O le Falepalagi

Ella's First Piano Recital

2012-01-16T15:52:00.000+14:00

Ella had her very first piano recital last Saturday. She was a little nervous at first, but when her turn came she was cool as a cucumber. She played "She'll Be Comin' Round the Mountain" as a duet with Ms. Edna and "Shall We Waltz". We all enjoyed the day.

Thank you Ms. Edna!

Misadventures of Ikey the Chick

2012-01-09T23:11:00.001+14:00

I've mentioned before that we swap childcare with our friends the Monsons so each couple can go on dates. Last Thursday was our turn to host, so after homework and snacks we headed outside to play.

After a short time we heard Matthew run inside calling, "I caught a chick!" And he had! He had a baby chick in his hand. I asked him how he caught it and he said he just reached down and grabbed it. The kids were all very excited. I was too! I've been wanting to raise chickens. They run free all around, but I'd like my own for the eggs. So I was thrilled Matthew had caught it and ran to get a box.

They put the chick in the box, but it discovered a little hole in the side and ran out into the bushes. The kids all followed it and tried to recapture it for some time, but soon tired of the business.

But not Matthew. He wasn't deterred. And after a few minutes he came back excited and said, "I caught it again!" Smile. "But I accidentally stepped on it." Frown.

The poor thing didn't look so good. It's head was floppy, it couldn't stand on its legs. When they set it down, it didn't move.

The kids were so cute about it.
Some comments: Are you okay, little chicky? He's alive! He needs his daddy. We think he's injured. We accidentally stepped on him. In awhile he might feel better. Be careful he might run away. Don't worry, he's okay. Stand back, he might run away any second. Surround him so he won't run away.

They put him in the box so "he wouldn't run away." When he didn't move, they thought he was taking a nap. So they put leaves and grass all around him to keep him comfortable.

They soon realized his wasn't going to pull through, so they decided to give him a proper burial in the bushes. The marker still stands there today. It reads, "Ikey the chick, Died on 1/6/12."

Their parents were surprised when we told them about the day. Well, we learned about the circle of life. It's always an adventure here in American Samoa.

Baby Food Mess

2012-01-09T22:46:00.004+14:00

Above: January 2007- Ella feeding peas to Baby Isaac.
Below: January 2012- Isaac feeding bananas to Baby Linus.

I love Baby Food Messes.

Christmas with Rachel

2012-01-04T00:04:00.000+14:00

Well, we've been busy having fun this Christmas Break. My sister Rachel and her friend Paul came to visit us for a week. We had SOOooo much fun, and packed adventures into everyday.

Just off the plane and into the humidity!

Snorkeling in Faga'alu. This was their first official day in AS. Paul got stung by wasps at Fatumafuti, and then attacked by fire ants here at the beach. Lucky kid! First of many encounters with our wildlife. (They also were startled by a big gecko in Rachel's room which Paul thought he later killed, and then they rescued a hermit crab which somehow was crawling down our HALLWAY!)

We hiked to Nuuuli Falls. The kids were in heaven playing with Aunty Rachel. And the mosquitos liked her too.

Early morning Paddling with the gang. Beautiful morning!

Afternoon hike to Mt. Alava. The tough hike--from Vatia with lots of ropes and ladders.

Our Nativity cast party. Wise guy and chic shepherd

We braved a gray day to find Airport beach passing the explosive blowholes.

On Tuesday to Wednesday we flew over to Western Samoa.

Apia Market place

Traditional Samoan lunch: fried chicken, rice, boiled green banana, palusami (boiled taro leaves in coconut milk), panikeke, koko esi (tasty but looked like snot).

Apia Temple

Baking at Larson's cove.

Utulei Beach

We loved having Rachel and Paul here. We tried to make them miss their flight, but unfortunately it didn't work and they had to go. Off on that lovely Hawaiian maiden plane. Rachel, you're welcome back anytime! You really could sit and watch the waves all day...

Dead Cat

2011-12-25T00:32:00.001-10:00

Okay, I know this is disgusting. And I know I'm supposed to be writing about Christmas. But for some reason, I found this hilarious. Think of a cat that's been run-over in a cartoon. Bulgy eyeballs, tongue hanging out ... flat.

Well, that exactly what they look like! Here's one on our road.

And lucky us, a few days later, the dogs had brought it right on our driveway! So nice. Merry Christmas!

Fortunately it was garbage day. My sister Rachel and her friend Paul are visiting, and Paul is fearless so he found some sticks, scooped the cat into a handy pizza box, and delivered it to the garbage man.

And the garbage man didn't even look inside, but he said, "What, a cat?"
Ummm, as a matter of fact, yes. I guess when you're a garbage man in American Samoa getting a pizza box full of rotting cat parts is normal.

I'll write about Christmas soon.

Pua'a

2011-12-15T22:26:00.001-10:00

Samoans love food. Life is a constant round of preparing it, serving it, consuming it, cleaning it up, giving it away, buying, selling, thinking about it. It's very important. And very tasty. I love Samoan food. Love my palusami, boiled fa'i, taro, and ulu. Love it. But sometimes, there are things I won't eat. Like this!

This was served at Ephraim's Christmas lunch. When it still has its HAIR, I draw the line. To me that's still "pig" and not "pork."
At least we know it's not processed, right?
Would you eat this?

Mt. Alava 2011

2011-12-04T22:44:00.001-10:00

Last weekend Ephraim and I got to hike Mt. Alava again. It had been a long time. The Monson's watched our kids so we could go, and yesterday we watched their kids so they could go. Read about their hike and some history here.

We took our little skipper along. And he was pretty much like this the whole way up, which was like 1.5 hrs.

Okay, I went paddling first thing in the morning. It was lovely. And then Ephraim came to pick me up at Sadies. While I was waiting for him, I bought the "Mt. Alava Breakfast" at Goat Island cafe. It was HUGE. Two plate-sized pancakes, two eggs, to slices of bacon, two ham, to strange sausage slabs. The kind of meal where you can't decided to use ketchup or syrup, or both. I couldn't finish it all obviously, and Ephraim was already full, so we packed it up the trail with us. And this is what it looked like at the top: Mmmm, mmmm.

Lovely view, makes all that pain worthwhile.

This path comes up from the other side of the mountain starting at Vatia. We'll do that someday, but it involves ropes, ladders, and more pain. Not in a hurry.

At the top you can sign the guest book. We had a laugh at this guy who wrote: "Great place to sleep. No pen" scrawled with some kind of char. It was funny until we realized we didn't have a pen either! So a scrawled our names with mud, sticks, some spit, chlorophyll, you know... like that. Jokes on us.

Getting ready to head back down.

That styrofoam came in handy when it started dumping rain. We used it as baby's roof. Sad, I know. And we ripped off a piece to put in Ephraim's heel to save him from a nasty blister. Don't forget the styrofoam when you hike! Or if you're here you'll probably find some in the bushes already.

Since most of our dating was done on muddy trails, it's always fun to reconnect--with each other and with the fun people we once were! Hiking provides metaphors for life. Quiet time to reflect. And a steady exertion mentally and physically. Wish we could do it more.
By the way, Ephraim's got a beard.

The styrofoam wasn't enough of a roof, so we fastened a banana leaf to the backpack. Gone tropo, I know. That poor little baby. He wasn't so happy on the way back down.

Overall, it was a great day. Loved the workout. Loved the view. Love my hiking partner.

Smashing Pumpkin's Pie

2011-11-25T23:38:00.001-10:00

We didn't really do Thanksgiving. And that's fine. We did make two pies, an apple and a pumpkin. We took the pumpkin to a new friends house, but when we got to their house we realized the pie wasn't in the car. And we remembered that Isaac had left it in its container on the hood of the car, and as I pulled out of the driveway it had fallen to the ground. We went back and retrieved it. And ATE IT! It was lovely.

And today (Friday) Isaac decided he wanted a snow storm so he shredded some styrofoam all over the floor. So clever. He wasn't so happy to vacuum it all up after.

And this evening Owen went surfing for the first time. He was a trooper and came out smiling.

Isaac's had some scary experiences with the ocean, so he's been hesitant about it for many months. But today he and Ephraim caught a few waves and then just played around with the surfboard. Now he wants to "surf" everyday (except Sundays). Sounds good!

Happy November Holidays to everyone!

Weirdos

2011-11-25T23:24:00.001-10:00

With all these holidays we get a little strange.

Sliding Rock Swimming Spot

2011-11-20T16:28:00.001-10:00

Thanks to the Monson's who trade babysitting with us, Ephraim and I have been able to get out more and enjoy this beautiful place again. (We take Linus with us, one baby is so easy!) Last Thursday we went to Sliding Rock swimming spot. The conditions were perfect and we saw lots of fish, coral, and seaweed. I love this spot. If it were in the states, it would be off-limits, expensive, or crowded. But here we get to go whenever for free by ourselves. Yay!

Our Road

2011-11-07T23:47:00.002-10:00

How would you like to drive this road a few times a day? It goes on like this for about half a mile. Think you'd be needing car servicing pretty frequently, huh.

This is the road to our house. It has no name. It could be called Malaeimi Valley Road. But no one would know what you're talking about. We usually call it the dirt road by Sunrise Sewing Shop. Then people might know.

I'm entertained watching Ephraim navigate the puddles on his bike. Add the dogs attacking him, and him spraying ammonia in their faces, and it's pretty nuts. Why would we want to live in a boring suburb with "paved" roads and "domesticated" animals? Our minivan craves adventure.

The road crew occasionally comes and scraps it flat. The last time was 6 months ago. I know because it was done the day before I went into labor with Linus. Ephraim had called our county representatives a few days previous to that and thankfully they listened.

Think it's time to call again.

October

2011-11-06T23:19:00.002-10:00

So Halloween and stuff...

Ella was a witch. Isaac was a superhero guy. Owen was a chef. Linus was a one-eyed baby. (He woke up with eye gunk sealing it shut. I obviously thought it was funny and snapped a picture.)

My and Ella's stockings

And this is our family, Potato Head style.

By Ephraim

By Isaac

The Problem of Pain

2011-10-23T22:18:00.000-10:00

I like to read and I read a lot. Lately, I've been reading an old chemistry textbook while I eat my cereal in the morning. A lot of what I read is not very substantive, like a Star Trek novel, children's book, or Japanese manga. Other material makes me think, or evokes emotion and spirituality, like scientific literature, the Book of Mormon, and a book I just finished, "The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks".

