Monday, May 10, 2010
Savaii II
Just had an adventure getting home. Ferry over booked by several hundred people. Adam went for a passenger ticket meanwhile i got called to drive the car on. The boat then set sail without adam and many others. After minor panic they now have another boat coming so im waiting 2 hours for him to get here. This is samoa!
Super savaii
Its been a lovely few days in savaii celebrating our 5th wedding anniversary. Could quite easily get used to living in a fale on the beach swimming every day. Walked up a star mound first day. Not sure what possessed us in the overgrown bush and 33 degree heat. Swim at the water falls after was the saviour. Plenty of jack drunk along with some blue juice!
Monday, May 3, 2010
Grass skirts, grass courts, grass mats and prayers
Last Saturday dawned a bit of a rainy day. Actually torrential at times but this did not dampen spirits. This was the day of the Champ of Champs netball tournament for Secondary Schools to be held at Samoa College.
The games were scheduled to start at 8.00am which meant a 6.00am rise for me, something normally quite unheard of unless it's an emergency situation!! On went the white umpiring gear as I wiped the sleep from my eyes and packed up a few supplies for a day at the courts. I was tasked with bringing the big water cooler and the request was for it to be filled with "Happy Juice" our Hyundai concoction of cheap and nasty vodka mixed with Sprim, a powdered cordial. Being so early in the morning and being it was a school competition I decided to err on the conservative side and filled the cooler with water and ice. Very boring I know!
Purchasing the ice was the first drama of the day. The corner shop was frantically busy at 7.00am and I wondered what all these people were doing out of bed at this hour?! Next fun part was trying to get through the road works through the centre of town in the pouring rain along with every other car in Samoa all the while wondering if my efforts were in vain and if the tournament was going to be cancelled as it was being held outside. I made it to Apia Park our meeting place but not before being stopped at the Police check point where I had to flash the pearly whites and apologise profusely for not carrying my drivers licence with me. Luckily I did have my seatbelt on and the car had a current registration.
We headed up to Samoa College next and this was to be a treat for me. 5 netball courts laid out on the grass in the middle of the rugby field!! This is the way it is done in the islands but the first time I have seen netball played on a grass court. Holes had been dug in the field and the goal posts were held up with rough pieces of wood jammed in to stop them wobbling. Well this is Samoa and we make the best of what we have here.
The day turned out to be fantastic. After the prerequisite opening ceremony and prayers the tournament got underway probably half an hour late which is customary! Many schools were there and 5 courts ran continuously from 9.00am-3.00pm. Us umpires facilitated a one on one off roster. The rain stayed away, the puddles on the field dried up and the sun beat down on us. It was noisy with the sounds pumping from the DJ and it was very very hot out there. The umpires were all decked out in bright red Digicel sponsored t-shirts and caps. I plastered on the sun block but still managed a slight pink tinge by the end of the day. An Uncle Johnny's ice block for 50 sene from the College Canteen was my saving grace during the afternoon. The players were decked out in all manner of uniforms. Some obviously sponsored from overseas and others home made local versions but nothing could stop the fun and excitement of your team winning! Footware of the players also varied from bare feet to jandals and luckily the holes on the field had been filled with sand before the tournament started.
We all managed to scout for up and coming young players for our clubs and I even managed to recruit a Sister who is interested in joining our umpiring group for the main season. All in all a very successful and fun filled day.
Our umpiring is really taking off over here. We have a group going now under the Samoa Netball Association and there are 10-12 of us currently taking this task seriously. Yesterday we studied and sat the Netball New Zealand regional exam for umpiring. It was a tough paper and we have to get 85% to pass so are now waiting in suspense to see if some of us can pull through and raise the standard of umpiring in Samoa for the first time. Fingers crossed. For the next month we will all be training and preparing as the main netball season starts on the 5th June.
The games were scheduled to start at 8.00am which meant a 6.00am rise for me, something normally quite unheard of unless it's an emergency situation!! On went the white umpiring gear as I wiped the sleep from my eyes and packed up a few supplies for a day at the courts. I was tasked with bringing the big water cooler and the request was for it to be filled with "Happy Juice" our Hyundai concoction of cheap and nasty vodka mixed with Sprim, a powdered cordial. Being so early in the morning and being it was a school competition I decided to err on the conservative side and filled the cooler with water and ice. Very boring I know!
