The Green Monster...

Hey, everybody!...well, this is just going to be a short post about our new house...here's some pics of it...its like brand new and, actually, like beautiful...i know, to you guys, it might seem really weird looking...but if you compare it to other samoan homes (including our old one), its incredibly nice...NOW we're in the beverly hills of american samoa...i feel like Oprah in this house...our next door neighbors call it "the green monster"...obviously because of its obnoxiously bright aqua color on the outside...as you can notice, we have a small garage and that little nook is where our washer and dryer is...our lives are a million times easier now that we have our own washer and dryer...not many people on the island have that luxury...so i feel very lucky that we have that...you can also notice our fancy front door...which is splendid and all, but lisa and i are always worried about the attention we must attract...first of all, we're palagi, and everyone knows where the palagis live...second of all, our house looks like a giant crayon...and lastly, our front door looks like donald trump's...so we're always worried that our house is going to get broken into or something...there is very little crime here, but there's still those naughty, and sometimes drunk, samoans who might do something stupid...but im sure we're okay...the house might blind them anyway...and scare them away...afterall, it is a green monster...















this is a pic of right outside our front door...thats our mountain...i forget the name of it...it doesnt look that pretty in this pic because it was a steaming hot and hazy day when i took the picture...you can see some trucks, too...thats our next door neighbor...maybe ill show you guys a pic of their house some time...the boy that lives there is actually a student at tafuna...he just came over for some of lisa's tutoring...anyways, the area we live in is kinda nice...its a lot different than our last place...our last house was peaceful and secluded and next to the ocean...this village is busy and loud...theres always people walking by and dogs barking and chickens clucking...and cars driving past...i kinda like it though...i dont feel so alone...i feel more like im a part of american samoa...plus, at freddy's beach (our old home), we lived mostly with other contract workers...here, its all genuine samoan people...who speak mostly samoan...most are working class or poorer samoans...which i like...i always find those people to be the heart and soul of american samoa...theyre the real deal...theres also a korean convenience store next to us...and a church on the other side...the church is ginormous...and they sing all day and all night...especially on sundays...its actually really annoying...but what can you do?..."hey, stop singing that jesus music so loud?!?"..."im trying to watch desperate housewives!"...i think there'd be a riot if i did that...














k, here's a pic of my bedroom...not very exciting, i know...but its a good bedroom...besides the usual family of chickens right outside my window, its still quiet and shady...which i love...as you can see, a samoan woodsman made the beds...yeah, its not very intricate or craftsman-like, but i still think the wood is lovely...one bad thing is that we dont have any dressers...so i have to put all my clothes on the floor...but im not going to complain...i feel very blessed to be living in this house...its probably one of the nicest on the island...
















now, welcome to the living room...it looks kinda messy and unorganized in this pic...its usually cleaner but this is when we just moved in...this is where i do work and lounge...there is a couch but you cant see it in this pic...another day ill show that pic...as you can see, how wonderful entertainment center with no tv...we put magazines there instead of a tv...cause we're intellectual like that...tv rots the brain :-)

oh, and you can see how the house on the inside is yellow and green...go packers!...it was fate i tell ya...















and last but not least, here's a pic of our kitchen...with brand new fridge and oven...its so big and the wood work adds a beautiful islandy, rustic touch...it feels like an actual kitchen and home...and we have very little bugs, too...we do have a minor ant issue by the sink...and i did see a hairy tarantula in my bathroom the other day...that was scary...but for the most part, the newness of the house has kept the bugs at bay...speaking of bathrooms...we dont have hot water...so we have to take showers in cold water...we do have a hot shower in the garage...so we have to walk out there like we're camping to take a shower in it...i actually dont mind it, and i usually take a hot shower in the mornings...where, as im walking back to my house in only a towel after a refreshing shower, my kids will see me and yell "hey, mr. neman!"...a little embarassing...ill use the cold shower after a long, hot day of working in my blazingly uncomfortable classroom...

oh, yeah...i forgot to tell you guys one funny thing about this new house...i dont know if ive ever told you guys this, but there's no addresses here on the island...hence my P.O. Box...theres not even street names...so when you tell people where you live, whether it be one of your friends or even the internet, phone, water, and/or electricity company, you have to explain to them which house it is...so here's an example of the conversation i have when someone asks me where i live:

"Oh, its in the village of fagaima...in one of the brand new houses next to the korean convenience store...yeah, next to the church, too...no, its not the blue house...its the green one...yeah, that one!"

i just find it so crazy that people know exactly where the house is just by explaining a little bit where it is...sometimes ill just say its the new one in fagaima, and theyll know...i mean, this is a small island, but its not THAT small...and trying to explain to the electricity company where you live without having an address is very interesting...and surreal...lisa and i always say that they should just get a normal mailing delivery system...with like addresses and street names...that would lead to more jobs and more organization and less stress...but i guess its not what they want...maybe because its more work...and more traffic and more signs...or maybe just because they like simply having a village as their address...i suppose theres something kinda quaint and simplistic about living in a village...rather than on 2814 N. Richdorf Dr...besides, who wants a government to know where you live...and to assign your street a name and your house a number...man, fight the power!...

k, now that ive put you to sleep, ill let you go...i know this was a boring post...but i promise to write again soon with something actually interesting...love ya and miss ya!
-JOE


"I find the great thing in this world is not so much where we stand, as in what direction we are moving: To reach the port of heaven, we must sail sometimes with the wind and sometimes against it, but we must sail and not drift, nor lie at anchor."
-Oliver Wendell Holmes, Jr.