tacos were good...not as tasty as ma's, of course...anyways, two of the palagis, david and rebecca, are finishing their two years here...they were very helpful to us and gave us tons of advice over the past year about american samoa...theyre leaving, along with lisa and william, and so theyre another group of friends that ill miss when im here alone...but i have met a few other people in the last week, so i think ill be fine...lets cross our fingers...

the following list deals with my decision to fulfill my contract and stay on this godforsaken island for one more year...everyone else around me seems to be leaving and not completing their contracts...why am i staying?...this is what i ask myself everyday...im hoping these are good enough reasons for fulfilling my contract...

My Top Five Reasons for Staying in American Samoa:

5. The Locales = this is a very, very minute reason...but theres so many awesome places to experience on and off island...the south pacific can be an adventerous part of the world...i hardly ever go to the beach...mostly because the beaches arent even that great here...(too much coral)...but when i do get the opportunity to go to the beach, the ones i have been to were absolutely gorgeous...and fun and relaxing...im also really hoping to do more traveling next year...even if its just western samoa again...or fiji or whatever...or maybe tokyo for christmas...im surrounded by beautiful and historical places and i should be visiting them...

4. The Culture = though the culture is strange and annoying and contradictory and different, im still thrilled to learn more and more about it...for some reason i feel like one year is not enough to truly LIVE somewhere else...ya know?...i mean, its almost like one year is just a vacation or something...but two years is an immersion...with two years you have sincerely LIVED in a different part of the world...youve become a part of the people and their community and their culture...i kinda feel like living somewhere for a year is just skimming the surface...

3. The Me Time = this is gonna sound totally pathetic, but im looking forward to some more alone time...i mean, dont get me wrong, im gonna be lonely a lot...boringly and depressingly lonely!...but one thing ive kinda enjoyed about this past year was how much time i got to spend on myself...if i stay next year ill have another year to focus on myself...read and think and write...(hopefully ill begin writing the book ive been wanting to write)...relax and think about my life and what i want...although i seem to always be devoting myself to other people (read number 1 of this list), i believe this is the time in my life when i can live it completely for myself...when i have a family and im back home, i dont think thatll be happening often...next year will be ME time...

2. The Students = yeah, y'all probably knew i was gonna put this somewhere on the list...look, i do realize that anywhere i go i will fall in love with my kids...and no matter where i go in the world my students will appreciate me...and i will feel the need to be there with them...but these students, i think, are different...i honestly feel connected to these kids...i feel a bond with them...maybe even a spiritual or whatever link with them...i simply consider my time here not done...i feel like i need to be here with them...at least for one more year...i believe i can teach them wonderful things...and i know theyll teach me awe-inspiring things, as well...in other words, my relationship with these samoan young people is not over...and i can feel that in my heart...(a little bit)...

1. The Sacrifice = this is when i begin to frighten y'all...somewhere in my soul i feel the desire to sacrifice myself for a larger cause...its corny and weird and scary...(especially that word "sacrifice")...but for some extremely odd reason, im elated over the idea of utterly dedicating my whole self to other people...to strangers...to people who need the aid and the teaching...im ecstatic with this opportunity to surrender my life to teaching...to, essentially, charity...now, i understand that i shouldnt have to "sacrifice' myself to feel like im making a difference...i mean, i could be happy and live my life fully and still help people...but theres something special and powerful when a person devotes their life to other people...even if their happiness or life is at stake...do i think ill be sacrificing my life when i stay next year?...no...i think my life will be unique and exhilirating...will i be happy?...thats a more difficult question to answer...but im willing to sacrifice my happiness for this chance to dedicate myself to the island people...and, i truly hope, thatll bring me happiness...

that picture was taken at our graduation...

okay...so there wont be any new blog entries until august...come back then...as i said before, leave me a message with your email if youd like to be notified of when im back and writing...whatd ya guys think of my reasons?...are they good ones?...or not?...should i not come back?...

thanks for reading my blog for this past year...and supporting my ups and downs while ive been in american samoa...i wouldnt have been able to do it without all y'all...thanks from the bottom of my heart...i love y'all...

-JOE

"...As I have studied great men and women from the beginning of time, the common denominator of greatness has been the ability and willingness to sacrifice for whatever they were trying to achieve. When sacrifice has been there, great humans have emerged."