You may have noticed I'm willing to read a wide variety of material. It's all mostly for fun or curiosity, but every now and then I read something that changes the way I think about or perceive things. Along with the chemistry book, I've been reading "The Problem of Pain" by C.S. Lewis. I got to thinking about the role of pain and how we respond to physical and emotional pain after reading "Shaken Faith Syndrome", a speech by Michael Ash, and decided to give Lewis a shot. I'm pretty ignorant when it comes to psychology and tend to rely on instinct when dealing with other people and stimuli, so when I read Ash's speech I felt smarter. It's such a nice feeling to read something and feel smarter afterwards. It's also nice to know there are smart people around sharing their knowledge with the world. My favorite part of his speech is the discussion of cognitive dissonance and different psychological responses to this dissonance caused by attacks, confusion, doubt and pain. He focuses primarily on dissonance in established belief cognitions. Just because I don't know the answer to someone's tough questions doesn't mean that their argument is correct. I may feel uncomfortable and I may start to doubt, but that is a normal response. We like to feel comfortable and will go to great lengths to get that comfort. Even abandon our established beliefs for novelty. However, it's nice to know that we can also respond by getting second opinions and studying matters thoroughly to find resonance. We can also pray to obtain answers from an all-knowing Heavenly Father. He wants us to find truth and will show it to us if we ask for it.

"The Problem of Pain" is Lewis' attempt to describe the purpose of suffering during this mortal existence. He doesn't include physical suffering but, rather, everything else. How do we respond when things hurt? Do we hide? Do we ignore? Do we justify and cover up? Do we try to numb ourselves with chemicals? He argues that pain exists to remind us that deity exists. The Book of Mormon and other Christian scriptures declare the same message: we tend to forget our dependence on God when things are running smoothly, but are quick to turn to prayer when things get dicey and painful.

I'm not a good writer and I apologize this post is a ramble. The bottom line is that I think more about what other people are feeling when I'm talking with them after reading these two pieces. I try to figure out if their responses are due to an inner conflict and if I'm part of that conflict. Their anger or snappy attitudes may not be my problem. It helps me to not take things personally and overreact. It helps me to resolve my own cognitive dissonances. It helps me to be happier.

The Little Aquaponics System That Could

2011-10-12T00:46:00.003-10:00

Ephraim has been preparing for a workshop next week. It's gotten coverage on the radio and internet. This attention has caused him to reflect on the impact of his work here in American Samoa. Read Ephraim's post on Aquaculture Hub about the qualities of aquaponics. You may just want to start a system in your backyard.

September

2011-10-06T08:51:00.004-10:00

There's a lot I could say if I wanted to catch up. Basically we went away for a month this summer, saw family, we're back, school started with a whirlwind, and we've been in that whirlwind since then. It's good. More busy than I'd like to be while living on an island. But good.

Here are some random pictures of September.

Here are the kids after school on the hammock with lil' lappy.

Ella did my hair.

Owen's dressed as a "guy".

Can you tell who's who?

Doesn't he look like Ephraim?

Matching hair again.

This was teachers-dress-like-a-superhero day. We were the only two that remembered/were aware. That could be embarrassing. Or not.

I'm SuperNerd. Ms. Tania didn't have a name. Maybe just "T".

Beach Fun

2011-10-02T15:44:00.005-10:00

We've upped our beach attendance lately. There are a few factors:

#1-I'm not pregnant anymore.

#2-The Monson's moved in and they're pretty much family-adventure addicts, and we love them.

#3-After a month on the mainland, I have beach catching-up to do.

#4-Since I've been back, I need beach therapy more often, to cope with life here.

#5-Although some may call this our "winter," the term doesn't apply. It's hot.

So here are some picture of recent excursions.

Larsons

Fatumafuti

Two Dollar Beach

There's something about the saltwater and sand that tempers the soul.

My Birthday

2011-10-02T15:26:00.005-10:00

I turned 33 last Wednesday. It was a nice day.

I had fun at school. They made cupcakes for me.

We went out to eat. Ella dressed me and I was heavily accessorized.

Ephraim made a chocolate cake and frosting from scratch.

A few days later, Helen of Wales watched the kids so Ephraim and I could go on a birthday hike.

Yay!

Kid History

2011-09-11T18:45:00.001-11:00

We've been loving these. If you haven't seen Kid History yet, please do.

Molars are Big

2011-09-03T15:13:00.004-11:00

I've had a toothache for a week. On Friday I got an appointment at the dental clinic, paid my $10, and got to see the doctor. We found which tooth was giving me troubles, and he said, Okay, let's take it out. Are you ready?

I said, What? Uh, give me an hour.

So Ephraim and I went to lunch, fed baby Linus, and returned to face my destiny.

Ephraim had horrific stories about when his wisdom teeth were removed. Stories involving cutting, digging, cracking, and lots of blood. So I was really nervous, but decided to be a big girl and get it over with.

Dr. Koroi was very reassuring. Thank heavens for local anesthesia. I couldn't feel a thing. I was bracing myself for an hour of yanking, cracking, and gushing blood. To distract myself, I started reciting and pondering the Articles of Faith of our Church. There are thirteen of them--(statements of our basic beliefs).

By the time I got to number three, "We believe that through the Atonement of Christ, all mankind may be saved by obedience to the laws and ordinances of the Gospel," the doctor was all done!

Amazing! I asked if the tooth fairy makes stops at the hospital at night, but they said no she doesn't. So I asked to take my tooth home and see if I'd have better luck there.

Wow-zer! That tooth is humongous! I'm used to my kids' itty bitty baby teeth. That monster left a huge hole in my mouth.

So today I'm sipping smoothies and potato soup. Overall, not a bad experience. For $10, I may even do it again.

Ghosts of Litter

2011-08-28T20:24:00.003-11:00

Remember the hubbub of our school public service announcement? Well we finally got it on youtube, so you all can enjoy it. Remember, we're beginners, so be kind. We had lots of fun. Hopefully there will be a little less rubbish around our parts now.

video here

If you love it and want to donate to Ta'iala Academy, you can go to our website here.

(I have lots of updates, for later. Sorry for blog neglect.)

34 Years

2011-07-28T18:04:00.002-11:00

Happy birthday dear Ephraim!

We Have a Baby

2011-06-30T00:41:00.004-11:00

...And he's cute.

We all think so. Ella made him a bracelet.

This kid is super cute. Especially when he prays for cows (?).

I think this guy is cute as well. And we let him know on Fathers Day.

And there was a fat green caterpillar in our yard. The kids thought it was cute.

the end

The Mystery of 90.1 FM

2011-06-21T12:59:00.007-11:00

I may have mentioned before that when it comes to the radio, we basically have three choices. There's the top hits station, the Samoan hits station, and the religious station. Despite the claim to be "the only station you'll ever need", we rarely like anything playing.

And then there's 90.1. A mystery.

Why is it bizarre?

1. It doesn't broadcast all the time. And we can't figure out its schedule.

2. It has no DJ and no commercials.

3. It plays RadioFree (talk radio guys ranting about stuff) and VOA news

4. And the music it plays? Like, B-side tracks of Steely Dan, Queen, and Frank Zappa! Whoever sets the playlist is obsessed with obscure classic rock.

My questions: What listener pool in American Samoa is being targeted? Who besides us likes this stuff? You never see a 90.1 bumper sticker around the island. In a society where many people haven't even heard of the BEATLES, I'm wondering who is playing Led Zeppelin and Jimi Hendrix? What's the deal?

We DO have a curiously covert collection of skinny old white guys with graying ponytails and funky aloha shirts quietly going about their business on the island. I bet they're all in on it. A 90.1 Club, organized to help ex-pats keep hold their teetering sanity using the comforting chords of hard rock.

I'm gonna get some answers, and I'm not leaving here til I do...even if it takes another 4 years.

In the meantime, keep on rockin', Mystery Rock'n'Roll Radio Man.

Ta'iala Academy Public Service Announcements

2011-06-14T11:05:00.005-11:00

A few months ago at school, our director Mr. Alaiasa challenged our 5th-7th Grade class to create Public Service Announcements addressing the huge litter problem we have on our island. He arranged a partnership with American Samoa Environmental Protection Agency to publicize the end products.

In March we got to work brainstorming, writing, and editing. We selected one script to make into a 15 min short film and a few other ideas became 1 min PSA's.

In April I wrote a proposal and borrowed equipment from the handsome UH Sea Grant Agent here. We spent many Language Arts and Recess periods trotting around in costumes, staging scenes, and yelling "Action!".

In May we edited the films, added cool effects, and laughed everytime we watched it.

In June Mr Alaiasa and EPA arranged our World Premiere Red Carpet Event. What? You didn't hear about it? Well, you should have, you were invited! But if you missed it, don't worry.

Flight Night Samoa featured our Red Carpet Event. Have a look, and tell me if it's impressive. My internet is too slow to watch it right now.

The Leone High School JROTC provided the flag ceremony. My kids loved their uniforms and "guns".

Hueina Hemaloto (a.k.a. H Squared) introduced her film "The Ghosts of Litter" and represented our student body wonderfully.

Hopefully soon we can have the videos on YouTube. (But at 23 KB/sec I don't know when that will happen.)

For those tuning in locally, look for our media on Channels 10 and 13, and listen for us on the radio.

The moral of the story?

#1 PLEASE Stop Littering! I mean, c'mon. It's not that hard.

#2 A humble class of 10 kids really CAN make a difference!

These are only some of the great students involved.

It's Always Fun When Grandpa Comes

2011-06-06T22:35:00.003-11:00

Grandpa Fillmore has been visiting us this week. It hasn't been a real vacation for him--more like a mission of mercy. As you can see he hasn't been relaxing much. I, on the other hand, have had a nap everyday and sometimes pretend to be napping just so I can observe how he'll handle my rowdy kids. I'm taking notes.

Grandpa's trip has been good for each one of us individually. "It's always fun for everyone when grandpa comes."

Linus

2011-05-22T21:23:00.008-11:00

Wednesday May 11, 2011, Linus Was Born. Here's the story, if you're interested.

