Wackyfish

Dude, I totally live here! {pinch}

At times I am overwhelmed by the fact that I live in such an amazingly beautiful place. I figured by now it would be something I that I would be taking for granted. But rapidly approaching two years and I still think it is truly paradise here.
This is a shot of the harbor at dust, that I took during my run/walk last night. The outriggers (like a six person canoe with an outrigger on it) are practicing for the big Independence Day races. The Yachts are beginning to arrive in our harbor from far off exotic places. A smaller fishing boat sits anchored in it’s usual spot and the sun as it sets paints a breath taking backdrop for my home.

I am a very lucky girl.

Dear Prudence won't you come out to play

I woke up this morning to the sound of rain on my roof.
On mornings like this, the already nearly insurmountable task of getting out bed becomes even more difficult for me. I always want to snuggle in and drift off again to the soothing white noise of the rain. I had to promise myself that I could have a cup of coffee with the Aunties this morning as incentive. It worked, here I am.

It was a crazy busy weekend and I feel like I need another day to recover. How lovely would it have been to rent a couple of movies and stay home with my puppy and a hot bowl of soup today. I have a lot of work to get done today and Wednesday and Thrusday are holidays here in celebration of Samoan Independence. So I should have some time off then. Hopefully one of those days will also be blissfully rainy and cool.

The details on this weekend:
Friday Evening: AIDS benefit fashion show. Wow I have lots of commentary on it, but for now I am going keep my remarks positive. They raised a lot of money, and most people had a good time. A few of my friends were models for the show and they appreciated me showing up and supporting them. I am always happy to be around to support my friends.
The best parts of the evening were food related. We went for Thai food before the fashion show. And Rosie and I made Sushi with brown rice at about 1:30 am (Saturday morning really) after arriving home slightly drunk from on much free wine.

Saturday: I had a slow morning at home and spent most of it visiting with my house guests from out of town. Then there was a VAC meeting. It went well and didn’t run to long. In the evening I went and had Pizza with just about all the Peace Corps ladies, in celebration for Nive, a lovely Samoan girl who is marring around friend Paul, pretty much as we speak. Congratulations to you both.
After Pizza most girls went out dancing, but Amanda and I went back to my place were we made about 30 tortillas.

Sunday: Amanda and I were up early early early to start cooking again for the Fancy Tea party. The morning flew by in a blur of preparations and the Tea party started around noon. It was a wedding shower tea for our friend Carrie (lots of wedding stuff lately, what is that about?) who is leaving country in a few days and getting married in D.C. in April to a very nice Samoan fellow.
I got home from the Tea at about 4 and talked to my family for a bit. Ethan and I went and saw Sin City again. And then hung out on my porch kafau-ing for about an hour. It felt like an incredibly long day

So that was the weekend.

Just add water

There was another impromptu party at my house last night.
At about noon Asi, one of the guys in the engineering dept here at work, asked me if they could use my carport to hold a going away party for one of the Engineers who is leaving EPC. After hemming and hawing a bit I said yes.
It turned out to be a good time and I am usually very glad when these impromptu parties happen. The guys come over; we drink beer, and sit around hanging out.

Head stand

My yoga instructor Taialofa is in the states for a few weeks teaching a seminar. In the meantime her husband Kevin is filling in for her at our Tuesday evening class here. It is nice to have a different teacher now and then. It adds variety. He has spent the past two weeks preparing us for the head stand. I have to say that while it is difficult and hurts the top of my head, I am really excited.
Only two more weeks of training until the race. The good news is I am running longer and farther. The bad news is that my shin splints are getting to the point were I can no longer pretend they do not exist. Wearing my Chacos around town helped my PF heal up and go away. And I have a good pair of running shoes here. But If they keep getting worse I am not sure I will be able to keep up running very long. I have been icing my shins after every run, and trying to do more low impact exercise (like yoga) in the men time.

