Food For Thought

When I joined the Peace Corps I knew that I would be finally learning to cook some meals on my own. Always living at home, or at college, I never was in a position where I had to cook my own meals. Of course I could handle the basics like spaghetti, scrambled eggs or other easy fixes. I had even made a cherry pie and banana bread one time. But I guess whenever I made something I followed the directions and measured everything out. If I was fixing oatmeal and the box called for ¾ cups of oats and ½ cup of water, that’s what I put in.

However, living on my own and fixing meals on a regular basis—for the need to survive—has taught me I can bend the rules a bit when it comes to cooking and even experiment. Now when I make my oatmeal, I don’t measure anything. I eye the amount of water I put in to boil. I know how many oats I will need to add to the water to get the oatmeal the right thickness that I like. I sometimes laugh when I think about me measuring for such a simple meal like oatmeal.

I’m finding that cooking is teaching me patience as well. It takes a lot of effort some days to cut up all the vegetables, or to make the tortillas from scratch. Always having the food served to me, never made me appreciate the work and time that goes into making a meal. Even on the days that I’m tired I find that taking the time to make a good meal can help make me feel better in the end.

So what am I cooking, and how does it work? Well I’ve started off with simple things. Instead of buying box macaroni and cheese which is very high in sodium, I now make my own macaroni and cheese and find I like it more than the boxed kind. Then I started adding basil for some color and additional taste. I sometimes make garlic bread to go with this. And since Texas Toast and other popular garlic breads aren’t available here in Samoa, I have to buy garlic cloves (I didn’t know what they were a year ago) and add the chopped garlic to butter in order to make my garlic bread.

I cooked rice for the first time in my life. It sounds like such a simple thing, and after I had done it, I stood there and looked at the rice and told myself, “I really never had done this before, unbelievable!” It was just so easy. I never knew that you had to rinse rice before cooking it either. I use the rice to put into my tortillas or eat it on its own. One time I even added it to some left over spaghetti. Since I’m normally cooking for myself, all that matters is that I like it.

These tortillas I keep mentioning are actually really good. They are better than any tortilla I’ve bought in the stores back in the U.S. because these don’t tear apart when you fill them. They are so moist and soft. They remind me of a taco shell from Chipotle! It does take a little time to make them. All that is required is flour, olive oil, salt and milk. First I kneed the bread and then it sets for 15 minutes before I separate it into small round balls and then they set for 20 minutes. After they set, I use my rolling pin (an old glass Sprite bottle) to roll them out and then they each only take 1 minute to cook on the stove. Sometimes I go all out and fill them with beans, rice, lettuce and cucumber. Other times just rice, or sometimes I eat them by themselves and just put a little butter on them. Recently I’ve found that stir-fried vegetables are really good inside as well.

Stir-fried vegetables are another thing I had never made before but now I love. First I put a little oil in the pan and then add garlic, onion and then put green beans and carrots, and sometimes cucumber in to cook. I add all kinds of seasoning. When some volunteers left back in August, they left me with all of their spices which I now use on a regular basis. Sometimes I add cumin and basil to the vegetables, as well as salt and pepper. It helps make my house smell like a home and really makes me feel like I know how to cook.

Salads are also something I’ve always enjoyed, back home and now here. I normally just put carrots and cucumber in the salad and then use an Italian dressing. I am a huge fan of hard boiled eggs (as is most of my family) but I haven’t fixed any here yet, but soon!

I’ve also done my fair share of grilled cheese sandwiches and tuna melts are my new favorite. I like to top them with cucumber and use whole grain bread! I also tried sweet corn one time last January, but it didn’t even come close to the great taste of Michigan’s sweet corn, so I haven’t done it since.

Since meat is rather expensive here and sometimes hard for transport and storage (do to my small refrigerator), I have never cooked meat in my house. I normally eat with my neighbors a couple times a week and am able to have chicken at their house, or splurge on a hamburger when I go into town.

I cook all of my food on a two burner electric stove, which makes me feel even more accomplished. No oven, no broiler, no microwave, just two small burner tops. It requires me using a fair amount of aluminum foil—say aluminum Mom—(inside joke), in order for me to keep things warm. For example, when I’m doing tortillas, garlic bread or French toast, since I can only do one at a time, I stack the finished food in the foil as I do each tortilla or piece of bread individually.

Sometimes I forget how easy a microwave was. There’s a microwave in the Peace Corps office’s kitchen that we can use. Just last weekend I bought a bag of popcorn and popped it there. I actually had two bags so I brought the extra bag back to my house. This week I was trying to make life easy for myself and performed an experiment. I tried to pop microwave popcorn on my stove top. I got my largest pan as warm as I could and then put the bag inside. Unfortunately, nothing happened. Yet I was so determined to have popcorn that night that I got out my kernels and vegetable oil and did it the old fashioned way. It tasted just as good, but just required a couple extra steps.

Breakfast has become one of my favorite meals; in part, because it’s still cool in the morning and I find it more enjoyable to eat when it’s 84 (normal morning temperature) as compared to 94 (normal afternoon temperature). I was always a big cereal fan back home, so I’ve continued the trend here. There are a handful of Kellogg’s cereals to choose from at the stores in Apia, but they are very expensive. However, there is one cereal called, Weet-Bix which is reasonably priced and happens to be my new favorite cereal in Samoa. It’s not just my favorite —it also claims to be New Zealand’s number one choice for breakfast cereal. It’s 97 percent whole grain and I love to cut up a banana to mix with it. It’s not uncommon for this to be my lunch or dinner if I’m in a hurry or just too tired to cook something “elaborate.”

Other breakfast food I enjoy: I mentioned oatmeal, which I add brown sugar to. I also enjoy eggs or French toast. Back in December and January I was doing a bunch of pancakes from a Betty Crocker box, but I’ve found that French toast is easier and cheaper. I also enjoy a few crackers. The crackers here in Samoa come from New Zealand and they are much thicker than the crackers in the U.S. They are really good to spread peanut butter or jam onto for a snack or with a meal.

