A few pics

Tropical Cyclone Evan floods the river behind our hotel

The lobby of our hotel

The street outside our hotel

A school in Apia

Downriver from one of the hardest-hit areas of Apia

Mary's face glows from within a destroyed fale

Power, phone, off to Savai'i

We gathered as a group last night to celebrate Christmas together. We exchanged gifts as Secret Santas, listened to carols, and talked for a few hours. Then, we got a special Christmas present for all of us--the power came back on at our hotel! The hotel is still without water but it's been nice to be able to charge up our phones and computers and have light to pack with.

During our celebration someone sneaked into my room and stool my (brand new) phone. They managed to take the $9.00 of credit I had within a few minutes. I called around to the phone company and the PC safety and security officer but it seemed pretty hopeless. Then, as I was heading to my room for bed whoever took my phone had replaced it on the railing next to my door. I was happy to see it returned and if someone needed credit on their phone during the aftermath of Cyclone Evan I'm glad they were able to get it.

Now I'm packing the last of my things before they are packed into a van and we head over to the ferry to Savai'i. Update soon (I hope)!

Swearing-in

Well, I'm officially a Peace Corps Volunteer as of about an hour ago! The beginning is done and I head off to my permanent site tomorrow morning. We were originally supposed to swear-in last Friday but seeing as though the cyclone was still raging above and around us it was postponed. Unfortunately, our families from the training village weren't able to attend nor was the Prime Minister as he was intending to. But we did get to see the U.S. embassy and spend one last afternoon with most of our PC staff. I gave a short speech to the group as did the PC Country Director and the Charges de Affairs.

And the 2 years begin now...

Tropical Cyclone Evan: Update

Apia, December 14, 2012

We were hit by a cyclone yesterday. It started as a category 1 but I heard that it increased in strength to a category 2. It did quite a bit of damage and it appears that power is out on the whole island for about 2 weeks. It's been very hard to get information but it appears as though the storm is heading back our way. It already had sustained winds of ~100mph. So much rain fell that the river overflowed and flooded the area around our hotel. The Peace Corps Medical Officer told me that she had never seen damage like the flooding behind the hotel. We went into the Peace Corps office to find the floor covered in about and inch or more of mud. I don't have my phone because it's at the phone company for repairs so I haven't been able to contact any of my family.

I feel really antsy. I'd like to get out and check out the damage and help clean up if possible. We were supposed to swear in this morning but that has been pushed back indefinitely. That's sad because the Prime Minister of Samoa and the U.S. Ambassador were going to be present. I was also set to give the swearing-in speech for our group. All-in-all, a very crazy and intense beginning to our PC service.


Apia, December 16, 2012

I've been without power or internet in our hotel for almost a week now due to Evan. I was hoping to post some blogs to update about training and where we are at now. It appears that will have to wait. Parts of Apia are now getting power and I'm at an internet cafe right now. I just wanted to update everyone.

First, if you haven't heard, Tropical Cyclone Evan, a category 2 (at the time) cyclone hit Samoa last Thursday. It has delayed our training, swearing-in, and moving to our permanent sites. We are all safe but the same cannot be said for many families in Samoa. Yesterday, a group of us PC Trainees/Volunteers went to Red Cross to volunteer. We were able to help organize donations, enter data, and distribute food. The evacuation site I was volunteering at had nearly 700 people living there (with only about 4 toilets). Some of the Peace Corps staff's houses were destroyed. Their families are safe and they still came in to help clean up the PC office which had about 2-3 inches of mud in about half of the office including the director's office.

Also, I am safe. There isn't much information and we have to wait for the PC office in Wash. DC to open up tomorrow. It's already Monday here but we have to wait until Tuesday our time for any info because of the time difference. It looks like we'll be in Apia for a few more days. I'll let you know more when I can. I have plenty of pics and videos to post when I have time. It does sound like it was very lucky that we weren't in our training village. It sounds like most of our houses were destroyed.

It's weird to think that this is the holiday season--it really doesn't feel like it here with the tropical weather, muddy roads, and destruction. But, we are doing a Secret Santa gift exchange and trying to stay in the spirit of the holidays. Love to you all and send a few extra hugs around in my place for the holidays. Know that you are all in my thoughts!