-Hyrum W. Smith

Fish Outta Water...

Happy Memorial Day...oh, and Happy Birthday to me!...well, my birthday was yesterday...but yeah...i turned 23...23!...im so old...i cant believe it...anyways, this post should be pretty random...and there wont be a complex samoan issue to discuss...im tired...and i gotta start packing...i leave in about three days...yay!...k...lets begin...

the picture above is of me and naomi...i think youve all seen pics of her before...she is the head soccer coach and a fellow teacher...and friend...it was taken after the baccalaureate on sunday...you see, the seniors at tafuna are obviously graduating...so the next few days are filled to the brim with senior graduation celebrations...one of the traditional samoan celebrations for graduating seniors is the baccalaureate...i had heard of this in the states, but i think only colleges, especially private ones, practice this...although i do believe that a baccalaureate in the states is a lot different than it is here... ( http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Baccalaureate_%28address%29 )...on island, its essentially a church service dedicated to the graduating seniors...and all the familes and people in the community go to it...no matter what denomination you are, everyone comes together this one sunday to praise and worship together...with the graduating high school seniors...all the schools have their own baccalaureates...and their own graduation ceremonies...so, as you can imagine, its been a zany and hectic week on the island...it seems like graduation is taken more seriously here...the samoans are very proud of their high school graduates...and they love to show that pride with pageantry and celebrations...

thats vili...naomi's son...he's one of the graduating seniors...the candy lei was given to me by one of my seniors...oh, and look at that hair of mine...i think im gonna try to grow an afro this summer...ive always wanted to do it and i never can because my hair is so damn thick...and red!...but i think im gonna accomplish my goal this summer...what do y'all think?...yes-fro?...or no-fro?...

i usually wouldve found this whole baccalaureate stuff totally wrong...i mean, having a church service at a public school!?...and forcing the graduating seniors and their families to go to the christian sermon?!...isnt that a violation of the separation between church and state?...yes, it is...but im not gonna discuss that here...and, honestly, i thought the service was beautiful...i mean, look at that stage...and the choir of seniors sounded lovely...and even the readings from the bible were nicely, emotionally done by the students...so, i think, for the most part, its a good tradition...and if it works for the island, who should say it should be any different...however, im guessing this custom may not last forever...once more and different religions land on the small island, theyll have to deal with more diverse students...and im not quite sure a christian church service will serve and please them all...

here's some vids of an assembly we had on our last day of school...it was, basically, a "goodbye" and a "good job" to the seniors...all the classes, freshmen, sophomores, and juniors, created and performed short tributes to the seniors...and they presented them at the assembly...it was a cute idea...most of the groups sang songs...the juniors did the haka...and the seniors, as a "thank you", did a final cheer...i got a little teary eyed...i cant imagine what itll be like next year when my juniors graduate...im gonna turn into a puddle of tears...ill be so proud...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5TSy4V6l358

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QWrVoZA5O0k

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kk6G4FeG6Vs

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LpNcmvSj3Sw

i dont think i told many of you this but a couple of weekends ago lisa and i rented a car...oh...my...gawd!...it was excellent...first of all, it was a brand new rav 4...and it was gorgeous...white and sparkly and splendidlyrific...i actually began to call the car my boyfriend...i even named him rick...and throughout the weekend id remind lisa how handsome and charming rick was...and id pet him...and hump the steering wheel...i loved it...i want a rav 4!...yes, its a little soccer mom-ish...but its new and spacious and has leather seats...the second reason why i loved renting the car was that we got to drive all over the island on our own...we didnt have to depend on a bus ride or a friend...we just got in the rav 4 and drove...wherever we pleased...(the pic above was taken near fagaitua)...i even woke up early saturday morning and took a drive by myself...i forgot how soothing driving can be...i know many of you are thinking im insane for believing that driving is relaxing...but it truly is...especially when you never get to drive...getting away and being on my own and admiring the scenery is something i almost never get to do here...it was like having my freedom back...a car gives you freedom...and i missed that...im gonna miss that this summer, too...i was hoping my ma would get me a rav 4...but you cant always get what you want, can ya?!...