And now I must mention my biggest food addiction here in Samoa: peanut butter! Peanut butter is reasonably priced. I always was a Jiff person back home, but since Jiff isn’t sold in Samoa, I’ve switched to Skippy. I eat peanut butter almost every day, and sometimes several times a day. It’s actually something I’m trying to get control of. Because it gets so hot here I keep the peanut butter in the refrigerator, which makes it easily accessible throughout the day. As I mentioned earlier, it’s great to spread on crackers for a snack, but is also great to eat straight from the jar. Yes, that may sound bad, but several other volunteers do it too from what I hear. It must be a real weak spot amongst volunteers here. There’s just something about the taste which is comforting and tasty and very addicting. Even when I wasn’t eating it just from the jar, if I would spread it on crackers, when I was done I would dip the knife into the jar and take a bite before sticking it back in the fridge. Now I have a new rule that I can’t eat it unless I’m sitting down and it can’t be from the jar. Believe it or not, but there’s something less appealing about eating peanut butter from a bowl as opposed to the jar itself, so this has helped me cut down on the amount of peanut butter I’m consuming. I was going through a jar a week (16.3 oz), but now I can make that last me two weeks!

As I mentioned I eat with my neighbors a couple times a week. I’ve enjoyed introducing some of these food to them, and my buddy Milo, likes to come over and watch me fix the food from time to time. One night I took a big tossed salad over there and he devoured it—a 12 year boy who loves salad! I think it’s been a part of the Peace Corps experience for me to learn more about their foods and for them to learn more about mine. Food seems to be universal language that brings different cultures together all around the world.

I hope you have a better idea now of what types of things I enjoy cooking and how I go about it. I still have a lot to learn, but I’m feeling much more confident than I was a year ago at this time. I’m still here to write about it, so I must be doing something right. Below I’ve typed up a list of some of the things I get at the store and the prices in Samoan Tala and then the U.S. equivalent based on an exchange rate of $2.42. And now before I close, I have to confess one more thing that I’ve fixed from time to time. My mom wouldn’t be too happy with me because it has raw eggs in it. Yes, you’ve probably guessed right: cookie dough!!! Except, after I make it here I don’t have to feel guilty about eating it raw, considering I don’t have an oven to bake them in!

Food / Samoan Tala / U.S. Dollar
1 Liter of milk = 3.80 / 1.58
Oatmeal (750 g) = 6.40 / 2.64
Crackers (375 g) = 3.00 / 1.23
Potatoes (2 lbs) = 2.10 / .86
Carrots (1 lb) = 3.08 / 1.27
Eggs (1 doz) = 5.80 / 2.39
Rice (3 lbs) = 4.70 / 1.94
M&Ms (46 g) = 2.70 / 1.11
Coke (355 ml) = 2.50 / 1.03
Kellogg’s Raisin
Bran (15 oz) = 17.00 / 7.02
Bananas (15 small) = 2.00 / .83
Papaya (1 large) = 3.00 / 1.23





Bananas from the market. Smaller than the kind you find in the States, but the same great taste.





A healthy omlet and French toast.






Grilled Cheese and "Sweet Corn."



Spices make food taste much better!




This is what my kitchen area looks like while I'm preparing for a dinner for five guests!

Shadow Visits & a Birthday

I’ve often thought it is a unique situation that I’m in: I have never owned or rented my own place back in the States, yet here I am living for “free” in another country and with a view of the Pacific Ocean! And this living arrangement also allows me the chance to entertain, and that is what I’ve been doing more often than not, this past week.

It began last Friday, November 12th, when four of my friends from the Peace Corps came out to my house to celebrate my birthday a few days early. I planned a meal of spaghetti, stir-fried vegetables and garlic bread. My guests were Kaelin, Cassie, Jenny C. and Jenny M., all from my group, 82. There is always a rumor going around the office that my site is so remote and hard to get to. That may be true, but nonetheless, the girls made the trek out to my place to help wish me a happy birthday. They were given a lift from the host family of Jenny C. I started to laugh when I saw them arrive—four girls wearing dresses, jumping out of the back of a pickup truck. It was great to see them.

Jenny M., who happens to be a great cook, had made me a chocolate cake. I gave them the tour of the house and then we started dinner. I kept commenting to them how nice it was to have other people in the house; sometimes I forget how alone I am out here. We turned on some music and had a nice visit.

Dinner was wonderful and I am still amazed at how much I can cook on my little electric, two-burner stovetop. We all had seconds and got really full. Then I remembered we still had cake, and I had made some chocolate pudding to go with it. My dad had sent some candles in his birthday package so the girls lit them and put them on my cake. I was saying goodbye to a long year that had so many ups and downs, so after they sang to me, it was then time to make a new wish for a new year. Each birthday I often wonder what the next one will bring.

We cleaned up all the dishes as we complained about how full we were. As we were doing dishes I mentioned how having them there with me and then the smell of the cake, really helped it feel like my birthday. Because I’m from Michigan and 40 degree weather is common by the middle of November, I’m still getting use to it being in the mid 90s on my birthday here in Samoa.

The following day, Saturday, I had more visitors come out. The Peace Corps office had asked a bunch of volunteers from my group to host one or two members from Group 83, who arrived in October. They were visiting us for a few days for a shadow visit. Peace Corps wanted them to experience what life is like for a volunteer on a typical day, since they themselves will be heading to their own villages next month after their swearing-in.

I hosted Mike and Danny. They arrived on Saturday on the bus and for the second day in a row I gave a tour of my house! We spent some time visiting, but in all honesty, I really thought they would get bored out here for their three day visit. Most of us volunteers had discussed this beforehand. As much as we enjoyed the company, our lives are pretty simple compared to the lives we lived back in America.