First, let's remember that my babies usually come late. The due date was May 16, so I wasn't expecting to go into labor until the 20th or so. My last day teaching at the school was Friday May 6. After that baton was passed, my body seemed to slip into exhaustion and prep for labor. I rested for the next three days.

On Tuesday morning Ephraim went to my appointment with me. We saw Dr. Aguilera from Mexico who told me el trabajo could start en cualquier momento. In other words, anytime.

That afternoon we stocked up, packed up, and rested up. In the evening we put the kids to be, and alerted Damien next door to be "on call" just in case. I got comfortable, watched some Spiderman 3, and went to bed around 11. All night I had contractions every 8 minutes. Not sharp ones usually. Just steady. I got out the iPod stopwatch and hit "Lap" for every one. It wasn't a very good night. Doze... feel it mounting... click "Lap"... breathe... relax... doze...tightening... "Lap"... breathe, etc. They weren't getting any closer, and I wasn't terribly uncomfortable, so I let Ephraim sleep. I figured once I had the baby I could sleep all day in the hospital, but he would have to single parent the other three kids all day and night. He needed the rest.

I was kind of lonely during that long night. Fortunately I heard that familiar coughing and moist expectorant sound coming from the next room. Sure enough Isaac had gotten sick all over himself and his blankets. I showered him, changed the blankets, and settled him in bed. This happened two more times, so the time passed rather quickly with this distraction from my discomfort. And Isaac and I had a really nice talk about our family and his role as a big brother. But I don't know if he remembers any of it.

Around 5:15 am, I heard some roosters and thought it was about time to get the day started. Ephraim called the Webbs, a senior missionary couple who volunteered to help with the kids. Once I started moving around labor became more intense. When the Webbs came, we scooted off to the hospital, and after a brief but brutal labor he was born at 7:25 am. All white and creamy and puffy and warm. I was just amazed that I was done! That it was over. That I was myself again. And that I had a new baby to get to know.

He has fine features and a straight nose. Not the ski-jump nose the other kids had. Dark, fuzzy hair like newborn Ella and Isaac. And light hazel eyes. For now.

Now the name. Linus has been on our list since Ella. So were Owen and Isaac. We just liked it and couldn't think of any bad associations. Linus Pauling was a Nobel Prize winner and OSU graduate. Linus from Oceans 11 is a little insecure and a target for jokes, but he can swipe a Faberge egg, no prob, so that's pretty amazing. And Linus from Peanuts is by far the wisest and most sincere character despite his affinity for a blanket and thumb.

Ta'iala is Samoan for guide or leader. Literally, ta'i is to lead, and ala is the way. It's also the name of our school that I've been dedicated to for the whole pregnancy.

We're all doing fine. Adjusting. (Okay in reality, we're exhausted and hanging in there.) But we're also thrilled to have this sweet little one in our home.

El trabajo

My victory breakfast: scrambled eggs with veggies and toast, kokosamoa, banana mash with tapioca, and milk. Mmmm.

Here you bring your own pillow, blanket, and towel.

Good ol' LBJ

He's bundled up to protect him from the arctic air conditioning.

My victory Oreo milkshake from Carls Jr.

Due Date

2011-05-16T17:16:00.002-11:00

Today's my due date, but I didn't have a baby today...because,
I HAD THE BABY LAST WEEK!

Meet Linus Ta'iala Temple born May 11 weighing 8 pounds.

We're doing great. More to come. (Info, not kids.)

What's Up

2011-04-24T20:34:00.007-11:00

This is just going to be a random post of things going on.

I'm 37 weeks pregnant. Even sleep is becoming uncomfortable. But I'm still going and feeling good. I've started my weekly hospital visits. The last one took 3 hours. 2 hrs 45 minutes of waiting. 15 minutes with the doc. Must I go, really?

Last Wednesday my students planned a baby shower for me with Ms. Lita who's taking my afternoon classes now. I didn't get a picture, but it was really cute. When I walked in the room they had confetti, balloons, and wall decorations. We played games, ate snacks, and even opened a few presents. Can you imagine 10 year old boys at a baby shower? It's probably their first and last one. They were really cool about it, and I think it will help them transition into this last month when I'm on maternity leave.

A few weeks ago for Family Home Evening we picked up dinner made by the lovely Ali Pili (thanks!!) and went to eat at Sliding Rock. We enjoyed the sunset, the waves, and the bats, and remembered why we like living here.

Last weekend was Flag Day, or the commemoration of American Samoa being "adopted" by the United States. I always love watching the fautasi race. And watching the whole island get excited about their teams. This year the Satani from Nuuuli took first.

Isaac is becoming a gamer. I don't approve. We've had to reset the kids' password on the computer, and set limits on his iPod time. It's Ephraim's iPod, so Isaac only has access to it a few hours in the evening, but he's incredibly adept at whatever he does on it. And the computer games he plays are on pbskids.org, so it's not that bad. (His latest favorite is Kratt's Creatures. Hello, kickboxing kangaroos?) But when he wakes up and turns on the computer first thing without asking and feels entitled to it, we have to regulate.

He was quiet one afternoon and I found him here:

...playing Angry Birds sideways on the countertop.

School is great. Ta'iala Academy is nearing the end of its first year. Some people have asked me about it, and I wish we had a website, or a person with enough time and skills to create and maintain one. But we are on facebook.

Most days are really good. I leave thinking, what a lucky group we are. For example, on one random day each class did cool stuff:

Kindergarten- used microscopes to look at bugs

1-2nd grade - visited a parent's work at ...Pizza Hut! got the tour and free samples

3-4th grade - had a grandparent come to teach Maori culture: the Haka and stick tossing

5-6-7th grade - used still and video cameras, tripods, and a laptop to work on their anti-littering project

When people come together, great things are accomplished. Of course we have some tough days. Weeks. Etc. But we're moving forward.

Another one of my associations is Women's Community Action Program led by the amazing Ali Pili. I posted about it when we first started after the tsunami here and here. A lot has happened since then.

We have a great blog going now. Have a look! Check out the post about yours truly. (I wish it were all true.) My contributions are small, but I have fun. Every few weeks the ladies come to my house to record the audio portion of our puppet shows in Samoan on our computer. I've been learning more Samoan! And a few weeks ago I got to wear a huge clown costume and make a million balloon fish at a Nutrition Fair. It was great until my finger started getting sore from tying balloons. How do those guys do it? Professsionals, man.

That nose didn't last long.

Ephraim educated people about fish and I passed out fish. What a team.

This post is long enough. But I haven't mentioned much about Ephraim. He's good. He's been surfing more, that happens when Mike Jackson's on island. He found an Ultimate Frisbee group to join, but the "friendly" game gets injurious so he's off and on. And he's leaving for Hawaii tomorrow for a week with a long shopping list. If you're there give him a holla.

Enough about us. Fa soifua!

Happy Easter

2011-04-24T18:57:00.006-11:00

We had a nice Easter weekend.

Thursday at school we had workshops about Samoan Easter traditions, crafts, eggs, and Earth Day followed by boisterous team games. (Indoors, it was pouring rain.)

Friday we were supposed to go to a playgroup Easter event, but I was too tired to go alone and Ephraim was out surfing, so we just didn't make it, and I took a really great nap.

On Saturday we started at Utulei Beach filming my school class. They're working on an Anti-Littering campaign, so we're creating a short film as well as public service announcements. If we had decent internet speed I'd upload it for you.

In the afternoon we went to the Primary Easter Activity, and had loads of fun. Usually my kids leave crying--scary Easter bunny person, too many big kids, empty baskets...stuff like that.

But this year there were no tears! Okay, almost. Owen cried a little when the EB came close.

But he soon got over it. He teamed up with his buddy Noah and his team, and they won the Senior Primary Egg contest!

And there were fun games and so many eggs we couldn't carry them all. So everyone had fun.

Today we had a lovely day at church. On the way home we were thinking about Easter dinner, and how we forgot to plan some elaborate menu. Good thing Hamburger Helper makes a great meal. I'm sure later in life we'll care more. There's more to Easter than food. We're thankful to the real reason for Easter, our Savior, and the promise we have of resurrection.

Hope you had a wonderful Easter!

Thanks ASTCA!

2011-04-05T13:00:00.010-11:00

It never stops, does it? And it can't just be location, right?

Thursday we had a big storm. Around bedtime there was a crash of thunder so loud it sounded like two trucks had collided on our roof. Soon after that our internet didn't work. Friday we called the American Samoa Telecommunications Authority (ASTCA) to figure out what to do. The diagnostics showed the modem was fried. So Ephraim went and bought a new one that day.

The next day, Saturday morning we were excited to watch General Conference online (since taking all the kids to the church at 5 a.m. has not worked well for us in the past), and found to our dismay that not only did the internet not work, but we had no dial tone on the landline. And ASTCA closes on weekends. Arg.

So, we've waited patiently and today, Tuesday the guys came and restored communication. Thanks guys!

In the meantime, I've been thinking. Things break. Owen took my cellphone in the shower--broke. (My cellphone doesn't even get reception at my house anyway.) Owen pulled off a little cable inside our printer--kaput. At our school, the computer died (my guess is it's humidity-related), and the printer/copier is constantly out of ink with none to be found on island. I've just learned not to rely on these things.

And I'm trying to be grateful for what we have. Yesterday I was getting in the shower thinking sincerely, "Thank goodness we have running water!" Even if it's not drinkable. And our electricity is working, so I'm never without a fan; big relief.

Maybe we don't have a "normal" American life. But after catching up on my National Geographic reading, I'm realizing there are many more dire situations to be concerned about. Most of the world deals with issues beyond my scope.

So I'm not griping. I'm just mentioning. Things break. But we get along. (And don't bother praising my good attitude, usually I'm the biggest whiner about these things. Ask Ephraim.)

(This picture has nothing to do with the post. We just had a family photo shoot Sunday and I wanted to share.)