http://www.cardata.com/images/2007/Toyota%20RAV%204.jpg

it was lisa's last day on friday...she's not returning to the island...so the kids were pretty sad to say "goodbye" to her...they all really enjoyed her teaching...she was tough on them (arent all palagi teachers!?), but she also had great conversations with them...and she got them thinking and discussing some of the controversial issues on island...i think they learned a lot from her...as i said before, when i leave my students next year im gonna lose it...im gonna turn into a big, blubbering mess...

youre probably wondering what the heck those images above were...well, on the last day of school, i was finishing grades and the kids were helping me clean the room...we were listening to some music and one of the kids wanted to have a dance battle with me...since it was the last day and i was goin a little nutty, i accepted the challenge...and danced my lil' palagi butt off...it was pretty funny...and the students in the room were laughing their heads off...im sure they were laughing at me...not with me...but who cares...it was for them...they enjoyed it...

speaking of the last day of school...here's a clip of a trio of boys singing me a tune...they dedicated it to me and said "thanks for teaching us"...it was nice...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k9BTyVr1O_o

thats observably lisa and william...flashing some samoan gangsta poses...i got a hotel room for myself last night...at the tradewinds...probably the most upscale, glamorous hotel on island...i was actually kinda surprised with how pleasant it was...it was clean and attractive and sophisticated...i got the room for my birthday...y'all know how much i love hotels...anyways, they came over last night and we drank and played cards...it was a good time...a low-key and laid back birthday...just how i like 'em...anyways, i got the room for several reasons...for the pool...for the A.C....for the hot shower...for the cable...for the delicious cafe in the lobby...i felt like a king...you see, when youre on this island and you have none of those things above, the little hotel luxuries make you feel like royalty...
http://www.tradewinds.as/

i also invited the boys to the hotel to go swimming during the day...and, man, it was hilarious to see these samoan guys at the hotel...all these kids live in the cocoa land area, which is where the hotel is located...therefore, all these guys pretty much live right down the road from the hotel...yet none of them had ever been there...they were thrilled to go to it...they werent too thrilled to go swimming though...three out of four of them didnt know how to swim...i know, isnt that crazy!?...youd think theyd be pros at swimming living on an island surrounded by the ocean all their lives...i asked them, "werent you guys like born in the ocean?"...and they said, "no, neman...we're from the jungle!"...along with this notion, if you think about it, even when you do go swimming in the ocean, you dont really do much swimming...youre usually standing...maybe floating...but you usually dont do the back stroke and the front stroke, ya know?...unless youre a lifeguard...theyve hardly ever swam in a pool...which is where i think many of us learn how to swim...and a swimming pool is much easier to learn how to swim in than the sea...hence, i understood their lack of swimming knowledge by the end of the day...anyways, you shouldve seen these samoans trying to swim...it was extremely funny...but also kinda scary...i had to literally save them several times...theyd jump in (cause theyre wild teenage boys) and begin to flail and splash around and yell "help"...and id have to go and push them to the shallow end...what i loved about these kids though was that they truly wanted to learn how to swim...they were practicing their strokes and even testing eachother by swimming across the pool...of course, id have to stand in the middle of the pool just in case one of them started drowning...they kept saying, "neman, stand right there...we need a baywatch...im gonna try to swim over there"...wow...the universal language of baywatch...it was fun to see them swimming though...and i was glad i was able to take them...

the other great thing about taking the boys to the hotel was seeing them be delighted and fascinated with the hotel opulence...i mean, they were dazzled by the shiny lobby...and even the luxurious elevators...and then we went into my room and they were obsessed with the free soaps and lotions...i was like "you guys can have those"...and they wanted to take the towels...(which i suppose we all do)...they were like fish outta water...theyd never seen material things like this before...let alone FREE material things...oh, and then they all wanted to take hot showers...like me, very few people on island have hot water...we have to take cold showers everyday...after the hot showers, we sat in the A.C. and watched cable and chilled like superstars...it was like the prince and the pauper or pretty woman...you know, when she's astounded and overwhelmed with the lavish, plush lifestlyes of the rich and famous...these guys, who are mostly poor and half of them survive and scrape by alone with no parents, were amazed by the hotel sumptuousness...once again, it was cool to treat them to that...they deserve it...

okay...that was way too long...again...damn it!...ill probably try to write one more post before i leave...which is on thursday...i wont be writing any entries for the entire summer...im not gonna begin again until im back which will be around august...so, if you want, leave me your email address and when that day comes for a new post ill email you to inform you of it...otherwise, leave me a message about tonight's post...what'd ya think of the pics?...what about the baccalaureatte?...isnt that a violation of the separation between church and state?...what are your thoughts on my boyrfiend rick (the rav 4)?...and dont cha just adore hotels?...especially grand ones?...and whaddya think of a joe-fro?...and can you believe im 23 already?!...

love ya and miss ya...ill be home soon...

