On September 29, 2009, Samoa was devastated
by a tsunami that killed many. On December 13, 2012, Samoa was rocked by
Hurricane Evan which has killed three and left eight more missing. I moved to
Samoa in October of 2010, a year after the tsunami. I left Samoa on November
17, 2012, almost a month to the day before my very own beachfront fale was
damaged by Evan. I escaped both Samoan tragedies unscathed. However, it seems I
may have left my heart in that eternal Samoan summer.
Since I’ve
returned to Minnesota I’ve done a little research about the tsunami that hit
the south side of Upolu. Little did I know the damage it caused. I didn’t know
how many people (including tourists vacationing in paradise) were killed. I
didn’t know that one of my closest friends, Tele, saved a woman’s life or that
he almost died himself. I didn’t know that one of my favorite places in the
world, Taufua Beach Fales, was literally washed away. Then just a few weeks
after I said tofa soifua to Samoa,
nature decided to hit Samoa again. This post is about what it’s like to not be
where you want to be, to not be with people you care about, to check Facebook
too many times a day for updates, pictures, anything letting you know that your
November goodbye wasn’t officially the last goodbye you would ever have with
that place and those people.
Un-eloquently,
it’s hard to be here and not there. Readjustment is hard. Being in cold, boring
Minnesota is hard. Give me hot, boring, everyday Samoa. That boredom now doesn’t
seem so boring. There was something about the adventure that was the Peace
Corps that I miss every day. I see group 84’s (the newest group of Peace Corps
volunteers) pictures online and I’m jealous. I’m jealous that they are just
starting this adventure and that my life is utterly unexciting now with no
solid plans for the future and the feeling that I’m not living a life anymore,
the feeling that I’m just biding my time. The feeling that I’m not doing
anything with my life anymore. It’s tough and I’m sure it’s what a lot of
Returned Peace Corps volunteers feel. Perhaps my feelings are all the more
poignant because I evolved from being a person who hated Samoa to someone who
just wants to get back there. I think my fellow volunteers and some close
friends back home who kept in touch over the last two years would be surprised
about my feelings. Even as of last September I was still pondering whether or
not going to Samoa might have been the worst decision I ever made. It wasn’t. I
can say that now with 95% certainty. With all the drama, pain, and tears I
experienced, I wouldn’t trade it for a happier, vanilla experience. Pieces of
my heart still seem to be scattered throughout Samoa. Thankfully, those places
and those people all seem to have fared well throughout Cyclone Evan. Everyone
is alive, even though it seems that every fale has been damaged (including my
own).
Moving on
and readjustment will happen once I’m finally distracted again by my own life. After
washing my clothes in my Samoan host family’s washing machine, I would hang up
my laundry on my clothesline mere feet from the South Pacific. Leaving Samoa is
sort of like breaking up with someone. Cheesy, right? But true. These next few
lines from a break-up poem fit so poignantly.
I give up my clothes which are walls that
blow in the wind
And I give up the ghost that lives
in them.
-
Mark
Strand, “Giving Myself Up
Evan, you did not make the ‘moving-on’ process any easier.
Most of the
following pictures come from Seti Afoa’s Facebook page, a man who has done an
incredible job keeping Samoans abroad updated through photos. And yes,
ou a’u teine Samoa taimi nei. (I am a
Samoan girl now.) You can’t live in a place for two years and experience some
of the most extreme emotions without becoming attached to a place. A few photos I took myself. Other photos
come from everyone’s friend, Google.
This is a link to a video taken by Kyle Kincaid, an RPCV currently living in Samoa. His village was Sauano, just up the mountian past Falefa. The video starts about 1/4 of the way into Falefa and goes over the bridge at Falefa Falls.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ajFOaLuoeB0
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View of Apia from Central Bank--Before |
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After--The pulu trees in front of Central Bank |
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Central Bank |
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The bridge near the Peace Corps office and Aggie Grey's Hotel
Log Jam from the River
This river is the reason for the deaths |
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Burst it's Banks |
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The same river as seen from Pasefika Inn--Before |
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The Pool behind Pasefika Inn--Before |
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After |
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After the Flood Drained |
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Pasefika Inn and the Peace Corps Office next to KK Mart--Before |
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Cleaning Up--After |
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Cleaning Out the Peace Corps Office |
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The following pictures effectively create a map to my village of Falefa
This picture comes from Lauli'i |
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Cone marking a downed power line |
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Ingenious use of hubcaps (Hubcaps?) |
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The bridge in Luatuanu'u |
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Filling the Hole |
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This house was just built within the last few months
It is directly across from the ocean |
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Near Solosolo-another Peace Corps village
The banana palms look chopped in half |
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In my home of Falefa
This tree fell right on a faleoloa (shop) right next to one of my
student's houses |
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The tree has been removed and it looks like only minor damage to the roof |
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The vaita'ele (pool) and falefono (meeting house)
across the street from where I usually waited for the bus
after a day at school to go to town |
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My usual walk home after school |
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Mose's Shop--where I did all my village shopping |
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Right in front of my family's church
Atalani and Salote (two girls who lived at my host family's house)
safe and sound, walking to the faleoloa
My house is just past the car on the road |
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My Fale--Before |
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During |
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After
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After
The big white thing toward the right of the picture--
I think that is part of my kitchen that ripped from the house--
waiting for more pictures of my fale |
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Go Da Manu House--Before |
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After |
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Falefa Falls--Perhaps During or Slightly Before |
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This woman said hi to me every morning on my way to school |
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In the middle is my student Gabriel |
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Home of the Lady Ashleigh Bus--
One of my favorite buses to take to town thanks to the nice bus driver |
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Where Falefa turns into Falevao |
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View of Falefa from the mountain
The biggest building is the Catholic Church
Toward the right of the picture is the EFKS church (my family's church),
the church hall, host-family's house, and my fale |
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Headed East
The palms are decimated |
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Lemafa Pass
Land Slide |
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Near Lalomanu
The tree saved the faleoloa from the electicity pole |
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Tis the Season
to sell taro after a cyclone while wearing a Santa hat |
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Playing voli (volleyball) in the road |
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Togitogiga Falls |
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The Church in Mulivai--another Peace Corps Village |
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Tafitoala--my training village |
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Ever-Smiling Samoan Children
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Great photos, and awesome to read your personal revelation about your feelings on Samoa. Really thought provoking.
ReplyDeleteBTW Seti Afoa is from Falefa... Mose (the shop) is his brother.
Thanks for sharing!