(Continued: Patamea, January 10, 2013)

We ended up spending nearly an extra week in Apia. most of the time trapped in our hotel because the river's flood waters had surrounded the entire building. I was finally able to go out and view the damage a few days after the storm. While everywhere looked damaged, the areas immediately next to the river were completely demolished. On Sunday, December 15, most of us went to volunteer with the Red Cross. I spent the day helping out at an evacuation site. We distributed food and water as well as medical and hygiene kits. I heard that around 7,000-8,000 people were evacuated to different sites. That's basically a quarter of the entire population of Apia, the capitol. The mountains around Apia were more or less stripped of vegetation. It sounds like it will be a few months before farming gets back to normal. They sent us off the Savai'i on the 19th, the day after our swearing-in ceremony finally took place at the U.S. Embassy.

Videos:
Start of the storm
In full swing
Aftermath

Pictures:

 

 

 

First week in Samoa

                 When we arrived in Samoa we were all staring out the windows to get a glimpse of our new homes. We saw some islands and some pretty awesome beaches through the tiny portal windows of the airplane. Upon landing, we were greeted by press cameras and Peace Corps staff and volunteers as well as people from the embassy. It was very warm welcome and you can even see our picture in the Samoan newspaper. I think you can find it if you Google “Peace Corps Group 84 Samoa Observer” or something similar. I am typing up my blogs beforehand and just going online to post them so I haven’t been able to check that for sure but it’s definitely the Samoa(n) Observer.

                They took us to our hotel after a brief tour of Apia, the capitol. We had a short introduction and orientation meeting followed by pizza and drinks. We chatted for a bit then I went to bed quite early. The sun sets here at about 7:00ish so I’m normally in bed by 8:00pm or 9:00pm.

                The sun rose at about 7am the next morning. We all woke up, had breakfast and loaded into the vans that were taking us to the Ava Ceremony. This is a welcome ceremony in Samoa during which the host party welcomes the travelling party to the village. This was the first Peace Corps Ava Ceremony in 2 years. Normally there are new volunteers that arrive every year in Samoa but last year the Peace Corps was unable to send a group of volunteers. Even if the ceremony had happened last year, it is still an event that only happens once a year (or twice in our case). In other words, it was a very special ceremony in which the Peace Corps Samoa director, staff, and current volunteers as well as staff from the embassy participated in welcoming our new group of 13.

During the ceremony we heard the Samoan PC staff talk to us in Samoan. I understood fa’amolemole (please), fa’afatei (thank you), pisikoa (Peace Corps), and Barack Obama. The US ambassador to Samoa was also present and explained to us the history of Peace Corps in Samoa and how much respect we have (and have to earn during our time here). He also explained how the word for Peace Corps (pisikoa) in Samoan is synonymous with volunteer.  We have a lot of work ahead of us. We weren’t allowed to have cameras but the director of management and operations was able to take photos for us. I haven’t seen them yet but I’ll post them when and if they are available.

The first week of training was intense. We eagerly sat through hours of medical training to make sure we were healthy from the get go, security and safety briefings, team-building exercises, and discussions and skits from current Peace Corps Volunteers. The trainings generally lasted from 8:00am to 5:00pm. In the evenings we’d go for walks around town or hang out and recharge at the hotel with games and songs. We had some language training to prepare us for our arrival in the training village of Utulaelae where we’ll be staying with host families.

I won’t have internet access for the next few (3.5 to 9) weeks so you may not hear from me for a bit. But I’ll definitely be taking notes. Expect either a long post or several short posts all at once in a few weeks.

I’m having a blast. I wish I could write more or chat directly with more of my family friends but know that I’m definitely thinking about you. If you send me a message or email but don’t hear from me for a while please assume and understand that it is because I don’t have much internet access.

Love and peace.

Airport struggles

I'm sitting in the Los Angeles International Airport, terminal 2, gate 28. After an energizing yet at the same time exhausting staging event at the Radisson we were off to the airport. We thought we were going to be leaving at 9:45pm from terminal 7, United. After unloading the bus we were told that we were at the wrong terminal. We had to go to Air New Zealand at terminal 2. After arriving at terminal 2 and unloading we were told that our flight was leaving at 11:45pm, 2 hours later. Security was a pain and I'm exhausted. Boarding the plane now. I'll right as soon as possible.

Day Before Staging

Well, I'm here at my brother and sister-in-law's house in Murrieta, CA outside of Los Angeles. I'll be headed into Los Angeles tomorrow to meet all the other volunteers in my group (as well as about 30 volunteers who will be going to Vanuatu, an island country near Samoa). I need to be there to register tomorrow night and stay the night. Then I'll be in orientation all day on Friday. We will bus to the airport at 6:00pm and wait for our flight to Auckland which departs at 9:45pm. It will be a 13-hour flight with about a 4-hour layover in Auckland before a nearly 4-hour flight to Samoa. It's almost here!

All the things I'm bringing fit in 3 bags and weigh about 75lbs.