Purchasing the ice was the first drama of the day. The corner shop was frantically busy at 7.00am and I wondered what all these people were doing out of bed at this hour?! Next fun part was trying to get through the road works through the centre of town in the pouring rain along with every other car in Samoa all the while wondering if my efforts were in vain and if the tournament was going to be cancelled as it was being held outside. I made it to Apia Park our meeting place but not before being stopped at the Police check point where I had to flash the pearly whites and apologise profusely for not carrying my drivers licence with me. Luckily I did have my seatbelt on and the car had a current registration.
We headed up to Samoa College next and this was to be a treat for me. 5 netball courts laid out on the grass in the middle of the rugby field!! This is the way it is done in the islands but the first time I have seen netball played on a grass court. Holes had been dug in the field and the goal posts were held up with rough pieces of wood jammed in to stop them wobbling. Well this is Samoa and we make the best of what we have here.
The day turned out to be fantastic. After the prerequisite opening ceremony and prayers the tournament got underway probably half an hour late which is customary! Many schools were there and 5 courts ran continuously from 9.00am-3.00pm. Us umpires facilitated a one on one off roster. The rain stayed away, the puddles on the field dried up and the sun beat down on us. It was noisy with the sounds pumping from the DJ and it was very very hot out there. The umpires were all decked out in bright red Digicel sponsored t-shirts and caps. I plastered on the sun block but still managed a slight pink tinge by the end of the day. An Uncle Johnny's ice block for 50 sene from the College Canteen was my saving grace during the afternoon. The players were decked out in all manner of uniforms. Some obviously sponsored from overseas and others home made local versions but nothing could stop the fun and excitement of your team winning! Footware of the players also varied from bare feet to jandals and luckily the holes on the field had been filled with sand before the tournament started.
We all managed to scout for up and coming young players for our clubs and I even managed to recruit a Sister who is interested in joining our umpiring group for the main season. All in all a very successful and fun filled day.
Our umpiring is really taking off over here. We have a group going now under the Samoa Netball Association and there are 10-12 of us currently taking this task seriously. Yesterday we studied and sat the Netball New Zealand regional exam for umpiring. It was a tough paper and we have to get 85% to pass so are now waiting in suspense to see if some of us can pull through and raise the standard of umpiring in Samoa for the first time. Fingers crossed. For the next month we will all be training and preparing as the main netball season starts on the 5th June.
Books, Books and yet more Books!
Well it's been 4 months since the load of 200 cartons of books arrived at our place and we are still delivering boxes and trying to arrange assistance with transport. This is proving to be a difficult task! In a round about way we now have contact with the right person at MESC - Ministry of Education, Sports and Culture and also with the Peace Corps Volunteers who are working in the Government schools so have been able to orgainse some more deliveries and identify truely needy schools to give the books to. Last week we went on an adventure to Fagaloa Bay to make a delivery to the Sauago Primary School....
The day dawned bright and sunny. Another lovely day in paradise. Adam loaded the car up completely so that no more boxes, or people for that matter, could fit in and off we went. It was a slowish trip around the north eastern part of Upolu behind all manner of vehicles out for a Sunday drive (on a Wednesday?!) We had consulted the map on the MESC web site and Adam said he was familiar with where we needed to go. Not far from where he has been working on one of the community centres. We headed up the big hill of the Le Mafa pass and kept going until we reached the turn off for Fagaloa bay. On the corner was a stall selling local produce. The road swiftly turned into a one lane sealed track. Being so high up the views were astounding looking down over the green lush vegetation to the sparkling blue sea. We made our way down the narrow winding road until we reached the bottom and swiftly realised we were in the wrong village! Luckily Adam had knowledge of the coast road or more like grassy farm track and knew it was unpassable in our low riding, loaded up car.
So back up the narrow winding road we went. Back along the Le Mafa pass and then we noticed the sign by a water fall for the Sauago village so knew we were heading in the right direction.
Now if we thought the previous narrow winding road was interesting the adventure was about to get more .... adventursome!! Narrower, steeper and more pot holed than ever we had to pick our way through at snails pace so as not to take the bottom out of the car. By this point we were swiftly heading towards being an hour late for our appointment however this is Samoa where time is of no essence!! The drive was picturesque. Palm trees and banana plants along the side of the road and again lovely views down towards the bay and the beautiful water.
