Wackyfish

Go Speed Racer…

So this afternoon is my first paddling race. Most likely my first and last. And since I am the alternate on the team I most likely won’t ever get in the boat. Which honestly is fine with me. Since I don’t much like boats anyway. The good part is that I got out, trained in a boat with my team, experienced the resulting back and shoulder aches and got some sort of real experience that now allows me to fully and honesty say… Ok some boats are not that bad. Small canoe styles boats with a float on one side to prevent tipping. The outrigger kind we race. Those are not miserable. I still think that all other boats are miserable for now.
Anyway this afternoon at 1pm I am going to the race, and (unless someone else on the team is inured or they make us steer our own boat) I will stand on the sideline and cheer my team. Wish us luck.
Oh and I get a team t-shit.

Good times, Good times.

Last night I had a small dinner party for Jessica. She is a volunteer from my group and her birthday was yesterday. Her boyfriend from Sweden is visiting.
So about twelve volunteers gathered at my house for Pot Luck Mexican dinner and Holly made a beautiful cake. It was a lovely mellow evening full of good people and good food. Oh and Mikaele is back from his Med-evac to Hawaii. So it was also a celebratory reunion of sorts. Good times, Good times.
Monday is a holiday so we have a nice long weekend. I had briefly considered going out to my village. I think I will meet up with my cousin and hang out in town instead. That or go to the beach (yes, yes I am considering going to the beach) with Pisa.
Have a great weekend!

Good buddies

I spent yesterday at a conference put on by the Samoa Information Technology Society. All of the local vendors were there as well as a lot of local IT professionals. It was an interesting mix of people. The majority was made up of Samoan people. However there were several Palagie and Indians. The racial make up was a good indicator of the countries technical development. Samoa has a technical training program at it’s National University, however it is a new program and will take a few years to turn over qualified personnel. But as a whole they are trying very hard to catch up with other first world countries, technologically. And the government here is really following through on it’s commitment to technology (as opposed to just giving it lip service).
That being said, Samoa is a country that is plagued by contradicting desires to keep up with the rest of the developed world and hold on to their traditions and culture. Why would these two things be exclusive you ask?
Well the answer to that is long and complicated and would require an explanation of the Faa Samoa in such depth that I am just not sure that I am qualified to give it and you probably wouldn’t be interested anyway.
The cliff notes version is… well there is no cliff notes version.
Let me just skip the “why’s” here and say that I feel blessed to be right smack dab in the middle of a paradise nation that is struggling and growing to resolve what it will become and what it will let go of, right along with me.
Sometimes I think of the country (yes the whole country of Samoa as a whole entity) as my buddy. Someone I can go to with my experiences and we can compare and contrast and see what is going on with each other. I know this sounds a little wacky, but it gives me the strength to stick it out some days and other days it excites and motivates me. So I guess this is a very positive thing… even if it is a little crazy.

And now for some shameless product placement

My parents called me last night using a phone card/number thingy from LeanCard. We got to talk for 37 min for $5 US. It works out to about $.136 a min. Which is the best deal I have seen so far.
There are directions on the site for how to find the best rates and get a card.
So... If you want to talk to me cheep, I would love to hear from you.
If you want to call and you need the number or you know when you can call shot me an e-mail and I can make sure to be at home waiting to hear from you. (I don’t have a cell phone, it is a Lan line and I am a busy girl and not home all the time.)

The road to h*** is supposedly paved with good intensions.

I begin to think that development theory issues will plague me through my whole experience here. These issues seem to pop up all the time (and especially when I feel too tired to deal with them). I feel like I am constantly left trying to determine how much helping is actually helpful and how much promotes dependence? I know there is a line. Well, I believe there is a line anyway. A line between “genuinely helpful” actions and ‘good intentioned but ultimately hurtful” actions when it comes to the development of a culture or a society.
I just wish the line was Bolded or maybe Underlined, or maybe good directions to the line of balance could be found someplace that I could find them… like the internet maybe.
But the truth is there are no real clear answers.
We are all left here to figure it out on our own, and generally that means we will make some mistakes. Those mistakes are discouraging. But I seem to be able to learn from them so at least they are usually productive, even if they are uncomfortable.

It is turning out to be an experience of questioning and re-questioning my own value systems. It feels like a sculptor chipping away at a block of stone (I am the block of stone in this metaphor BTW). It’s painful and I have no idea what I will look like when it is done… if it is ever done.