-JOE

"It is easy to do things for our own families and loved ones, but to give of our substance for the stranger is the real test of our charity and love for our fellowmen."

-N. Eldon Tanner

Samoa is a Mix Tape...

Talofa...ou te alofa ia ou...translation: i love you...ive been learning my samoan...i actually know a lot...i try to learn a phrase everyday...and i have my students write it down...its a lot easier to learn and understand a language when its written down in front of you...especially when it comes to pronunciation...anyways, im doin good here...lets begin the entry...

the pics for today's blog entry were taken at a church by my house on mother's day...the assembly of god...one of my students, gene, goes to this church and he invited me to go to the service...i actually didnt go to the morning service at which these images were taken...i went to the evening service, but gene took my camera and took some pics of his family and stuff...i realize you guys have no idea who any of these people are...in fact, either do i...i only went to the church this one time...(although i do know gene's family)...however, i posted the pics because i thought it would be cool to show what a very traditional samoan church looks like...this church is all in samoan and only samoans attend it...hence, when i went that sunday night, i felt a little awkward...i was probably the first palagi to ever go to this church, and i felt like everyone was staring at me in total disbelief..."who is that white guy!?"..."we have a palagi at our church?!"...it was the first time in my entire life where i felt like an outsider...i mean, dont get me wrong, the people were absolutely wonderful and kind to me, and made me feel very welcomed...but, you know, i felt very, extremely white...it was like that sesame street game..."one of these things is not like the others"..."one of these things just doesnt belong"...oh, and the service was entirely spoken in samoan...gene did a pretty good job of translating...what was so delightful about the experience was seeing the moms dance and sing and put on skits...it was great...once again, i could never see 50 or so year old women in america doing that kind of performance during church...but it was lovely...and the youth group put on a fine play for the mothers that was actually kinda touching...here's some clips of the moms dancing and the kids singing...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wxr9l8_J9P8

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BSLqd4Ldjwg

look at those mega piles of candy ulas...that was me for teacher appreciation week...and, man, i gained too much weight...i have nightmares of those candy leis...they attack me in my sleep...

okay, lets get on with the topic of the night...im reading a beautiful new book by Rob Sheffield called "Love is a Mix Tape: Life and Loss, One Song at a Time"...its about a guy who meets a woman and they fall in love...and they get married...and one day, suddenly and tragically, she dies of a brain aneurism...he chronicles their relationship and his memories of their love through the mix tapes they made together...the mix tape they worked out to...the mix tape they cleaned to...the mix tape they had sex to...the mix tape they fell asleep to...i used to love mix tapes...especially when i was a teenager...i made them for all my girlfriends...of course i thought i was hella special and romantic when id create them...little did i know that every guy made 'em...i suppose i still kinda make them...i mean, i always make mix cds...and an ipod on shuffle is sorta mix tape-esque...cept the songs are randomly played...on a mix tape the songs are carefully chosen...even the order theyre listened to is meticulously designed...anyways, sheffield describes the splendor of mix tapes...and the crux of them...he says, "The times you lived through, the people you shared those times with -- nothing brings it all to life like an old mix tape. It does a better job of storing up memories than actual brain tissue can do. Every mix tape tells a story. Put them together, and they add up to the story of a life."...

this isnt supposed to be a book review...(although i do give it two thumbs up!)...but the book has given me an idea...what if my experiences here in american samoa were a mix tape?...what songs would be on it?...well, i decided to answer my very own question (isnt that a sign of insanity?) and create a mix tape for my first year here in samoa...ive pretty much chosen the songs that ive listened to the most...and the songs that bring back the most memories and emotions, good and bad, ive had here on the island...im forcing myself to write only one sentence for each song...therefore, id like this to be quick...the following is my mix tape...keep in mind, this isnt a countdown...(what?!...joe's not doing a top five!?...thats crazy!)...the numbers just represent the order the songs would go in...oh, and if you really wanna see how my experience was here on the island, download the songs for your very own samoa mix tape...

