Kill 'em With Kindness...

Yeah...Hi...Lets begin...

First of all, the pictures on today's blog entry were taken on my walk home from school...All of the images are of my village, Fagaima...You'll notice that many of the houses, like the one above, are pretty much just small, rickety ol' shacks...I particularly like the house in the image above...You can also see a memorial or grave site for a lost loved one...I know I've mentioned this a long time ago, but I feel that's a wonderfully heartfelt and beautiful way to remember family and friends who have passed away...Sure, it's a little macabre and morbid, but it's better than what we do in the states...We bury 'em and forget about 'em...I'd like to be buried right in my children's front yard...So I can constantly keep my eye on them ;-)

So, the last couple of days have been a real rollercoaster of events...Mostly in regards to my housing situation...I'll try to report all of these happenings briefly, and then I'll reveal a truth I learned about my experiences so far here on this island...

Last Week:

I was told by the DOE that I'd be getting a roommate...They told me he'd be showing up "anyday now"...They informed me that he was from Western Samoa and that he was old (like in his 60's!) and single...Now, this brought me some anxiety...I mean, living with a Samoan isn't really what I wanted...Technically, I'm with them all day...And I would've much rather had a palagi roommate that I could've vented and connected with...But I just swallowed this sorta jagged lil' pill and kept a smile on my face...I suppose I was content with this because at least they weren't moving me out of my house...Which I've grown to really dig...

This Past Tuesday Night:

Faoui, the lady who recruits new teachers to the island (including Lisa, William, and I), came over to my house to tell me that they were planning on moving me out of the house...Yes, the house that I love and feel comfortable and safe in...The house that's in a nice village that I've become accustomed to...She warned me that a family was to move into the house by this weekend and that I would need to be out of the house by Sunday...I, of course, was a little distraught and upset by this revelation...I felt a tad better once she told me that I'd be living in David and Rebecca's old house...If you don't remember, they were a couple of palagis from the states that finished their two year contracts last May...Their house actually isn't that bad...It's relatively new and it does have a washer and dryer...And it even has ceiling fans which are hard to come by in American Samoa...Oh, and it's in a village called Mapusaga...They're one of the many villages that have strict prayer times and stern curfew hours...You're probably thinking why I would think that was a pro for living in this new house...But I just kind of think it would be cool to experience a village like that...I guess when the prayer times begin (in the morning and around dinner time), the village chiefs will walk around with big wooden sticks and will hit people who are not praying...I just thought it would've been a fascinating experience...And a unique, new vision of the island...There were a couple of things that I was worried about though...I heard from Rebecca there was a problem with bugs...Mainly termites and roaches...Yeah, I don't know if I'm completely ready to be living with those things again...I think I would've gotten really depressed if that would've happened...The house is also kind of far away...There's no way I could've walked to the school...I would've had to take a bus everyday...And transfer busses, too...After Faoui told me this, I felt sick to my stomach...The change would've been difficult to say the least...I was scared and angry after she reported this to me..."I don't want to move!"..."I was just getting settled down!"..."I was just getting used to this place again!"...But I just kept all of that to myself and was patient and cooperative...

(I'm so mad that the above image didn't turn out...Those were some kids sitting by the road...They begged me to take a picture of them..."Hey, Mistah Palagi!"...I quickly snapped one to their joyful approval...They were so giddy about it...I've always wanted to take pictures of the children in Fagaima...I was so disappointed to see that this one was fuzzy...)

