My parents called me the other day and informed me that the final four is set. In my last communication with the outside world they were still playing the conference tournaments. The point I want to make here is how much faster time flies out here. I was thinking the other day about “long winters” and how I couldn’t wait for them to always be over. In a place with no “long winters” there is nothing to wait for. It is a challenge remembering what day and even month it is sometimes. Since I don’t have a calendar, hate watches, and I’m always misplacing my phone, I actually have to think about it. Some of you are probably saying, “Wow, I think the sun is getting to him”. Personally, I think it’s living in a culture that could care less what day it is, except Sunday. I also blame the lack of Big Monday, Big Ten Tuesday, ACC Wednesday, Thursday’s on TNT, and Sunday Night Hoops.
Now that I’m finally settled in I’ll give you an idea of what a typical weekday might look like in Samauga.
6:30 a.m. Cock a doodle dooo
6:45 a.m. One of the big mama pigs gets an itch on her side. Using one of the wooden poles of my house, she relieves herself by rubbing back and forth. This usually gives the house a little shake. The old man comes and checks his tobacco plants (“Old man” is not considered offensive in Samoa. People take pride in their old age).
7:00 a.m. I roll out from under my mosquito net, get an update on the tobacco, and go check my garden in the plantation. Recently I’ve had fresh tomatoes and peppers every day. Sometimes there is a ripe papaya which I pick for breakfast. I plug in my electric kettle and heat water for coffee and rolled oats. I use a rubber band and piece of thin cloth for the coffee. It seems to work just fine. I throw some sugar or fruit in the oats, spread a little Skippy’s extra crunchy on some crackers and eat it. By this time I’ve cracked open my laptop and either listen to some music or watch an episode of “The Office”, or “Flight of the Conchords”.
8:00 a.m. If it isn’t too hot yet I do some work in the garden. If there is a school committee meeting I go to that.
10:00 a.m. Recently I’ve been spending my mornings working on the proposal for the new school. The committee changed their plan so I had to start over again. I’d rather not get into details in the blog but just know that I’m trying very hard to do this right. A few days of the week I visit the women’s committee. We talk about their peanut garden, village gossip, and when I’m going to settle down and get married to a nice Samoan girl. When they wrap all that good stuff up I sometimes visit different families in the village that I’ve gotten to know pretty well. By this time I’m well hyped up on cocoa Samoa (Local hot chocolate).
12:00 p.m. I return home to eat lunch. I either eat tuna sandwiches or cup-o-noodles which are great with the fresh tomatoes and peppers I picked earlier in the day. But, this will all change soon. I just got a gas stove so bring on the homemade tuna helper.
1:00 p.m. It’s hot. “Time for rest”, as the old lady always says (Remember, calling someone an old lady is cool in Samoa). Since it’s too hot to sleep, I usually do some reading or lately I’ve been working on additions to the house.
1:30 p.m. School’s out. Kids start coming for help with homework. Visits have significantly increased since I got my place. Before, when I shared a house with the high chief (who is also the old man), people did not come and visit out of a certain kind of respect for the chief. It’s not that he would have cared, but the rest of the village did.
4:00 p.m. I go to the homework center from Monday through Thursday. This is a nice break because I get to speak English. They don’t always understand me, but this is how languages are learned.
6:00 p.m. Go home and play the guitar or work in the garden until curfew. Curfew is a twenty minute period starting at 6:30 when villagers are in their homes praying. No one is allowed to walk through the village during curfew.
7:00 p.m. Dinner time with the high chief and his wife. We always eat first, followed by the rest of the family. I really enjoy this meal. Since my host family is so use to me being around, I get to see the real Samoan way of life.
8:00 p.m. I take a ride into the future in my Space Shower.
8:30 p.m. Relax, read, watch a movie on laptop, or play guitar with Va’a (see picture of Va’a on photobucket). Occasionally a kid will show up to get some homework help.
10:00 p.m. Roll back under the mosquito net and fall asleep to the itching of the pigs.
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