My Year in American Samoa Mix Tape:

1. "SexyBack" by Justin Timberlake = i listened to this song a million times my first two weeks here...i think it was therapeutic to lose myself in straight up dance pop...especially when my house, the first one, was filled with roaches and lizards and termites...

2. "My Samoa" by the Katinas = my very first samoan music cd...and although i would have days where i hated the island, this song would always remind me of the good aspects of it...and it would also encourage me to TRY to see the good aspects of it...

3. "Remember Me as a Time of Day" by Explosions in the Sky = this stunningly stirring song reminds me of my student, sam folau, who was paralyzed during a football game...his empty table, along with this song, still brings tears to my eyes...

4. "Coming Home" by John Legend = this piano ballad is actually about the soldiers overseas...so i hate to compare myself to their bravery and sacrifice...but theres some days when i just want to come home...and i picture myself singin this to my ma...

5. "Dusk and Summer" by Dashboard Confessional = this emo rock tune makes me feel all summery inside...and images of the samoan beaches and sunsets come to my mind...oh, and i utterly became obsessed with this band since living here...dont ask me why...theyre just rad...

6. "African Queen" by 2Face Idibia = samoans adore this song...and earlier last year, you could hear it being played everywhere...every car and every house and every person was listening to this reggae-like, damn catchy, cant-get-it-outta-mah-head song...and my students were constantly singin it...

7. "Gravity" by John Mayer = this is a great, great song...i love to belt it out at the top of my lungs...and it also is a wonderfully bluesy song to listen to at the end of a long, busy, hard, and tiring day...it reminds me of gravity...and that it will never fail in bringin myself back down to earth and to reality...

8. "If I Ain't Got You" by Alicia Keys = this unplugged, accoustic version of this song is perfectly graceful and heartrending...and my students once sang it to me gorgeously with their ukalele...i had to bite my lip not to cry...cause it reminded me of my fam...

9. "Wait (The Whisper Song)" by the Ying Yang Twins = this is the most raunchy, sexual hip hop song ever recorded...and ill spare you the details on why this song was so important in my life while i was on the island...lets just say it helped on those lonely, private nights ;-)

10. "All I Need" by Mat Kearney = first of all, i love this guy...his entire album, "nothing left to lose", is righteous...second of all, ive listened to this song so much that i think my laptop might explode if i play it again...when im shaving...when im doin my work...when im ironing...when im goin to bed...this song is playing...dont ask me what it has to do with samoa...i just like the song, k?...

okay, y'all...what'd ya think of my mix tape?...do you remember makin any mix tapes?...your challenge for the week is to try to remember one and leave a message tellin us all what songs were on it...did you ever have a night songs mix?...or a sex songs mix?...or a love songs mix?...lemme know all about your memories of your mix tapes...if this year in your life was a mix tape, what songs would be on it?...

one more week until i go home...i cant wait to see y'all...love ya and miss ya...

-JOE

"..we love to pluck songs off albums and mix them up with other songs, plunging them back into the rest of the manic slipstream of rock and roll. I'd rather hear the Beatles' 'Getting Better' on a mix tape than on Sgt. Pepper any day. I'd rather hear a Frank Sinatra song between Run-DMC and Bananarama than between two other Frank Sinatra songs. When you stick a song on a tape, you set it free."

-from Rob Sheffield's Love is a Mix Tape: Life and Loss, One Song at a Time

Vanity Fair High School...

Aloha, everybody...how y'all doin?...i hate to sound like a debbie downer, but im sick...i have a sore throat and a runny nose...i think its a cold...we've actually had days and days of wind and rain here on island...its pretty darn depressing...rain, rain, rain...its non-stop...and i think thats how i got my cold...so, im feelin a little drowsy and groggy...and im a little worn out...man, the last days of school are tough to get through...for students AND teachers...i think we've all kinda checked out, and summer is lookin damn good...oh, and im not in the mood to write either...i think i need a break...yeah, im a tad bit "the glass is half empty" today...but im entitled to that feeling every once in a while...anyways, this entry should be pretty short...lemme begin now...


