Life in Manunu

Here's a song a few of us trainees wrote to the tune of John Denver's "Country Road" it pretty much sums up life in the training village.

VERSE ONE
Almost Heaven, Western Samoa
Came in through Apia, now "nofo i Manunu"*
Life is slow here, slower than the breeze
*Fales open everywhere, ain't no need for keys

*that means "living in Manunu"
*fales are open houses that people just walk into and out of, there are no "house keys" here

CHORUS
Manunu Road, take me home
to the *fale, where I belong
Western Samoa, *Pisi Koa
Take me home, Manunu Road

*fale means home
*that's how the locals pronounce "Peace Corps"

VERSE TWO
All the children, gather round me*
*Faamolemole, please throw me the frisbee
Hot and humid, *timu from the skies
Heaps of *Coco Samoa, *fan away the flies

*you can't walk anywhere without a huge mob of children following you
*"Faamolemole" means please, we play frisbee a lot in the open fale
*"timu" means rain
*Coco Samoa is a home made hot cocoa made from coco beans they get from trees in their yard! You cook them on a fire and then grind them, add lots of sugar, its delicious
*There are so many flied everywhere, when you eat, there is usually a younger sibling fanning away flies from your meal

VERSE THREE
I hear the roosters *fa in the morning when they call me
The *radio reminds me of my home far away
And walking down the road the *conk shell sounds and I know,
It's time to pray
*Halu Maile!!

*"fa" means four.
*Most fales have American hip-hop music blasting from them at all hours of the day.
*The conk shell sounds three times every day to let you know it's nearing 6 o'clock and curfew (The "SA") is coming and everyone needs to get home to pray
*Means "GET BACK DOGS!" which we say all the time to the wild dogs that are everywhere