Despite the slow pace of life in the village, I think the visit was a good opportunity for them. We took a walk through my village and they got to have all the kids stare at them since they were the new attraction. I cooked dinner the first night. On the menu: homemade macaroni and cheese with vegetables and garlic bread.

Sunday was slow as always, but we made it to the Catholic Church and then toonai (the huge meal after church on Sundays). We ate toonai at my neighbor’s house. I had gone down to the store early in the morning to buy chicken to give for the meal. Whenever I eat at my neighbor’s house, I always sit with my legs crossed on the floor. I’ve gotten a lot of practice with this the past year and my legs have been toughened up for long periods of sitting. As I watched Mike and Danny grab their legs as they fell asleep, it reminded me of the days mine use to hurt. I can’t remember when they started feeling better for me, but as the months went by, they gradually got use to being crossed for up to an hour at a time.

Sunday afternoon was spent relaxing at my house. It got up to95 degrees that day and I wanted to lay down for a nap but my bed just feels too warm in the afternoon, so I put a towel on my floor and slept there for about an hour. In the evening I introduced the guys to the card game, Phase Ten. Danny won that and then it was time for bed.

Monday was school and Mike and Danny visited. Monday was my actual birthday, and the kids and teachers had found this out. They all sang happy birthday to me at the end of the day in Samoan and English! I received a couple of carved kava bowls from one of the students in year eight. His dad had made them, but he had been telling me about them the whole week before. I could tell how proud he was to give them to me. He also had his sister who is in high school make a card for me. I wish he had tried to make the card himself, but at least he had the thought.

Danny and Mike got to meet my teachers and see the kids. I explained some of the projects we had been working on this year. Our final exams were last week so this was a slow week at school, but I had a couple of kids read to them.

After school on Monday, Danny had to make a phone call and I wanted to call home as well. As the empty bus headed back out of the village we climbed on for a lift out to my area where I get a cell phone signal. We each made our calls before making the walk back to my house in the hot sun. That evening we went over to my neighbor’s house again for dinner. They had a huge meal prepared for us and had made a birthday cake for me. I’ve always appreciated receiving a birthday cake each year, and I think it’s something that Americans come to expect. But these past two birthdays in Samoa have really given me a chance to pause and realize some of the sacrifices others are willing to make so I have a special day.

Birthdays aren’t normally celebrated by the typical Samoan family. Everyone knows when their birthday is, but there aren’t normally cakes and ice cream or balloons. My neighbors don’t have a lot of money and for them to have a birthday cake for me really made the day extra special. As I sat there with them, Danny and Mike, it was a perfect image that reflected my own life this past year. I thought about Mike and Danny and related to them, knowing how I felt a year ago, sitting where they were—legs sore, trying to grasp the basics of the language. But then I looked at myself and how I had changed this past year and it was really a special moment that helped illustrate how comfortable I have become here since my last birthday. After they sang to me and we ate the cake, we played some cards before Danny, Mike and I went back to my place.

Danny and Mike left on Tuesday morning. It was great to have all the company, and especially during my birthday celebrations. I’m glad I was able to share my experiences and routine with some of the new members and I hope it helps give them hope that things do settle down and become normal. Those first months were the hardest, and most challenging, but I’m so happy I was here for my 26th birthday!







Danny listening to a student read, Six Ducks in a Pond.








Mike listening to a student read during his shadow visit.









Celebrating my birthday!








The kava bowls given by Kolly from year 8, as a birthday gift





Me in front of the birthday sign my mom sent all the way from Michigan. She has hung a birthday sign on my birthday since I was young!

The Secret Garden

The kids took a picture of me
under the waterfall.
I can still remember when I was a child and would play out in the back yard digging holes and trying to build little rivers and streams using the garden hose. I asked my Dad on more than one occasion how we could build a pond. Before I was old enough to know better, I thought that just involved pouring water into a hole for so long that it would eventually stop saturating into the ground. I never mastered that and remember asking my Dad to get some plastic at the hardware store to keep the water in the “pond.” I remember he picked some up and I made a small pond and was very pleased with the experience.

There are also other occasions where I had a fascination with streams and water pools. I can recall visiting our local landscape nursery and always admiring the decorative fountains and trickling water pools they had on display. When I was in 4th and 5th grade I use to love digging trenches out on the school playground after a heavy rain, allowing the pools of water to flow like rivers around the playground. Going to play miniature golf as a seven year old was less about hitting the ball down the green turf and more about walking over bridges and amongst waterfalls that made up the landscaping. And during summer visits to the shores of Lake Michigan, I have fond memories of building sand castles with moats and little streams. All of these memories came flashing back this week as I set out on an adventure to the “Secret Garden!”

It all began on Wednesday. A group of boys who normally hang out in my room well after the bell rings at the close of school, were still lingering around and wanting to play a vocabulary game they enjoy. By that time, I had decided I wanted to go for a walk since it was such a nice day. I asked the boys if they wanted to go with me. They hid their school bags behind the bushes in the front of my house and we were off down the road. Along the way they would stop and break open an o’o, which is a germinating coconut. It has the texture of a sponge, but is a pretty tasty treat.

After walking for about 10 minutes, we reached the first of many streams that lead out of the mountains around my village. At first we were heading for the stream to get a drink of water, but soon we found ourselves walking into the thick brush, and away from the road. The kids were fast on their feet as they walked over the slippery rocks without any trouble. I, on the other hand, searched for a walking stick to support my clumsy body and slowly maneuvered around, and over the rocks which had water rushing over them. The rocks that weren’t under water were covered in a slimy moss and made the trek extra adventurous. One of the boys noticed my lack of abilities in walking up a river and gave me a steady hand.

We only went back up the stream about 50 yards before the kids found what they were looking for. It was a beautiful little waterfall that poured into a deep water pool. They all jumped in without any hesitation while I sat on a rock nearby. As I looked around that’s when those childhood memories struck me. I thought about how ironic it was that I spent so much of my childhood dreaming up how to build a fantasy world of waterfalls, streams and pools in my back yard, and here these kids had grown up with this all of there lives.

