A Vacation From My Vacation

Just got back to Apia from my three day volunteer visit. I went out to the Southeastern tip of the island to an area called Aleipata that is famous for its spectacular beaches (pity me, it was a rough few days). I spent my time with a volunteer named Monica who arrived with the village based development group that came to Samoa in June. Her post there is in a sector called Inter-Coastal Management and she teaches marine biology and has been working to attempt to integrate environmental action and awareness into the local community. Right now her students are in exams so she actually had no teaching to do on Monday or Tuesday which meant that we were basically flexible to explore the area. On Monday we went for a long walk on the beach which is absolutely beautiful and ended up hiking up over a rather substantial and rather treacherous patch of jungle to get out to a point called turtle rock. The hike was really fun although quite muddy and slippery- there were some stretched where you were walking along a muddy path about eight inches wide with nothing between you and the ocean but a nice 100+ foot drop of cliffside covered in foliage. As most places that are perlious tend to be, it was spectacular. When we got out of the trees we were standing on a rock that jutted out about 50 feet above the ocean where waves were crashing into its base and spraying water up high enough to hit us. Amazing. Apparently you can frequently see sea turtles at the point and we were looking but didn't find any. There is a Samoan song that you're supposed to sing to make them come out but of course since we're both palagi's we didn't know it so maybe that's why they didn't oblige us with their presence. Even so I have no complaints. We scrambled down the side of the rocks to a beautiful little beach alcove where Monica hung out in the shade of the palm trees while I hung out in the water for a while. Turns out her plan was infinitely more intelligent than mine because I got a beautiful new lobster makeover from my morning in the sun. Even the backs of my hands got sunburnt, a place it had never occured to me it was possible to be that sensitive. Even though I'm still in a significant amount of pain a few days later it was a great day- it was wonderful getting to spend time at the beach and in the sun and felt so relaxing. And she taught me all kinds of Samoan words for all of the creatures that she's been learning and teaching about at her job. Then yesterday (Tuesday) we decided we had gotten enough sun and outdoors so we made it a cooking day. I obviously haven't gotten a chance to cook in the past month because I haven't spent any time anywhere where there has been a kitchen (other than in my village, but my family doesn't really let me help out much there because I'm their guest)- I hadn't realized how much I missed cooking! We made papaya bread and muffins to bring back to the others in my group, and we baked a pumpkin and made pumpkin pie for the Peace Corps thanksgiving party that will be on Saturday afternoon. I've never made pumpkin pie starting with an actual pumpkin- it was lots of fun but also lots and lots of work. We also roasted the pumpkin seeds which was so yummy- can't remember the last time I had homemade pumpkin seeds. Then we made a nice big salad and spaghetti with tomato sauce with lots of fresh veggies in it and garlic bread for dinner. It was a huge feast and her Samoan family loved trying it all and thinking we were crazy for eating things like the seeds of the pumpkin and the raw greens in the salad. They were really eager to try everything though and it was extremely successful. It was really fun to just spend the day hanging out and making lots of food. I think I could probably not eat for a week now and be okay :) The village where Monica lives is actually the village that her group was in during their training time this summer. It is much smaller than Falevao and all of the houses are around one circle. It is right along the ocean and has a beautiful freshwater spring pool that actually mixes with the ocean when the tide comes up that is heavenly to swim and hang out in. It's a spectacular village and the people were extremely welcoming and friendly- they tried to adopt me and convince me to come back there instead of to Falevao! Now I'm back in Apia where we'll have a day and a half of classes. Then on Friday there is an all-Peace Corps conference at one of the schools near where I will be living and working. It should be fun to get to spend some more time getting to know the current volunteers. I'm not sure yet what the day will hold but I'm up for anything. Then on Saturday we will have a Thanksgiving meal and then go back to Falevao for our three week stint. After that training is pretty much over... Wierd to think we're more than halfway done already. Obviously the time in Falevao ahead of us is a substaintial chunk but it also seems so short when I think that after that language training and all the other classes will be over. I must say, though, I am eagerly anticipating not having to live out of a bag anymore and actually having a place to call home. I'm going to go see if I can track down some aloe vera to relieve my poor back and shoulders. I will try to get back here again before we take off for our long haul in the village.