Wackyfish

A Post I almost didn’t make.

I don’t really want a debate on “right to life or death” issues. From here the media we get on the recent happenings in America make it sound like a huge issue that is causing a media frenzy and a lot of grief for everyone involved. Like I said I am far away, so maybe it is not as bad as it sounds.
Having spent some time with Hospice patients I feel sort of compelled to step up and state my own opinion. My opinion is that… These matters are PRIVATE.
They are for Family and Kin, NOT Government and Media. I can see were under extreme cases it may be necessary to involve a justice system in order to resolve practical issues. However any involvement by non-family (especially the US Congress, the President or the Governor of Florida) should end there. Convalescence, death, and loss are such powerful issues to have to deal with in the first place. Mostly I think the media frenzy and the involvement of outsiders just adds to the pain of a very difficult decision and its results.
Anyway, having seen both a “good death” and a very “bad death” in my time with Hospice, I would say that everyone should have gone back to minding their own business months ago. It would have been the respectful thing to do.
Ok I’m done now.

Holi

The Hindu festival of colors, Holi was this past weekend. Our CD’s husband (Base) is from Nepal and each year (that I have been here) he has thrown a Holi party in honor of this festival from his native land. The party was last Saturday at their home, and all of the volunteers and friends were invited to come celebrate. Jona, Mo and I arrived around 4pm, not long after the festivities began.
Base is an amazing cook (He owns a great Indian/Nepali restaurant in town) and he cooked up a HUGE amount of wonderful food. Roasted Eggplant, Curried vegetables, Curried chicken, spiced pumpkin, this crazy rice dish with raisins, and lots more. I ate. And then I ate some more. Eventually I had to stop eating his food because there was cake. Two kinds of cake even. One chocolate cake and one cheesecake.
After food, cake and then a pretty respectable rest, we got down to the real fun. It is customary that on the day of Holi for most people to wear white clothing. Then later in the evening people throw colored powder called “gulal” at each other. Samoan Customs authority will not allow the colored powder into the country so we had to compromise. Kim (our CD) set out large bags of flower and many bottles of colored water. We then proceeded to chase each other around her yard throwing colored water and flour on each other. I was soaked, my dreads were caked in flour, and I had a great time. Below is a picture of Jona, post fight and a few of the girls cleaning up. No there are no pictures of me {wink}.

The nature of...

As a Gemini it is in my nature to run hot and cold on certain things. In fact sometimes simultaneously. So it is unsurprising then that I couldn’t tell you if I had a good or bad weekend.
It was long. Four days. By Sunday night I was ready to go back to work. But before I get into that, let me go back to Friday.
Friday morning I had guests at the house and I promised them a big breakfast. So I got up, did some yoga and started breakfast. I was going to make waffles (A COSing volunteer back in December left me her waffle maker) and eggs and have fruit and juice. What can I say, I like to go all out with the big breakfast thing sometimes. Especially when there are people around to enjoy it. About 4 waffles into it, the power to my village went out. So we ate those and sat around all morning on the porch talking. At some point Jona came over and we picked up Mo and went out to Nu’u for a big birthday bash. Three of my friends had birthdays this weekend so everyone celebrated together. I gave up alcohol a few weeks ago (until after the race) so I didn’t stay long.
Saturday I spent the morning doing yoga and playing with my dog. In the afternoon Jona came and got me again and we again picked up Mo and headed off to a Holi party that Bass and Kim were throwing. Bass cooked up a storm of great food and we played some games. Which I will write more about later, possibly tomorrow. (I even have pictures).
Sunday was Mexican To’onai at my house and a viewing of Ray. Maybe the combination of to many naps and to much food caused my desire to go back to work.
And on Monday, I cleaned up my house and did all those annoying things that you say you are going to do and never do. Like move all the empty bottles from the laundry room to the storage room. And because I think the three of us are joined at the hip, Mo and Jona came over for dinner.
So while there was a lot of fun stuff going on, I feel sort of bad that I laid around as much as I did, and that I didn’t take the opportunity to have other adventures. (Like bike ride around one of the islands, or go out to a Beach, or visit my training family for that matter.) But then, how often do I really get to lay around and do nothing with people I like? Wait, I do that a lot… but maybe I should be savoring that time. Maybe this is the time in my life that is not about getting out and pushing for the next adventure. Maybe this is the hang out and lay around time. Maybe this time will never come again. See look at me run hot and cold again. GAH.