Mundane

I want to write something here that is meaningful, humorous and insightful.
But all I can think about is the fact that I have a fridge full of leftovers for dinner (instead of something new, fun or interesting) and that I have to go for a run later.
That and on Monday I got home late and it was dark so I forgot to take my laundry off the line. Then it rained all day yesterday. We will see what kind of mess I have waiting for me when I get home tonight.
I think I am pretty happy these days with the mundane routines of my life. I know that they will not last forever so I am content to sit and wait them out. Eventually I will not be able to have coffee with my Aunties every morning. Or the opportunity to pick up and run off to Lalomanu for the weekend. So there is a lot of luxury in my daily routine. Maybe that is why in the greater scheme of things I don’t mind it so much.
Oh on another note.
I finally finished the Fala (pineapple) last night. It was perfect. I saved the top and will try and re-plant it this weekend. It won’t be ready before I go but I figure it wouldn’t be bad to leave something behind for the neighbors.

Work stuff

I am writing this from my new office.
This afternoon I moved downstairs to the Engineering department were I will be working on the GIS project with the Engineering manager.
I have just started writing the draft proposal and making enquiries about local cost of equipment (GPS unit and GIS software). It could be a long slow process but I am excited at the prospect of actually leaving something behind me.
So work has moved into the exciting realm for now.
Oh and I have my own office again… which is also exciting.

The view from my fale

I took this picture right after it started to rain lightly on Saturday afternoon.

We arrived on Friday afternoon at about 4:30 and spent most of Friday sitting in the main dining fale visiting with other guests. Saturday was a slow lazy day. We started with several hours of coffee, a good breakfast and then some sunbathing. (I got a bit burned). In the afternoon we went for a swim and I had a glorious nap. The evening found us visiting with some of the boys from Utah that are here building the new Mormon temple in Pesega. After dinner there was a FiaFia but we opted for a night swim instead. We ended up staying up late playing cards and visiting.
Sunday was another lazy morning. I awoke and laid in my bed listening to the sound of the ocean and feeling the cool morning breeze.
Our ride back to town arrived at 1 and brought us home.
It was really nice to get out of town for the weekend and relax. I relax a lot as it is. But still sometimes a change of scenery is exactly what is needed.
I hope everyone else’s weekend was just as relaxing.

Pictures in lue of content.

I am working a half day today so I thought I might just post some more pics (yes, instead of writing something interesting and witty.) of one of my favorite places on earth.
This is my front porch.

And from the opposite direction

Look Mom, I didn't kill it!

I grew a pineapple!
My dad planted it last summer when he was here.
I don’t think I actually thought it would grow. But it did.
The groundskeeper who takes care of the compound I live on must have picked it because it was picked and waiting for me on my porch last night.
How neat is that.

There is no cheese

I am blessed here with a large group of amazing people that I can call friends. Some of them are spread out over the islands here so I don’t get to see some of them as much as I would like. However when I do it is always a good time.
My good buddy Pele was in town yesterday so she gave me a call at work to see what I was up to. A while ago when Pele returned from a visit home to American for Christmas she brought back with her several packs of large flour tortillas, the last of which is still in my freezer. There sole purpose was so that I would make her Quesadilla Suiza’s (Steak Quesadilla pretty much). Which I have done a few times since then.
So when she called I invited her to go with me to my yoga class and promised to make her Suiza for dinner. She asked me what we needed and I told I had everything but the cheese (and some sour crème would be nice too).
We decided we would hit Lynn’s (a pretty complete grocery store near by) on the way home from class. There we should have been able to get cheese and other things for dinner.
The yoga class was good. We had a guest teacher who is helping us work up to learning the headstand. Afterwards we headed off to Lynn’s for cheese. Lynn’s was completely out of cheese. I asked the owner, and she said she didn’t know why but they were out. She is a very nice woman and went to check just in case. No love, and no cheese.
Pele was crushed as the main ingredient in a quesadilla is CHEESE!
I suggested that we head off someplace else to find it.
Thus began a crazy taxi treasure hunt for Cheese. We checked Foodland, Luck food Town and Netties faleoloa with n o love. Finally Nettie herself told me that the shipment from New Zealand was late and hadn’t come in yet. They were expecting it last week but it was not on the boat. Which would explain why there is no (affordable) cheese to be found on the island. Aaaahhhh the joys of island living.
Anyway the boat should be in again on Thursday, maybe later this week we will try again.