The first thing I wondered, was how they viewed it. To me, as a 25 year old who grew up in the middle of the flat corn fields of Michigan, I thought it was pretty darn awesome that these kids have this kind of a “playground” just minutes from their houses. The next thing that went through my head was what dream worlds do they want to create for themselves if they already have something like this.

Unfortunately, I hadn’t planned on going swimming anywhere when we left my house so I didn’t have a suit, and because I hadn’t put mosquito repellent on and we were in the “jungle,” I was getting swarmed by all sorts of mosquitoes. After letting them swim for 20 minutes we decided to head out with the plans of coming back on Friday, and me wearing my swimming suit so I could cool off as well.

Friday morning, they all showed up at school asking right away if I was going to go to the river to go swimming. I said yes and I could tell they were pretty excited. So after school on Friday I prepared myself for our adventure. I had my mosquito repellent, sun block, water, swimsuit, and camera. After we arrived I was happy to see my walking stick from Wednesday was still safely hidden in the tall grass for me to use. Nonetheless, I managed to slip and fall on a rock and almost brought Milo down with me.

Friday’s visit was more impressive than Wednesday’s, due to the fact that on Wednesday night we had a torrential downpour that lasted a couple of hours and thus the river was flowing with a much greater force than earlier in the week. The boys were walking up to a ledge and jumping into the deep pool. I took a plunge and they all laughed. I worked my way over to the waterfall and sat underneath as the water came pouring down onto my head. It made for a nice back massage.

While I was sitting under the waterfall, I felt something dangling around my head. I turned and looked up and one of my students had draped a vine down the face of the waterfall and was prompting all the boys to climb up. The vine could have supported one boy, maybe even two, but not four! In the process of me telling them to get down, they came down—in a huge pile—and fell on to me. Luckily everyone was alright and I made it clear there wouldn’t be any more swinging from vines.

As we were in that pool I kept looking up and wondering what was at the next level above us. That water was coming from somewhere much higher than where we were. There was a safe path around the waterfall that we decided to explore. The boys charged up the hill without any trouble and I brought up the rear. Saulo from my year seven class was one step ahead of me. Saulo is one of my strongest students and has fairly good English. As we were climbing up a steep part of the hill he was giving me commands as to which branches to grab.

I’ve been teaching the kids a number of vocabulary words this year and some of them have been really challenging. As we continued up the hill Saulo made my day when he used one of the vocabulary words in the perfect context. The word was hoist, and as I was looking for my next step in the slippery mud with ants running down my arm, he yelled out, “Grab here and hoist yourself.!” It was nice to know that even under these conditions he was able to recall vocabulary words.

We all safely made it up the hill and found another pool of water from another waterfall. This pool was about twice as large, although much too shallow to do any jumping into. I took a few pictures of the kids and had them take one of me. The bugs were horrendous so we decided to head back down. We revisited the first pool of water for a quick cooling off and then headed back out to the road. I was more careful on my way out and managed to stay on my feet.

As we gathered near the road I tossed my walking stick into the weeds in the hopes that it would stay hidden for my next visit. I felt a bit like I was hiding the key to the Secret Garden. Although most everyone in my village has swam at that same waterfall at some point in their lives, I still left with the feeling that it was something that I had discovered all on my own. Perhaps that’s because it helped to make one of my childhood dreams come true, of having that place where streams rushed over rocks, and waterfalls emptied into deep pools below.

As we walked back in the hot Samoan sun, our suits and shirts started to dry. I was so glad that I decided to go for a walk this week and so pleased at where it ended up.




The boys swimming in the pool below.

























































Saulo is my student who knew the vocabulary word, "hoist," during our river adventure.

This and That

Walking from my village to catch
a bus on Friday after school.
I thought I would dedicate this entry to updating you on a number of different things going on the past couple of weeks.

1. The rainy season seems to have arrived on time this year. It typically begins in October, and I’ve noticed this past week a return to those days when it rains whenever it wants to, followed by sunshine. I have yet to experience that first torrential downpour of the season, but it will be fun to see when it happens. A torrential downpour in Samoa grabs all your attention and you are lured in by its pounding force and just stand at the window in hesitation, wondering if it could possibly rain any harder. Sometimes it does.

Unfortunately, because the rainy season is beginning, it makes life a bit more challenging. I’ve had to cancel my daily run for the past two days and finding a time to do laundry seems to be a losing bet against Mother Nature. But somehow I made it through last year, so I guess I can do it again.

2. Many Samoans eat corned beef from a can, otherwise known as pisupo in Samoan. It is extremely high in salt and fat and it is one thing I’ve chosen not to eat while here. However, on a few different occasions I have been given a can (or two) as a gift, and to turn down that gift would be culturally insensitive, so I always seem to have a stack of pisupo on my kitchen counter. On Thursday I decided I would open a can for the two teachers at my school. I knew that they liked it, so I thought it would be a good solution to get rid of it. I decided to cut some carrots up to make the meal somewhat healthy. I warmed the corned beef and took it over to the school. The teachers seemed really surprised and grateful. However, once they started eating it I could tell they didn’t care for it. I’m not sure if I overcooked it or if the expiration date had passed, but because they couldn’t just set the food aside, they thanked me for it after a couple bites and then called in some kids to finish the rest. I could hardly keep from laughing as the kids ate the food. I don’t think they cared for the carrots either.

