Welcome to my blog

I’ve put it off long enough. The blog is finally here. I posted the previous letters I sent through emails as well as some notes I’ve typed on my laptop. If you are reading this and have not been getting the emails and would like to, send me a message at jmetz06@gmail.com.

06/12/08

Talofa Lava!! (Hello)

TGIF from the southern hemisphere! And so ends another week of Peace Corps training. Just to give you all an idea of what I’ve been doing since arriving in Samoa here is my last 10 days in a nutshell. My training group (#80 in Samoa) consists of 13 Americans of all different types of personalities. We have been staying at Apia Central Hotel here in Apia, Western Samoa. All but a few of our training sessions are here at the hotel where breakfast is provided every morning and coffee and tea are available throughout the day. My major food staples thus far have been PBJ sandwiches, bananas, curry, and lots of fish and chips. Skippy peanut butter, Louisiana hot sauce, and Pringles are my comfort foods when I’ve had my fill of papaya and bananas. I did get a burger the other night which cured some desires, even though it was loaded up with cucumbers, beets, and a fried egg. Saturday we go to our training village for a few months. The name of the village is Amaile and it is on the eastern coast of the island of Upolu. I’ll be living with a host family for this part of training and getting a crash course of what village life is really like. We will mostly be stationed out of there until mid-august when we will be sworn in as volunteers and head off to our permanent site.
I feel like I’m picking up the language pretty quick. The locals have been very welcoming and appreciate us even more when we attempt to speak Samoan. It is a small island so apparently it’s easy to run into the same people on a frequent basis. Another trainee and myself played Frisbee in the park yesterday and it didn’t take long for about 12-15 kids to join in. hint…hint…we need more Frisbee’s down here.
I have a cell phone now. There are two cell phone providers in Samoa and it is very affordable. If any of you for some reason or another have a good and cheap international plan my number is 724-2796 I don’t expect any calls from anyone in the states anytime soon, but when Obama solves our financial problems in 2009 drop me a line sometime. I have service all over the island. It sounds like I’ll have very limited access to internet in the next couple of months so unfortunately the “blog” that I’m trying to get going will not be up for a while.

Take care,

Jim



8/30/08


It’s been a very busy couple of weeks here in Samoa. We finished up training in Amaile with a “fiafia”, which means a lot of things, but in this context it means “party”. Lots of food, dancing, and gift exchange. I now have more clothes than I could ever need. A few days later we had the swearing in ceremony so now I can officially call myself a Peace Corps Volunteer. Myself and the rest of my group spent a few days in Apia celebrating and preparing for the move to our individual sites.

I have been in my permanent village, Samauga, since Wednesday. Samauga is on the northern coast of Savaii, close to Manase which gets lots of tourism. It is by far the best part of Samoa I’ve seen so far. My village is small, with about 300 people. There are a couple small stores, primary school, and a church. Pigs and chickens roam around everywhere. Pigs are very funny animals to watch. There are four houses in my host family’s compound. I have a room in the middle house. The host father (To’afe) is the high chief of the village. His son was a very famous rugby player in Samoa a few years back. His name is Afato So’oalo. Google him. To’afe has 10 children. Most are living in Australia. At the present time there are 10 or 11 family members living here in Samauga. The family owns one of the shops in town and seems to be doing very well for themselves.

The next few months will be spent getting to know the village and improving my language. Everything at the village level is done in Samoan so if I want to accomplish anything I will need to learn it. I give my hat off to the PC language trainers. I can speak just as good in Samoan as I can Spanish. And I spent a lot more time with Spanish. Well here begins my two years as a volunteer. I want to send an invitation to all of you to come and hang out in Samoa. You won’t regret it if you do. I have a new phone and number so here it is……685-724-2796…..My address is still the same. PC handles all my mail. Some of you had asked me in emails what would be good to send….Well, burned cd’s or dvd’s are great. My I pod crashed two days before I left for Samoa. Magazines and newspapers keep me informed of what’s going on. There is very little U.S. news out here. Believe it or not, I’m a little concerned about how Paris Hilton and Britney are holding up. Haha. The thing I really miss is BBQ sauce. They import it from New Zealand but it’s just no K.C. masterpiece. All in all, getting emails are great. I have access to internet at the Peace Corps office in Salelologa.

Here is my address if you’re new to the list

Jim Metz, Peace Corps Volunteer
Private Mailbag
Apia, Western Samoa
South Pacific

Take care everyone. College football should be starting soon so go KSU and say a prayer for the Cubs


With love,

Jim



10/30/08


Wow it’s been a while! I am almost into my 6th month here in Samoa and the 3rd month in my village which is working out just fine. I’m still sharing a house with the family but have plans to build my own “fale o’o”, which is nothing more than a hut. Most Samoans live in these types of houses. They fit well to the climate here in that they have no walls and allow for a nice cool breeze. The roof is made of thatched leaves which keep the house cooler. I’m looking forward to having my own domain. Not so much for the weather but the privacy.

My language, though vastly better, still restricts me from truly understanding 100% of what is going on in my village on a day to day basis. I have been working with the “womens committee” on their vegetable garden. Two years ago they received a large grant from UNDP to develop an organic garden for the purpose of income generation and providing families with a more nutritious diet. In the present time the only thing they have are peanuts, which aren’t very profitable and although tasty, not as nutritious as one would like.

