How Much is That Dog in the Window...

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

-JOE

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

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

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

Ricky Bobby: Dear tiny infant Jesus...

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

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

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

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

-Russell Baker