Overly-Annotated Bibliography

you may ask yourself… what the heck has mari been doing all summer? (most likely you haven’t asked yourself this at all, but just pretend for the sake of preserving my hook sentence.) well, since you’re so curious, i’ll tell you! i have been doing a lot of reading. (i know it’s difficult to imagine i could fit this into my schedule in addition to all of the sleeping and eating, but what can i say, i’ve got talent.) what have you been reading mari? we’re dying to know! well, in that case, i will tell you. i’ve been reading a lot about the history of the peace corps, and peoples’ experiences, as well as trying to get my hands on every book i can related to samoa. my mom even picked up a book and a video on samoan tattoo artistry from the university library. i wish i could have been there to see the look on the face of the student who checked her out trying to figure out what exactly fostered this interest in the assistant dean… but i’m digressing. my point was, i figured in case anyone else out there ended up with three months to kill and an insatiable appetite for peace corps and samoa related literature, i would provide a nice starting point for them. so here’s what i have read…

Peace Corps Reading List

So You Want to Join the Peace Corps by Dillon Banerjee
*question and answer format collection of very useful perspectives from a former volunteer
What You Can Do For Your Country by Karen Schwarz
*history of the peace corps and its development over the course of time (unfortunately it was written during the administration of bush senior so there’s nothing about more recent p.c. history… can you say sequel?)
From The Center of the Earth edited by Geraldine Kennedy
Going Up Country edited by John Coyne
*these two are collections of essays written by former volunteers
Nine Hills to Nambonkaha by Sarah Erdman
The Ponds of Kalambayi by Mike Tidwell
*these last two are individual chronicles of p.c. experiences in africa. don’t worry, i am aware that i’m not going to africa (although i’ve been coming to realize that a shocking number of people assume samoa is in africa), but there wasn’t a book about someone’s pc experience in samoa, so i figured i’d check them out. they were really interesting and well written and gave a good sense of what life was like as a pcv (i’m hoping this is a self-explanatory acronym). so, yeah, recommend ’em.

Samoa Reading List

My Samoan Chief by Fay Calkins
*very entertaining examination of the journey an american woman made into understanding and appreciation of a culture quite different from her own
Coming of Age in Samoa by Margaret Mead
*significantly more readable than i had anticipated… however little that says
His Best Pacific Writings by Robert Louis Stevenson
*significantly less readable than i had anticipated… win some lose some i guess
Where We Once Belonged by Sia Figiel
*very beautifully written, by a samoan woman
Samoan Word Book by Aumua Simanu and Luafata Simanu-Klutz
*my first chance to hear fa’asamoa spoken! my dad immediately decided the most important words for him to learn were fruit bat (pe’a) and lizard (pili). i’m sure they’ll get him real far when he comes to visit.
Samoan Dictionary by G.B. Milner
*hope you have friends in new zealand if you want to get your hands on a copy

plus some even more obscure anthropology on language acquisition. but i think the chances of anyone pursuing that vein are minute. e-mail me if that kinda thing does it for ya.

*apparently my highly developed internet technology skills are not quite as highly developed as i would have liked to hope. i couldn't figure out how to indent my annotations. thus the alluring shade of violet. hope it was aesthetically appealing.