In the meantime since I am sans cheese, please tell me jokes to keep my cheese factor high.

Gecko in the Teapot.

Yesterday was Monday so after work I went for a run. I didn’t do as well as I wanted to. I still have some lingering illness I can’t seem to shake. But at least I ran anyway.
When I got home I showered, made some dinner, played with my dog and then curled up with my book. Shortly after getting very comfortable I decided I wanted a cup of tea. So I got up started to fill my electric tea kettle. I had just put the spout under the tap and began filling it when out of the spout came a big fat black Gecko. He jumped on my hand, which in turn made me jump and he landed on the floor. Where he shortly became a play thing for Mia. I saw his tail on the floor this morning. Hopefully the rest of him is still intact and hiding out from here someplace. Fortunately they regenerate their tails.

Things that are good...

As with most people, there are several vices in my life that I should give up (and have with varying degrees of success) but don’t really want to. Training for this race has really helped in the wine and cigarettes department a lot. However I haven’t been too successful in the coffee department. When I got here (Samoa) I didn’t have a morning coffee addiction. That all changed when I started having coffee with the Aunties. Now I get tired and headaches if I don’t have at least some coffee during the day.
However since the big birthday and the race are rapidly approaching, I figured I would try to give up coffee one more time. So this morning I took my water bottle with me to the coffee shop and told the Aunties I wasn’t having coffee for a while because of “training”.
Of course this was a much bigger deal than I thought it should be. A faalavelave if you will. They needed to know why giving up coffee would help. They told me it is more important to enjoy my life. They even encouraged me to stop running if I felt tired. In the end I had to promise that I would go back to coffee after the race.
Anyway my resolve didn’t last to long. After lunch today Mo ordered me a cappuccino because I hadn’t told her I had given up coffee. When it came, I told her and she just replied “well you can start again tomorrow”. So now I am sans headache.

In other news… Sita and Sene were at my house this weekend and we made sushi!
I am now a huge Sushi addict and have to make it all the time now. I can’t wait to try making it with Brown rice.

She is the cutest thing.

She is so cute that sometimes I forget what a bad girl she is.
Anyway here is my weird dog sleeping upside down with her feet in the air again.

“Let’s go to Mama’s for some pupu”

I love getting to know my friends parents. It often gives you a unique insight into who they are.
Julie, my friend Jona’s mother insisted that we have To’onai at her house on Sunday. She is a wonderful kind woman and being Aso Tina (Mothers day) we were happy to go. It was a wonderful afternoon. She told us stories about Jona as a kid, and showed us the neked baby pics. We talked, sang, laughed and had a really good time. (Not to mention the Food! Oh my the food! Soooo Good)
She made it clear that any Sunday we want to Mo and I are welcome for To’onai at her house. It is always good to have a family to spend Sunday with.

He is Won funny guy!

Amanda and I arrived back at my house on Saturday after our pe’a adventure at almost 8pm. We were tired, hungry, swollen and sore. However some good friends were throwing a birthday party/Cinco de Mayo shin dig that evening and we had intended to go as we had been promised “good Mexican Food”. An offer we were not likely to turn down. I called Jona right away and he answered his cell phone. His brother was driving him to the party and he had just left our village. He had Mo with him and asked if we wanted him to come back and get us. So of course we said yes, and soon we were on our way to the party. Before we left however the hostess of the party called looking for us and we asked if there was food left. To our disappointment… there was not.
So now plan B. Mo said she was hungry as well and we should stop on the way to the party to pick something up. Which lead us to a little shack in Moataa called “The Blue Marlin”. It is new and no one had been yet so we were not quite sure what we were getting into.
Amanda, Mo and I got out of the car and walked into the small restaurant. We were instantly greeted by a middle aged Asian sort of looking man who threw open both of his arms wide and said “Three beautiful women just come into my shop. I am lucky man!” He introduced himself as Won. And then, he engaged us in some Mexican food porn. He talked up his chimichungas, fish tacos, Chili Relenos (this is were he won my heart) and just about any other Mexican or Latin American dish you would find in a decent Mexican restaurant. He hemmed and hawed over us. Fussed about over us as he took our order and got his lackeys to make our food. He told jokes and gave us free samples of his new salad. And then he tried to pick up each of us individually at least twice.
Won is half Chinese and half Samoan. He was born in Samoa. He spent about ten years in LA, living with a Mexican Woman whom I can only assume taught him to cook and contributed to his heavily latin/Samoan/Asian (and maybe a little drag queen thrown in for fun) accent. It was by far the funniest accent I have ever heard. He had us in stitches and we were almost sorry when our orders of fish and chips came up and it was time to head off to the party.
Anyway he has promised that if we give him some notice he will cook us up a Mexican feast. And of course we are more than inclined to take him up on it. If nothing else it was certainly the best Fish and Chips I’ve had in a while. And the company was really entertaining.