2011-04-05T13:00:00.003-11:00

2011-04-05T13:00:00.001-11:00

Perigee Moon Session

2011-03-26T17:00:00.001-10:00

My kids were pretty excited to see the "supermoon" rising above the ridge behind our house the other night. The moon was closer to us then than it has been for about 19 years. I'm not surprised, I remember a similar feeling back in 1995. At least I think it was then. We have perigee moons every year, they just aren't as close as last week's was. So probably during the Dec 22, 1995 perigee moon I went out to surf Boilers with Christian, Jesse and a couple others (sorry others, I could guess that Jake was there, not sure if Iz was there or on BI). It was a gorgeous night. Not many clouds, just those floating along the horizon right where the moon was to come up. Christian had calculated the moon would rise soon after sunset, so we paddled out early to catch some waves at dusk. It was about shoulder high and pretty fun on longboards and once it was dark we tried to catch a few waves. It was doable but not very fun in the darkness. So we ended up sitting and talking in the pitch black for about 40 minutes until we began wondering where the waves went. Turns out we had drifted halfway out to Peanut Rock and had to paddle back to the peak. The moon finally came up and we had another hour or so of surf. I remember the reef being totally exposed when we came in. It was sticking up about 6 inches out of the water. It never does that. But I guess a close moon makes a shallower tide. Anyway, that's my memory.

Nuuuli Falls

2011-03-20T16:57:00.009-10:00

We've had Spring Break this week, and it's been WONDERFUL! To maximize our last day of the break, we went to Nuuuli Falls on Saturday. (I know, that's a lot of u's. It's got Hauula beat. But it's tied with Kaaawa.)

The hike only takes about 10 minutes (for us; 5 min for "normal people"). Its accessibility is good, but also bad because other people go there and leave lots of rubbish. Ephraim the eco-hero picked up everything he could find, and we had it hauled out. (Why are people so inconsiderate?)

It was my first time, but Ephraim had gone for the first time the weekend before with some other folks. While we were there some of our friends showed up! The Ili's, the Siamau's, the Peter's, and the Semo's made it a party. Great minds think alike.

Bag Ban

2011-03-15T23:06:00.004-10:00

So I go to KS Mart the other day (no, not Kmart, don't be confused). My cart is LOADED with kids and groceries. I get up to the checkout and I notice that the lady scans the groceries, sets them aside, and doesn't bag them. Something is different. Then she says, "No more plastic bags. Get a box." Hmmm. So I grab two big boxes from the "box bin" and pile my groceries in them.

And I was so happy!

We are now implementing the Plastic Bag ban in American Samoa. It's great! A bit inconvenient at first, because I don't know what I'll put my trash in anymore, but I'm sure we'll find a solution.

I'd heard about the bag ban and sort of doubted anyone would take it seriously. Like the solar panels that are supposed to be installed in government offices, or the hybrid government cars we have yet to see to replace the Nissan Armadas and Toyota Tundras driving around "on department business". Riiiight.

I'm very pleased. I've always liked bringing my own bags to shop with, but I never carry enough with me. So I'll have to stock up. This box idea is pretty good.

The stores are really doing it! Yay for us! I hope it makes a big difference on our island.

Tsunami Warning=School Closed

2011-03-11T08:25:00.003-10:00

Because of that massive earthquake in Japan, American Samoa is under the tsunami warning with the rest of the Pacific.

Our schools have been closed today, although actually threat of damage to us, our school, or any of our students is not likely. Almost all of our families live on higher ground, and our school is up a mountain. But because of that, there will probably be heavy traffic from people wanting to stay safe.

Spring Break is next week, so this is an added bonus. But we're praying for the victims in Japan, and hope that the rest of the Pacific stays safe as well.

Mel in the Moon

2011-03-05T16:12:00.003-10:00

This was from the first few months that we lived in American Samoa. There was a nice full moon and we were playing with long exposures using the moon and a street light to write our names.

American Samoa's QUEST

2011-02-27T14:15:00.002-10:00

Coordinated training in underwater surveying techniques has not been conducted in AS before. I got this grant for around $25,000 to buy some equipment organize local expertise, and bring down some folks from HI for this 6-day class. It was a hard, but fun, start and we'll be doing it again. The plan is to have it become an annual course offering for credit at ASCC, similar to the one at UH-Hilo.

Samoa News has an article that I wrote with Kelley Anderson, the marine science coordinator at ASCC. I forgot to send a caption with the picture. It's me in the blue shirt and Francis Leiato in white. All in my self promotional spree.

Web Presence

2011-02-23T22:25:00.005-10:00

My friend Benny Ron has been kindly helping me improve my "online image". Seems weird that a lot of jobs require this type of self-promotion. But in the spirit of marketing and social networking, I'd like to share with you all a little url.

www.aquaculturehub.org

I guess this isn't purely self-promotional because I'm promoting this website simultaneously. What I really like about it is right now, I'm the cover story! AND, I have a great caption: "Ephraim Teaching how to sex tilapia at the 1st Aquaponics Workshop in American Samoa 16feb11"

Do you need to promote yourself in your work? How do you keep up with this activity? (hint: the more hits this post gets, the more web presence I get.)

Two Dollar Beach

2011-02-20T17:38:00.003-10:00

Our excursion to $2 Beach yesterday

All My Glory

This lovely lady is moving in month or so. Off to Rarotonga, Cook Islands. We'll miss them a lot.

Random Things

2011-02-20T16:38:00.007-10:00

Hey all, just some recent photos to prove we're still alive, and random updates on us.

I'm still teaching 5-6th grade at our new school Ta'iala Academy, so I often look like this:

School is going really well. The students are really fun. My faves: In science we're learning about Space Exploration and the International Space Station. So cool! And in art we've been doing calligraphy.

Ella just got another beautiful puletasi made by our friends at Sunrise Sewing Shop. I got one, too, I'll show you later.

Ella is perfecting her Fifty Nifty States song, so she and Isaac are often singing, "Alabama, Alaska, Arizona, Arkansas, California, Colorado, Connecticut..."

She's one of those sponges that absorbs all information.

Here we're reading a story of a girl named Ella and her pet kitten. Could a book get more perfect? (Thanks Shellie)

Owen's cute as a button, although he's revving up for his two's. He repeats everything in two or three word bytes. He's learning colors and shapes and wild animals. "Lello tiankle" (Yellow triangle) "Alol, hoo hoo" (Owl, hoo hoo).

Isaac loves science. He often sits in on Ella's science class, since his kindergarten class ends at 11, and he has to stick around school until 2:30. Science yes, but for some reason he doesn't care for social studies. Maybe he'll be a scientist like Ephraim.

Apparently he can hold his breath for longer than Ephraim. A minute and a half.

I know what kind of mood he's in by how pretty I am. He informs me: "Mama, you're really really really really SUPER pretty" or "Mama you're NOT PRETTY!"

It reminds me of when I told my dad I liked my goldfish more than him. And he laughed at me.

Here are progressive photos of Isaac's haircut a month ago.

Ephraim's been totally busy running a successful workshop this week, among a hundred other things. But he took a break last weekend to swim with friends at the Maliu Mai swimming hole.

We just ordered some of Ephraim's favorite movies, so we've been watching Emperor's New Groove and both Fantasia's lately. Both are big hits. We also got Waking Ned Devine on Netflix. Hilarious.

I haven't really mentioned it, but I'm 7 months pregnant. Due middle of May. We'll find out next Monday if it's a boy or girl. We're all really excited about it.

That's all for now!

Dishes with Dylan

2011-02-08T22:43:00.005-10:00

I love my husband washing dishes.

I don't love Bob Dylan.

But if a dose of Dylan helps get the dishes done, I'm all for Bob.

Thanks for being a dish-washing hero, Ephraim.

Isaac's New Skill(s)

2011-02-02T23:33:00.002-10:00

Oh the fun things you learn when you're 4.

Wilma: the aftermath

2011-01-23T22:24:00.004-10:00

Talofa everyone! We slept in this morning to find the weather fairly calm and we had thought it had past us completely, until we turned the radio on in the car and got better information. Here's the quote of the day. "American Samoa: the only place on earth right now that is in the eye of a cyclone." Here's a pic of where it was and what it looked like when we woke up.

Within an hour or so, things picked up and trees started blowing around like long-cut, soggy broccoli. We learned on the radio that Wilma would be heading northwest after pausing over us for a bit. Seemed odd since it was coming from the north when we went to sleep, but not unexpected. Once cyclones get around Samoa, it appears they constantly course correct until they hit us. I'm speaking from the experience of one decent cyclone season here, but that makes me an expert, right? Here's the historical and forecasted track as of now.

Notice the sharp right turn it took in order to pass straight over our island. I can't get over that. And then another turn right after it passed over us. I wouldn't be surprised if we woke up tomorrow and we're in the eye again!

The power went out sometime last night and was off all day, along with water, until around 6pm. Just in time for dinner and baths. So all in all, not too inconvenient or dangerous, except church was canceled and that's always a bummer. Anyway, we hope it doesn't hit Tonga too hard on it's way south.

Wiiiiiiiiiillmaaaaaaaaa!!!

2011-01-22T10:23:00.003-10:00

Here we go again. We are currently in the depths of cyclone season. Here we have tropical cyclone Wilma. She, like most cyclones that come around Samoa, has been changing her mind regarding where to go. She was forecasted to make a smooth arc to the south below us but changed yesterday afternoon to go above us. Here is the current forecast.

Yup, Wilma should be passing almost right over us Jan 23 at 06:00 Zulu. Let's see... carry the one, correct for time zone, backpedal a bit and that's 19:00 American Samoa time Jan 22. That's this evening. Well, we can only hope the forecast holds for 50 knot winds and gusts to 70 knots. That won't be too bad. As for now, it looks like a calm and normal day and we're having pancakes for breakfast.

Samoa Christmas 2010-Sauniatu Again

2010-12-31T16:33:00.005-10:00

Our last two days in Samoa we returned to quiet Sauniatu, Saturday evening to Monday morning. It was nice to be in a community where others observed the Sabbath as well. We just had to walk next door for church on Sunday morning, and a sweet lady from church brought us a plate of fa'alifu fa'i and taro (green banana and taro baked with coconut cream)--a very welcome dish since we'd had a hard time finding a place to buy food for the weekend. Everything closes for the holidays! In Apia we wanted to eat at our favorite restaurant Paddles, but it was closed whenever we went by! I guess they like their holidays. Who can blame them. But anyway...

McKay fale dedicated to President David O. McKay who gave an apostolic blessing on the village in the 1920's. It really is a tranquil and special place.