3. Remember the term caveat emptor? It was a business principal that came from England which meant, “buyer beware.” Well I’ve found that it also applies in Samoa. I had been buying, and enjoying a chocolate breakfast cereal here that was very similar to Coco Puffs, although I’ve bought my last package a few weeks ago. The last batch I bought looked different when it was in the milk, and also tasted much different than all the other packages I had bought in the past. I checked the expiration date and that was fine, and it wasn’t the milk. I took the bag back to the convenient store where I bought it. Of course I didn’t have a receipt, but I tried to explain my situation. The store clerk said there wasn’t anything he could do because the food came from another distributor, but didn’t hesitate to sample some of the cereal just to make sure. He stuck his hand into the bag—the same hand that had been working the cash register all morning—and took a few bites. He said they tasted the same, but got a second opinion from his colleague behind the counter, who stuck her hand into the bag— the same hand that had been stocking shelves all morning—and she said they were the same. Just to be sure they were in fact the same taste, they both asked the lady waiting behind me in the check out line to try some, and she stuck her hand into the bag—I don’t know where her hand had been—but she delivered the same ruling as the first two.

Cereal is not cheap here, especially for someone on a Peace Corps budget, so I took the cereal back to my house with me in the hopes of figuring out what to do with it. A few days later at school, my year seven students had done a great job so it dawned on me, “give it to the kids.” They had never tasted the cereal before and would go crazy for cereal (most Samoans don’t buy cereal because of the price and because many families don’t have refrigerators for the milk). It ended up being a huge hit and the kids loved it. I even gave some to the teachers!

4. Thanks to Lisa, a Peace Corps Volunteer from Group 79, (who has just extended in Samoa for a fourth year!) I found a man who lives near Apia and makes soap at his house. I went out to his house with Lisa last Saturday and bought a small square block of soap for only 4 tala—less than $2.00 U.S. Dollars! He uses the coconut oil in making the soap and has many different scents and designs to choose from. I’ll be making a visit back there again soon.

5. I’ve had a fever twice within the past two weeks. This isn’t all that uncommon for volunteers, although I had gone several months with good health. Having a fever just slows me down here. It is hard being sick back home, but being sick in a foreign country is harder. The language, and daily routines seem a bit more harder on those days. But I’m back to feeling pretty good now and hopping it stays that way!

6. September and October have gone by so fast and November is going to do the same I’m sure. We start final exams at school in one more week and those will last two weeks. After that it will be all about end of the school year cleaning and preparing for prize giving (look for a future blog on this in December). Right now I have that feeling my mom always talked about at the end of the school year where she is trying to get stuff done with the kids. There is so much more I want to do with them, but I guess some of it will have to wait until next year.

7. I have further proof that the “coconut wireless” is alive and well here in Samoa. I told only my neighbors who I eat dinner with regularly, that I was going back home to the United States during Christmas; I purposefully only told my neighbors, wanting to see how fast the word would spread. In less than a week, most of my students seem to know and several people throughout the village who I’ve talked to, so I guess I won’t need to announce it any further.

8. It is continuing to get dark out later and light out earlier as we head towards Summer here in the Southern Hemisphere. Sunrise is somewhere around 7a.m. and sunset around 7:45p.m. And that reminded me about a neat feat that I will have accomplished once I return to Samoa in January. Within less than a month's time, I will have lived a part of every season. When I leave Samoa in December it will be spring here, but fall when I arrive home. Winter will begin while I’m at home and subsequently, when I return to Samoa in January it will then be summer! So let’s get this straight, the order of the seasons is spring, fall, winter, summer—right?

9. The new group of trainees (Group 83) arrived safely a few weeks ago. They will be sworn in as volunteers in December. We welcomed them a couple weeks ago with our traditional fiafia which included a night of Samoan dances, a great slide show put together by Matt from Group 81, and a buffet dinner cooked by us (or picked up by us if you got Chinese take-out like I did). They are currently out in the training villages for language, cultural, medical, safety and teaching training. Best of luck to them as they continue to slog through the first couple of months in country.

10. My last bit of news is actually about family. I found out on Thursday, October 21st that my cousin Anita and her husband, Phil, are expecting their first child! I received a text message from my sister announcing the fantastic news. Unfortunately, I’ll be in Samoa during her delivery, but I’ll be looking forward to meeting them after my close of service. Congratulations to Anita and Phil!

11. And just because I didn’t want this to turn into a “list of 10”, I’ll let you know that my birthday is on November 15th!


The waterfall I have to cross over was flowing pretty heavy on Friday.









The view as I walked from my village!








These two guys visited with me during the last part of my walk. They asked for me to take their picture.





My cousin Anita and her husband Phil, who are expecting their first child the middle of next year!

Char's Letter

I recently received a letter from a good friend of my mom’s, Char Snyder. In the letter Char asked a number of questions and then kindly apologized if she was too nosy asking any of them. But she had no need to apologize because they were great questions, and questions that help me reflect on my time here in Samoa. They are the types of questions which I never ask myself, yet great to-the-point types of questions that are important to think about. Therefore, I thought I would take this opportunity to look at a couple of the many she asked and share the answers with all of you.

Three questions stood out to me the most:

What do you miss the most? (other than family)

After living away from home for a year, you might think that this question would be easy to answer, when in fact, it is one of the hardest to respond to. The longer I’ve been away, the more I’ve realized that I can do without almost everything that I had before which made life convenient. I had a car, but now I can’t drive. I use to use a washing machine, and dishwasher on a weekly basis, but now I do those chores by hand. I use to walk into stores that had a sliding glass door, but now I have to pull or push. I use to peal off stamps and they’d already be sticky on the other side, but now I have to lick them. I use to pop popcorn in a microwave, now I pop it on the stove. I guess maybe this is what it was like to live in the 1970’s?

Each of these examples shows how life has changed for me, but to say that I miss something the most is very difficult to do. But perhaps the thing I miss most isn’t a thing, but a concept. What I really miss at times is the language and culture. Even though I’m living in a country where many people know at least some English, it has never been the same as when I was living at home.

