Someone in Samoa

I am currently writing this post from Samoa in the South Pacific! However, let me take you back in time to describe how I got here and what my emotions were along the way.

On the evening of October 4, 2009, I began packing my suitcases for a 27 month excursion to the South Pacific island of Samoa. I was preparing to leave for my training and service in the Peace Corps! The evening was spent meticulously placing items into my four pieces of luggage, (2 checked, 2 carry-on). At first, I was functioning normally, but soon it became a real chore as I started growing more nervous. I was excited to be leaving, but just knowing the time was hours away caused me unneeded distraction.

At 4:30a.m. I had the goal of being done at 5:30 a.m. to get a couple hours of sleep. When 5:30 came, I quit setting goals and just dug in for the long haul. The next hour flew by and I finally weighed my luggage to find that it was overweight! Never mind, I would take care of it after a quick sleep. At 6:30a.m. I crawled into my bed at home for the last time until December of 2011. At that moment, the emotions hit me: all I wanted to do was have 8 hours of sleep in my own bed, but I had to wake up in an hour and try to get rid of extra weight from my luggage and say good-bye to my parents.

After my hour nap, my alarm rang and I awoke to the worst migraine headache I’ve had in years, along with a stomach ache of nerves. I was pins and needles, trying to stay focused on what had to be done, but at the same time, not having the full power to control my thought process. By 10:20a.m., I had everything loaded and my mom and dad took me to South Bend, Indiana where my flight would depart at 12:41p.m. After a tearful good-bye, I was off for Chicago with a connecting flight to L.A.

In Los Angeles, I grabbed my baggage and climbed aboard a shuttle bus to our hotel. When I got on, I saw two girls near the back of the bus who had large, oversized bags of luggage. I had a pretty good idea where they were going. Before long we were introducing ourselves and I felt like I was on MTV’s Real World and I was meeting my new roommates. We arrived at our hotel and spent the next 24 hours with our group having staging and preparing for our flight to Samoa.
After a 10.5 hour flight from Los Angeles, California on Tuesday night, our group of 23 landed at 5:30a.m. local time on Wednesday October 7, 2009! Our Air New Zealand, Boeing 767 landed safely in Apia, the capital of Samoa. It was still dark when we descended the staircase to the tarmac and began our walk into customs. When we had our luggage, we were greeted by current Peace Corps staff and Peace Corps Volunteers, who presented us with freshly made leis for us to wear. Soon we had our luggage loaded onto a flatbed truck and loaded the bus for our journey along the shoreline back to our hotel.

Later that morning, we had an Ava Ceremony with all the Peace Corps Trainees, staff and current volunteers. We knew this ceremony was going to happen, but we were still nervous because of the fact we had to recite some Samoan phrases. The Ava ceremony involved us all sitting in a circle, cross legged. Sitting with your legs straight out in front of you is considered rude in Samoa, so the legs remained crossed for the whole ceremony. Different members of the staff spoke to the group in Samoan (we had no idea what they were saying) and then we were presented with the Ava to drink. We recited our Samoan phrase and finished the cup of Ava. This occurred for each of the volunteers.

Later that afternoon we were about to begin our first session of training when we found out there was a tsunami evacuation for Samoa, due to an 8.0 earthquake near Vanuatu, a nearby island nation. We were evacuated lickety split and went to higher ground for about an hour until the all clear was given. There was no tsunami in Samoa. During this whole process, I found out exactly how prepared the Peace Corps is to handle these situations, and how professionally they did so. I feel completely safe here in Samoa, knowing the proper precautions to take if this were to happen again. It was weird having it happen on our first day though. This tsunami warning came about two weeks after the large earthquake and tsunami which affected part of the island and killed more than 150 people. Samoans are more aware of the situation, and are on high alert. I have yet to feel an earthquake.

Over the past few days, I have found the transition to be painless. The people who are a part of this organization are driven and motivated and have such a desire to serve and be a part of this country. We thrive off of one another’s ambitions and work to support each other. We have begun our training classes which are intense, but we find ways to relax: going for a 6a.m. runs along the ocean seawall, and getting a strawberry milkshake from a nearby ice cream shop. These things help remind me of home, while at the same time taking place in a whole other world.

For now I will say good-bye. Most posts won’t be this long, so don’t let me scare you off already. There was a lot I wanted to set the mood for this first major writing. Until next time we meet, so long from the South Pacific!