the pics on this blog entry were taken at our Vocab Fashion Show...my american literature classes were given the assignment of putting on a fashion show that would present three vocab words and a robert frost poem...essentially, they had to dress as and walk their words...and express the poem's meaning and emtions through their runway show...it turned out nice...i was, as always, impressed with my students' creativity and enthusiasm for the project...i really created the assignment for them...youve seen their pictures...samoans love to pose and strut...they also love performance and fashion...(theres beauty pageants on island all the time)...oh, and they also love music...so i let them include today's hottest music during their catwalk swaggers to add fierceness and energy...it was pretty fun...and im hoping they learned their words in an engaging way...instead of just writing a sentence using the word, ya know?...so yeah...

look at these guys...they think their so GQ...i guess thats samoans for ya...i still find it fascinating...they dont really read magazines down here...and if they do, the mags are like from 1999...and they dont really watch television down here that much either...yeah, they do watch tons of movies, but still...where do they get this from?...this notion of posing in fashionable, sexy, and vogue-like manners...its like a vanity fair...

as i think back on my ten months teaching here in american samoa, one of the biggest things i will miss is my students and their affection and devotion to creativity...i think ive discussed this many, many times...but i absolutely love and respect their passion for art and performance...i mean, its not just a form of expression for them...its almost spiritual...i think they literally feel spiritually closer to god when they sing and dance and perform...and i think thats beautiful...(as corny as that sounds)...but anyone that has known me since i was young knows that i, too, have a connection to creativty and art...i dont know if its spiritual...but its definetly engrained into my genes...into my personality...my aura...i mean, i used to make dances to songs and produce plays and write stories and create films in my mind...(yes, i would make noises in my bedroom...pretending i was directing a movie in my brain...dont ask and dont be hatin)...i was constantly imagining...and performing...(i dont know how anyone didnt suspect i was gay!)...and so i feel a bond with these kids...i sometimes even feel spiritually linked to them...(i use "spiritually" as my own defintion)...im actually kinda scared to go back to the states and be with kids that dont like performance and art...i mean, i know american kids are creative...and i know many of them like art...and even performance...but i know i wont be able to do many of the activities i do now with american teenagers...students in the states wouldnt be caught dead singing and dancing in front of their peers in their english class...i dont think theyd even strut their stuff down the runway in a vocab fashion show...theyd see this type of silly and artistic presentation of vanity as embarrassing and nerdy and strange...and, well, gay...and im sorta scared of that...i mean, what will i do with them?...i know ill be able to adapt my teaching style to fit their needs...i know ill change my lesson plans for kids in the states...but i kinda want to do performance activities with them...its actually part of my teaching philosophy...i believe the imagination and creativity teaches us all about ourselves and eachother...but will i be able to use this philosophy in the states?...especially when many of my kids will be terrified of presenting their creative art in front of a classroom of american teenagers?...lets face it, american teenagers work in a helluva hostile environment...high schools are filled with mean, spiteful, and insecure adolescents...theyre drowning in low self-esteem...so who can blame a kid for not wanting to sing or dance or even walk down a catwalk in front of their peers...id pee in my pants with fright...in fact, i probably wouldve never been part of a vocab fashion show when i was in high school...i was way too self-conscious...and the kids wouldve totally laughed and pointed...or, at least, thats what i wouldve been horrified of...therefore, will i be able to do the performance activities that i do in american samoa in the states?...im kinda thinking i wont...and that makes me incredibly sad...during the fashion show i made a mental note not to take my samoan students for granted...i reminded myself why i adore them so much...and why ill miss them when im gone...and i truly felt blessed to have such wonderfully brave and proud and passionate students...

okay, so this kid had the word queer...and let me tell you that 99.9% of my kids had no idea that queer meant strange and perplexing...they all thought it only meant one thing...gay...this kid does look kinda strange and perplexing...and gay...just kidding...(i so could get fired for that)...

as you can see, we did our fashion show in our school library...its a brand new room in the school and its actually kinda nice...sure, its the smallest high school library ive ever seen...but its also air conditioned and pretty well-stocked with books...but dont get me started on the librarian...she's the book nazi...(i so could get fired for that, too)...

here's a vid clip of one of the presentations...it wasnt one of the best ones...but it was still pretty colorful and fun...watch it and tell me whatcha think...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U_li2EVCpr4

and here's another vid clip of a speech festival performance that was done at our spring concert...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N2ZgsX1zMdM

