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Cinderella's Ball

6/30/2014

Okay, so you may be puzzling over the title a bit...Rest assured, I am NOT the Cinderella in question! I'm not even the prince, or the fairy godmother. Just keep reading, and I think you'll see why the title fits.

This past week, the school kids of Samoa had a reason to rejoice--school was canceled for the week! I'm not completely sure why; it must have been some kind of holiday. ABC Christian Academy did not close it's doors, however, so our schedules remained on the hectic side. But all of the teenage girls in the church are in the public schools (naturally so, since ABC only goes up to fifth grade), and they were a little bit lost during their break. Miss Emi told me that a lot of these girls lives' consist of school and chores; when school was taken out, they didn't have much left besides work. Come on, we all need a little break for fun and games now and then, right?! That's what I figured, anyway, so Hannah and I organized a small (very small) party for Thursday afternoon after we were done teaching school. Let me just say that it went over with a bang! The girls had never been to a 'real' party like this--just girls, food, games, and laughter. Actually, I hadn't experienced anything like it either, come to think of it. It made a fun evening for everyone, and someneeded a bit of fun more than I had thought.

Check it out!

The refreshments--potato chips, oreo-ripoff-cookies, and iced tea. Oh yes, and popcorn later on. It doesn't look like much, but there was plenty of it, and all of these things are expensive here. It was the first time all of these girls had tasted iced tea.

Me, Luisa, and Melalina. All of us are wearing lava-lavas, if you notice! I had a terrible time tying mine--they just don't stay put like you'd want. There's always the threat of them coming undone, which is why you always wear shorts (or in my case, culottes) underneath. The wearers are constantly fiddling with them to make sure they stay up and stay tight!

Let me introduce you to each of our guests. Hannah Peacock needs no introduction, so I'm just going to skip over her (sorry, Hannah), and start with the oldest, Luisa. Luisa is 18--she's the oldest of five children, the youngest of whom is Penina Sopo, one of the adorable kids in my 'Masses in the Classes' post. Luisa's goal is to graduate from high school (here, it's called college), go to University, and get her degree as an elementary school teacher. Her dream job is to work here at ABC Christian Academy. Luisa seems shy at first, but once you get to know her, you realize that she's got a dry, slightly-sarcastic sense of humor that I think is a bit unusual over here. She's terribly sweet, smart, and she speaks the best English of any of the group.

This is Hannah, Luisa's younger sister. Hannah, who seriously told me that she wants to be called Christina, as it sounds more American, is 17. She is VERY shy around me, though I've noticed that she has a lot to say when she wants to.

This is Sesa. I know you've already seen her in my last post, but I just had to put this one of her in! She was very excited about the popcorn; here it's a treat!

This is Melalina, also known as Cinderella. Well, okay, I call her Cinderella in my head. Why? Here's her story--her father died when she was in the first grade. Apparently he cursed at a 'sacred' witchcraft site, grew sick, and died a few days later. They say that the ghosts killed him. Yes, there is still a lot of demonic activity in remote Samoa! After he died, Melalina's mother panicked and left her two young children. Why did she panic? Here, widows and fatherless are not treated well--their property is confiscated, their rights are ignored, and they are, in general, second-class citizens. It's not right, but it's unfortunately often the case. Melalina's relatives continued to let her and her older brother live with them, but it's the story of Cinderella all over again. Melalina has to do most of the house-hold chores; Melalina has to watch the little children while everyone else goes to a social function; Melalina has to do everything that no one else wants to do. Her older brother, a good friend of Joe's, has broken away from the family and refuses to obey his relatives, but Melalina still functions as the family servant, always playing second string to the more favored kids. So this was Melalina's party as much as anybody's, and I'm tickled that she got to come and laugh, eat, take pictures, play games, and be like any other teenager for one afternoon, although, since no boys were allowed, she didn't get to meet 'Prince Charming'.

With the exception of Hannah, photographer extraordinaire, this was the party. Afterwards, I taught everyone the classic game 'Spoons'--only problem was, we didn't have any clean spoons up at the house, so we re-dubbed the game 'Forks'. Hey, any utensil works, as long as it's not a carving knife! We had a riotous time--after many, many rounds, the tied winners were Hannah and...well, Hannah, actually. Wherever you're reading this, give a quick round of applause for both our winners!