We passed the men sitting in the shade of a tree carving wooden souvenirs. We also saw those cracking open coconuts and chopping up the flesh before laying it out on corrugated iron in the sun. Before long we passed some cows tied up on the side of the road and entered a village. We spied a rare sign only to discover we had somehow come too far and completely missed the village and the school we were heading for.
With the help of some friendly local villagers we managed to find where we needed to head and were escourted back along the road by a man, a parent and several children dressed in blue and white school uniforms carrying frozen cordial in plastic bags. Boy I could have done with one of those as it was extremely hot by now.
We tracked down Kyle the Peace Corps Volunteer and found the school buried in behind a fale and down a small hill. Many many excited and noisy children came to greet the palagi car and before long many willing strong boys were lifting and carring heavy boxes inside.
The school was pearched on a rise overlooking the sea but was like taking a trip into the past. Blackboards written on with chalk and wooden bench seats and desks. This school was doing their very best with what they had and the teachers and children were very cheerful and lively. We were shown the library which was also acting as a store room. There were a few old and dusty books on the shelves but they were desperately in need to something more. Thankfully we had quite a number of boxes to help them out.
The teachers and Kyle were very grateful for the donations and it was lovely to be able to deliver these books to a worthy recipient. One of the teachers immediately sat down and started reading a story so we have no doubts these books will go to good use. We were given a hand made thank you card which now has pride of place in the USP Library. Morning tea on offer was pot noodles and a cup of very strong very milky and very sweet coffee. All quite delicious after our journey.
This project has been a lot of hard work but is made all the worth while when deliveries such as this are made to happen. Tomorrow we are off to deliver to one of the Government Secondary Schools and Wednesday over to Savaii again with the car loaded up. After this there will only be a few cartons left.
An official thank you to all of the libraries in New Zealand and BECA who donated books will be posted soon along with an article for the papers but just in case you are reading now, thank you for helping us to make such a difference to the schools in Samoa. Faafetai tele lava.
The day dawned bright and sunny. Another lovely day in paradise. Adam loaded the car up completely so that no more boxes, or people for that matter, could fit in and off we went. It was a slowish trip around the north eastern part of Upolu behind all manner of vehicles out for a Sunday drive (on a Wednesday?!) We had consulted the map on the MESC web site and Adam said he was familiar with where we needed to go. Not far from where he has been working on one of the community centres. We headed up the big hill of the Le Mafa pass and kept going until we reached the turn off for Fagaloa bay. On the corner was a stall selling local produce. The road swiftly turned into a one lane sealed track. Being so high up the views were astounding looking down over the green lush vegetation to the sparkling blue sea. We made our way down the narrow winding road until we reached the bottom and swiftly realised we were in the wrong village! Luckily Adam had knowledge of the coast road or more like grassy farm track and knew it was unpassable in our low riding, loaded up car.
So back up the narrow winding road we went. Back along the Le Mafa pass and then we noticed the sign by a water fall for the Sauago village so knew we were heading in the right direction.
Now if we thought the previous narrow winding road was interesting the adventure was about to get more .... adventursome!! Narrower, steeper and more pot holed than ever we had to pick our way through at snails pace so as not to take the bottom out of the car. By this point we were swiftly heading towards being an hour late for our appointment however this is Samoa where time is of no essence!! The drive was picturesque. Palm trees and banana plants along the side of the road and again lovely views down towards the bay and the beautiful water.
We passed the men sitting in the shade of a tree carving wooden souvenirs. We also saw those cracking open coconuts and chopping up the flesh before laying it out on corrugated iron in the sun. Before long we passed some cows tied up on the side of the road and entered a village. We spied a rare sign only to discover we had somehow come too far and completely missed the village and the school we were heading for.
With the help of some friendly local villagers we managed to find where we needed to head and were escourted back along the road by a man, a parent and several children dressed in blue and white school uniforms carrying frozen cordial in plastic bags. Boy I could have done with one of those as it was extremely hot by now.
We tracked down Kyle the Peace Corps Volunteer and found the school buried in behind a fale and down a small hill. Many many excited and noisy children came to greet the palagi car and before long many willing strong boys were lifting and carring heavy boxes inside.
The school was pearched on a rise overlooking the sea but was like taking a trip into the past. Blackboards written on with chalk and wooden bench seats and desks. This school was doing their very best with what they had and the teachers and children were very cheerful and lively. We were shown the library which was also acting as a store room. There were a few old and dusty books on the shelves but they were desperately in need to something more. Thankfully we had quite a number of boxes to help them out.
