Impressions - The First E-mail

Talofa!!

Well, I’ve been in American Samoa for about two weeks now and finally have my own pad in the village where I will be teaching. I have some pictures posted at
http://steveatwellamericansamoa.shutterfly.com/.

In the meantime, I figure I’ll catch you up and share some of my experiences thus far.After a brief orientation in Los Angeles July 20 with the other 33 volunteers, we boarded a plane for Honolulu and from there to American Samoa. While exciting, this was a little unsettling because we still didn’t have any idea where we would be sleeping or exactly what to do when we arrived in American Samoa. We got off the plane and proceeded through customs with the hope that there would be someone waiting for us on the “other side.” We were greeted by a number of the Department of Education (DoE) staff members, our WorldTeach field directors, shell necklaces, and a giant banner that said “Welcome WorldTeach Volunteers!” We loaded our luggage in the back of a truck and boarded a school bus to the near-by vocational high school, which would become our home for the next two weeks. We quickly segregated the guys from the ladies and threw our luggage down on the floor mattresses to establish residency.

We met upstairs in the kitchen to discuss the orientation schedule and enjoy freshly baked chocolate chip cookies!!Over the course of the next two weeks, we would sit through numerous lectures from the DoE, presentations on SPED, the Samoan language, reading programs, an introduction to the local/only library on American Samoa, reef biology, an education non-profit, public safety, and public health. Dispersed throughout the schedule, we had an island tour, a beach visit, a hike, and free time to explore our respective villages. Some of the most memorable parts of being in American Samoa have come from the limited time we’ve had in between lessons.

After the island tour on the first day, we swam in the lagoon in front of the vocational high school. There were about 20 volunteers in the water, throwing the Frisbee and laughing as the sunset over the cascading green mountains on one side and a full end-to-end rainbow bookended the lagoon on the other side. It was a truly warm welcome to American Samoa. During the course of orientation, we went snorkeling out by the airport where we saw a sting ray and a full spectrum of tropical fish, went on group runs, explored the town, and played tennis at the local tennis club. But, our Thursday night toga party may have topped all of that. Our group was looking for something new when we decided to throw a toga party. I woke up from a nap at 8:30 p.m., took my bed sheet, threw it over my shoulder and tied it off with a belt. I convinced my roommate to do the same and we ventured upstairs to try to convince others to join in. We quickly hit critical mass and, by the end of the night, about 25 people were in togas, and dancing around the kitchen. The next morning, we had a meeting with the principals of our schools. I think we managed to pull overselves together pretty well - especially after a little coffee!!

Exhausted, slightly overwhelmed and with pounds upon pounds of handouts, training wrapped up this past Saturday. We said goodbye to each other and headed out for our respective villages.My village, Vatia, has 300 people living in it and is isolated on the north side of the island – which is narrow north to south and wide east to west. It’s about a 45 minute bus ride over the mountain ridge and down the other side from, Pago Pago, the main city in American Samoa.

When I got into Vatia, I met Marx, an 18 year old who is studying pre-law at the island’s community college and a guy who works for the National Park Service. Marx has been tremendously helpful and the guy from the NPS promised to show us some hiking trails and good fishing spots. I’ll be teaching at Mt Alava Elementary School which is pre-K through eighth grade with each grade comprised of one classroom and each classroom is its own building. School starts next week and they are still working on renovating some of the buildings. There was a big district-wide meeting this morning and I finally found out what I am teaching ... I'll be the entire science department at the elementary school and I'll teach seventh grade. I have 10 kids in my class and will teach reading and writing to my seventh graders and then have the sixth and eighth graders come to my class as I send mine to learn history and math.

I’m living with another WorldTeach volunteer named Alex who also is at Mt Alava Elementary and teaching history. Alex just graduated from the University of Texas, but has lived in Singapore and London before moving with his family to Texas. Our house is the guest house on the property of a local family. We’ve got a small kitchen, bathroom, two bedrooms, and a large common space. The best part is that we have two giant trees in out front yard for shade, a log to sit on and a giant lagoon about 30 yards from our door – we went snorkeling the first night we moved in. We’ve had another volunteer named Matt staying with us as he waits for his landlord the finish renovating a house on the West side of the island.Today, Matt and I hiked from Vatia up the ridge to Mt. Alava.

It was a rugged, steep hike that took almost two hours and had steps and ropes at certain points. When we got to the top there was spectacular view and we could look out on Pago Pago Harbor to the south on one side and see across the island to Vatia on the other side. We sat up on a patch of grass and watched a ship navigate through the harbor, fruit bats gliding up and down on air currents, and the clouds breaking on the mountains to the west of us. We made plans to camp up on the ridge for night and then hiked back down to Vatia as the sun was beginning to set. Back in town, we were stopped on the road as the evening bell rang and everyone stopped what they were doing to observe 30 minutes prayer.

Matt and I sat on a concrete step catching our breath and remarking on the strange and wonderful place that we will call home for the next year. I hope that you are doing well, enjoying your summer and finding the time to do something you enjoy.

Best wishes and tropical thoughts,

Steve Atwell

P.S. Here's how to contact me address & phone:
Address:
P.O. Box 5411
Pago Pago, American Samoa 96799
Phone: 1-684-258-0101