Ah, there's Hannah; she knew she couldn't hide forever! Doesn't she look marvelous? She's always saying I post the most unflattering pictures of her on here. Nothing could get more unflattering than my smirk in this picture, however, so she's safe....for now.... :)

Thanks to everyone who reads and follows this blog! Do email me at annalperkins1@gmail.com and let me know how you like it! We're starved for mail here! We LOVE your comments!

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A Day in the Life....

6/24/2014

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Hannah and I are sitting in my room, in the dark. This is not because we necessarily like sitting in the dark, but because the power has gone off yet again. It's fortunate that I called Hannah to look at an email BEFORE she took her shower, or she would have been stuck yet again in the process, with her hair full of soap!

Today has been a really full, fun day, and I'd like to share the ins and outs of it with you so that you can enjoy it as well. After I finish this, we're going to go eat banana ice cream and watch a movie! In consequence, this may be one of my shorter posts... :)

Today was a day for birthdays--I'm aware of three that occurred today. But the one that affected us all was the 10th birthday of one of my best scholars, Taua'e (too-WAH-ae). His mother baked an absolutely ENORMOUS cake to share with the entire school; it was lavishly decorated with M&M's and chocolate eggs. Over here, that's the equivalent of having 14-karat gold leaf and red roses covering your hazelnut-mocha-creation. It was a big deal. Kids were talking about it all morning, and the atmosphere was charged with excitement and anticipation.

I helped Joe with the carrying of the cake down to the school office, where it rested until Miss Emi decreed the big event to commence. During it's sojourn in the office, a few M&M's found their way into the mouths of Joe and Tory, who decided that they were too far up or far down the side of the cake. But that was to be expected. Finally the cake was escorted into one of the classrooms, where most of the school was assembled. Everyone sang the traditional song to a beaming Taua'e, after which Miss Hannah efficiently cut the cake and I efficiently distributed it to the waiting crowd. Things were going splendidly--until little Elizabeth, one of my favorite pupils, found the excitement all too much for her sensitive stomach and sent all her cake back up from whence it had come. The poor thing was much embarrassed, but I got her cleaned up and smiling once more, though she didn't want any cake afterwards!

After my health class (the subject this week is the circulatory system), I had a nice long talk with my folks; following that, a nice long talk with Hannah about the conversations I'd just had. Since Pastor Jim had declared it movie night (though that might have to wait if the power doesn't come back on), and no movie night is complete without a big bowl of fluffy popcorn, and we didn’t have any popcorn in the house, Hannah and I were deputized to meander to the store and procure some at any cost (okay, well, at minimum cost, then). Hannah and I were more than happy to go; the car is the only thing with air-conditioning here!

On the way to the store, we saw Miss Sene, the K-3 and K-4 teacher at the school, and her daughter Stella trudging home along the frying pavement. At home, we’re taught NEVER to give rides to strangers; here, it’s rude if you don’t. After all, you’re fortunate enough to have a car! We pulled over and unlocked the car, and they slid in the back seat with many grateful ‘fa’afa’atai’s’. We turned off a side-road, and soon halted near their driveway, saving them about fifteen minutes of walking in the heat.

Hannah drove up and down the hilly roads, careful to stay on her side of the road. Like the British, they drive on the left side of the road here, one reason I’m not getting a temporary license. I have enough to remember as it is! At last Hannah pulled up outside one of the bigger stores in the area. It isn’t the closest, but it does have popcorn and peanut butter, two vital things on our list. As usual, there were many homegrown products sitting outside the store—baskets of taro root, freshly dug with the dirt still clinging to the roots, and Styrofoam cups of ground cocoa.

Inside, the store was unlit and dusky, saving any coolness that happened to leak out of the humming freezers in the back. Most stores here house their wares behind the counter, so that you have to tell the owner everything you want; but in this store everything was laid out Western-style. Hannah and I picked out our list-ful of necessities, then chose some extras for various Civales—a baggie of fresh cherry tomatoes for Miss Emi, and three bottles of soda pop for the boys. I also went ahead and purchased my own lava-lava, selecting the yard of cloth from the many hanging from the rafters of the store. A girl grabbed a long stick and silently hooked down the material for us. Hannah promised me that she would teach me how to tie the lava-lava later.

