Our Final Bittersweet Island Goodbye Top Five...

Malo, putios...Sup?...I'm pretty good...I am hella busy...Graduation and stuff is all over, but now I'm working on packing and cleaning the house and visiting with friends and spending final moments with the fuams...Yeah, it's crazy around here...I'm gonna make this short...



First, I'd like to explain to all y'all my plans for this blog...I am thinking of having one more blog entry on Thursday...It'll mostly be a short one, saying goodbye and giving thanks to my fellow blog readers...And then I'm plannin' to have a epilogue-type entry a week or two from the last entry...(A commenter suggested the idea)...In that entry, I'll describe what it's been like to adjust back to American culture and post any final pics and vids...So, there's about two more blog entries after this one...And then this blog is UMA!...Done...



The pictures in today's exciting blog entry were taken at the Tafuna High School class of 2008's graduation ceremony...The image above is of Gene...Filled to the brim with candy ulas...I'll give you a dissertation on candy ulas in a moment...For now, lets get to our list...By the way, this will be our final Bittersweet Island Goodbye Blog Top Five...It deals with the changes I've been through over the last two years since being in American Samoa...I didn't get much suggestions from my blog readers (one from Shawn), so I'll have to come up with a list of my own...How did I change since being on this island?...How have I grown?...Well, lets find out!...

Top Five Samoa Joe Changes:

5. As a Teacher = I've changed as a teacher in countless ways...I've definetly become more confident and even more professional...I am ready to take on a states-side high school musical and speech festival...I am prepared to organize, direct, and produce school performances that will wow and amaze...And I have also completely changed my philosophy of teaching...Now my goal is to teach using creativity, imagination, and performance to enhance students' cognitive and social growth, amongst other things...

4. As a Uncle = I've changed as an uncle because I've realized that time together and the bonds you create with your nieces and nephews are more important than buying them an ice cream cone or taking them to the movies...I mean, I'll still spoil them sometimes, and I know they remember me because I buy them bubblegum...But as the boys always tell me, "See Neman, you don't get it...We're not here for your money!"...I hope to create that friendship with my nieces and nephews when I get back home...
3. As a Friend = I've changed as a friend because I've learned that true friends accept eachother warts and all...I've learned this mostly from the boys and my experience with Lisa, a friend who has refused to be in contact with me even though we had the powerful, difficult experience of moving to this island together...The FuamUsos, on the other hand, have seen me get angry and cry and I've seen them get pissed and shed tears, too...And yet we stick by eachother's sides...I will be this kind of friend back home to those people who've stuck with me, as well...

2. As a Brother = I've changed as a brother because, well, I've realized the awesomeness that is my sisters...Personally, I think I was always a pretty good brother, who supported both Dana and Shawn...But since I've been away from them for so long, I have discovered what they truly mean to me...Maybe I took them for granted a little bit when I was back home, but I now know that they are my best friends...And they will be for the rest of my life...
1. As a Son = I've changed as a son because I've had to literally take care of and "mother" (or "father") three Samoan kids...I've had to cook and clean and give them rules and advice...I've even had to keep them motivated and inspired...I've also spent many, many nights worrying about them and praying for their success and happiness...I've earned a new respect for my mom...I will never take her cooking for granted...I will always be thankful for her washing the dishes...And I will be forever grateful for when she shows she cares...Because something as little as that means the world to a person who is growing and becoming their own...

Okay, so do you guys wanna hear my dissertation on candy ulas?...It might be my final discsussion of a Samoan cultural practice...

You see, the candy ula is a popular gift to elementary, high school, and college graduates here in American Samoa...Essentially, a person makes a candy ula by buying some candy and then creating a lei or necklace outta it with plastic wrap...They then give the lei to the graduate by placing it around their neck...It's a cheaper and smarter alternative to real leis, which is the authentic custom in the South Pacific...Flower leis can cost about 40$...And they usually die within the week...Candy ulas cost about 2$ depending on what candy you use...In addition, they taste delicious...Anyways, I dig the idea of candy ulas, and I'm even thinking of bringin' the idea to Wisconsin...I especially love the creative leis I saw...I witnessed a kid wearing an ula of McDonalds cheeseburgers and another kid had one lei of cash...They're fun and celebratory...I also like how the Samoan teenagers share and trade with friends...After the graduation ceremony when everybody was gathered around their friends and family, many of the kids took off a few of their own ulas and lei-ed their friends, saying "congratulations" and giving them kisses...It's a happy gift that promotes sharing...And cavities!...The Fuamination fridge is packed tight with sugarific goodies right now...

