The beginning of catching up... end of training

I've been pretty busy in Samoa. Only three months in and already I've been in the paper once and have been on tv at least twice. What extraordinary things have been happening? Well…

The first chapter of my Samoan experience has come to an end. There are no more language classes, no more technical training, no more cross cultural training. I no longer spend my days and nights with the other crazy/wonderful members of group 76. Gone is village life and the best family in . On the last day in the village there was a huge fiafia (party). My group performed a slew of traditional Samoan dances the taku paku (guys), a slap dance (guys), a sasa (all), and a siva teine (girls). As usual when you have palangi's butchering the Samoan arts humor is your best ally. We also provided several musical selections that were done with emphasis on spirit rather than on key. We did manage to fit in a quartet who sang "Afai e te alofa" that didn't sound half bad. Of course yours truly was part of that group… along with Ema and 2 of the language trainers, Fale and Setu. To round things off we threw in a play: Jesus and the Untitled Man. To this day I don't think I've ever seen a more hilarious performance… wow I'm starting to laugh just thinking about it.



Group 76 performing a sasa… probably the only dance we didn’t completely butcher.

Here are our guys looking like the fierce warriors they are.
(left to right)Back row: Tim, Iona, Dane, Ray, Emillio
Front row: Vik, Elika






The fabulous four singing "A fai e te alofa" by 5 stars. And we were in key almost the whole time!!!
(left to right) Me, Ema, Fale, Setu