While I’ve been living here and learning to speak a new language, I’m often thinking two thoughts in my head at any given time during a conversation. The first is, “what are the words I need to make this thought make sense?” The other is, “is this person understanding what I’m saying?” Recently I’ve noticed that when I’m watching a movie and two people are speaking to each other, I find that internally, I’m asking myself if the other person understands what the other person is saying. Or if one of them says a big word, I think to myself that the other person won’t know that word. And then I catch myself and say, “of course they understand, they are both speaking English.” That is when I miss being around those who speak English as a first language. Volunteers obviously have the opportunity to speak English when we are together, but it never seems to last long enough. I’m looking forward to the day when I can go from the morning to the night without thinking about what I’m saying or what others are saying to me. To go to the gas station and talk with the sales clerk, or go to a restaurant and be able to eavesdrop on the person sitting next to me will be an amazing experience.


Did you feel prepared?
Yes, but let me explain. I’m not sure if anyone can fully prepare for the experience that the Peace Corps throws at a volunteer, especially given the fact that each volunteer has unique situations that belong only to them. But at the same time, when I look back at all the challenges I’ve faced, I feel as though I had the right “tricks in the bag,” to solve the problems and come up with a reasonable solution to each.

What is the most unexpected delight about this adventure?
My unexpected delight has been being so highly thought of by the people in Samoa. This is a culture that is very friendly and very neighborly. As a Peace Corps volunteer, that places me at a certain level by itself in terms of the kind of respect I receive from Samoans. This is true wherever I may travel in the country. Many times when visiting with a taxi driver in the capital they will ask me what I’m doing here. When I tell them I’m a Peace Corps volunteer living and working here for two years I am frequently thanked by them for my service. This type of general respect exists throughout the entire country from village to village.

But then there is another type of respect that I receive within my village. This is the place where they know me much better than any taxi driver ever would. These are the families that live beside me and whose children I teach. I walk down the same road they do and ride the same bus they do. I speak the same language and wear the same cloths. Because of all of this, I am, in a way, a superstar in my village. It is a type of attention that many volunteers experience in posts all over the world, and a type of attention that Peace Corps reminds us will vanish once we return to the United States. Here in the village I am like the fish in the fishbowl with everyone looking in. But back home I’m just Kyle, not Kyle the Peace Corps volunteer.

It is hard for me to go for a walk through my village and not be followed by 10 children or waved to by 10 adults. When I go for a walk everyone watches and takes notice. I’m not saying that I like this type of attention, but it does make me feel special and loved within the village.

Once I return to the United States I hope to develop closer relationships with my neighbors wherever I may move to in the years ahead. As Americans we tend to stick to ourselves and maybe just wave or smile at our neighbors, instead of really getting to know them. I love how Samoans interact with one another and treat one another as family.

Random Photos:
My year 7 students loved cutting card holders for the backs of the library books! It kept their attention for a few hours and they wanted to do more!

Let's just say it was easier going up the coconut tree than going down it.






I realized one day how lucky I am to have such great tropical fruits available and for very little money if at all. The coconuts I had my neighbor get and the mango (front left) is from a kid at school. The bananas were just a couple tala at the market and the papaya (large, center)was a couple tala as well!















Teacher's Appreciation Day was in September and one student gave me an ula. Here we are together. He got some brownie points!


My sister Jennifer and I are famous at my school where the students have taken to using our names in their graffiti messages.

93-KHK

Recently several volunteers from group 80 have been completing their two years of service here in Samoa and heading back to the United States. Although it’s sad to see them go, they did leave us with some parting gifts. Actually, they left us with all the stuff they either didn’t want or couldn’t fit inside their suitcases. In the volunteers resource room at the Peace Corps office is a pile of stuff labeled “free.” There always seems to be a “free” pile somewhere in the office, but only accumulates good stuff when a group heads home.

A few weeks ago I found myself poking around in the pile, not expecting to find anything too exciting. But suddenly I spotted a black Sony radio. It was in good condition, but a bit outdated with a cassette player as a feature. The antenna was a bit worn, but overall it looked pretty good, and I could hardly complain since it was free. I had looked at radios several times in Apia, but never felt like spending the money on one. It was always one of those things I thought I could do without. Being a wise volunteer, I took the time to plug it into the wall and actually make sure the thing worked because it could have been completely possible someone put a broken piece of junk in the free pile. Luckily, it worked. I put it in my bag and went to catch my bus.

Later that week, I decided to test the radio out at my house. I turned it to FM and slid the tuner. There were a handful of stations in Samoan, but I was holding out for an English one. Most people in the villages have radios and love to crank the volume up to levels that can be annoying at times, so I’ve heard plenty of music off the radio the past nine 11 months, just not in English.

But then I got lucky. Turning the tuner as slowly as I could, I finally dialed in on an English station, 93-KHK, which was playing American music. I didn’t recognize the song though. I’ve probably only heard a handful of American songs the past 11 months. When it comes to my knowledge of current day hip hop back home I am out of the loop.

Soon I heard the radio announcer and realized the radio station was coming from American Samoa, a U.S. Territory just 60 miles to the east of Samoa. American Samoa has American money, it has more American fast food chains than Samoa (Samoa only has one McDonald’s). I was hearing advertisements for Carl’s Junior and KFC. It reminded me of home. The style of the radio announcer, and the tone in his voice made me think I was riding in the car back home. In the United Sates, the commercials on the radio became annoying really fast, but here I found myself glued to this radio in amazement. I had gone 11 months without this kind of access in my house, but all of a sudden I had this outlet to the outside world.

All day I kept the radio on, almost as a companion. I had it sitting on top of my refrigerator and every time I went to get a drink of water, I would find myself just standing there listening to the music or the announcer. I kind of felt like I stepped back into history and was sharing an experience my grandparents had when they all use to gather with their families around the radio. I never would have known that a radio could have been so enjoyable.