Ma's Embarrassing Story (Part 2):

alright, so ive already written a humiliating story about my mom...but she hasnt been leaving any messages lately...so ive got to punish her...and im gonna punish her with this story about her teenage years...i love when she tells me this story because i have these images of the seventies...man, that mustve been a wildly hilarious time...anyways, when she was a teenager she snuck out in the field behind her house to smoke...(it couldve been cigarettes but i think it was actually some mary-jew-wanna)...and when my teenage mama was done smokin she went back into her house and tip-toed to her room and listened to some music...this is when i have images of a hippie-like, bandanna 'n' bell-bottom wearing lil' patty laying down on a totally groovy bed, chilling to some 70's pre-disco pop...i picture her closing her eyes and bobbing her blonde, long hair to some archies and jackson five...or some nancy sinatra or the monkees...maybe even some old school aerosmith...she's surrounded, of course, by colorful peace sign posters and psychadelic grateful dead pictures...and cheesy teen beat portraits of davy jones and david cassidy...oh, and theres gotta be a orange shag rug...and maybe a beanbag chair...and most def a magic eight ball on her dresser...in other words, i have imagined my mom in a brady bunch/partridge family episode...cept this is a "very special" episode...where marsha, marsha, marsha smokes a doobie...my mom tells me that she is then questioned by her sister and her mom about the smoking...and she gets all paranoid...and probably loses her buzz...but i never get sick of that story...im probably completely wrong in my idea of her teenage years...but i still like to tease her about it...and imagine what the good ol' seventies mustve been like...

okay, im gonna do a quick list...and then i gotta go...this week's list deals with my favorite movie musical scenes...i made my decisions on how dazzling and memorable the scene was...how the music matched perfectly with the visuals of the film...

My Five Favorite Movie Musical Scenes:

5. "You're the One That I Want" from Grease = who can forget olivia newton-john as sandy in her sexy, bad-ass black outfit stampin out her ciggy and bringin john travolta to his "electrified" knees?...and who can forget that lusty, dancing chase through the carnival funhouse?...its the most energetic scene in this mega popular musical...

4. "The Sound of Music" from The Sound of Music = yes, its a corny scene thats made fun of all the time...julie andrews twirling in the swiss alps and belting out "the hills are alive!"...but its also a classic pop culture moment thats embedded into billions of humans' minds...and its a majestically evocative scene, as well...listen to the words and her singing of them and gaze at the vast mountains...and i dare you not to be moved in some way...

3. "Elephant Love Medley" from Moulin Rouge = now this is what i call dazzling...a gorgeous scene of glitter and magic...filled to the bubbly brim with lovely love songs like "up where we belong" and "all you need is love" and "i will always love you" and elton john's "your song"...ewan mcgregor and nicole kidman sing their lil' hearts out on the top of the romantically dreamy city of paris in this goosebump inducing visual-musical explosion...

2. "Sante Fe" from Rent = i worship this scene...im always amazed by this quiet, subtle sequence that takes place in a new york subway train...the kids from rent sing this cool, calm, and collected tune as they swing smoothly and seductively pole to pole down the graffiti covered train car...it makes you actually believe that these peeps have just broke out into song in the real world...its an authentic, peaceful, optimistic scene in a relatively depressing flick...it doesnt hurt that i think the black guy that plays collins is wicked hot...

1. "Somewhere Over the Rainbow" from The Wizard of Oz = once again, a soft and gentle scene that is memorable and emotional for one reason...and thats judy garland's tranquil and wistful performance of this beautifully poignant song...(i know, punch three holes into my gay card!)...but this cherished, enchanted black and white moment is the wonderful, inspirational set-up to dorothy's universal journey to find happiness...if you think about it, its kinda astounding that the scene is only of garland sitting on a haystack singing in a dreary, dark environment...yet it still has become one of the most unforgettably tender, elegant, and heartrending scenes in film history...

k...im done for tonight...post me a message responding to this blog entry...what do ya think of the vocab fashion show?...could i ever do something like that in the states?...am i crazy to think that i wont be able to do this kind of artistic performance activities with american teenagers?...and how about that groovy tale about my ma?...oh, and whats your favorite movie musical scene?...show me some love...and im gonna try to post again on wednesday...

love ya and miss ya...

-JOE

"Much have I traveled in the realms of gold, And many goodly states and kingdoms seen..."

-John Keats