On our way home, we stopped several places along the side of the road. Ever since I came, I have longed to do that very thing and capture some pictures of the breath-taking tropical scenery, but we were always in a rush; today, it seemed that we had all the time in the world. The gentle sound of the ocean waves and the salty, tangy smell of the sea made me pull Hannah out of the car so that she could enjoy it along with me. The Samoans walking along the side of the road looked at us and giggled, but I didn’t really care if they found our delight in the scenery funny.

Back at the Civale’s house, the guys had been busy making dinner. Pastor Jim apologized for the scanty rations, but Hannah and I found it more than enough—fried rice, interspersed with mushrooms, corn and Spam chunks, and fresh cucumbers laden with Italian dressing. I was simply ravenous, since the only food I’d had was a piece of Taua’e’s cake earlier.

I trotted down the hill to the church after cleaning up my dishes, intent on making some lesson copies for Miss Emi’s class. Before long, however, a face was peering in through the window. It was one of the teen girls, a piano student of Hannah’s, Sesa (SAY-sa). When she’s finished with her lesson, she enjoys coming to the back of the church and chatting with me. Remembering that I had brought my camera, I proposed a photo shoot. The girls here are all lovely, but Sesa is the prettiest, I think. As a friend of mine here observed, she can look like a dirty street urchin, but then she’ll dress up and you’ll think she’s a princess. She’s also extremely photogenic—every pose looked better than the last!

Then she invited me to play volleyball with the gang that meets here for piano lessons. I joined in for a few minutes, but I’m a pretty poor player at the best of times; before long, they were content to let me be the photographer! Fetu, Tasi, and little Lopaki came on down, and I let Fetu take pictures of the game. A little friend named Sena shyly told me that it was her eleventh birthday; when I asked if she were having a party, cake or ice cream, she shook her head. Many children here don’t celebrate their birthdays, and they certainly don’t get gifts. Two birthdays on the same day, but very different ways of treating them!

Now we’re waiting for the power to come on, so we can get on with movie night, with banana ice cream and fresh popcorn! I’m going to go out and look at the stars for a while. With no lights anywhere, what is normally a lovely sight will become breathtaking. The stars fill up the sky like white smoke.

The end of a busy day!

(Post-script: the power did come back on, but too late in the evening to do anything except get a shower and go to bed. We’ll have movie night some other time!)

The 1st, 2nd, 3rd, 4th, and 5th grade lined up to sing to Taua'e!

The birthday boy!

My excellent chauffeur!

This store is actually the biggest one I've seen in the area! Notice the little girl out front staring at the 'palogis'!

Fresh taro root in 'disposable' bags!

Ground cocoa.

Inside the store. The prices are all in tala, the Samoan currency, which is roughly twice the amount of the American dollar. In the foreground of the picture here are cans of fish--this is an island, after all!

Lava-lava's dangle from the ceiling.

See what I meant about the glass bottles?!

Our favorite view.

Lopaki, Joe, and Tory work on the building project behind the house. The previous shed for the pigs has been converted into bachelor quarters for the boys, so another shed has to be erected. It's hot work!

Miss Gau and Miss Emi making brooms from certain palm fronds. They bind the dried wisps to a stick with duct tape, and--wa-lah!--a broom is born. Fetu, Miss Gau's oldest daughter, was the photographer here.

The lovely Sesa! Even though she's just wearing a T-shirt and the standard lava-lava, to me she looks gorgeous!

The volleyball game. This scene is recreated almost every night after piano lessons are 'uma' (done).

Kids really can have fun with anything--here, Tasi and little Lopaki are happy playing with a coffee cup, a plastic bottle, and sand. In case you're interested in their wardrobe, Tasi is wearing a nightgown, and Little Lopaki is wearing a girl's shirt--and that's it!

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Cinderella's Ball

A Day in the Life....

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