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