Yesterday Afternoon:

As I was walking home from school I suddenly see David riding his bike...He's the guy that I thought moved back to the states with Rebecca after their two year contract had ended...He's the guy that I thought used to live in the house that I was apparently moving into by Sunday...Well, he stops to say, "hi"...And he tells me that he never left the island...That he stayed over the summer because he'll be playing basketball in the South Pacific Games (this area's version of a mini-olympics)...He tells me that he's still in that house in Mapusaga, and that he'll be there until the end of September...So, this is where I really started to worry and get irrate...I was frightened that the Department of Education was going to put me in the government housing because they didn't have anywhere else to put me...I do not want to live in Lion's Park or Freddy's Beach...The homes are dilapidated, bug-infested, ghetto-ized crap shoots, and as David was talking I could sense an urge in me to leave the island...I know, I know...Sounds overdramatic and exaggerated...But I truly feel that I would've been awfully depressed and sad if I would've had to move into one of those areas...I don't really know why but I would've felt disrespected and used by the DOE...I walked away from David planning in my mind excuses for going home...Dreaming of ways I could leave the island without repercussions..."My grandpa died"..."I wasn't given enough notice to leave the house"..."My dog has cancer"..."Aliens abducted me"...

Last Night:

Well, I get home and my landlord is outside doing some work on the yard...He's a really, really old Samoan man (like prehistoric, dinosaur old!) with about three teeth (total!)...And the man loves me...Everytime he sees me at the house he will talk to me for an hour about the most pointless stuff...Although I'm busy and could care less, I've always smiled and listened to him carefully...I've always been extremely kind to him...Hmm, I guess it paid off...He tells me that he heard about the DOE's plans to move me out of the house...And he reassures me that that will not be happening...He told the DOE, "I will not let you move Joe out of that house...I am not allowing anybody else to live there except for Joe...He's a good teacher and if we want him to stay on the island we need to keep him in that house...I forbid anyone else to live there!"...I was shocked that he told them this...But I was also totally thankful and pleased...I shook his hand and said, "faafatai, faafatai, faafatai"...Now, he didn't have to do this...But, apparently, the old man loves me...So, all that conversating with him really paid off...I guess the DOE is still looking for a roommate for me...As of right now, I'm still going to be living in the green monster...Home sweet home...Fagaima's where the heart is...And I've definetly learned a lesson with this situation...

I learned that killing people with kindness really does work...Especially when it comes to Samoans...You see, I've been a really patient, nice, cooperative person on this island...And I feel like I've been vindicated in a way...I feel like I've finally been paid back for my kindness...When She-Who-Shall-Not-Be-Named was here she dealt with the Samoans in a horrible way...When they made her upset or whatever she would often become quickly, visibly angry and begin shouting at them...She'd totally lose her cool...And I have found that Samoans utterly despise that reaction...They absolutely turn themselves off when someone loses their temper...It's ova to them!...But if you, like I have, deal with the situation smiling and being "chill" and "cool" they will slowly but surely fix the problem for you...All you gotta do is kill 'em with kindness...Just as I did with the old landlord...Yes, he was annoying and I hardly can understand a word he says...But I always was patient and pretended to listen...I killed the dinosaur with kindness and I was paid back handsomely...With the ability to stay in my house...The green monster...Yin and yang...What goes around comes around...Whatever you want to call it, I can play Samoans like a violin...

Just some final comments on the last blog entry...

-I think I counted about three fafafines...Maybe more like two...

-To answer Nellie's questions about Gene, I'll just quickly say that it seems like family is just wholly different here...Gene's pop died when he was in 7th grade and his mom seems like a good mom...She's a little bit older and has a lot of kids...So, maybe Gene just doesn't get a lot of attention...But I simply think it's just different here...Family's are close...But they're not like American families where they're constantly worrying about their teenagers...And constantly having anxiety attacks...Even with their small children, they seem to be less sensitive about what could hurt and harm their kids...Remember that early blog entry I wrote about?...Where they let their kids all sit in the backs of their trucks...With no seat belts or anything...I guess that sums up their parenting right there...

So, there's some new pictures of the green monster...My home...But what's different about it?...Lets see if you guys can notice what's changed...

Alright...Thanks for the advice about Gene...

Love ya and miss ya...And keep keeping in touch!...

-JOE

"The world is full of nice, ordinary little people who live in nice, ordinary little houses on the ground. But didn't you ever dream of a house up on a tree top?

-Father Robinson from 1960's The Swiss Family Robinson