Christmas Cheer

It has been slow, but finally we are starting to see some Christmas spirit around here. There are some decorations and lights up, but nothing like the outrageous displays you see in some parts of NZ.

We are now well into the ’13 Days of Christmas’ – this is the countdown to Christmas Day and each evening a church gets to do their show – lots of Christmas Carols and hymns etc and everyone is dressed up in their Sunday best. This is shown live on TV each evening.

The various work functions are underway. Angela is going out for dinner with her library team and USP had a few drinks after work on Friday. I have the advantage of working for 2 different companies at the moment, so get to enjoy twice the Christmas cheer! This has included a great hamper, complete with a turkey and ham from Kramer Group.

The turkey came at a good time as we had invited Nicola a Fraser around for a ‘kiwi’ Christmas dinner. Angela did a great job of the mince pies, shortbread and even a pavlova with kiwifruit on top!

Last weekend we had some of our friends from netball around for Christmas dinner. This included roast potatoes, pumpkin, chicken (we couldn’t get turkey) garlic bread etc. All the usual kiwi Christmas fare. This was also Angela’s first attempt at a pavlova, and it was a success. Actually, too much of a success as there were no leftovers for me! She also made shortbread and mince pies, but this proved to be a more challenging than normal. First we couldn’t find any pastry so had to make our own. Then we couldn’t find any fruit mince, so Angela decided to have a go at making some. It turned out good, the secret ingredient was Jack Daniels!

So, we are now feeling the Christmas spirit and looking forward to heading off to New Zealand to spend Christmas with our families. We are flying out later tonight, so in case we don’t get the chance to post anything else –

MERRY CHRISTMAS

AND A

HAPPY NEW YEAR

Village Visit

Well, last week I had my second inspection of a village water supply scheme. Things were quite similar to the first trip – everything was running late and we had to go through the same welcoming procedures before we could start our inspection. This time we enjoyed koko Samoa– the Samoan cocoa drink instead of tea. It is really good, almost as good as eating chocolate!

We had to wait for the rain to stop before we could head out. We had been warned that we might have a long walk ahead of us, but fortunately we had a decent 4WD with us and managed to get a long way up a rather rough track before we decided that the risk of getting stuck was too great – real Barry Crump stuff!!

The rest of the inspection was straight forward and we finished up back at the meeting house for the speeches etc. This time there was a fair bit of laughter and I heard the word palagi used a few times. Apparently they were conveying their appreciation for me coming out to visit their village – and their hopes that I would hurry up and complete my design and fix their water supply!

This time after the speeches we weren’t invited to partake in a feast – instead we were presented with 2 whole pigs that had been roasted in the umu while we were doing our inspection. This was accompanied by a basket of roasted taro and palusami. Apparently they were worried that we had got wet during our inspection and did want to hold us up any longer so sent us on our way along with our feast. So we loaded the food on the back of the ute and headed back to the office. There we divvied to food and tucked in. It was a bit messy, but delicious. We certainly never get anything that back in NZ!!

Samoan Ava Ceremony

Talofa all

I have just attended my first Ava ceremony in the Samoan Fale here on Alafua campus. The ceremony was to welcome the new Vice Chancellor for USP and our new Dean to the campus. We were once the Faculty of Islands and Oceans but have now been moved to the Faculty of Business and Economics hence the reason for a new Dean. We are hoping for great things out of these 2 for next year!

I have put some photos on Flickr for you to see. I am wearing my traditional Puletasi today just for the ceremony and I'm glad I did as everyone else was also dressed traditionally. When I arrived I was ushered to sit with the other female senior staff on woven mats on the floor. Shoes had to be removed and legs had to be covered. I am not used to sitting like this any more so my feet went numb!

The guests of honour were given leis and shown in. The orators then spoke (in Samoan so I cant' tell you what they said). Then the mixing of the Ava took place. The "Taupo" for the ceremony was none other than Gwendonlyn the current Miss Samoa. She looked lovely dressed in her fine woven outfit with elaborate head gear. A lot of mixing of the Ava (with stringy stuff from a coconut I think) goes on but the best part is when she squeezes out the stringy stuff and throws it over her shoulder without looking! It is up to the person behind to catch it and shake it out.

Once the Ava was mixed it was served up to the guests in a 1/2 coconut shell with lots of shouting and "Manuia's" (cheers) going on.

The new VC himself spoke and thanked everyone for the warm welcome to campus. It sounds like he has good plans to take USP forward in the future so I look forward to a meeting with him tomorrow to find out all about it.