There are carvings of Samoan legends on every post of the fale. I wish I'd had someone there to explain them all to me. Fascinating. Isaac wanted his picture taken by each one.

Monday morning

We cleaned the house then drove back into town. We found Papase'ea or Sliding Rock just outside of Apia. It's a series of waterfalls and pools of varying depths and sizes. With more time and less kids, we could have real fun there. As it was, it was still fun. We watched some real daredevils sliding down the falls on their feet and jumping from the edges.

A general impression of Samoa: Less fat. Your average guy is totally fit and cut. Even old guys have a six pack. I don't know why, but maybe it has to do with the fact that in Samoa people are constantly walking around, hauling things, and working. Plus they're too poor to eat anything but what they grow, collect, and prepare themselves. There's a strong matai system in place where certain people get served food first, and everyone else eats what's left. They only have one McDonalds that's inaccessible to most people. Not saying that every other little "fast food" place is more healthy, but the small fast food places probably don't serve so much processed food. Whatever the reason, we were impressed, since most everybody looks like a pro rugby player, or someone you wouldn't want to meet angry. O tagata malolosi. (Strong people.) Two cents finished.

Lunch and ice cream at Scoops, returned rental car, got a ride to the airport and off we went. . . back to Tutuila and real life. After such an excursion, I can last another little while on our small rock in the Pacific.

Tofa Soifua, Samoa.

Samoa Christmas 2010-Vaisala

2010-12-31T15:56:00.000-10:00

After Aganoa we traveled west on the south coast road and up the west coast until we got to Vaisala. It all looked very similar to the Big Island of Hawaii. They even nicknamed Savaii "The Big Island" (which probably has nothing to do with Hawaii, and just the fact that it's the biggest island of Samoa.)

Savaii is very remote. There are few stores, one traffic light, and many villages living a traditional way of life. We saw a lot of horses, pigs, cows, and chickens. Thousands of fales, dozens of churches, and few other tourists. It was a quiet, slow-paced feeling on the island. If you ever need a change of pace, this is your spot.

It was a great place to spend Christmas because there's nothing to buy and no place to shop. Especially not on the holidays. Clutter-free Christmas.

We drove over to Le Lagoto, a luxury resort, for lunch and that was just about all we could afford to do there. We couldn't justify spending $400 USD a night for a family bungalow, so we returned to a more affordable, although eclectic family room at old Vaisala Hotel.

All through the trip Ella and Isaac alternated between singing "Feliz Navidad" and "Manuia le Kerisimasi".

Our continental breakfast included papaya, pineapple, lime, toast, butter, pineapple marmalade, and kokosamoa.

After a morning of swim and snorkel, we had to head back to the wharf for our ferry back to Upolu. We should've taken more photos of Savaii, but it's stuff that we see everyday, so we didn't. Sorry. But we did like this. It is a barber shop. Fale Oti Ulu. House of Cutting Hair, but literally House of Killing Heads. Would you like to get your hair done there?

And then back on the ferry for our pleasure cruise back to Upolu. Isaac was funny because, the further west we traveled the more he complained. He always wanted to go back to the island we'd come from.

My honest feelings about the ride.

Samoa Christmas 2010-Aganoa

2010-12-30T15:34:00.001-10:00

On Savaii we first explored the South Coast. Ephraim wanted to check the surf at Aganoa, and it was a good thing because it was the only surf at the time.

So we decided to stay the night. And we were the only guests there! So private beach, private meals. Just us and the crabs.

Beach fales aren't our kids' favorite. The aspect of adventure is lost on them. But it was fine. We'd learned our lesson before and faithfully used mosquito nets to protect ourselves from those darned "mossies".

Samoa Christmas 2010-Apia and Ferry

2010-12-30T03:19:00.001-10:00

After Sauniatu we stayed in a house in Pesega for a few nights. Pesega is the village where the temple is located and all the Church offices are. Thanks to the MacDonald family, we enjoyed the Christmas spirit with movie nights: How the Grinch Stole Christmas and Christmas Carol.

We got to visit the Temple, eat Giordano’s Pizza, play on a great playground with our new friends Tasi and Josiah, and swim at Palolo Deep Marine Reserve.

Wanna see a trigger fish? (Like that famous Humuhumunukunukuapua’a.) Ephraim took this picture as this fella kept trying to bite him out of its territory.

On Thursday afternoon we boarded the ferry and sailed to Savaii.

Can you spot the palagi lady?

Can you spot the palagi guy?

Samoa Christmas 2010-Sauniatu

2010-12-29T08:00:00.000-10:00

For this Christmas break we decided to explore our neighbors to the west—Upolu and Savaii.

Itinerary was something like this:

Monday to Monday

Apia, Sauniatu, Pesega, Ferry to Savaii, Aganoa, Vaisala, Ferry to Upolu, Sauniatu again, and Home

We began and ended our trip in Sauniatu, a quiet village in the mountains of Upolu. This village was a gathering place for early members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints in Samoa. It is still owned by the Church and today is the site of various welfare farming projects, a primary school, a historic graveyard, a series of fales with carvings representing Samoan legends, and a fantastic waterfall!

Ephraim was asked to help them set up a fish farm, so we were lucky to stay in a lovely house on the property.

It was so relaxing and fun to hang out in such a beautiful place.

"Voi-laaaa!"

Ella was dancing like Billy Blanks, crackin me up.

And playing in the swimming hole and waterfall were some of the highlights of the trip! FYI, Ephraim’s backflip, still got it.

Santa's Workshop 2010

2010-12-28T12:00:00.006-10:00

Our school Ta'iala Academy did its first Christmas play this December. It was adorable! The play is called Santa's Workshop, and if you're from Reading Pennsylvania or Florence Kentucky you may have played one of the parts when you were younger!

Our practices took place during Music Class at school in the Fale.

Here we're giving Teddy Bear his nose and freckles.

Our first performance was at the Hope House, a care center for elderly and people with disabilities. The children were touched by the condition of the residents, and afterwards they commented how good they felt performing for them. I feel like the residents gave US the gift by reminding us how to love and care like the Savior.

On a personal note, this was a tender day for me for a few reasons. I was thinking of my mom who helped create this play and who has directed it dozens of times with kids of various ages and abilities. I know I'm not as good a director as she is, but I felt happy to be "in her shoes" that day. I also had my little sister Robyn in mind as we shared our songs and dances. Robyn opened up a new world to me and my family, and I hoped she was watching the performance as well.

Santa Schwenke assured all the residents they were on his "Nice List".

Our second and final performance was for family and friends at the Ottoville Chapel. This one was just for FUN, and the audience was so responsive we really had a good time.

My photos didn't turn out so well, but let me assure you the a good time was had by all, and we're all so glad it's DONE! Until next Christmas...

Peaceful Morning

2010-12-12T21:46:00.005-10:00

I love watching my kids sleep in the morning. They look so peaceful, soft, and serene. I also like it because it means Isaac hasn't woken me up demanding breakfast or foraging leftovers from the fridge.

When they're asleep like this, I never want to wake them up.

Isaac and Family Photos

2010-12-12T21:13:00.007-10:00

Isaac is a silly boy. He's always been silly. Tonight we did a family photo shoot with our professional photographer friend PowerShot Timer. Check out how he's the only goofy one in all these photos.

Is it just a 4-year-old thing?

Boy Scout Campout at Airport Beach

2010-12-06T21:38:00.002-10:00

There's no particular order here and not much of a story to tell, but Ben Goodwin and I took the scouts camping at the end of the runway in October to work on the fishing merit badge. We also dragged our boogie boards out to do some surfing in the tiny waves of the day. I brought my new underwater camera from work to "test" it out. Works like a champ. This first pic shows where the boys camped.
Here we are just before heading out on the mile-long hike along the runway.

hot dogs on my spear, watties canned spaghetti and corned beef. mmmm mmmm good. Any other place or time and this would have me puking, but it tasted good right out of the cans with some bread. Must be that camping/outdoors magic.
Here's Ben on one of the better waves of the day. Funny how taking a snap shot of real life can make it look better than it actually was. Still small, and mushy, but believe me, it was worse than this!
Breakfast of chili and more corned beef and Watties. In case you're wondering, Watties is a New Zealand brand, and Kiwi's apparently adore Watties for breakfast. Strange that none of these boys are Kiwi!
This is looking back on Pala Lagoon from the end of the runway. Behind that pointy peak on the left is the valley we live in.
Same vantage point looking east at Mount Matafao.
Ben and Brock's tent on the left and mine on the right. That's the fence around the runway in the background.
The boys practiced all Saturday with a Hawaiian sling and my triggerless spear gun that Pa gave me.

They were all hooting and hollering when the first fish was speared. I got my hopes up and then crackup up when they brought up a Chaetodon lunulatus (oval butterflyfish) smaller than our hands and basically un-eatable.
That's my best wave of the day. Looks like it's about to barrel but didn't.
Ben showed the boys how to prepare and eat their fish raw. Almost all of them caught fish and got to sample one of them.
The current was strong here and they devised this chain-link system to hang on to the boy at the end of the chain with the spear. Hilarious.
The edible fish were these pone (Ctenochaetus striatus; lined bristletooth surgeonfish)

Thanksgiving 2010

2010-11-26T09:09:00.004-10:00

I've never hosted Thanksgiving before. In my old age I've become less interested in the work that goes into entertaining, plus I'm not excited about exposing other people that I like to my unpredictable cooking skills. I usually like to wait for an invitation, volunteer Ephraim to make rolls, and just show up for the feast. But this year was different, and I'm very pleased with how it turned out.

Our good friend Mike Jackson moved down here from Hawaii this week. Guest #1. I figured if I was cooking I might as well invite our great neighbors (we totally owe them). Guests #2-7. And then Ephraim and Mike went surfing in the morning and brought home a Canadian guy named George. Guest #8.

I decided not to be nervous about my usual issues (cooking, cleaning the house, seating everyone), but to just do what I could and not worry about whatever didn't get done. That worked great. Thank you to Martha for her Maple-Glazed Cornish Game Hen recipe. Thank you to Ephraim to and his famous "Two-Bite Dinner Rolls"

Ella and her baby Keesha helped in the kitchen by setting the table and making the food.

