dance, dance, dance

The thoughts and opinions expressed in this blog are my own and do not represent those of the WorldTeach organization.

April 30, 2011

Sorry for the delayed update to my blog. These past two weeks have been extremely busy and the Internet has been very limiting. When I last wrote we were preparing for Music Festival and Samoan Day. Music Festival was held on Wednesday, April 13th. The days leading up to it were with limited instruction. On Tuesday we had four classes before school was cut for the day. The elementary schools came up to “practice” and then everyone was dismissed. The “practice” lasted through one song out of the twenty they performed on Wednesday night. Wednesday was a waste of a school day. We had two classes that day and the classes were cut a half an hour each. The rest of the day was meant for setting up which didn’t take too long. Eventually we went home and rested for the big night. Olosega Elementary arrived around 5 PM on the MV Sili. Once they rested and ate “lunch” the bus took them up to the school for the festival.

The Music Festival was very exciting. All the students were excited and ready to dance. After two months of practice I hope they were ready. The event lasted well into the night. The high school was the last to perform and we were the shortest performance. The three elementary schools took about an hour each where we only took about twenty minutes. At the end there was a little bit of free dancing before everyone headed home. We were, of course, given much to eat. I finally arrived home around 11 PM and was ready for bed. Felicia and Matt, the volunteers over at Olosega elementary, were staying in our village for the night so Josh and I walked over to hang out with them for a bit. Felicia and I decided that we were way too tired to hold a conversation together so we left Josh and Matt to talk and went to bed. The MV Sili was ready to return to Tutuila so we had an early start to the next morning. Everyone was completely exhausted. The kids were tired, the teachers were tired, and the parents were tired. The day drug on endlessly. I think we started at 7 AM that morning and didn’t finish until after noon. Olosega had to leave midway through all the performances just to catch the boat home. There weren’t as many onlookers and the heat was getting to everyone. I was tired of seeing the same songs and dances performed over and over again. Eventually everyone left and it was time for cleanup.

Josh and I stayed for a few hours cleaning up the gym. I was the only one that thought to pick up the trash outside the gym and so in the sun for two hours I was bent over picking up everyone’s trash. I guess I didn’t really have to do it, but I am tired of the mounds of trash all over this island. Once the gym cleaned up some of the local boys stuck around to play basketball. It took a few games before they let me play and even then I was never passed the ball. Eventually half court became full court and that is when I was actually playing basketball. All my lazy students couldn’t run down the court fast enough. It was fun playing basketball again but it kept me up at school until well into the evening. When Josh and I got home we were extremely tired. After my nap I ate some pasta and went back to bed. Friday was another day of activities.

Friday was Junior Prom. I left my house around 8:30 AM and walked up to school to help with cleaning and decorating. I didn’t feel like I did much but just my presence was enough. The fence around the gym was given a nice blue FEMA tarp to block any outsider’s view of the dance. Inside there was a stage and then about 40 tables set up for the students, the parents, the staff, and guests. Holly, Josh’s girlfriend, was arriving later that afternoon for the three day weekend. When he left for the airport I left to walk home. I rested on the couch for a bit reading my book before Crystal came over to read as well. Eventually Holly and Josh got to the house and I showered to get ready for the dance. Leafa cut my hair at her house early in the afternoon and when I was there she decided she wanted to do my hair for the prom. After my shower, I dressed, and headed to Leafa’s where I was to meet Crystal. I felt as though my hair was a lot fancier than most of the students’ at the prom!

We were never told a definite time for the dance to start. Crystal and I decided to start walking up around 6:30. As we were approaching the high school there were about twenty cars parked but all the lights at the school were turned off. We went to my room to hang out until the dance began. As soon as I opened my doors students starting coming in and using my room as a dressing room. I held open my room for almost an hour and almost missed the students entering the gym for the night. When I arrived in the gym I got to see how the tables were labeled. There were tables in the front right designated for the faculty and staff. To the left of the gym, each table was designated for one of the juniors and their date along with their parents! Behind my table were the guests which were mostly seniors or underclassmen. It made for an interesting evening.

First, the junior and his/her date had to walk down the center of the gym and meet in the middle of the stage. There the male kneeled down and placed flowers on the girls’ wrist or handed her a bouquet. Then they walked hand in hand down the stairs in the front of the stage. I felt it was very cliché. The weirdest part about the whole thing was that most of the “couples” were sister and brother. Even the junior’s who had boyfriends or girlfriends had to bring their sister or brother as their date (their parent’s made them). I thought it was all a bit weird and awkward for them. After every couple walked across the stage, they were called back up to dance in front of everyone. The first song was a nice slow song which was pretty interesting. Most people were staring up at the ceiling keeping the two feet distance between their partners. In all the dances I have been to since I have been out here there has yet to be a slow song at any of them. Next, they had to dance to a more upbeat song which took away only a small portion of the awkwardness. After three of these torturous songs, the announcer for the night finally opened the dance floor to all. I was one of the first out there! I didn’t sit down much the rest of the night. Only when they played songs where we had to throw out money to the dancer did I sit down. Whenever there is a dance in the village this happens. Some representative for the family walks into the center of the fale and starts dancing. You are supposed to throw money at them or on them. It makes me feel like I am at a strip club or something so I don’t go up and participate. They had about five of these at the junior prom.

The next morning there was a cleanup at the high school. Josh and Holly went for a hike to the national park for Josh’s birthday and I went up to assist with the cleanup. It didn’t take too long to cleanup the school. I went home around 2 o’clock and relaxed and rested around the house. I made a few more bracelets and then Crystal and I went for a late night walk. We walked to Saunoa’s house and turned around. When we got back it was pretty late and I went home to read and go to bed. The next day was Palm Sunday. Palm Sunday proved to be very similar to all the other church services I have been to here: boring and mundane. After church I planned on walking to Fitiuta and back. Crystal was going to joined me and then backed out an hour before we planned to leave. Six hours later I made it back to Faleasao exhausted and hungry.

On the 18th of April we started a new schedule at the school: block scheduling. In part two, I will let you know how that went.

Love,

Gretchen