Four day weekend

We have a four day weekend for Good Friday and Easter here. And while the break from work is really nice, it also means that everything around town will be closed up and no busses will be running. Once again I feel obligated to go to my training village but no one is going to be around to look after Mia, and transportation there and back is a bit difficult (you know, no busses and all).
Sometime around Monday the weather cleared up and it has been a beautiful week. A little to hot to run in pleasantly but other than that it has been nice to have a chance for everything to dry out. When it rains for days and days on end here, everything turns moist. The cushions on my chairs feel damp. The sheets on my bed feel moist. Even the clothing hanging in my closet feels wet when against my skin. But the lingering traces of Goth in me love still loves the rain. I am sort of hoping it rains all day on Sunday or Monday.

Remember what happens to your appetite when you kick up your routine exercise?
Yeah well all this running has me hungry all the time.
I have been trying to eat less, more frequently and increase my water intake.
I know this will only last a couple more weeks… but in the meantime it seems rather counter productive.
GAH

Running or Standing still?

I have been running again.
I don’t particularly like it. No wait… At this point I hate it. I am vaguely aware that if I persist at some point my body will switch and learn to enjoy the experience. However at this point I still hate it.
There is a 10K run on June 11th. Which happens to be exactly one week after my 30th birthday. I don’t know if I will be ready in time. But I would like to be.
I have 12 weeks and 3 days to find out.

Five miles, uphill, in the snow

This mornings coffee gathering was very interesting. Auntie Lea, Auntie Barbara and Pisa were there. This is pretty much the usual suspects with the exception of Auntie Juno and Auntie Illie who are both currently visiting New Zealand. Auntie Barbara made a reference to the coffee gatherings “in the old days” and I was surprised. So I asked “How long have you been having coffee gatherings in the morning together?”
To which a chorus responded “Oh a long time” “Forever” and “Many many years now”. I am a new comer to the group so I guess I tend to forget that they all grew up together. Samoa is a small island and so I can imagine that they were all young together. They all have children and grandchildren (and great grandchildren even) about the same age. The group was started by a woman named Gene, who ran a café and asked her friends to come for coffee in the morning. It was sometime back in the late 70’s and the café was called “The Blue Marlin”. It was located further down Beach Road, in an ideal spot for watching the morning Police procession from the Police station to the government building every morning. (It was in the place that “Crabbers” is in now, Right under Sails). The morning ritual of coffee became a respite from their busy lives for many of the Aunties. And eventually it grew into a very close (and powerful) group of women. This morning they all had a wistful quality in their voices when they talked about the old days. Like they were being transported back to there younger days. It was amazing to hear about and I wish I had asked sooner.
Gene and her café are long gone, but the tradition lives on. I have many Aunties who come once a week to check in or just every now and then. I see them all over town and they all treat me as their own daughter. It helps.