Netball wager...

Just when you thought the netball season was over….
For the last few weeks we have been playing in a business house netball competition. This is a lot more social than our regular season, with mixed teams and shorter games. Our Hyundai club entered 3 teams and we all did quite well, with our team (Team 1) coming third in our group and Team 2 winning their group, along with $150.

Because we had been placed in different groups we never got to play against each other and this became the point of a very ‘robust’ discussion at the prize giving. Daryl from Team 2 was trying to tell us that they were the best team because they had won their group, but we figured that their group was of a lower standard and that we were a better team. Of course there was no way to resolve this argument, so after a few more drinks a challenge was laid down. Team 1 would play Team 2 at 3.00pm on Saturday. Peni and Mandy (from Team 3) would umpire and instead of the shorter 20 minute game we would play the full four 15 minute quarters. At stake would be Team 2’s prize money. This was also the source of a heated debate. We had put our prizes into the team fund, but Daryl was determined to keep the money.

When we arrived at the courts at about ten to three on Saturday we were a bit surprised that there was just one other person there. Slowly our team started to arrive, but there still wasn’t any sign of Team 2. Eventually Daryl turned up, but still no sign of the rest of his team, or our umpires. After more than an hour of waiting we finally had enough players to start the game, but Team 2 were a player short. We also decided that no one could be bothered playing 15 minute quarters on such a hot day, so we played 10 minute quarters instead. The game ended with a convincing victory for Team 1, and finally Daryl was quiet!

Wet Season

The wet season has finally arrived. After having a very dry July, August and September the rain has finally started. It started raining on Sunday morning and didn’t stop until Monday night. During this period we had more rain than July, August and September combined.

When it rains here it really rains, huge raindrops beating on the corrugated iron roof. It gets so loud that we can’t hear the TV, even at full volume!

Anyway, the Electric Power Corporation should be happy now that their dams are filling and they will be able to generate hydro-power again. Apparently this was one of the contributing factors to the blackouts we endured a month or so ago.

Our water supply at home has been ok, although they do sometimes shut it down after midnight to conserve water, but other parts of Apia and the surrounding villages have been on water restrictions for several months. Now the rain has come there should be no more water
shortages.

The ‘Samoan Carwash’ is back in business again. The ford was always flowing when we first arrived, usually about ankle deep, but has been dry since July. On Monday it was about knee deep and flowing very fast. A carwash costs 5 tala, you just stop in the middle of the ford and the boys come out with their buckets and rags and give the car a quick clean. Almost as good as the drive through carwash back in NZ!















The other good thing about the change in season is pineapples and mangoes are now available in great abundance. When we first arrived there were a few pineapples in the markets, but they were very expensive, and no mangoes. Now there are plenty in the markets and they are cheap.

Work Update (Adam)

We have finally completed the design work for the two bridges and the contracts are being tendered at the moment. We have decided to start construction after the worst of the wet season is over – April/May – so I thought things would be quite for me until then, but I have picked up a couple of new jobs.

I have got involved with some water supply work, something that I am a lot more familiar with. The project I am working on provides technical assistance to some of the independent water supply schemes. These are schemes that are run by the villagers, whereas 85% of the water supplies in the country are operated by the Samoa Water Authority. We have to go out to the village and meet with the matais and operators, then we inspect the intakes and walk or drive over the supply route, inspecting the pipelines, storage tanks etc. We take plenty of photos and a handheld GPS with us so that we can map the scheme. Once we have collected all of the information, we then make an assessment of the scheme with recommended improvements.

My first field trip to the village of Saoluafata was last week. We were running a bit late (in true Samoan style), but still had to stop and meet the chiefs before we could start our inspection. This involved cups of tea (luke warm, milky and sweet!) and bread and butter sandwiches. Unfortunately all of the conversation was in Samoan, so I sat politely sipping my tea and eating my sandwich. Once we headed off to the intake I got to enjoy a pleasant walk through the bush up in the mountains to the two springs. The track got rather overgrown and it felt like we were deep in the jungle, but I was enjoying exploring the Samoan countryside.
















Once we found the intakes and pipelines I was introduced to the ‘Samoan Air Valve’. Whenever they are having problems with the water supply that they think might be caused by air trapped in the pipe someone takes a hacksaw and makes a small cut in the pipe to let the air out. These cuts of course never get repaired, so we found that their primary water supply line is full of holes. Then they wonder why they can’t get water at the village or why the water pressure is so low!