Pe’a Part 2 (The long version with pictures)

Not many months after we swore in as PCV’s, my good friend Amanda said to me, “Let’s go get our Samoan Tattoo’s (pe’a) together.” Knowing some of the significance, I said “OK, but not yet, I still have yet to earn it.”
So time passed, we worked and lived among Samoans. We integrated to the best of our ability. And then about two weeks ago she said to me “Dorie, it’s time.” To which I could only respond “Yes, it is, isn’t it.” Just to be sure I asked a few of my close Samoan friends. Pisa and Keri said that they thought I had more than earned it and I was ready.

Last Thursday, Amanda and I met at the office and we called Suluape’s family to see if we could come and see him for the Pe’a on Saturday. He asked us to come around three in the afternoon. She was shaking as she held the phone.
Saturday came and I began having my own second thoughts. None the less at about 2pm we were at the Market waiting for a Bus to Faleasiu (The Village were Suluape lives) with our oso (pronounce: oh-so, meaning gifts of food) in hand, and a good dose of anticipation and fear.

The bus was packed and we had to sit on laps for most of the 35 min ride. Eventually we arrived at the village and got off the bus. A very friendly young lady got off the bus with us and asked us were we were going. “Fale o Suluape” we answered. She kindly offered to show us the way. It was about a mile trek up the mountain to his family compound.
When we got there Suluape was waiting for us. We exchanged traditional Fa’aSamoa greetings, offered him our oso and talked a bit about what kind of pe’a we wanted. Now here I have to say a few things about what kind of designs you get when you get a pe’a. You don’t exactly get to tell the artist what you want your tattoo to look like. You can tell him a few things, like you want an arm band (taulima) or a leg band (tauvia) and you want it here or there on your arm or leg. You can also tell him if you want specific parts of other Samoan Pe’a that you have seen. Other than that Suluape determines what he can about you in your time together and gives you the tattoo he thinks you should have. So there is no way to know what you are going to get until it is done, which is all part of the experience. The designs he uses, consist of a series of symbols meaning all different things. So he picks the symbols he thinks work best for the individual. Tho there are some common ones he uses for his special “Pisi Koa” pe’a.
Amanda went first. She got a taulima (leg band) on her thigh, just above her knee. The process took about 2 hours. I sat and held her hand, fanned her, reminded her to breath, sang songs, and told jokes in order to distract her from the pain. It took about two hours.
Then it was my turn. I told Suluape I wanted a taulima and he marked off the general area of the tattoo on my arm so I could see if it was right. I agreed. He then asked me to lay down on my right side with my left arm on top (my tattoo is on my left arm). He positioned pillows and his two assistants one on each side of me. They would hold my skin tight as he created the tattoo. I began to breathe in and out deeply. To create the tattoo he uses several devices (a different one depending upon what part of the design he is making) that are a piece of carved boars tooth at the end of a stick. The sharpened tooth part is dipped in ink and then he taps the stick part with another stick to drive the ink into your skin. I closed my eyes and he began the “tap tap tap”. I breathed in and out and squeezed Amanda’s hand.