But there's also something I kinda dislike about candy ulas...These piles upon piles of candy leis actually reflect and symbolize a Samoan cultural phenonmenon which deals with the idea of the bigger the better...In almost all Samoan celebrations, the more you have or recieve, the better person you are...Lemme try to explain...At a Samoan funeral, the number of people that are there to mourn determines what kind of person the deceased was in life...In other words, if a funeral has hundreds of family and friends who have come from all over the world to pay their respects, then the person who has died has not only lived a successful, compassionate, good life, but will also live a good afterlife...Samoans often call these "blessings"...Having a ton of people at your funeral means you have a ton of "blessings"...Which of course means you're on your way to see Christ in the clouds...Samoan weddings are similar...The more gifts you recieve, the more "blessings" you have been given...Heck, even Samoan birthdays are like this...The more food you have (and the tastier it is) determines if you have been blessed and will be blessed in the future...Everything in Samoa has this idealogy...The bigger the better...That's why Samoan funerals and weddings and birthday parties and graduations are exploding with pomp and extravagence...Even though poverty is rife on the island, people spend hundreds and hundreds of dollars to bless these celebrations with lavish gifts, beautiful decorations, gorgeous food, and awe-inspiring fashion...Blessings galore!...It's the same with these damn candy ulas...The more candy leis a Samoan graduate is given the better...The more blessed they are...

On the other hand, maybe I'm only feeling bitter about these ulas because of Sammy's situation...I know, I know...Y'all must think Sammy is this big ol' baby or something, when in fact I'm the one who overly worries about him and his feelings...(He's incredibly strong, morally sohpisticated, and amazingly mature)...But I was so worried about him not getting very many ulas on his graduation day...I was concerned Sammy would feel unloved or un-"blessed"...Since none of his family came down from the states to celebrate this significant day with him, I knew he wouldn't be recieving very many candy leis...(Or "blessings")...I made him eight leis...Yup, EIGHT!...When you usually only make one for each graduate...But not only was I hella proud of him, I also wanted him to feel "blessed" that day...As you can see in the pictures above, Sammy, for the most part, had less ulas than most of his friends...He had a whole bunch less than Gene who has his whole family on island...The thing is, I was so worried about Sammy feeling "blessed" on that day that I forgot to see the strength, resilience, and love that Sammy is already "blessed" with...You see, as I looked at Sammy with tears in my eyes after hugging him and telling him I loved him and congratulating him, I noticed him celebrating with his peers and taking off his ulas and giving them to his friends who had less than him...I forgot how generous Sammy is...And how much he doesn't need candy ulas to know he's strong and successful...Maybe I was wrong about these candy leis all along...Or maybe Sammy was giving them away so that others wouldn't observe his lack of "blessings"...Either way, Sammy made me proud that day...Also, he did recieve alotta candy leis from random chicks...Dass mah boy! ;-)

Alright, and the last thing I wanted to show you guys today is my performance I did for the Seniors...On the last day of school, the Freshman, Sophomore, and Junior classes perform tributes to the graduating class...Since I've been with these Seniors for two years now (I was also their English teacher for their Junior year), I decided to perform a tribute song and dance...I actually did the performance, and I have posted it on YouTube...Here are some things I have to say before you watch the clips...

-I was unbelievably nervous...You can tell by the way I'm moving (my hands are actually shaking) and the way I'm singing...There were hundreds of students and teachers watching me...I've never done a performance of this magnitude...A solo performance, nonetheless...(...By the way, I did the song and dance after I struggled during an introductory speech...I was so emotional and I couldn't stop crying...I told the Seniors they've pretty much been with me everday for two years...And I consider them my family...From what I hear, I wasn't the only one cryin'...Students, teachers, and administrators were all cryin' rivers of tears...)...

-I didn't practice with the keyboardist until the morning of the assembly...And we only practiced with music two times!...You can notice me constantly looking over at him to see if I'm on time and key...

-Oh, and I was so nervous I didn't wanna get rid of my lyrics...So, I read off my sheet...Ghetto?...Yes...Needed to calm my nerves?...Yes...

-I added the now legendary "Grand Finale" just for my Samoan students...Watch the second part of the performance and you'll see the dazzling, glittery "Grand Finale"...The kids loved it...Humiliating?...Yes...Legendary?...Totally...

-If you're a loyal blog reader, you MUST watch these clips...Samoa Joe is officially the most famous, beloved palagi English teacher in American Samoa of all time...It may sound conceded, but the kids are tellin' me it's true...They were so thankful for my tribute...Well, I did it for them...I am so proud of them...And I love them tremendously...Sole, I love them so much I was willing to make a complete ass outta myself just for them :-)

Neman's Senior Tribute Part One:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Evd0aF4Hgas

Neman's Senior Tribute Part Two:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=etJYDN3Z6PI

Okay...Samoa Joe's blog is almost done...Leave me a comment before it's too late...Do you agree with the changes I've gone through since having this experience?...Are my thoughts on candy ulas valid?...Are candy leis harmful?...Do they feed the "more is better" Samoan way?...Or they loving, blessed gifts?...Should I worry about Sammy and his feelings so much?...Or should I trust in him more?...Oh, and what'd you think of my Senior Tribute?...Is it excellent?...Embarassing?...Horrid?...All of the above?...Do you agree with the fact that I'm now a celebrity on this island?..."The craziest palagi EVER!"...

Love ya and miss ya...

-JOE

"Don't cry because it's over. Smile because it happened."

-Theodor Seuss Geisel