Later in the evening I was preparing dinner, I was listening once again and heard a Fox News update from the U.S. with the day’s top headlines. I heard that President Obama had been traveling in Ohio, pitching his new economic plan—which I didn’t know anything about. I’m someone who used to be in front of the T.V. at 6:30 every night for the evening news. They even played a sound bite of President Obama’s speech, and I heard his voice for the first time in months. For a brief moment I felt this weird connection to my former life.

October is the beginning of cyclone season here in Samoa and last year the winds were swirling as Cyclone Rene grazed the coast of Samoa. This left me trying to translate the radio updates in Samoan, coming from my neighbor’s house. It will be nice this season to have a radio signal to know the latest on any cyclones that may come our way.

As the months go on, I think I’ll use the radio in small doses though. There has always been something peaceful about being alone without having a ton of background noise. I guess it is the typical image that people relate to when they think about the Peace Corps experience. Yet, I’m thankful for my little black Sony radio with the cassette player. Of course I don’t have any cassettes to play, they were all packed into my memory box back home in the late 1990’s. But luckily I still have 93-KHK.

525,600 Minutes

Editor’s note: This next week, October 7, 2010, will mark my one year anniversary of arriving here in Samoa. This type of occasion causes me to reflect on the past year and consider where I’ve come from, where I am, and where I plan to go. Recently, I sat down with Myself and answered some questions on a variety of topics. Below you will find the transcripts from the interview, which was conducted by Kyle.

Kyle: Congratulations Myself, on making it through your first year of Peace Corps service in Samoa! This must be a special moment in your service. Can you tell us what your feelings are after 12 months in Samoa?

Myself: Thank you for this opportunity to share some of my experiences from this past year. As this date has neared, I have been reminded about how I felt when I use to look forward to my four month anniversary and then five and six months. As each month passed, I felt a little bit stronger, and a bit more at ease. And that ease has continued along the way. Perhaps it is the best way to describe how I’m feeling now at my one year anniversary. I’ve been in this country long enough now to feel very relaxed and comfortable about where I am.

Kyle: Thinking back to who you were a year ago, how do you think you have changed?

Myself: I feel that change is so hard to mark during the Peace Corps service. Many of the ways I’ve changed I may not fully realize until I complete my service and get back home. Coming into this experience we all realize that we are going to change, and that leaves us volunteers often asking when the change is taking place and what is it that is changing us? But from what I’ve learned this past year, the change is very gradual. It is so hard to pinpoint one single date and say, “that is the day I started to change.” I think the change began the minute I clicked send on my application to the Peace Corps. From that moment on it has been a part of my daily vocabulary.

But realizing that change doesn’t happen at one single moment, I can say that I have become a more patient person as the months have gone on. Patience is required in so much of what I do. Being one of the most remote volunteers in the country leaves me relying on patience when traveling to and from the capital. Patience is tested when speaking the language, or trying to understand the culture. Patience was at work in those early months when I was still getting use to my house being infested with cockroaches. This patience thing comes in so many different forms that it really does start to slow your life down and cause you to reflect more and take a few deep breaths at times.

Kyle: Can you recall a particular day or moment when things just didn’t seem to be going right? What got you through those tough moments to where you are today?

Myself: I’ll never forget those first weeks out at my house after I moved in. It was mid December and almost Christmas, although it never felt like it here in the tropics. I can remember waking up each morning with this awful feeling in my stomach. I felt nervous and anxious and would just pace around inside my house wondering what I was doing here. I had never lived more than 45 minutes away from home in my entire life and then all of a sudden I made this huge move. I had always heard about homesickness, but never felt it. I’ve been on vacations before overseas where I start to miss home, but homesickness is a whole other level.

On one particular day I was getting ready to leave my house to go out into the village and do some introductory visits. I can remember getting all my stuff around. I got dressed, put sun block on and then locked the door. I began to walk up the hill near my house and into the village when I just froze. I turned around and went back into the house where I proceeded to fix a box of Kraft macaroni and cheese that I had been sent from home.

I eventually made it out of the house, but looking back on that moment I can now see how much I’ve grown. Back then I was longing for anything that would keep my mind close to home, such as that box of macaroni and cheese. Those were the days that I was growing the most though, I believe. They were the days when I was learning to live away from home and learn to live here.

Sometimes when I’m walking up that hill near my house, I smile and remember that day I turned around and went back inside. It gives me motivation to keep going and to see what new things lay ahead in this experience.

Kyle: I understand that you have been teaching at the primary school now for eight months. How are things going at school and how have you seen the students change this past year?

Myself: I think these kids are giving me the perfect gift for my one year anniversary: they are learning how to read! Within the past month I have seen some huge gains made by my students. One of my year seven students who was one of the lower students in the class is reading words he couldn’t, just a few months ago. Just this past week he had one of the higher scores on a test, where as he use to score the lowest. All along I had been telling myself I was making a difference for these kids, but now to have the proof in front of me each day is really inspiring.

Kyle: What other projects are you working on at the school?

Myself: The library has been a major project of mine for the past couple of months. We were able to get roughly 3,000 English books donated to our school from libraries in New Zealand. They are children’s books, easy readers, and there are also class sets of many books. One of the big hardware stores here in Samoa, Bluebird Hardware, was gracious enough to donate four gallons of paint to the school and I’ve been working with the students to paint the library’s walls and bookshelves. We are just about finished with the painting and getting ready to organize the books so that we can establish a check out system.

Kyle: I understand that many Peace Corps volunteers find a routine that helps them make life run smoothly. Can you tell us a little bit about your daily routine?

Myself: Well I normally wake up around 6:15a.m. and get breakfast started soon after. I’ve really enjoyed breakfast as a time to wake up and read while I’m eating. I enjoy fixing oatmeal, scrambled eggs and some days French Toast! While I’m eating the kids begin to arrive at school and walk right past my house. Every morning I have about 10 students say, “Good morning Kyle” (teacher’s in Samoa go by their first name with the students). Shortly after, I head over to school myself, which is about a seven second walk.