Gardening, watching sports, music, and writing

I have been laying low here for a while. Or at least trying.
I have good friends tho, and they aren’t much into letting me hibernate. Which I guess is good for me.
Yesterday I had the best day. I mean I am still coughing (yes still) and my chest is still gurglely. Nonetheless I managed to have a really good day. I started by spending most of the morning reading in bed, until it got to hot and then I got up and played with my plants. I managed to plants some zucchini, tomatoes, basil, and a bunch of flowers that I hope will grow and be pretty. I’m not sure if the zucchini or tomatoes will grow, but I am going to give them a shot. I also managed to re-plant a bunch of the babies that my very prolific Aloe plants keep having. I will probably give them away as gifts. Who wouldn’t love their own Aloe plant?
Then Jona came and got me at home and dragged me to the Peace Corps v.s JICA (Japanese version of PC) softball game. We sat under a big tree and watched. And Peace corps didn’t even lose this time. We won 8 to 7. Which is a big improvement over last year when we lost something like 17 to 1.
In the evening Right Hand Drive (the band some of my PC friends formed) gave a concert. It was all ocver songs but they are great guys and we had a really good time. Oh and we also had Korean BBQ. And hey, who doesn’t love Korean BBQ?
Anyway, Today was the writers group and I discovered that even my writing reflects the fact that I am on a low swing. Normally I like to bring light funny pieces about my experiences in Samoa to read to the group. This time my selections were more somber and reflective. I hope this phase passes soon.
Anyway, that was my weekend… Gardening, watching sports, music, and writing.
Oh and… since it is March 20th.
HAPPY BIRHTDAY Debba Dutty Pattootie Cutie Sweetie Pie!
(My sister)

It hasn’t rained (at least not more than a sprinkle) for about three days now.
The weather has been mostly clear and beautiful and it promises to be a nice weekend.
I keep meaning to write something meaningful and fun here.
But instead I think I will go outside.
I have errands to run, and things to do.
Hoping everyone else has a good weekend.

Silly

Once again in lieu of a real entry I post a picture. (Only I put it behind a cut this time.)

G caught this picture of Max and I being goofy, back in February.

Round here

My yoga class yesterday was no less blissful than I expected. It was gentle which was nice since I was all stuffed up. She still managed to challenge me though and by the end of the class my arms felt like they had had a good workout. Afterwards I had that relaxed but energetic feeling that I get sometimes. So YAY yoga. Once again I am convinced it is magic.

When I first arrived at the PC Office yesterday after work, I checked my mail box and was pleasantly surprised to find not one but two package slips for me. I hadn’t expected anything because at this point not many people send packages or mail of any kind anymore. So I pretty much just stopped hoping for any lest I be disappointed. Which is nice because now when I do get mail, it gets to be a pleasant surprise.

So today after a lunch/shopping adventure I will tell you about later, I went over to the SamoaTel post office to pick up my packages. The first one was from my mom. The postage date in SF was July 28. Which means it took over seven months to get here. WOW. That is long. Most things come a lot faster. But I am happy to have it. It had a book I want to read and some other treats in it for me. My Mom is neat. Thank you Mom!
I speak of other things coming faster because… the other package was from Blaine. He is an RPVC (who now lives in Fiji) and he sent his package from the states while visiting over Christmas. So his package only took a little over two months. I have to wonder what the difference is. Maybe it has something to do with the alignment of the planets and stars. Does any one know which zodiac sign rules the Postal Services?

Ok other non-related news.
One, I started a food shopping co-op thing and today was our first try at it. In town we have this great vegetable market. There is fruit, veggies, taro, flowers, prepared food, handy crafts and even Ava. The prices for veggies and fruit are generally pretty good (never go on Saturday morning) and many of us wish we shopped there more. The problem is that with many things it is hard to shop for one person. For instance Eggplant is sold in “Safeway bag” size portions. You can’t buy just one or two eggplants. The same goes for beans, and lots of other things. Now I’m sure this makes sense if you are a Samoan because you probably live in a fale with a big family and would never cook for one person. But for us volunteers that live alone (or with a housemate) we could never eat enough eggplant to justify spending the money for a HUGE sized bag of it, because it would go bad long before you even made a dent in it. So three of us went shopping together and just split the things we got. It is sort of like Costco Buddy shopping…only with an outdoor vegetable market. I got some eggplant, long beans, banana’s, and tomatoes for less than 5 tala and I am pretty sure I will be able to eat it all before it goes bad. We shall see.

Two, My friend Mika is teaching a Taekwondo class twice a week now. I am thinking I will go to his Thursday evening class. I have always wanted to give some sort of marshal art a try. I think may be the best chance.

So what is going on with you?

There are days when I miss my old school gamer days.
Ok wait… I’m lying, I never really miss them. But once in a while I wish I had more of an excuse to wear black all the time.

