After
months of waiting to see if I would get offered the position of being a
contract teacher on Aunu’u I finally got the news in August. Two weeks after
receiving the news I was on a plane on my way to American Samoa. Spending two
months home with family and friends was amazing and I truly enjoyed every
moment of being around the people I love. I was also excited to get back to the
island and see all people and start teaching again. I was super excited for the
school year to start because I felt so much more prepared for this year than I
was for last year.
When I arrived on island I stayed at
a hotel for a little over a week. Staying in the hotel was nice but I was
itching to get back to the island. During my week stay on the main island I was
busy getting all the paperwork completed for my contract. Getting paperwork
completed here takes forever compared to the states. Slowly but surely I am
starting to get it all completed. It only took a month and a half. I also made
my first big girl purchase and bought a car. To make my life a little easier
over the next two years I figured this would be a smart choice. My car is nice
and I love having the ability to go off island whenever I want.
Another big hurdle I had to tackle
upon arriving on the island was finding a house. I was unable to stay at the
house I was at last year because the new WorldTeachers were going to be housed
in that house. So my principal and I were house hunting once I had gotten back.
We finally found a house that was located in the “mountain”. The mountains on
this island are not nearly as big as the ones on the main island. My house is
located after the taro plantation. All the other locals live in front of the
plantation. The plantation is about the size of a small field and it has a
cement pathway through the middle of it. Which leads you to my house. I enjoy
the small walk it talks because it’s very peaceful and reminds me of living in
the country. The plantation at night is FULL of frogs. You are literally dodging
frogs the whole time you are walking through. Luckily I am not scared of frogs
but I always feel bad because Lusi is super scared of frogs. The locals were a little bit concerned about
me being placed here due to the location. At night if I am walking up towards
my house usually people will walk up just to make sure I arrive safely. I told
them it would be fine because I am used to living in the country. It took me three
weeks of being here before I was able to move in. The house is a perfect size
for me and contains everything I need.
I was fortunate enough to get three
new girl volunteers with me on island. I got the chance to really get to know
them the first couple of weeks I was here. I ended up sleeping on their couch
since my house wasn’t quite ready. It was nice being able to help them figure
out the island and teach them about the culture of the island. It’s also nice
to have them to hang out and chat with them after school. Most days I end going
to their house after school to hang out with them.
I was more than excited for school
to finally start so I could finally get into routine again. This year I am
teaching level five and I really enjoy teaching this grade. My students are
great and I feel more comfortable in this grade level. Our school year has been
off to a great start and cant wait to see what happens throughout the rest of
the year.
I also have the goal of trying to
learn Samoan before the end of the school year. I am definitely getting better
at understanding the language but speaking it has been a process. I am just
really scared that I am going to mispronounce something. So at night Lusi is
always helping me learn some new words. I really want to learn it so that I
hang at with locals and I can understand what they are talking about. It also
helps me with teaching also because sometimes I get frustrated when my students
don’t understand what I am saying but I can guarantee if someone was teaching
me in Samoan language I would have no idea what is going on. So this year I try
to find the Samoan meaning of words to help my students. This also helps me
learn the language. Win/win for me! I spend most of my Sundays searching
through the dictionary looking up words for the next week but if it helps my
students I don’t care!
With
Love,
Abby