The teachers and Kyle were very grateful for the donations and it was lovely to be able to deliver these books to a worthy recipient. One of the teachers immediately sat down and started reading a story so we have no doubts these books will go to good use. We were given a hand made thank you card which now has pride of place in the USP Library. Morning tea on offer was pot noodles and a cup of very strong very milky and very sweet coffee. All quite delicious after our journey.
This project has been a lot of hard work but is made all the worth while when deliveries such as this are made to happen. Tomorrow we are off to deliver to one of the Government Secondary Schools and Wednesday over to Savaii again with the car loaded up. After this there will only be a few cartons left.
An official thank you to all of the libraries in New Zealand and BECA who donated books will be posted soon along with an article for the papers but just in case you are reading now, thank you for helping us to make such a difference to the schools in Samoa. Faafetai tele lava.
Le Uaina
Talofa. We'd like to tell you about the Le Uaina resort on Upolu, Samoa just past the Piula Cave Pools on the North Eastern coast. We went and stayed here at Easter so had a lovely 3 nights in paradise. The resort is fairly new, only opened 4 months previously and still has more fales under construction at the far end of the beach. Meanwhile though there are a number of Garden fales and we were staying in one of the Ocean View fales.
After being greeted with a lovely Samoan Smile we were shown to our air conditioned room which was simple but very comfortable. The mini fridge was soon stocked with the Jack and Coke and the Banana Muffins and Easter Eggs we had brought along. We were soon relaxed into reading our books and contenplating a dip in the sea.
All persuits are available from this resort, kayaking, snorkelling, swimming, relaxing, reading, lounging, Happy Hour (yes Hedley!) and lovely food served outdoors on the spacious deck. Breakfast is included in the room rate and was a lovely spread of eggs, toast, cereal, fresh fruit and pancakes etc.
It rained (of course - remember we were on holiday) and the sun shone. We visited the Piula fresh water Cave Pools 2 minutes up the road one day but the rest of the time managed to read our way through a number of books, magazines and watch a few movies when we weren't in the water. Many families were staying with small children along with couples. We had sandcastles built on our front porch but it was all part of the great experience. Thoroughly recommend this resort to anyone considering a holiday in Samoa and for us, we'll be back as it's a swift half hour drive from Apia so very handy!
Here is their web site if you want to check it out and make a booking. We used this booking service and it was excellent. Prompt, efficient and it worked which definately gives you peace of mind, not always something possible in Samoa! http://www.samoa-hotels.ws/Le_Uaina_Resort Our photos are also on Flickr so follow the link to the right.
After being greeted with a lovely Samoan Smile we were shown to our air conditioned room which was simple but very comfortable. The mini fridge was soon stocked with the Jack and Coke and the Banana Muffins and Easter Eggs we had brought along. We were soon relaxed into reading our books and contenplating a dip in the sea.
All persuits are available from this resort, kayaking, snorkelling, swimming, relaxing, reading, lounging, Happy Hour (yes Hedley!) and lovely food served outdoors on the spacious deck. Breakfast is included in the room rate and was a lovely spread of eggs, toast, cereal, fresh fruit and pancakes etc.
It rained (of course - remember we were on holiday) and the sun shone. We visited the Piula fresh water Cave Pools 2 minutes up the road one day but the rest of the time managed to read our way through a number of books, magazines and watch a few movies when we weren't in the water. Many families were staying with small children along with couples. We had sandcastles built on our front porch but it was all part of the great experience. Thoroughly recommend this resort to anyone considering a holiday in Samoa and for us, we'll be back as it's a swift half hour drive from Apia so very handy!
Here is their web site if you want to check it out and make a booking. We used this booking service and it was excellent. Prompt, efficient and it worked which definately gives you peace of mind, not always something possible in Samoa! http://www.samoa-hotels.ws/Le_Uaina_Resort Our photos are also on Flickr so follow the link to the right.
Friday, April 2, 2010
Beeping level 1.1 etc
The other day us netball umpires got together to do our first trial beep test. When we had a visiting NZ Umpire over in January he suggested we set a goal to reach level 5 by March then level 7 by May. We also need to sit our theory in May or June (yes have applied for that) and if we can pass and progress will have some qualified umpires up to Regional level by the end of the year.