Another project in the works is a small cattle ranch. This project has a lot of potential. The village has saved enough money to buy a work truck. The “pasture” is about an hour and a half walk from the village so all the workers waste a lot of time just getting there. That seems to be the main reason they wanted a truck but will have many other uses I’m sure. Right now in Samoa the main beef supplier other than imported beef is the government and there is a good opportunity for private businesses to get into the market. In this case the business being my village. Now you are probably wondering how I fit into to this. I sometimes wonder the same thing. My “job” as a village based development volunteer is to figure that out. I’m currently looking for aid agencies (eg. Nzaid, Aussie Aid, UNDP) who will provide monetary help for whatever the project will require. I write the grant and if it is accepted the village is happy. If the village is happy I get more smiles, as opposed to curious, blank stares that say “Who are you and what are you doing here?”

Starting in January I will be helping to run a homework center in the evenings with some of the other teachers in Samauga. Originally I wanted to work in the school but after some thinking I think this will be a more effective way for me to help those that really want to learn. I’m also working with another Peace Corps volunteer on a diabetes awareness project. Our plan is to visit each family in our villages, do a short presentation, and then provide free tests to those who would like. Another volunteer did a similar project and found the results horrifying. 33% of the people he tested were positive. We expect similar results so wish us luck on this one.

I’m busy yes, but I still have a good amount of free time. I have started my own garden behind the family compound. This keeps me busy in the morning and afternoon. Preparing the land was a lot of work. There are volcanic rocks everywhere. Most of my work is digging them out. I have a compost bin and starter nursery. Currently I’m tilling the land for the main garden. How I wish I had a tiller!! Everything is done with a pick, large tooth fork, and rake. In my nursery I’ve planted corn, tomatoes, and cabbage. The corn and tomatoes are doing great but the cabbage hasn’t even sprouted. I’m not worried. I like corn and tomatoes. Don’t care much for cabbage.

I just got myself a guitar and play around with a harmonica every now and then. “Piano Man” is almost recognizable.

I’m headed into Apia, “the city” today for the weekend. There is a haloween party for all the volunteers and I’m going as a cowboy. Samoans don’t celebrate it so there aren’t any costume shops. I’ll send pics. Tuesday we are going to the embassy to be together for the election. Sounds like the economy is priority #1. We are feeling it all the way over here too. Food prices, taxi, and bus fares (the only thing I spend money on) have all gone up significantly since I got here. This last year they made huge cuts to the Peace Corps Samoa budget. Something like 1.1 million to 750,000. Don’t quote me on that but its close. Instead of two groups coming per year, one in June and one in October, there is now only one that comes in October. PC staff is also taking hits with cuts. I heard a rumor that Obama is gonna double the Peace Corps budget if he’s elected. It’s a pretty good way for the U.S. to spend money.

Well that’s all I got for now. Take care everyone and stay in touch.

Happy Halloween,

Jim


11/21/08


My village has been saving money for a work truck and they finally got it. Today there is a big party to celebrate. Whenever there is a celebration like this there is lots of dancing and eating. The picture depicts Samoan wives gone wild. Luckily I was able to crop myself out doing the freaky deaky. Haha.


11/22/08

Today Trent (neighbor peace corps) and I went for a hike/bike up to a volcano called Matavanu. It erupted 100 years ago and wiped out a couple villages not to far from Samauga. Apparently it’s still active. As you can tell it has been grown over by trees so it looks just like a canyon. Nevertheless we got some great views and a good workout.


11/25/08


It is a hot Tuesday here in Samoa. Currently I’m eating animal crackers and listening to a new playlist I put together. I woke up at 5:30 this morning and tended my garden and worked on a report for Peace Corps. There is a rooster who comes over to my window every morning at that time and makes sure I’m awake. The report is an analysis of my village which helps me to understand what the people want. My method of gathering information is visiting each family and asking them a list of questions about their family. Other questions pertain to their feelings about the village and if they have any ideas for projects. This is all done in Samoan so it is a bit frustrating at times. Just imagine a person from the other side of the world coming into your home and asking you a bunch of personal questions speaking in very bad English. Well, I’m that guy in Samoa. But eventually I think it will pay off.

11/27/08

Happy Thanksgiving!!!! The ambassador had us over for a traditional American feast. It was great. I ate so much I couldn’t move.

12/08/08

Every month the village has a meeting similar to what you might call a village council meeting. They use this time to discuss issues and plan events. Kind of like what we do. Today was the last one of the year and with this meeting any projects that can afford to be put on hold are done exactly that. This includes building my hut so the waiting continues. It has been raining for four straight days. Luckily I have a book and a guitar to get me through the downtime. My garden loves the rain. I currently have planted corn, tomatoes, bok choy, head cabbage, carrots, chile peppers, cantelope, green pepper, okra, peanuts, and cucumbers. Almost everything I’ve planted has sprouted and growing quickly. I’m hoping to eat some corn on the cob for New Years.

12/18/08

Today I worked on my Samoan-English dictionary I’m making, played volleyball and tended to my garden. I’m headed to Amaile, the training village, to visit my first host family as well as other friends from the village. My host brother Fano asked me to be a groomsman in his wedding on the 23rd. This is going to be the 3rd wedding I’ve been to since coming to Samoa. But, it’s the first I’m actually involved in. So I have to step up my game on the dance floor if you know what I mean.