This is the part when I lie and say it didn’t hurt at all.
The whole process took about an hour and half and was most painful on the underside of my arm. Amanda was great company and kept me in as good of sprits as possible under the circumstances.
Once it was over His daughters washed our tattoo’s with soap and gave us a small massage. It hurt but they insisted it would help with the healing. Then we sat around, and visited with Suluape and his family for a while. We talked, sang, and played with his grandchildren. Later he insisted that his son drive us back to town, so tired, sore and happy we headed home.

This is a close up picture of it the day after.

All of the designs have specific meaning. And the bruise is pretty impressive as well :D

Pe’a (part 1)

It has been a really amazing weekend for me and I have a ton of stories to write. But I want to start with the big one.
On Saturday Amanda and I went and got our Pe’a (pronounce: PAY-ah). It was truly an amazing experience. I wanted to write about my experience (and I will) but first I want to lay some background on the significance. My friend Mina (A COS’ed volunteer) wrote the following and I think it explains things better than I could.

“A symbol of strength,
A mark of spiritual path,
A sign of unity among cultures,
Unity among friends,
A pact of commitment to family and community.

In Samoa, the representation of all of this is found in the tattoo. One of the most sacred, respected, and well preserved of Samoan traditions. A right of passage originally reserved only for high chiefs; only for those who had truly committed themselves to their families, their communities, and their own spiritual paths. They remain the most respected people in the community. The tattoo is no longer reserved only for high chiefs, but is shared with many, Samoans and Palagi (foreigner) alike; however it has not lost it symbolism or its strength.

Many men continue to receive the Pe’a , intricate woven patterns of symbolic ink extending from just below the knee to the stomach. Women receive the Malu, representations of centipedes, octopus, birds, and flying fox extending from the knee to the upper thigh. Many years ago, the full body tattoo was modified to
simple arm and leg bands, originally for the less brave, but respected Peace Corps Volunteers of Samoa. Hence, the “Pisi Koa” tattoos that today many Peace Corps Volunteers receive.

The ritual of the tattoo is a time of bonding and unity. Traditionally, for men receiving the Pe’a, (a three-week long process) it is a commitment from the entire family to care for and support him throughout and after the ritual. For females, on the other hand,
two women commit to undertake the process of getting the tattoo together. They are often alone with the tattoo artist and his assistants and it is a time of unity among them. The women become “tattoo partners” and it is the strongest sign of friendship. An unfinished tattoo remains one of the most significant signs of shame in Samoa today, and is almost always hidden.

In the beginning, there were only two tattooing families in Samoa, one on the island of Savai’i and one on the island of Upolu. They were (and are) two of the most respected families in the country. Although there are now other tattoo artists in Samoa, one family carries on their legend as the tattooing family of Samoa. The head of this family is Suluape, one of the most respected and well-known men in Samoa and all of Polynesia. He grew up in a small village, going to school and learning the art of tattooing from his father. He then worked for thirteen years as a teacher and then principal at a secondary school in Samoa, continuing to practice and perfect his art. He now travels the world attending conventions and spends his time teaching his own sons the art. He sterilizes
all of his equipment and follows world health precautions. However, he continues to practice the traditional manner of tattooing, which involves using Boar’s husks to hammer the ink into one’s skin.”

Ok, I hope that gives a little more background about the significance, the tattooist, and the method. (Yes! He really DOES use a sharpened Boar’s tusk and not a Tattoo gun.)

We are quite the pair, Mia and I.