Isaac helped by staying out of the kitchen and entertaining himself in the yard.

Happy Thanksgiving!

Burning

2010-11-16T23:26:00.004-10:00

Our neighbors in the village behind our house have been burning piles of bush everyday for over a month. Everyday. Not constantly, but at least once a day. My bed smells like a campfire. Our family has been sick. And I'm getting irate.

We talked to them, and they said, No, it's not poisonous, it's only plants. So yeah, thanks for not burning tires, but any smoke is still carbon and doesn't make breathing pleasant. Our other neighbor drove back into the village to talk to them, but to no avail. We've tried calling EPA, and have yet to hear back. Sometimes we flee the house because the smoke is unbearable.

Why must we burn shrubbery? Why can't we just toss it in the jungle 100 yards away and wait for it to decay? What more can we do? My next step is to post signs along our road saying "Fa'amolemole, Aua le susunu afi. Ua ma'i fanau." Please stop burning fires. Kids are getting sick. What should we do?

Costumes

2010-10-28T22:02:00.005-10:00

You would think this was for Halloween. It's not. Our Halloween costumes are homemade and much less impressive.
This is just a typical play date at our friend Valerie's house. She has an awesome closet full of costumes. More costumes than I have clothes. No wonder my kids BEG to go there everyday.

Cannons

2010-10-28T21:37:00.005-10:00

The hike to the cannons in Utulei is short enough for the kids, close enough to do in an hour, and scenic enough to refresh us. Here's photos from a recent papa+kids excursion.

More Kay Angel

2010-10-10T18:44:00.001-10:00

Please enjoy some Sunday afternoon fun. Though I think Melinda already posted about Kay Angel and friends, we thought it would be nice to record more details before they change too much in Isaac's imagination flurry.

Paradise Lost

2010-10-04T22:55:00.004-10:00

Believe it or not, sometimes I'd like to move. I just say "Ephraim, how much longer are we gonna live here?!" or "Ephraim, when can we go someplace civilized?" Today was one of those days. We were watching a movie and the guy bought strawberries on the side of the road (Ironman2). Isaac asked, "Mom, when are we going to have strawberries again?" I almost cried. I did cry later, actually. I answered "There ARE no strawberries in this country." Ugh.
It's not just about the strawberries, folks. It's the stores that sell expired food, the mold on my cupboards, the jungle trail we call our road (which has no real name), the offices that close early, the power that shuts off randomly, the water that turns off during a shower, the dogs that prevent my family from bike rides, frustrating mess of ordering things online to an unrecognized territory, the overall lack of qualified workers in important positions... I'll stop there. You get the picture.

Sometimes the grass seems greener NOT in the jungle.

Someone please comment and tell me living in the states is not all it's cracked up to be and I'm so lucky to live here. And who needs a real shopping center anyway, and the less choices the simpler the life, etc. Please.

Our Umu

2010-09-20T22:02:00.004-11:00

Our neighbors got a brilliant idea to to an umu. A palagi umu, basically. That means that we bunch of white people prepared a Samoan style dinner baked in a pile of burning rocks and leaves. (When I say "we" I mean "they" because I didn't help at all. I was at a school meeting half the day.)

Damien was our resident Samoan giving instructions and techniques. Ephraim drew from youthful experiences to scrape and strain the coconuts until his hands couldn't handle it anymore. Then James took over. Then Damien finished the job.

Frankly doing an umu is WAY too much work to do regularly. And many people here do it every week. They basically spend all day cooking for lunchtime. When I say "they" I mean the young people. When you reach a certain age you don't have to do that work anymore. Age has its perks.

The boys took their fish prep job very seriously.

Good training for their future at Starkist cannery.

We were nervous when the rain threatened our umu; when you cook outside the weather reigns (get it?).

In the end it turned out to be an amazing feast. My personal favorite: palusami. Young taro leaves baked in coconut milk and onions. Luscious. Dinners with our neighbors are ALWAYS a delicious success. We talked about our next umu... It's like giving birth, after awhile you think labor wasn't THAT bad. So, yeah, we'll see about next time. And when I say "we" you know I don't mean myself.

The Hut

2010-09-20T21:53:00.002-11:00

Our amazing neighbors have been working on a hut for the past few months. The foundation posts were already there, leftover from some home renovation project, I suppose. An eyesore becomes an opportunity. It helps that our neighbor is a foreman of one of the largest construction teams on island.

Now our boys have somewhere to release their constructive energy (pound nails into the floor) like good little youngsters.

Looking forward to good campouts in the hut...

Kids in the Kitchen

2010-09-20T21:29:00.003-11:00

Although life's been hectic, we TRY to get some home cooked meals in there most days. In fact last week Ephraim made the most amazing pan fried potatoes I've ever eaten thanks to carefully followed instructions from Terence and Vicki Conran's cookbook, Classic Conran. They were cut, boiled for 12 minutes then coated in hot meat drippings and baked until they were golden and gorgeous. Those aren't the official instructions and I'm not looking it up for you. Sorry. You get the idea.

I'm counting boxed Ghirardelli's as homemade.

At the School

2010-09-20T21:12:00.003-11:00

Recess--keepin' it real

Here the students are drawing ideas for a school mascot.

Looks like the Ta'iala Fighting Bunnies.

School Days

2010-09-19T22:20:00.003-11:00

Director Alaiasa schools the kids in 4-square

Hi all,

School's going well. I know you're wondering. We're adjusting to each other, which isn't always a picnic, but overall things are great. Kids are happy, teachers are happy, parents are happy. And we're all learning a lot!

A favorite so far: journal writing. My class of 5-6 graders (+one 7th grader) write everyday and I get to read their stories, ideas, and babbling adding my comments here and there. But the pages that are folded over are private, and I wouldn't even think about reading those ones.

I'm impressed with what I read, we have some creative talent in our class. Adventure series about ninjas vs. samurai, a teenage detective squad, and a confession about all the candy a boy would buy if he had $1 million. But he'd save some money to fix his cavities. That's foresight.

Being a teacher is more than time-consuming. Life-consuming. But I'm happy when Ella comes home from school telling us about paleontologists, houses built from old shipping containers, and Samoan songs. Isaac makes adorable things in kindergarten, and Owen has volunteers to hold him all day until he falls asleep on his little sleeping bag.

But if I don't write frequently, I hope you'll excuse me.

Ta'iala Academy is IN SESSION!

2010-08-26T15:21:00.009-11:00

Big doings around here! I'll catch you up. Ephraim went to Oregon and Hawaii for 3 weeks (photos coming). Our camera here was broken. I worked night and day on our new school Ta'iala Academy. Before pictures here. The kids endured late nights, many meetings, and a heap of crankiness (from me). Ephraim came home Sunday the 22nd (with a new camera). School started Monday the 23rd. The school's going great! That's where we are. And here are the pictures.

Our faletalimalo, for assemblies, lunch, and rainy PE

About our logo: Our school logo was designed by my creative sister Jan. The awesome Samoan print was drawn by Cherish Schwenke from our ward. It represents growth (tree), culture (tapa print), and a bright future (child looking upward).

Our selfless teachers who make it all possible

And the reason for it all:
Our kids

(Do you like Owen's onesie?)

Today we took class pictures:

Kindergarten

Grades 1/2

Grades 3/4

Grades 5/6/7

School in session:

Science (condensation lesson)
Phys. Ed.

Mr. Alaiasa our dear director got more opportunities to counsel kids than we all expected him to have in the first week.My exuberant class:

So far so good. Everyone seems really happy, and we are so glad. There is a long story involved with this, but it will have to wait until much later.

Tooth Fairy Tonight

2010-08-19T00:15:00.003-11:00

Today Ella was running on concrete, tripped, and ... lost BOTH her two front teeth. OUCH!
She was really brave about it. (But she was screaming her brains out.) And I remained calm. (I panicked on the inside.)

We managed to find one tooth, and I reminded her that the tooth fairy would come tonight, and that they were her baby teeth, and they were going to come out soon anyway. And we were okay after awhile.

So now our sweet little one talks a little more lispy than before. She has to adjust how she bites food. And fortunately she stopped sucking her fingers just two weeks ago (a huge accomplishment), so these new ones will grow in straight.

Now I'm off to see if the tooth fairy needs help finding 8 shiny quarters.

Isaac is Four

2010-07-23T23:58:00.002-11:00

For his birthday he got armor. He's been begging for this armor for weeks.
Now he can play out all the grand fights he imagines.

While I'm on the subject, Isaac has an imaginary friend named Martin. Martin lives the perfect life. He "gots" all the coolest stuff, he drives a car, he's seventeen years old (sometimes), and apparently he can do whatever he wants. Martin is so real to him that in his Primary talk on Sunday when he was telling a story about his friends, he had to mention Martin and even had me include him in the illustration. He has brown hair and blue eyes, btw.

Now Isaac's been telling us about Martin's Fat Friend. That's his name. And his life pretty much stinks. He's a bully. He's mean. But if he's Martin's friend, he's our friend too.

KayAngel is Isaac's superhero. He and his mate Charlie (a real boy) will yell, "Let's play Spiderman KayAngel!" So one of them is Spiderman, and the other is the amazing KayAngel, or KayRangel, depending on the day and situation.

Kay . . . Rangel . . .? Who knows.

But as my family can attest, I'm all for imaginary friends. Even Martin's Fat Friend.

Playgroup Envy

2010-07-23T23:24:00.003-11:00

Don't hate, but today we had an awesome playgroup. Chelin, Olivia, Jessica and I took our crew to the beach. It was lovely and the kids had fun.

I figure the beach is a perfect place for kids: they can mess it up as much as they want, and the waves will clean up after! I didn't get pictures today because our camera is on strike. But pictures of the beach are here: Sliding Rock.

Yay for playgroup and yay for Samoa. Three years, and it's still fun.

Motherhood

2010-07-12T13:41:00.000-11:00

Here's to Melinda and all the mothers out there!

Ta'iala Academy

2010-07-11T10:15:00.007-11:00

Introcducting Ta’iala Academy! A few months ago a group of concerned parents from our ward got together and decided that something had to be done with the education situation here, and we felt that we could start something wonderful for our kids. Thus Ta’iala Academy was born. Ta’iala means leading the way. It’s been a bumpy road, but we’re moving forward, and we’ll see where this “ala” takes us.