I Mceed

Friday night I was the Mcee for a PC FiaFia we threw for the PC IAP (Inter America and Pacific) Regional director who is here visiting. When Fono asked me to Mcee I thought… Eppp! I have no talent so I better get some jokes to back me up on this one.
Friday morning I got online and found some great jokes and Friday night I think I pulled off the Mcee gig without being too boring. A lot of people laughed with me so that is a good sign. Oh I got to open with an apology from EPC (my host agency) because the power had just gone off. It was mostly funny because a lot of people within the PC have taken to calling me for help when their power goes out. It was a convenient mishap that led to a clever joke. Thank Goddess for mishaps!
Anyway it was good to stand up in front of a big group of people (my big boss included), make everyone laugh and have my 15 min of fame. Now that it is over I am glad to once again take a back seat to other important people around me, within and without of the PC organization. I guess I have moved to a place where I love the bright lights of being on stage, but eventually it gets to hot for me onstage and I prefer to be the one behind the curtain working all the ropes that make the show go.

The rest of the weekend was rather eventful as well but I won’t go into it. I just want to say that I am very much looking forward to the return of “life as usual”. Tho I’m just not sure that will happen any time soon. There is a lot going on at work and I have some other commitments outside of work that are going to keep me busier than I would like. However I have promised myself that sooner rather than later I will go back to the nice slow, peaceful, Samoan style life I had a few months ago (unless I am misremembering and I’ve never really had a slow peaceful life at all).
Hope everyone else had a good weekend as well!

HP 3 makes me sad. (and I sort of mean “sad” in a good way)

I saw Harry Potter 3 again yesterday. This would make the third time for me. I love the movie but every time I see it, I get a little sad.
It reminds me of some of my friends I did HP stuff with when the other movies came out. Like trying to make Butter Beer with Darc, or listening to HP, Books on tape with Deb. It also makes me miss the four seasons. The new director really captures a sense of seasons and time in the third movie. He adds a bit of humor and whimsy to the magic of nature that I really found delightful.
Not that we have real dramatic season in the Bay Area where I grew up, but respectively they are more dramatic than here. Mostly I miss having a Fall and Winter. Fall when the leaves turn colors and the world takes on a mystic twilight feel. And winter with its rainy days that can be the perfect compliment to warms drinks, fireplaces and good books.
I guess the movie just brings on or maybe extends the current bought of homesickness I am experiencing. I may have to see it again before it leaves the theater… that or put it on my Amazon wish-list to own.
What movies do you love, but make you sad?

I get in a boat

Yesterday was a particularly difficult day at work. So when it was over I was in need of some down time to recoup.
Instead I went to a paddling practice.
I dislike boats. They make me uncomfortable. I try to avoid them if at all possible. So the thought of voluntarily getting into a boat after a hard day was a little… off, even to me. But I had promised I would paddle with the PC rowing team as soon as my overseas guests went home. And not wanting to go back on my word, I was pretty much stuck.
I showed up at the office at about 4:30 and rode over to the harbor with the other team members. The first round I sat out, as the boat only fits 6. Which was fine with me. But about 30 min later the boat was back to switch rowers and I had to take my turn.
This team had been paddling together for a few weeks now and had at one time had some formal lessons on strokes and cadence. I waded out to the boat and got into the number 5 seat. Where I got the run down on few weeks of lessons in about three min. Then we were off. The boat jolted and rocked as we started paddling to the cadence set by our team leader. The first run was a 500-meter dash. When it was over my arms were burning, I was out of breath and mildly nauseated from the jolting and rocking. Despite this I was having a great time. We went a few more practice runs and headed back to the dock to switch our paddlers again. I got out of the boat and waited around for practice to finish. Once practice finished we had a group stretch and headed back to the office.
Mika and I then met a few other volunteers at Bass’s restaurant for dinner. The food and the company were excellent and the perfect wind down for a wacky day.
After dinner Mika and I walked about a mile to our cabstand, and it was a nice chance to catch up and talk geek.
I couldn’t believe I got into a boat, and especially after such a difficult day. But I did and I feel pretty good about it.

Oh what a day….