Yesterday during the day my right hand started to ache. I brushed it off and kept working. By the end of the day it was sore and swollen. It feels like I put my hand through a wall or something. It hurts from about my mid forearm to the end of my fingertips. So I was unable to ride my bike home last night. Instead I walked about half way home and hoped on the last bus when it caught up with me. As soon as I got home I put my hand in a bowl of cold water and then took and anti-inflammatory. Shortly thereafter I heard a lot of barking and what sounds like Mia tearing up the back steps. I let her into the house and at first she looked fine, but she failed to give me her usual enthusiastic greeting. Instead she sulked off to a corner, where she started literally licking her wounds.
I got started on dinner and let her alone. (Sometimes she just likes to sulk and be alone. I figured it had to do with her getting scolded by one of the other dogs.) I gave her some dinner and she didn’t get up. Normally she comes the moment she hears the food bowl being filled and manages to scarf down her food in seconds flat. So I investigated. She is pretty well torn up. She has multiple small wounds all over her body and a few huge ones on her back right leg. Over the course of the evening she didn’t move much and when she did, she limped on three legs. My poor baby girl and I had a long painful night. She snuck off to the guest bed last night and this morning when I yelled at her to get off the furniture my heart wasn’t in it. She was hurting bad. She limped outside and ignored her breakfast once again.
Anyway, I just spoke to our Med Officer and she says it sounds like I got bit by something and am having an allergic reaction. I need to go into the office and get an antihistamine. This means I will be out like light for the rest of the afternoon, and likely to miss my run this evening. (This makes me both sad and relieved at that same time.)
I am trying to get the vet to come by the house this afternoon and have a look at Mia.
Anyway keep us in your thoughts, neither one of us is doing to well at this moment.

Who are you and what have you done with D?

Last night I ran farther and longer than I have yet. (This time around anyway.)
It was a significant jump in what I have previously been able to run so I am pretty proud of myself today. Oh and sore I am proud and sore.
(Isn't the soreness supposed to go away at some point?)
Tonight I am going to attempt to ride my bike home. It’s not too far. Only about two and half miles home, but it is mostly uphill. I have done it once before and it kicked my ass, but I was not nearly as active then so I am hoping this time will be better.
I no longer feel starving all the time like I used to. But I still find I have to eat more regularly than I am accustomed to. I have been eating small amounts about six times a day for the past few weeks. My stomach has defiantly shrunk. Yesterday at lunch with Nella I found it was hard to finish my half of the Nachos we split. Then I was hungry again in about three hours. So I had an apple. And while I know this is a much healthier style of eating, it requires a whole lot more planning, shopping, preparing and packing. None of which I enjoy. At least for the most part I feel better.

Mo will be back from Fiji on Saturday and I can’t wait to see her!

Trade-offs

I think I am more sad than I thought I was, about not being able to go back to SF in August for my cousins wedding. It is the first wedding of my generation in the family and it is likely to be a big family event. I love my family; I am going to miss celebrating with them. We all (PCV’s) know in the beginning when we make this commitment that we will miss significant events in the lives of our loved ones. It is just part of the deal. You get to live in an exotic far away place, have great adventures, learn a lot about your self and the world, and in return you give up certainly comforts and joys of home.
Holidays occur without you, children are born, family or friends get married, birthdays come and go and you miss them all. This is just the nature of the gig. It is the trade-off. Life is full of trade-offs. I guess maybe realizing this; dealing with the feelings of loss and then moving on is just one more part of being an adult.

Fish tales

I seem to be having an insatiable craving for sushi and/or sashimi. I can’t seem to eat enough of it. This is unfortunate since there is a big shortage of fish here right now. It is still cheaper than anything you would buy at home (and fresher tooo) but it has been going up in price and is getting expensive.
I am hoping to have a sushi party next Monday and get it all out of my system.

I ran again last night. I am sore, and a bit cranky and wishing for another one of those massages. Maybe the increased activity is an explanation for my wacky fish cravings.

No hero in her sky

I hosted a town hall style meeting on Friday night for the volunteers. I spent most of last week concerned that it wouldn’t go very well. Much to my delight I was wrong. It ended up being incredibly productive and even a bit fun.
Saturday I spent the morning doing all those silly things around the house that need doing. I even managed to fix my own washing machine. (It made me feel sort of like a handygirl super hero.) In the evening I went and got a massage. It was my once a year May Day present. (A day early, since no one here works on Sunday).
On Sunday I made G’s English Pancakes on Sunday for a house full of people. We spent the afternoon playing cards and then headed off to a movie. Jona and I got to hang out afterwards which was nice. We haven’t had much time lately. He brought over “Mission to Mars” which I hadn’t seen. It was one of those purposefully suspenseful movies.
Anyway, today is Monday and I was back at the coffee shop this morning with my Aunties. Now I am back at my desk attempting to push through barriers and actually be productive.
My life here is good. I find that I am renewed in my desire to just live it out and enjoy as much of it as possible.