We’re renovating a house so we’ll have four classrooms and two bathrooms. Many folks in our ward have helped out, and we really appreciate all their hard work.

The faces of Ta'iala

So, Rachel, how did you like Samoa?

2010-07-04T20:41:00.005-11:00

Let’s just say that American Samoa wasn’t what I was expecting it to be. As I was preparing for this trip, I imagined sandy beaches, luaus every night, and men in loin clothes climbing palm trees. That’s what tropical islands are like, right? But this is not your typical tropic rock.

As I stepped off the plane into the dense ocean air, I was greeted by hundreds of brown faces, some speaking my language but most of them not. No one sang “Aloha Oe” to me and all the shirtless muscular men must have already gone to bed because I didn’t see any of those either. I bet they were tired from all that palm tree climbing. The airport was the hangout that night and I bet half the island was there...literally. I knew I was not in Kansas anymore--— unless Kansas suddenly got extremely humid and packed full of rambunctious Polynesian youth who get excited when “the plane” comes in twice a week. I was alarmed to find that my cell phone didn’t work here, of course, and I didn’t see Melinda anywhere, of course, and we hadn’t set up a place to meet. Of course. I was already lost and it had only been 3 minutes in this foreign land. We eventually found each other, got home, and I crashed into bed because by that point it was about 3:00 in the morning to my body. There are some pretty obvious differences between Samoa and Utah... the climate, the plants, the race, the langugage, etc. It’s the more subtle differences that you don’t realize until you walk a mile in someone elses flip flops.

There is very little air conditioning here, geckos live in your house behind mirrors and pictures frames, honking is friendly, the only shades of hair dye at the store are dark and darker, the speed limit on the whole island is 25 mph, and men wear skirts in public. Not what you experience in American Fork, Utah my friends.

So there I was sitting in the living room, carrying on a delightful conversation, when I see a bug of unusual size scurrying up the wall. Before I could comment on the size of the creature, I see a lizard appear from behind the wall hanging and devour the bug. I was stunned at this display of the Circle of Life happening right before my eyes. But to everyone else it was just normal. I was the only person who was slightly disturbed. It happens everyday in Samoa.

Also. The public buses are hilarious because they’re painted all ghetto and blast music with a bumpin beat. And I think all of the buses have the same song. I came to love that song over the last 10 days. Something else funny was seeing the locals at the beach. They don’t do beaches like American’s do beaches. They just walk on into the water in whatever they happen to be wearing. The only people I saw in swim suits at the beach were us and the 4 year olds. So we were obviously not from around here.

Let’s also mention the humidity. The air is thick with moisture here and truthfully my hands and lips haven’t felt this good in a long time. No chapstick needed. But that actually may be the only upside of this climate. Let’s be honest, I was sweating the whole trip. Leaving my hair down over my neck was like asking for heat stroke. And wearing make up was also out of the question because it’d be smeared down my face by noon anyway. So basically I looked like a sweaty boy the whole time.

But I loved every minute!

Seriously I saw so many awesome things that I would never have been able to see anywhere else. I loved seeing the people and their culture. I loved the experience of stopping at roadside stands to buy a papaya or a stack of taro leaves wrapped in a banana leaf. I loved having fallen coconuts in the front yard or walking out the front door and seeing huge mountains of lush trees. I loved the simplicity of life and remembering that life goes on without cell phones and Wal Mart. I loved spending time with my sister and her family, seeing how they’ve adapted to this adventure and become involved with the community instead of just tolerating it. So although I would have loved to have luau’s and buff men cracking coconuts for me…I wouldn’t have traded this experience in American Samoa.

P.S. Yeah, goggle faces rock.

Rachel on the Rock

2010-07-01T00:21:00.003-11:00

Rachel's Here!

2010-06-28T10:24:00.003-11:00

We're so happy to have Rachel here with us. We might not send her back! Mom and Dad, if you want her, you'll have to come and get her.

We're having a great time, and the kids LOVE spending time with auntie Rachel.

More to come...

Wild Life

2010-06-22T21:12:00.002-11:00

Tonight I met an owl. I was driving home down our unbearably bumpy dirt road (we could almost justify a Hummer, but wouldn't) when I saw a white figure swoop over the road and land on a telephone wire. I stopped the car, turned off the lights, and spent a moment admiring the owl. We locked eyes, and as I felt him looking at me I nervously expected him to swoop down and nab me for dinner. Glad I'm not a rat. We live in such a beautiful wild place.

In the Natural History Guide published by the National Park Service says: "The barn owl or lulu is a highly beneficial bird in American Samoa, but some people fear it because they associate it with ghosts or aitu. Its ghostly white appearance and its preference for flying at night enhance its reputation as a mysterious bird....Without owls, Tutuila and Manu'a would probably be over-run with rats. A lulu seen flying through a village should not be feared or hated but welcomed, because it will probably mean one less rat near your fale." Thank you LULU!

We also frequently see lovely blue rails on our road. Their cousins in New Zealand are called pukekos, but here they have the unfortunate name of Purple Swamphens. Pukeko sounds much more exotic and appropriate. Samoans call them manu ali'i (chief birds). At night Ephraim calls them "veloceraptors" for their prehistoric screech that sends shivers down your spine. They run and flap into the bushes like chickens, but they're stunningly beautiful.

We also have tons of fruit bats, it's like Halloween every night.

I imagine this valley hasn't changed much since Day One. And we get to be part of it. I can't wait to show Rachel when she comes.

She's Coming

2010-06-21T15:43:00.002-11:00

Can't wait to see this girl!

Haven't seen her since before this.

What will she be like now?! What will she think of our island? Will she still like us? I just can't wait til Thursday!

Triple Birthday Party

2010-06-07T00:06:00.005-11:00

Since our neighbors on both sides had birthdays the same week as Ella's we planned a big party, rented an inflatable waterslide, and invited the world!

Then we found out birthday boy #1 had CHICKEN POX! Too late to cancel, we just warned everyone about possible exposure and figured if it was just our three families, we'd get to go down the waterslide as much as we wanted. Fortunately some people did show up.

The waterslide was a big hit. (Literally. Kids were getting hurt. Ephraim climbed up in there to regulate.) They loved it! And I'm glad because it was dang expensive.

We followed NZ tradition (the other two families are from NZ) and played "Pass the Parcel", which sounds more elegant, like "Poss the Possol" when they say it. To play you pass a multi-layer wrapped gift while music plays and when the music stops, the person holding it unwraps a layer. This continues until one lucky person unwraps the last layer and keeps the gift. Or throws it on the ground, in our case.

I fashioned a pretty funny-looking pinata.

Chicken leg + ice cream cone = good times

I look kind of grubby. As usual, really.

The big moment came with the cakes. Poor pox boy is the one with the shirt that looks like it's from the Red Cross. Or Switzerland. To honor his condition his mom made little spotty cupcakes. He was really eyeing B-day boy #2's gorgeous dino cake, which was brought over that very morning from Apia on his grandma's lap.

Ella designed her tiara cake, so she was happy with it.

Overall it was an exhausting but fun day.

p.s. Isaac's birthday is coming up in July. Maybe if we don't tell him, he won't notice.

Pomp or Circumstance

2010-05-24T22:01:00.004-11:00

Today Ella graduated from Kindergarten! We were so worried she'd drop out awhile back. I mean learning those vowel sounds can be really discouraging. And counting by fives takes real dedication. Actually more than anything getting to school by 8 o'clock was the insurmountable chore of her entire school career. We pray she'll continue on to first grade.

Now you can look at Kindergarten graduation a few ways. If you're like Ephraim, you think it's a silly scheme for Jostens to make mega bucks on mini caps and gowns. If you're like Bob Parr (a.k.a. Mr. Incredible) you think it's a psychotic way to celebrate mediocrity. But if you're like me, you just think it's cute, so why be humbug about it.

It was a fun day. Let me tell you, Samoans love graduations. If you've ever been to a Samoan graduation, or ever seen a Samoan graduate, from anything, you know what I mean. Leis, balloons, flowers, certificates, photos, candy, kisses...happy day.

Ella had a part in the program. She read a poem about the letter "A". Awesome.

I had a surprise when the principal presented me with a plaque for reading stories in their classes weekly for the past few months. Then she had me stay up there to help fa'aula the kids, give them leis. That was sweet for me since I had gotten to know them and felt proud of them.

Isaac followed me up on stage, and I had to tell him to go back down. You can see him crying pitifully, in the brown shirt. Poor dude.

Here he's saying , "Look, the Spiderman balloon's flying away."Ladies and gentlemen, I present our Grad of 2010.
Ella with her friend Georgina.
Ella with her great teacher, Ms. Toni
I love that she's all dressed up, walking to the car on the dirt road.
We came home and started the candy frenzy. I figured either I'd try to keep them controlled and have them pester me for more candy all day, or I'd let them devour one lei and face a candy crash. The candy crash wasn't so bad.
Here's to many more graduations!

Murphy's Beach

2010-05-16T22:18:00.000-11:00

Saturday Excursion
Destination: Larsons Cove (a.k.a. Murphys Beach)
Directions: Park at the Murphy's house (where's that? Well those directions involve a banyan tree, a fire hydrant, and if you're lucky a neighbor weed-wacking his lawn in a versatile orange prison jumpsuit).
Next hunt down a trailhead in the yard, follow path through jungle, at the two large ulu trees you'll hit the 4-wheeler tracks, take a right down the volcano slope, take a left at the banana trees, if you pass a falesamoa (shack) you're too far, tromp through jungle, hear the ocean, scale a cliff and you're there. Easy as that!

And it was so worth it!

Ephraim and the kids built a four way bridge.

There was a cool tunnel to a creepy cave.

Next time you come too, k?

Keeping Us In Stitches

2010-05-15T19:20:00.000-11:00

This post is old but post worthy. Our boys keep testing physics--gravity with heads, friction with knives, etc. Usually we can keep clear of the hospital, but in early April Isaac was cutting a cucumber with a sharp knive and no adult supervision and sliced into his hand at the the thumb crease.

