Vaiola Steps

After our week in the office and classroom, we joined Elder & Sister Deffense Saturday morning for a venture to climb the Vaiola stairs, finally.  As our adventures often do, this one blossomed.  Shortly after we reached the top of all 213 steps, a group of young adults from the Apia, Upolu Institute made the climb as well.   What a fun group chaperoned by Sister Kalama (she and her husband are from Hawaii & are serving in Samoa.)  We had a lot of laughs and poses for pictures.  By the time we finished saying “cheese” for all the cell phone pictures, we changed it to moldy cheese.  The young brothers and sisters had come over to Savaii to present a devotional Sunday evening in another village.  Everyone knows about the Vaiola stairs and it becomes a point of interest for visitors.  Only one person out of our group had ever climbed them prior to this.

Looking down at Vaiola Campus

Looking down at the palm-lined road up to Vaiola.

Our house with the two missionary cars parked out front.

Elder & Sister Deffense

Looking off toward Upolu.

Our group of Institute friends.

214 Steps

Later that afternoon, Elder & Sister Deffense and us trekked to a waterfall, about a 35 minute drive.  We walked along the ocean, past wary mama pigs, and around fresh cow patties until the waterfalls came into view.  Literally at the top of the falls, children were swimming while their mother washed laundry.  

 

As an ending note, we might mention Samoa TV on Sunday.  All programming is religious.  Today we watched a special about the Mormon Tabernacle Choir narrated by Walter Cronkite.  Sometimes they play a movie centered on a priest or a church.  They rebroadcast church services in Samoan from varying denominations including LDS.  We have seen Bible story movies and LDS videos occasionally played like 17 Miracles (about the pioneers).  We love how the day is dedicated to worship.  Very few stores are open on Sundays.  The Sabbath is peaceful and quiet on our campus.

4th Term

This past week began a new term, the last term of this school year which runs February through November.  Students are subject to internal final exams as well as external (government) exams and so stress plays out for students as well as teachers.  Additionally, some teachers are required to  proctor external exams in government schools.  A devotional this week focused on how to alleviate stress and how to cope.  Elder Kinghorn made his presentation animated and it was well received. 

We finished grading all 400 SLEP tests that show English profiency through listening and reading assessment.  Ron has developed a partial data analysis that we hope to track next year to show progress by advancing grade levels. 

In addition, our staff development courses resumed.  We teach a class on Wednesdays from 3:15-5:00 p.m. and another from 6:30-8:15 p.m.    On Thursdays we teach from 3:15-5:00 p.m.    We attend administration leadership meetings with department heads every other Tuesday after school.  Faculty meetings are on Fridays at 6:30 a.m.  Hopefully this gives a glimpse of our ongoing labors.

On Friday a steady downpour of rain was substantial lasting two to three afternoon hours---5-8” during that time throughout Samoa.  Yet, during the downpour, the dorm boys were playing ball, sliding and splashing in the water puddles covering the grassy area; and continued playing volleyball.  We saw fords where the overflows were evident.

Even so, the rains let up about 7:00 p.m and we were able to hold movie night with the dorm girls, showing Chronicles of Narnia. 

The everyday activites were conversations about school, visiting teaching a friend, seeing another friend hurting while caring for a dying family pet calf named Nancy, receiving a gift of fresh pineapple and mangos, assisting with a requested download, picking fresh green beans, cleaning, laundering, grocery shopping, etc.

Below are some random pictures of the past week:

Ron's Mini Garden

Notice how the looong green beans trellis up this clothesline.

Torrential sheets of rain

White Sunday & Upolu Visit

Today is White Sunday in Samoa.  It is a national holiday intended to celebrate children; family members serve the children by doing their chores, letting them play, and feasting.  White Sunday is more celebrated than Christmas and children receive gifts.  The shops and stores were bustling all weekend in preparation of buying white clothing, gifts and plenty of food.  White clothing was being sold everywhere.  It is a long weekend holiday so our schools resume on Tuesday, after this past two-week school break.