To make a long story short… we wrestled with our network all day. It was up and down and backwards and forwards and just generally foobared all day. Eventually I got a chance to just get into the switches and take a look at everything. Turns out there was a straight through cable where there should have been a cross over. I fixed it and now I look like a hero. It was also a good reminder of something Carmel and Bob taught me years ago about networking… the first step in fixing a network is to Stop, Look and Listen. After that it is generally pretty easy to figure out.
The neat part about this is that I got to take Aiaga (pronouce: eye-ahh-gna) our soon to tech guy through the trouble shooting process. As I stood in the server room going over Stop Look and Listen I could almost hear Bob’s voice coming out of my mouth sounding just as he said it to me those many years ago at OnSale.
Let’s hear it for mentors.
(And Bob if you are watching from the great server room in the sky, thanks!)
Now I am going to walk myself home (which incidentally is a 2.5 mile walk uphill) and collapse.
Have a great evening all.

The tragedy of the magic hat.

I had this great hat!
I got it from the Dharma Trading Company before I left and it has been one of the best things I brought with me. Mo calls it my Magic Hat because she says that I think it magically shades my whole body from the sun (as opposed to just shading my head, as most non-magic hats do). To which I always respond with “It is and It does”. Hence the Magic Hat.
It has sort of become my trademark look around town. Whenever my bus drivers see my hat they know it’s me and they always stop. People passing in cards who know me, see my hat and honk hello. Back in my training village all the villagers knew I was the Peace Corps who wore the big hat. I look good in the hat, people know me by my hat, I love that silly hat.
So you can see why the following is mildly traumatic at least and a huge tragedy at most.

Last Saturday as we were getting ready to check out of the resort in Rarotonga I put my magic hat down (along with a lavalava and my purse) on a dresser in my parents room. Mo saw me put my hat down and saw my hat sitting on the dresser after I put it down. I then went to help my dad load the car (walking away from my hat and stuff). Mo and mom were in the room most of the whole time packing. After the car was packed I came back into the room and put on my purse. I then took my lavalava and rolled it up and put it in my bag. I grabbed for my magic hat and… it was gone. Not yet ready to panic I re-traced my steps from my room to my parents room in case I had dropped it along the way (although I distinctly remember putting it down on the dresser, I could have been wrong, you never know.) When I didn’t find it I asked Mom, Dad and Mo if they had picked it up and packed it. All three said no and that they had just seen it on the dresser. So I looked behind the dresser, in the dresser, around the dresser. No hat. My father checked the laundry bins outside his room just in case one of the maids (who had shown up by now) had thrown it in with linens. No sign of Magic hat. We checked the car, the bathroom, under the bed, everywhere… still no hat.

I resigned myself to figuring it must have been packed someplace and we went on with our adventure. Sunday night when we got home I unpacked everything. I asked Mo to look when she unpacked… still no hat. The magic hat is gone. I am crushed.
So Monday I got online and ordered a new magic hat. It is not exactly the same hat, in fact it is a little fancier, and it has a smaller brim. But I figure since the magic is what is keeping the sun off of me one inch less brim will be ok. Hopefully it will be here soon. I don’t want to get too tanned.

This is not a great shot of me but it is the only I have of me in my magic hat.

Have a magical day everyone.

Lonley

My parents left yesterday at around 1pm. We had a great visit. I miss them terribly.
So now I guess it is time to fall back into my regular routine.
I like my routine and I find a lot of comfort in it. I will miss the wonderful company and the excellent discussions we had.
Now that they are gone, loneliness is back.
Loneliness is something I find I don’t mind so much. I am one of those people who really like to spend a lot of time alone.

I was talking to a friend yesterday about loneliness. It is an emotion that can carry a lot of social stigma. I found it difficult to put the sigma into exact words but I think I came close when I described it in terms of admitting loneliness is like admitting you are less popular, valued, desired or important than you want to be. And given the human need to be valued, desired and important, loneliness can hint at something greater being “wrong” with you.

However humans in general are social creatures. It is in our basic genetic make up to need other humans to interact with on various levels. And for those of us living away from our native culture I think that a certain loneliness for your culture exists. For me this is more than a longing for a certain geographical place. It is a longing to be around people who understand and usually (but not always) share my own styles of communications, values, tastes and other cultural sensitivities. My parents having helped mold these things in the first place certainly satisfied this longing for me. (Not to mention I just like them as people.) So being a human with natural genetic needs to interface with those like me, it is only logical that I am lonely now that they are gone.
There are others around that are like me in some ways that I can interface with. But none quiet like my Mom and Dad.
Anyway in a few days I will have readjusted and be in a much better place to deal with the loneliness. I have a very full and at the same time simple life.
I am back at work full time and everyone is thrilled to have me.
I am busy with network changes we are doing and the continual re-fining of the Service Order project. I have a feeling it is a project I could be working on in a “constant small refinement” sort of way for the rest of my time here.
I am supposed to start paddling again today. We shall see what happens.
I have lots of fun stories to write and post and hopefully I will get to them soon.
Hoping everyone has a great day.