It was our second trip to the ER with Isaac (the first time he split his chin open). Hopefully we'll never have to go again. Being at the hospital here puts me in a really sour mood. Fortunately Ephraim is patient and not-easily-grossed-out, so he stayed with Isaac and kept calm while I took a walk and bought some jewelry and tried to think happy thoughts.

Four hours later we came out with two stitches and a whoppin' huge dressing that lasted until dinner.

Ephraim took out the stitches when the time was right, and now Isaac can't even tell which hand was cut.
I thought these children came with an intrinsic sense of self-preservation...but I guess they have to be in danger to exercise it. I have an ominous feeling that we're just getting started...

Farewell Bousloughs

2010-05-09T14:02:00.004-11:00

We were so sad to say farewell to our friends Maria, David, and Gabriel. This photo was our last playgroup together. (Maria's the lovely one with the cute short hair second from right.) Not only were the Bouslough's very sweet people, they were heroes on the island. Honestly. Dr. B worked miracles in the organization and efficiency of the ER, and Maria dedicated countless hours to health education as a nurse and volunteer. And Gabriel was Owen's first friend ever. They will forever be Samoan brothers, no matter how white they look!

We are happy for them because Maria will finally get to use ALL the ingredients in her Everyday Food mags, and Gabriel may learn more animal sounds besides dogs and chickens.
I will always remember Maria when I sit in her bright red Poang chair. (I've always wanted a Poang.)

This parting may just be the excuse I need to finally join the Facebook craze. And that's saying a LOT! Thanks for being my heroes. We miss you!

Best Mates

2010-05-08T13:51:00.003-11:00

Fun Day

2010-05-07T21:43:00.003-11:00

Last weekend we celebrated Jason C's 40th bday at the pool. It was great! After a tasty barbecue we burned the calories with a rigorous pool-volleyball tournament. Girls vs. boys (girls won, but we were also the ones keeping score...) then Oldies vs. Young 'uns. I forget who won, I must really be old.

The kids perfected their cannonball.

Impressive form but weak splash. Thanks for the fun!

This has nothing to do with that, I just thought Ephraim and Owen look cute with the uke.
Ephraim's starting 'em young.

Kids Will Be Kids

2010-05-02T20:57:00.003-11:00

Nothing important to say. Just recent snapshots of life.

I don't know why they think Owen's a sticker chart. Apparently he doesn't mind.

In every job that must be done there is an element of fun. Right? Vacuum=fun.

Seek the Higher Ground

2010-04-25T21:16:00.003-11:00

This "Mormon Message" highlights the tsunami in Samoa and the need to run to higher ground. In the spiritual sense, the need to follow Jesus to the moral high ground.

And for those of you wondering, yes, those views and people are what we see everyday. So nice to live in Samoa.

Scrawny Chicken and a Soaring Eagle

2010-04-24T21:12:00.010-11:00

For some reason, my macho side gets a kick out of Tuilaepa's treatment of Bainimarama.

Forum not your business, Tuilaepa tells Bainimarama
Friday April 23, 2010 By Tupuola Terry Tavita, le Savali newspaper

APIA— Samoa Prime Minister Tuilaepa Sailele Malielegaoi believes it’s best that Fiji dictator Commodore Frank Bainimarama keeps quiet and learn from the valuable lessons he is imparting on him “free of charge”.
The Commodore this week lashed out at his “Samoan counterpart” as “desperate” to have the Pacific Islands Forum Secretariat relocated from Suva to Apia.

“My counterpart?” said a bemused Prime Minister Tuilaepa.

“You know, calling the commodore a Prime Minister is like calling a skinny dog a vicious lion, a scrawny chicken a soaring eagle.” He laughs.

Of the Forum Secretariat, the Prime Minister said:

“Oh? Is it Bainimarama’s Forum now? Best he (Bainimarama) sticks to planting cassava and leave Forum issues to the big boys— bonafide elected leaders. Small-time unelected thugs are not welcome.”

“He has neither say nor business with either the Forum or its secretariat.”

Fiji, three years after Commodore Frank Bainimarama usurped its elected government, was suspended by the Pacific Islands Forum February last year.

And what becomes of the Forum Secretariat will be the result of a collective decision by the Pacific Islands Forum leaders, said Tuilaepa.

“Whether it gets relocated to Samoa, Papua (New Guinea), Tonga, Vanuatu or even Bikini Atoll is neither Bani’s nor those working at the Secretariat’s decision to make,” he said. “And if it (Secretariat)

Tuilaepa maintains that the Secretariat cannot operate “under the thumb” of an unelected military regime.

“Especially a regime that has done away with the rule of law, democratic government, an independent judiciary and [suppressed]... the media and freedom of speech. It’s against the exact fundamental principles the Forum was founded on,” he said.

How the Commodore connected any possible relocation of the Forum Secretariat headquarters with Samoa bewilders the Prime Minister.

“It appears that he is scared that it’ll be relocated to Samoa? Well thank you very much Mr Bainimarama for your vote of confidence in us. But, frankly, we don’t need your endorsement,” said Tuilaepa.

[Editor’s Note: Samoa News reprints this story with permission from Tupuola, who is also the editor of the Samoa government owned Le Savali newspaper]
does relocate, well Bani only has himself to blame for it. He is the root cause of all these problems.”

http://www.samoanews.com/viewstory.php?storyid=14524&edition=1272016800

Vatia

2010-04-15T09:35:00.009-11:00

Ephraim's on spring break, so we played tourist on Tuesday and went to Vatia on the north side of the island. I had never been there before (after 2.5 years on this 20 mile island) so we HAD to check it out. Although the weather was too rainy and cold (?!) for swimming, the drive was lovely.

To get there you have to drive the main road along the southern coast, past Pago Pago to Aua. There's a road there that cuts north, zigzags up the mountain to the pass and goes down to the north coast. Continue on that road and you'll find the National Park and eventually the village of Vatia. It takes about an hour and a half from our house.

This is the lookout showing Pola Island with Cockscomb Point at the right. It was actually chilly, so we pulled out the handy emergency rain ponchos.

Just as we were driving to the end of the road, we drove over a big bump and heard "pop". We went a little further, found a nice place to park, and then Ephraim got out and saw our tire was losing air. Perfect place for a tire change.

As he lowered down the spare from the back underside of the car, Ella said, "Wow, do we have any more tires under there?"

While our competent hero Ephraim attended to the tire, we explored the cobble beach.

There were two natural arches that we could see.

Ephraim had the car taken care of by the time we got back and we were on our way. What a guy! Vatia has a unique-looking sea wall.

Would you like to live in this village?

Paka = Park

A view of the beach we were at.

We drove through another village, Afono, and saw this school classroom that was gutted by the tsunami, and the temporary school room they are using now.

A view from the pass, looking towards Pago Pago harbor. The open ocean is at the left of this photo. You can see how the harbor curls around making a long funnel.

On the way home we stopped by a barbecue hosted by the ASCC Marine Science Club. Thanks for the lunch, guys!

It was a good day. Ephraim and I were commenting how it felt like we were new on the island again, except now we knew people and places. We had a bbq to go to, friends called to us as we drove by, and Ephraim knew where to find his buddy Ben surfing at Pua Trees. We had a good "local vacation" for a day.

Easter Hunt 2010

2010-04-15T09:09:00.006-11:00

K: Ella, let's go play games.
E: I don't want to.
K: Me neither!!

Our Primary Easter Egg Hunt was last Saturday at Lions Park. They played some games before the hunt, since egg hunting only takes about 10 minutes. Ella hung with her friend Kira. They skipped out on the games. But Isaac played. Here he's choosing a goose.

I knew the actual hunt would be a disappointment. The big kids always seem to clean house, no matter how careful the planning. My kids were crying as soon as started. Isaac found 1 egg, Ella found zero. But their friends shared with them.
And everyone got a goodie bag in the end, so we left happy.

Thank you Primary leaders!

ONE Year Old

2010-04-15T08:41:00.003-11:00

march 25. it's been one year since owen's birth. it's gone by so fast!
we had a banana cake with his friends at playgroup. he was more excited than he looks in the photo.
then we had cake again at home. he's such a sweet little thing, we're so happy to have him.
he's been doing a lot more of this lately:
pretty soon he'll be walking...running...jumping...pole vaulting...winning the olympics! can't wait!

one stone

2010-04-04T21:38:00.003-11:00

(an update to my family, but posted here to kill two birds...)

temple family update: ephraim is leading a stake youth musical play. they're singing and acting out Oh Lord, My Redeemer. he's looking for ways to motivate and control youth. he has a colleague coming from UH tonight to explore the possibility of students in AS taking aquaculture courses through the program they've set up in Second Life. he's from israel, and i don't know how familiar he is with samoan style, or slow samoan internet. hopefully this goes far. ephraim wanted to see if it would even work so set up his avatar on second life last night, and it's really bizarre at first.

melinda: i hopped in a plane and went to apia (western samoa) wed-thurs while a friend watched the kids. i went with my friends bro and sis pili to tour this program called south pacific business development (you can google it) that does microloans to finance womens groups doing small business. it finances like 5,000 women who do anything from selling peanuts, fruit, flowers, handicrafts, to electronics and car parts. it's remarkable. eye-opening. freeing thousands of families from poverty. they use the grameen model, which you should also google. i loved watching it in action. we'd like to do something like that here, but our people will have to get over their lazy dependence on welfare, wic, and taxes. we also went to the temple in apia and i enjoyed quiet time to reflect without having to wipe a nose or change a diaper.
lately i've been reading "bonds that make us free" and "active parenting today", both provoke frequent self-evaluation, which i'm grateful for.

ella borrowed a movie from our friends today. it's called Barbie's Learn to Dance Like a Princess! so she's excited to try it out tomorrow.

isaac runs around like a hoodlum with the neighbor boys. they ride bikes, catch and torment toads, have at least two water fights with hoses, and scream and fight then come in a house and demand food and drink. is this healthy? what can or should i do? fortunately we get a break on sundays, but keeping those boys apart makes me feel like a prison guard.

owen is cute. i'm sure he'll be walking in a few weeks. his new discovery is climbing on a chair and then on the table. and he's attracted to plugs.

that's basically us. i loved all the conference talks about teaching in the home. i feel like it's a huge task laid on my shoulders, but lucky for me i feel like i've been preparing for this task all my life and there's none other i'd rather do.