A Few Personal Notes

In case you haven’t heard enough, let’s talk just briefly about what’s going on in my life outside of PC stuff.
LUCIA’S.
Lucia’s is the most frequented place for PC on Savaii. It’s our meet up spot in Salelologa, the wharf town where you can buy a few things at the store, visit the tiny PC Savaii office (which is only a computer, some books and a couple benches), check your mail, hit the ATM and then go to Lucia’s Lagoon Resorts. It’s right on the water with a high half covered deck that extends out into the water and it’s perfect for running and jumping off of on a hot day…that means any day. It’s always blazing hot here, you don’t even leave your house between 11 and 1pm, everyone naps. Farmers wake up before 5 to get their work done and house wives do the cooking, laundry, weaving the mats (pictured below with the kitty) and cleaning the house all before 11 so they can nap when the suns high. Anyway, any given Saturday, look for us at Lucia’s enjoying Samoa and thanking God we're on Savaii.

I’m doing very well here. I’m adjusting to the stresses (not knowing what people are saying, not agreeing with cultural norms, stopping myself from causing a riot against animal abuse, the creepy guys asking me if I want a Samoan boyfriend every day, the creepy crawlies, everyone staring at me and just really missing family and friends and the comforts of home) and finding ways to deal. I read a lot, I sleep a lot, I try to keep in touch with people via post or email, I exercise, travel and joke around with my host family. We’ve been watching all of Hiyao Miyazaki’s movies together. They love Ponyo! I’ve been obsessed lately with figuring out what I want to do after PC and after a month of researching different options (Universities with scholarships for PC volunteers and programs that interest me) I’ve decided to shoot for the University of Michigan’s Natural Resource & Environment and Anthropology dual degree program, fully funded if accepted. So I’m studying for the GRE now. I want to go back to Japan, travel in Europe and also just live at home with my family, but right now, I’m here, so I have to focus on what’s in front of me. Saturdays at Lucia’s keep me sane, the projects that I have started keep me hopeful and the people of Samoa keep me motivated.

I know you’ve been wondering who this adorable little girl is in the pink. She doesn’t have a name yet. But she was rescued by a few of us along with her siblings who were abandoned near a sawmill in Asau, Savaii. The other volunteers are adopting her siblings and she’s happily running around my room and keeping things entertaining. If you can think of a name that suits her little face, I’m taking suggestions!