Anyway we measured the 20 metre course, set up the CD and away we went. The recording (the downloaded one) was a little fuzzy and not sure the beeps were quite at the right intervals all the time but this is Samoa after all!
We ran up and down and up and down in time with the beeps. I got to level 8.5!!!! Wow. All the boot camp training Adam has been putting me though must be paying off! I was actually quite nervous about the test as when I did it at home up and down the drive (and on to the grass as the drive was not long enough)I got to level 6. Looks like I'm on track anyway, now just have to sustain it however it's Easter so I'm off for a 4 day relaxing break staying near the Piula Cave pools on the North East part of Upolu. The running shoes will go but may not make it out of the bag. Plenty of easter eggs are going to get eaten including the extra special Lindt bunny Adam got me the other day for WST$18!!! At least they are selling them here this year. Will report back on the snorkelling prospects near Piula and might think of you all as I sit under my palm eating Easter Eggs and having a Jack!
Anyway we measured the 20 metre course, set up the CD and away we went. The recording (the downloaded one) was a little fuzzy and not sure the beeps were quite at the right intervals all the time but this is Samoa after all!
We ran up and down and up and down in time with the beeps. I got to level 8.5!!!! Wow. All the boot camp training Adam has been putting me though must be paying off! I was actually quite nervous about the test as when I did it at home up and down the drive (and on to the grass as the drive was not long enough)I got to level 6. Looks like I'm on track anyway, now just have to sustain it however it's Easter so I'm off for a 4 day relaxing break staying near the Piula Cave pools on the North East part of Upolu. The running shoes will go but may not make it out of the bag. Plenty of easter eggs are going to get eaten including the extra special Lindt bunny Adam got me the other day for WST$18!!! At least they are selling them here this year. Will report back on the snorkelling prospects near Piula and might think of you all as I sit under my palm eating Easter Eggs and having a Jack!
The Hurricane
So interesting is our life! The vacuum cleaner emitted a funny sound, wound down and clouds of smoke poured out of it the other day. Oh well it was quite old I suppose. At home this would not be a problem but vacuum cleaners are not common around here. Cleaning the house is usually done with a sulu or broom. Buggar that though when 5 minutes with a vacuum cleaner and the job is done. So off to see one of our friends Dad who runs an electrical importers shop. He is palagi by the way! There were 3 to choose from which was a surprise. Thought there would only be 1 and that would be it! The Samoan shop keepers were not a lot of help - well as I said not much experience with a vacuum cleaner or was it just with customer service?!
Actually to digress the cleaner at work was found one day trying to clean the whole library with the pipe end of the vacuum, with no brush on. No wonder it was taking so long! I had to give a demonstration on how to vigorously vacuum backwards and forwards. It still did not get done this way but in some half arsed dragging of the brush towards you kind of action! Anyway back to the purchase.
Adam went back another day when one of the palagis were there and received a bit more help in the way of the cleaner boxes so you could at least read the specs. A choice was made. A 5% discount given, on account of being a palagi friend, and the cleaner is now at home. It is the hurricane as it sounds like one and is proudly black and yellow! Can't actually believe Adam brought that one home! In the end it was the only one with a recognised brand name - Kambrook - and had an old Briscoes sticker on so here's hoping its with us as long as the last one. Oh and funny that we had a vacuum cleaner to sell for a friend who moved back home and just got rid of that one 2 weeks ago before our one decided to blow up. Sods law huh?!
Actually to digress the cleaner at work was found one day trying to clean the whole library with the pipe end of the vacuum, with no brush on. No wonder it was taking so long! I had to give a demonstration on how to vigorously vacuum backwards and forwards. It still did not get done this way but in some half arsed dragging of the brush towards you kind of action! Anyway back to the purchase.
Adam went back another day when one of the palagis were there and received a bit more help in the way of the cleaner boxes so you could at least read the specs. A choice was made. A 5% discount given, on account of being a palagi friend, and the cleaner is now at home. It is the hurricane as it sounds like one and is proudly black and yellow! Can't actually believe Adam brought that one home! In the end it was the only one with a recognised brand name - Kambrook - and had an old Briscoes sticker on so here's hoping its with us as long as the last one. Oh and funny that we had a vacuum cleaner to sell for a friend who moved back home and just got rid of that one 2 weeks ago before our one decided to blow up. Sods law huh?!
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