The First W

Well, it has been a week since the last post, and there is good reason- I have been insanely busy. Orientation means class starts at 8 o clock and usually ends at about 4 or 5. Sitting in a classroom for that long is strangely exhausting, and the weird diet isn't helping. My body has also adjusted to the time, so no more hopping out of bed at 7 in the morning bursting with energy; getting up early is back to being as annoying as it ever was! I know I need to get used to it though, so I just keep plugging on.
The classes are interesting. We all have to teach one, and mine was today- I had to present Writing... and though I was nervous it turned out really well. The best activity of the day had to be when I divided the class into groups and had them create skits of sentences with dangling modifiers. Example: The mixing bowl set was specifically designed for good cooks with round bottoms for efficient beating. I'm sure all of you can imagine the kind of skit which came out of that.
I wish I could recap everything that has happened but since I can't I will just focus on a couple of the highlights, weird-lights, or just uber Samoan things.
ANTS- When you look at the floor or ground in American Samoa, you sometimes feel as if its moving. It's not. It is just the ants. They are EVERYWHERE and they come in multiple varieties. The fire ants are the same kind as in America, and thankfully they are mostly outside. Inside however, are two small kinds of black ants that are attracted to anything food, anything that looks like food, anything that smells like food, anything that might be the same color as food is, or anything in their path that might have food in it. Nothing is safe, but since so far they have not really bitten me or grossed me out, I haven't gone on any death rampages against them, though a couple of the other girls have. I am just assuming that I need to get used to them... they are certainly better housemates than mosquitoes.
Samoan Language- We are taking classes in this, and whoa buddy, it is not easy. Part of it is probably that is the opposite of Russian. There is no "to be" verb, and vowels definitely dominate the words. Example: the village we are staying in right now is Nu'uuli. Good morning is "taeao manuia." And, unlike Russian (and English) every syllable is pronounced, though some more than others (there are some accent marks which denote how to say the syllable). For almost all words, the second to last syllable is stressed.
Swimming: All the water here is clear and beautiful. The blues that it creates in the background of almost every picture are beyond belief. its all pretty shallow where you swim- It drops off after about 70 feet but no one swims all the way out there because of the currents. Snorkeling is really cool- lots of fish. We stopped by the park service here the other day and they told us there are over 900 different species of reef fish here. Even when the fish aren't around, the water is always clear and you can't beat the background scenery.
BATS- I saw a bat for the first time! Followed by about 50 others! Bats are EVERYWHERE here, and they are huge. The two most common types have wingspans of up to three feet long... and its neat to see them flying about above you in the daytime, because the sun shines through their wings.
Samoans- So far, everyone has been incredibly nice. Anyone will give you directions, offer a ride, offer help, or want to chat, and EVERYONE knows what WorldTeach is, and constantly thanks us for coming and helping. The kids are hilarious too. A lot of the adults have been off-island (as they call it) and are not phased by our extreme pale-ness. To the kids however, we are like really cool, smiley aliens. We were walking back from dinner tonight and a bunch of kids up a tree started to yell "Palangi" followed by "hi! hi!" Every reply we gave elicited fits and fits of high pitched giggles... but the best moment of the night came when, randomly, as we all were walking away, one of the kids shouted out "ADIOS AMIGOS!"

Unfortunately, that's what I must now say too. There is a group gathering to watch the Lion King, and you all know how I feel about Disney!
Love you all,
Rosa

P.S. Sorry for no pictures today... I'll take some this week!