After completing our inspection our guide showed us to the end of the pipeline, which was right next to another meeting house in the village. We were invited in and shown to the dinning table where lunch had been put on for us. A feast of umu pork, taro, breadfruit, palusami, along with the good old pisupo (canned corned beef) and lamb soup. One of the perks of this type of job I was told. We have to visit another village next week, so I am hoping for more of the same!

In between the fun of the field trips I am helping write up the assessment and am also developing computer models for each scheme to help with planning future work and possible extensions. I am enjoying doing some water supply work, but am missing having people like Kate and Shane around to help me with some of the more mundane parts of the modeling work. (Thanks Kate for the help last week – my MapInfo skills are improving, slowly).

My other project is completely different – it involves working with some of the schools to improve their facilities. It looks like that one will start in January, so more about that later.

Angela Says: "No rest for the wicked and no more slacking “House Boy”. Go and actually do some work!!

"Party in the Park" Samoan Style

Last night Adam and I went to the Viala Beach School Christmas end of year show. This year's theme was ABBA which the kids seemed to enjoy even if the parents and teachers were sick of hearing the songs!! Adam described this night as his very favourite for 2 reasons, firstly there were a bunch of screaming kids running around and secondly we were going to be listening to ABBA music!!! He did however confess to enjoying himself and even thought it was better than BonyM at the Mission. The show was entertaining and it was just nice to be sitting outside with our picnic dinner and a glass of wine and spending time with friends. Maybe the Christmas spirit is starting to appear?

Manono take 2

Talofa all

This weekend we joined the others from our Hyundai netball club on an end of season trip to Manono Island. It was heaps of fun. We had to be ready for the boat at 9.00am on Saturday morning which was a bit of a struggle but in the end we waited 45 minutes for one of the others to turn up with a car load of people to offload into our car. We ended up with all the kids which was a bit of an education for Adam and I! There were rules about eating lollies but not Shapes in the car (as they are too messy!!) A few games of "I Spy" later and we were at the wharf.

The boat seats about 30 people plus can take a whole lot of luggage which was lucky. We had a number of chilly bins and bags plus our snorkelling gear. The boat can only go at a few knots so it takes maybe 1/2 hour to get over to the island.

A number of people came on the trip, some for the day and others staying the night. We decided to stay and were allocated a fale with Moira's Dad. I think ours was the quietest fale in the whole place! After a nice lunch and a boat trip around the island we played balloon volleyball (balloons filled with water flung over the net with a lavalava) and then went for a snorkel.

Saturday evening was great. Lots of chat and a few drinks with friends. We headed to bed about 11.00pm but the "young ones" stayed up most of the night. Luckily we took our chilly bin with us otherwise there would have been no Jack Daniels left the next day!!!!!!!!!!!! Somehow I seemed to be commissioned to paint all the toes of the little girls there pink. Oh well it was fun.

Sunday was relaxing. Lovely food for Tooanai (traditional Sunday lunch) and then it rained on cue so we had to lie in our Fale and read or doze until it was time to catch the boat back.

Check out the photos.

Schools Library Assistant Course - Graduation

On Friday night Adam and I both went to the Schools Library Assistant Course Graduation ceremony. It was held at the Millenia hotel in their fale which was nicely decorated with palm fronds and Teuila flowers. The students all turned up in their "uniforms" which one of the guys had hand printed. It seems to be the done thing here to have a "uniform" for different occasions which you then carry on and wear afterwards. They looked very nice. Family and friends of the students also came along so the fale was full.

As a staff member I also had a "uniform". My first Puletasi - or traditional Samoan outfit of long skirt and top. I chose not to have sleeves in my top as I find it too hot but traditionally most people do. I also ended up sewing the skirt myself as the one they made for me at the tailor was mid-calf length (must have thought I wanted a Palagi length skirt!) which I didn't feel right with. All the Puletasi's I've seen come down to your ankles.

Out of the course of 35, 33 students passed and there were only 4 guys but they all did very well and will make good librarians. Laki made a speech on behalf of the students and I was very grateful for him speaking a few words to me in English so that I could understand what he was saying.

The ceremony went very well. The students had prepared some songs so the speeches were broken up with singing. I was very proud to see all the students graduate and I hope they now go on to be good librarians in the schools where much organisation and cleaning of the libraries needs to happen.

I have uploaded some photos for you of Adam and I in our Samoan outfits etc.