Whine with my Cheese

I am sick. (That evil cough I had last week, turned into something ugly)
The weekend didn’t quite go as I expected it to and I spent most of it at home sick in bed. Which means I didn’t get to the bike ride, or the laundry or the screens at my house. I still feel awful but I have work to do, so I came in anyway. Plus I always get bored when I spend too much time home alone.

So work… Right now we are being pushed to get an EPC web site up. Which meant talking to vendors about hosting and development. And while I have never been fond of vendor meetings I have to say I am thankful for the work. It’s nice to be busy while other projects are stalled.

I have a headache. Not only because I am genuinely ill but also because Mo tied up my dreads this weekend which always sort of leaves me “smarting” for a few days. It looks good tho. Maybe in a few days when I am not feeling like road kill, I will post a picture. It took me a little while but I seem to have been able to commit to dreadlocks once again. (I had a bout of thinking I would rather grow them out instead.)

Ok, well this post took me so long to write that I seem to have finished up all the very important things I needed to do today and am being sent home by my boss.
I hope everyone else has a better day.

Friday’s child is fair of face

I am coming down with a bad cough. I am supposed to go for a run in a few hours and it raining outside. And… Skye and I are supposed to go for a long bike ride (out to Piula and back) in the morning. I really need the exercise. I am all creaky and sore and the only way to make that stop is to keep going and get over it. (That or sit on your ass until it goes away.)

I was going to write about Fridays but the days of the week writing thing got real old real fast. Instead I will just tell you about what was/will be fun today.
I had lunch with Mo. She came at got me at my office and we walked over to the Sydney side café. They have sandwiches that are too expensive but they serve them on square plates with fancy little salads… so you know. Back at work I am collecting the information for our web site. At some point today we should be picking a hosting agency. So I have stuff to do at least (I mean other than try and write something that isn’t very good for this update.)
Tonight my friend Jessica will be in from Faleula and we will probably make dinner and then sit around and giggle at each other. Mikaele may come along.
I think I have trouble writing these because I really do think my life is pretty uninteresting these days. And I mean that in a very… nothing you haven’t heard before kind of way. I am happy, and having a good time, but it is a more settled relaxed kind of good time. Which is nice but doesn’t make for very interesting reading.
Other than a bike ride (weather permitting) I want to fix the screens on my doors (Mia ripped them off while locked in my house during the cyclone while I was gone. Now I have all sorts – more sorts of bugs in my house.) do some laundry and a lot of yoga. It should be nice and boring as well. I can’t wait. (and I’m not even being sarcastic.)
Have a good one everyone.

Traveling plans

I know it is early but I have already started planning out my post PCV trip.
A friend of mine did a “working holiday” thing on a sheep farm in New Zealand, and it sounds like a great experience. So I have been looking into that. I have several leads and I’m sure I will find the right place for me. Ideally I will be able to spend a month or so at farm stay. This would mean that if I left here Dec 1st, I would be someplace stable and contactable for Christmas. Maybe from there I could move on to Australia for New years. I wonder if my Friends Dan and Mary would meet me in Sydney for NY. I don’t intend to stay in Australia for long, just NY really. Then I want to move on to India. I figure if I can see Bombay, New Deli, Dharamsala and everything in between I will have seen all I need to. I expect it to take most of the month of January, if not more.
Originally I wanted to hit France and London after India. But in the interest of saving time and money and now that I have figured out that I really don’t have another few months of living out of a suitcase in me (Look at how much I missed my routine and regular life after just one month in America.) I am going to skip Europe and try to go directly to New York. I want to spend a week or so there since I have never been. I am figuring I should be there some time in February of 2006. Which would put me back in SF about March (this time next year). We shall see if all goes according to plan.

Wednesday’s child is full of Woe

Today I write about Wednesdays. I’m not sure how full of “woe” mine are tho.
Wednesday’s are all about the little things.
I usually have lunch with my friend Nella. She is a PCV who works in town at the Fisheries dept. At some point in the afternoon I will try and walk across town to Lucky Food town to see if they have any fresh fish. (By the time I can get there the fish market is usually done for the day.)
After work I will go for a run. I don’t look forward to it at this point but it only takes 30 min of my life to do and then it is over for another few days.
I will try and get home before 6:30 so I am not eating too late and I have time for some light yoga and whatever chores need done around the house.
Wednesdays are not terribly exciting. They are quiet and usually restful.