We were fortunate to spend time this week in Upolu touring the island and getting together with other senior missionaries for activities.  We took a day to drive the east side of the island and travel the crossroad.  There are more island crossroads in Upolu than in Savaii where roads do not cross the interior because of the lava terrain and jungle growth.  Upolu has a lot of sites to visit. Leaving Apia we travelled along the northshore with lovely coastal scenery.  Along the way we went inland for a distance before drossing over a rugged and very windy, steep road up and over a mountainside ridge.  Along the ascent we stopped at a small but lovely falls before rapidly descending down to the gorgeous Fago-Iopa Bay where we stopped and gathered some distinctive seashells from the area. Retracing our road back up over the ridge we commenced to travel to the south and easterly end of the island traveling through an array of small towns and amazing scenes along the ocean. The day of our drive it rained across the south and up until we crossed the highest point going north again.  Even so, it was enjoyable and we had breaks in the rain that allowed to stop here and there to see waterfalls and ocean views.

Falefa Falls

Falefa Falls

Love their many old churches---beautiful stained glass windows.

Papapapai-Uta Falls

Thursday morning, we attended a temple session in the Apia Temple.  

Afterwards we visited the cultural center which is open to the public on certain weekdays to share and teach about Samoan culture.  We were intrigued with the tapa paper or tapa cloth process in which cloth is made from the bark of a tree. "Tapa can be decorated by rubbing, stamping, stenciling, or dyeing. The patterns of Tongan, Samoan, and Fijian tapa usually form a grid of squares, each of which contains geometric patterns with repeated motifs such as fish and plants....Traditional dyes are usually black and rust-brown." [wikipedia] The tapacloth  can be print screened for lava lavas or for wall hangings.  They use natural resources for the dyes used in printing.  We were served lunch of fish, chicken, and taro leaves cooked in coconut cream on a leaf in the woven reed like basket.  We were entertained with music and dancing.

Squeezing out excess water of bark with a smooth rock.

Turtle Carving

Chris, the moderator.

Across from the Cultural Center Fale in Apia stands a 

beautiful Catholic Church with amazing architecture:

Thursday evening our group attended a Fiafia (fee-ah, fee-ah) at the Le Manumea Resort.  A fiafia means a celebration or get together.  A beautiful dinner buffet was served with entertainment following.  The restaurant was full as there were other groups there mainly from Australia and New Zealand on holiday.  The traditional kava ceremony was performed and a variety of dances.  They gave a demonstration of the many ways a woman can wear a lava lava wrap as a dress or cover up.  Fire dancers were awesome. The best part of the evening was the company of nine other senior missionaries.

Friday was a perfect day!  Four of us couples ventured on the Coastal Walk which is a hike along the ocean across lava terrain.  We were quite a way above the seashore and could look out across at the magnificent architecture of standing lava arch structures carved out by water erosion over time.  The walk was relaxing as it wasn’t too hot nor rainy with just enough cloud cover to be enjoyable. 

This plant's orange appendages produce a "paintbrush"

Organic paintbrush for painting and dyeing.

We had our potluck picnic lunch down the road at the Togitogiga Falls in a fale there.  The falls empty into a clear-water pool in which a few of us went swimming.  

On the return we stopped at a little art gallery and café that is tucked off the road.  The Tiapapata Art Centre displays beautifully crafted pottery dishes; pottery animals like pigs, chickens, and turtles; stationary cards with original prints; and other artwork.  We visited with the amiable artist/owner, Wendy Pervicel, from Wellington, New Zealand.  She makes delicious ice cream in flavors of green tea, koko Samoa, coffee, orange ginger, soursop (a tart fruit), and pineapple as well as other healthy dishes like ganoush and hummus entrees. It was a delightful spot to end our day with a treat and in the best of company.

The green is the Soursop fruit.

Saturday we returned to Savaii on the afternoon ferry; it was packed with passengers meeting families for White Sunday.