BAH.. that update thing again.

I feel like my posts as of late have mostly been “here is what we have done,” reports. Which is fine, I just need to find a more creative way to compose them so they bore me (and you too) less.

Chronicle of events since we last heard from our super hero and her gang of wacky friends (and family).

Tuesday July 6: Party Princess (Monique) shows up at my house at 6:15 am. At 7:00 am the King, Queen, PP and I (If I am a princess, then my parents must be the king and queen right?) leave for the airport. We fly to Pago Pago, America Samoa and rent a car. Then we spend the day driving around the island, eating a real Mexican meal, and shopping. At 8:30 pm our flight leaves Pago Pago for Rarotonga, Cook Islands.

Wednesday July 7: We arrive in Rarotonga at just about 12am and the go directly to the hotel were we check in and sleep. In the morning we have a “tropical breakfast” and head out to see the island. We drove into town, walked around, had lunch at a café, did some shopping and then went back to the hotel for a nap. That evening we went to “Island Night” at the Rarotongan Restort and Spa and had a lovely time. It is similar to a Samoan Fiafia but with less clothing and no fire dancing.

Thursday July 8: Mom and Dad and I went on a tour around the island. After the tour which took most of the day we did some napping. That evening we headed off to Trader Jacks for dinner. We had the most incredible fresh fish there. Imagine the Fish Market food, but better! I noticed that about one third of the men on Rarotonga have dreads. How wacky is that.

Friday July 9: At some point in the wee hours of the morning we all get really sick. Turns out we have Salmonella poisoning. Probably from food we got on the tour (and we probably gave something to Mo as well, she was less sick than us but still hurting. My dad actually came down with it over dinner and he didn’t eat so we know it was not the food at Trader Jacks.) We spent most of Friday sleeping and laying around in pain.

Saturday July 10: We got up and checked out of hotel. Spent the morning in town shopping. Then went for nice drive where Dad and I did some snorkeling. We saw the biggest most beautiful tropical fish I have ever seen. It was by far the best snorkeling I have done yet. Later that afternoon we found a nice spot to sit on the warf and just watched the boats come and go. At about 8:30 we boarded our plane back to Pago Pago. In Pago a very nice lady named Gwen who runs a B&B called Ethans picked us up at the airport and took us back to the B&B for a few hours of sleep. (That is a shamless plug, and here is more… If you ever happen to be in Pago Pago America Samoa and need a place to stay, I HIGHLY RECOMMEND Ethans. Great service, good prices, friendly helpful people, nice amenities!)

Sunday July 11: We got up, headed to the airport and came home. One of our bags didn’t make it so we had to pick it up later (at a different airport). It was good to be home. We got some rest and had lunch and then in the evening we went and saw Harry Potter. We all really loved it. The new director is great. Tho it could have been a little longer and a little more detailed. (What I can I say; my family is kind of “Potter Purists”)

And today I am back at work and mom and dad are at home. They plan to run errands and do the last of their gift shopping today. I am attempting to devise the best way of tricking them into staying… I had thought that burning their plane tickets was the way to go… but that would give me away.

What's going on

Saturday was the Peace Corps July Fourth Picnic. Mom and Dad and I went and had a great time. The Aunties threw my dad a birthday BBQ/party thing yesterday and Deb called. Max also called to wish my dad happy birthday and we got to talk for a while.
In the evening we went to go see Spiderman 2 and had a late dinner at Bass’s restaurant.
Dad says he had a great birthday.
Today we are just running errands around town and tomorrow we head out for Cook Islands. It has been a fun few days with promises of lots more fun to come.
Other than that I don’t have much interesting to say.
I hope everyone is well.

Look

I just created a new picture gallery for Mom and Dad’s visit.
If you want to see the fun things we have been up to you can find a few shots here.
I'll post more pictures later in the visit.