It was good to be back in a yoga class last night. I forgot how much I missed it. Laura came over after class and we had a chance to catch up. We made a nice healthy dinner and talked until too late. It was good for a Tuesday.

Tuesday’s child is full of grace

In the interest of forcing myself to write I am going to tell you about Tuesdays.
This morning Pisa called me at 6:38 am to make sure I was awake and out of bed. I was not. You see it was raining outside and Pisa knows that when it rains I don’t get out of bed very well. (In fact truth be told I never get out of bed well, but when the weather is clear out I do slightly better.) It is good to have friends that know you.
I stumbled out of bed and she let the phone ring. I may have picked up by the 15th or so ring. She is wise, this Pisa woman.
I somehow manage to stumble to the shower and get ready to leave by 7:15, when Pisa and Kari (her husband) come by to pick me up. Kari drops us off at the coffee shop and we join Auntie Lea. Over the next 45 min we are joined by Auntie Illi, Auntie Juno, and Auntie Beatrice. We drink coffee, they gossiped, and I pretended to understand. At about 7:45 I watched the police band march by on there way to the court house to raise the flag for the day. I saw them return 10 min later. We are still sitting outside for coffee everyday and the breeze that came in off of the harbor genteelly whispered “It will rain all day” to me.
At some point that is far to late, Pisa and I go up stairs to start our work day. Today is mostly the same as many other days. I had several meetings in the morning and am now tasked with drafting a general look and feel for the new company web site. It shouldn’t take long, and it is something interesting to do.
This evening I will meet some girlfriends at the office and we will take a taxi up the hill to Taialofa’s yoga class. I will battle with the little old lady in the blue tank top over the spot right under the fan (IMHO, the best spot in the gym). The class will be hard but refreshing and I will walk out of it blessed out and laughing with the girls. We will walk to Lynn’s to buy food for (hopefully a healthy) dinner and then to Vaivase to the taxi stand. We will cook a nice big dinner and sit around talking and giggling over food.
Ultimately I will be distracted from the fact that I miss Max for a while. That will be nice.
In other news, I have been sort of challenged to wrote a few other pieces. Max thinks I should write a one-act for submission in the BOA festival next year and the PC marketing dept is looking for good PC experience stories. I am having trouble getting motivated to write. Which is a very uncomfortable place to be in for someone who considers herself a writer. Ok, I am ending this long Tuesday piece now. Look for something on Wednesdays tomorrow.

UPDATE:

I’m home… or back in Samoa.
My flights went off without too much trouble and were not nearly the escapade that getting to SF was.
It is nice and warm (well hot and really humid actually) here and I love it. Mo and Jona came to the airport in the middle of the night to get me last night. They RULE. Mia was waiting at home for me. I cried (happy tears) when I saw her. Tho she smells like she hasn’t been bathed in a month and so I’ll have to take care of that this evening. At some point soon I’m sure I will run in the rest of my crew.
Oh there was an article in the Samoan Observer about me yesterday. It was one of the volunteer profiles for Peace Corps week. And it included a shockingly good picture of me.
Anyway, I have a ton of stuff to do before I can go back home and have a nap. But first “I want to thank the Academy”… no wait that is the wrong speech sorry…
I want to thank my family for having me. Max (and Glen and Cobain) for letting me hang out at your place a bunch. (And also Max for being my best friend and partner in crime… I mean adventure.) Gwynn, Darcy, Tim and Maria, T&T and everyone else who was so kind to host me while I was home. It was great to see the PCON crew. I love and missed everyone and it won’t be nearly as long this time until I see everyone again.
That being said. Pweeewww I am glad to be back. I am better with stability and routine. Plus it is warm here.
Ok enough of this sentimental mushy crap…
Have a good day everyone.