School starts at 8:00a.m. and normally finishes around 12:30 or 1:00 in the afternoon. After school I either work on lessons for the rest of the week or do work in the library. I normally grab a quick and simple lunch. By this time of the day it’s normally 95 degrees in my house and I don’t feel much like cooking too much. A salad is usually a good lunch.

In the afternoon I either do laundry, write letters or read. Most people stay inside their house and out of the sun during the afternoon because it’s just so hot out. I’ve tried to visit families during the afternoon but most of the time they are always sleeping!

In the late afternoon I normally do dishes and listen to the radio. Then I get ready to go jogging around 4 or 4:30. Before I go jogging I do my lifting, which consists of using a small wooden bench in my living room as a literal, bench-press. Then I’m off down the long, steep and winding road. I jog 20 minutes out, where I am able to get a cell phone signal to call home or text a Peace Corps volunteer. Normally after about 20 minutes the mosquitoes are starting to eat me alive so I head back in for another 20 minute jog.

When I get back I shower and then either go to my neighbor’s house for dinner or prepare my own dinner some nights of the week. If I go to my neighbors I normally go around dusk and they always have dinner ready for me when I get there. When I’m over there with them I try to speak only in Samoan. It has been a great way for me to develop my language skills. After we are done eating, we normally play cards for a bit. Most nights I help the kids with their English homework. After that, Milo, who is 12, and Alofa, who is seven, walk me back over to my house. I’m not afraid to walk by myself, but it’s kind of become tradition that they walk with me. We say goodnight and then I tuck myself away for the night. This is the time of day when I normally read my Bible, and write in my journal. I like to read one of several books I have going and then get ready for bed around 10 or 10:30.

All Peace Corps Volunteers have noted how early we seem to go to bed here. I remember when I was in college and would get out of marching band rehearsal at 8p.m. and eat dinner at 8:30 and start homework at 9:30!! But I’ve heard it mentioned more than once, that because we are dealing with a new language and culture every day, that can be exhausting and at 10:30 we are ready to crash.

Kyle: Is there something weird about your daily routine that makes you laugh?

Myself: Oh yes. Every night I have a procedure for getting into the mosquito net. First I tap around the outside to make sure there aren’t any huge spiders, cockroaches or centipedes lurking around. Then I shut the light off and quickly crawl under and tuck the net in under the foam mattress. I then take my flashlight and examine the interior of the net to make sure there are no centipedes. It does seem like a bit of a hassle and some nights I just laugh, but I’ve always been told that the one time you don’t check is the night you get bitten and centipede bites are the worst kind of bite you can get in Samoa! Luckily I haven’t experienced it and am just going by those who have.

Kyle: You mentioned a foam mattress? What is that like sleeping on?

Myself: Well considering during my first week at the house I went without the mattress and was just sleeping on woven sleeping mats, this feels like a plush mattress. It’s gotten indented in a few spots from regular wear and tear, but I guess the worst part is having to lay down on it during the rainy season when it doesn’t cool off below 90 in the house at night and the mattress is so full of humidity that I feel like I’m sleeping on a wet sponge. Other than that it’s great!

Kyle: Mail must help lift your spirits. Do you know how much mail you’ve received this past year?

Myself: I’m actually saving every letter that is sent to me, and as of today I have received 92 letters or cards from family and friends. This isn’t including the dozens of packages that I have received. My aunt Betty has sent me lots of chocolate and even some of her homemade strawberry jam. Aunt Carolyn has sent lots of pictures of the family and made me two pillow cases with a tropical pattern. My uncle Jamie has sent novels, such as On the Road, by Jack Kerouac, and a number of old Michigan History articles and magazines. Uncle Bruce has sent pictures from home and some Girl Scout cookies, among other things. My sister Jenny has sent countless CDs with her favorite songs for me to add to my i-pod. And my mom and Dad have been great sending anything and everything that I request from home. I’ve gotten Hostess cupcakes from my dad and several New York Times from my mom.

Kyle: So what’s the story behind your glasses?

Myself: Peace Corps discourages volunteers from wearing contacts because of the possibility of eye infections. We were required to bring two pairs of glasses with us. On two different occasions I’ve had to have my first pair of glasses sent back to the eye doctor’s office in Michigan. So my glasses first came here, went back to the U.S., were sent back here, and then when my sister came she took them with her back a second time and then they were once again sent back to me where they now rest on my face. To make a long story short: if my glasses could accumulate frequent flyer miles, they would have accumulated two, free round-trip tickets to the Far East.

Kyle: I hear a rumor that you are going home for Christmas. Can you confirm this for us?

Myself: Yes, your sources are correct. After much contemplation, I’ve decided to spend about a month at home over the holidays. The break coincides with our long school break here in Samoa so it will be a good time to take the leave. There are several other volunteers going home as well to spend time with family and friends. Originally, I had planned on taking a trip to New Zealand or Australia during that time, but a trip home will mean a lot more to me during the holidays. One of my grandmas is 95 and the other is 90 and I am looking forward to sharing this experience with them when I’m home. It will be great to be with them and my whole family for Christmas. I’m still planning on making it to Australia or New Zealand later in 2011.

Kyle: As you begin your second year in Samoa, tell me what your thoughts are.

Myself: At this point I’m going to continue taking it one month at a time. That is how I’ve done it from the beginning and it seems to be working well. The months are going by faster the longer I’m here. I can remember one night laying in bed and thinking maybe it was going too fast. I just want to take more time this second year to continue to learn about the culture and become even more integrated within my village. The hardest part is behind me though, in terms of settling in and meeting people and getting familiar with the language.

It’s like taking an introductory course to calculus. After you’ve gone through pre-calc, you can get on with the real business in calculus. I think this first year was my pre-calc year and now I’m looking to the future with more ambition and drive to solve the problems in the next part of the journey. It’s been a challenging and rewarding first year, but I’m anxious to see what unfolds in the next 525,600 minutes!