LOTS in April 2018

After the Easter long weekend we had a four-day week.   Students from the TALL class (English) made presentations to us about either wedding or funeral traditions from other countries.  We scored them on a rubric which focused on correct phrase usage, vocabulary, fluency, etc.  They came prepared to present orally; some used posters; and one couple made a bridal head wreath woven around a strip of cloth which they gave to me to keep.

Ron continues to make student teacher observations for two of Vaiola College teachers.  Student Teaching is the last step to certifying in ITEP.  ITEP certification within three years is a condition of employment.

We ferried to Upolu April 9-13 where we ventured on a road trip.

Samoa has a lot of churches of all denominations.  
Below are pictures of a few in Upolu:

A new LDS church at Mulifanua under construction.

LDS Temple in Apia

Continued Road Trip 

We found ourselves at the road where they shot episodes of “Survivor” on the beach here in Samoa.  However, an entrepreneur is building a hotel in that spot and it is not accessible while under construction.  We drove another road and found ourselves facing washed out ruts deeper than the tires of the car.  After some creative maneuvering, we turned the car around and back tracked.

Directional sign to "Survivor" Beach

Aerial view from the directional sign.

Another aerial view.

Below are some miscellaneous pictures from the road trip.

Ford we had to cross.  Fortunately, the flow was minimal.

Unique looking tree.

Love these trees that are shaped so nicely.

The Fautasi's or Long Boats is usually the highlight of the Independance and Teuila Festival in Samoa. These long boats are crewed usually by up to 50 men and will row for anything up to 5 kilometers, culminating with and exciting finish in the Apia Harbour.

Canoe artifact display

Papapapaitai-Uta Waterfalls

TVET

We met with TVET missionaries, Elder & Sister Little, and a Vaiola and a Pesega teacher to go over the new SQA Tourism & Hospitality curriculum.

Pesega College Campus

Dentist

Our mission has a Sr. Missionary dentist and an assistant (his wife).  They provide dental care to Samoans on an as needed basis (which explains why they are packed every day).  Plus, they take care of senior missionary needs as well.  We scheduled a cleaning visit and that led to a surgical procedure for Ron.  He had a broken wisdom tooth which he had no clue that anything was wrong.  It was broken to the gum line which meant incising the gum issue to remove the broken tooth.  It was good that we chose to go for a checkup and it was taken care of timely and no problems.

Back in Vaiola

Over the two-week school break, we've  shown movies a couple of times:  Ghost Dad and Meet the Mormons.  On Thursday this week the International dorm girls (seven of them from Solomon Islands and Vanuatu) made cookies with me.  They are the only girls left on campus during break.  They have NEVER made cookies; we made chocolate chip and no-bake cookies.  It was a lot of fun and we munched cookies while watching the Big Mama movie showing on TV.

Pigeon

Ron made a new friend, a pigeon who he calls Vaiola.  It adopted him while he was out front transplanting his seedling plants.  The bird seemed domesticated and watched Ron intently and eventually ate bread from his hand.  It did not scare easily and stayed very close. It may have been someone's pet.  It comes back now and again.

"Vaiola", the pigeon

Eating from Ron's hand.

It intently watches what Ron is doing.

A bird conversation.

Talent Show

The Stake (several LDS Wards combined) held a youth talent show which was all singing---solos, duets, and groups.  Over a 100 youth participated!

Savaii Visit by Friends

Our missionary friends, Elder & Sister Little, and their friend visiting from the state of

Washington came to Savaii for three days.  We spent time together and revisited some fun sites.

Larry at the Waterfalls.  These originate from a river that pours into the ocean.

It was high tide so blowholes were spectacular.

Saturday we met at the Le Lagoto Resort for lunch with Elder & Sister Little, Elder & Sister Deffense, and Larry.  

Elder Little, Karla, Ron, Elder & Sister Deffense, Larry

Afterward a few of us traversed to the Dwarf Caves but a guide was not on site so we only walked the entrance area.  Below is the cave opening.  If you didn't know it existed, you'd never find it from the the jungle road.

 

Exiting the cave.

Passed this horse laden with coconuts from the plantation.

On the return from the Dwarf Caves we were first on the scene where this van had gone off the road, over the lava rock barrier and somehow kept from overturning.  When we pulled up the single passenger had carefully climbed out; he was shaken but okay.  A tow truck was needed to pull the van out.  It was really wedged in the slope!

Amazing it didn't roll down the hill into the ocean!

Front undercarriage was torn up.

Ron commented how long it has been since we've seen a rainbow and wallah, still driving home we saw this beautiful double rainbow.

Last week week we  took opportunity to climb the Vaiola steps and then again this weekend with our friends.  The view at the top of the 214 steps is always awesome.

214 Steps

Vaiola Schools

School resumes tomorrow.  Our internet is working after they purged the system virus so hopefully the next blog will be more timely.