Starting Over

So... Monday was the first day of enrollment for the 2nd term at the National University of Samoa. It also marked my first day in my new position here. I have joined the faculty of education and taken over the special needs courses so that the professor that developed the program can work overseas towards getting an advanced degree in education. It looks as though I will be teaching an extremely full course-load targeted at familiarizing future teachers with the important components of special needs education that will help to prepare them for the general mainstreaming and inclusion movement currently underway in Samoa. This, obviously, means that I am no longer working at FiaMalamalama. There were a variety of personal and professional reasons, one of the greatest being my impending marriage, that led to this transition. I am excited and optimistic that my new position will be a positive on both fronts, as it has definitely proved to be thus far. It was a very difficult decision to leave my initial placement that wasn't made lightly, but I am still looking forward to the rest of my time here in country and fulfilling my service at the university. I am swamped with work currently in preparation for courses which start in a week but other than that things are going very well. My tattoo has finally healed completely, no more bruising or peeling, and I am quite happy with it. Andy told me he thinks it would look REALLY good if I got the other thigh done to match (tattoos are usually symetrical here, not only on one side). I told him as soon as he gets another boat tattooed on his chest I'll think about it.