So the school year has finally begun. Yesterday we had a big
meeting of all the teachers in American Samoa, and this week we are doing
things like setting up our classrooms, meeting with the staff and
administration of our school, and going over standards and benchmarks in more
detail. In addition to all of that, the Manu’a volunteers leave probably
tomorrow or Thursday, so we’re all trying to see them off since it will be a
while before they’re back on Tutuila.
On my way into school today I had my first run in with a
pack of dogs in my village. One little dog was playing tug of war with a local
boy, and after I walked by the dog began to bark and chase me. In what felt
like a half second three more dogs popped out of nowhere and started charging
me. I didn’t have a rock or stick or anything and pretending to grab one wasn’t
working, so I grabbed my water bottle out of my backpack and started shouting
“Alu!” (Go Away!) at them while threatening to hit them. That didn’t work
either. Luckily some locals were outside their houses and came to my rescue
before I got bit. One of the school janitors saw and told me to always carry a
stick from now on, some advice I’ll definitely be following. It sucks because I
love dogs, but the ones here are pretty terrible, or just completely
heartbreaking.
My house is good so far, but its kind of weird not having
everyone around anymore. The privacy is a good trade off, but I definitely miss
all the other volunteers. We’ll just have to make plenty of visits during the
year, easy enough for the others on Tutuila. The Manu’a people, like I said
before, will be a little harder to visit, so we probably won’t see them until
winter break when they’re back here for our mid-service break. We all have
phones though, so we’ll stay in touch and can still use each other as a support
system.
Some possibly exciting news, which I will hopefully have
confirmation on today or tomorrow, I think the administrators swapped me into
teaching Earth and Space Science instead of Chemistry, which would be
absolutely awesome. The kids are a little more difficult to manage, but I’d be
much more passionate and familiar with the material, so I think management will
end up being easier for me in the long run. We’ll see if it’s true or not, but
I’ll keep my fingers crossed and hope for the best.
Not much else to update about, the island is still beautiful
and the people are still friendly. I’m really looking forward to classes
starting and getting into the swing of the school year. Missing all of you guys
back home or wherever you’re reading from!!
Mike
No comments:
Post a Comment