Life is exciting (also kind of overwhelming). It's crazy to think it's already December, since the heat is rising and the sun seems to only be getting stronger. Whenever I close my eyes, I try to imagine myself on the snowy streets of Boston wearing gloves, a scarf, and a hat, or shredding some snow in Vermont...but I'm not. I guess there have to be some trade-offs for moving to a tropical island. Last weekend was a memorable one. We impulsively hiked one of the National Park hikes here in American Samoa, Mt Alava (and it was 100% worth it). We've been told the hike is temperamental - that we had to make sure to start at the right time (really early), that we could not do it if it rained (because it would be too slippery), that it was hard to get to the trail head (only a powerful car could get there), but obviously we tried anyways. ure, we ran into some trouble - with sun since we started a bit late, as I'm still feeling the effects of my sunburn, with rain since it was just a tad slippery - we only had one fall and a few close calls, and with getting to the trail head but WE MADE IT! The hike was long - 5 hours in total - but the view from the top was the best I've seen on island. At the top is a rusty abandoned tower, where we sat and watched the town below - looking for places we knew, and thinking of how we can get to the places we didn't. After hundreds of pictures (obviously...we're girls obsessed with instragram), we made our way down. In a true samoan fashion, as we were walking down the road towards the town, we were picked up in the back of a pick up truck and hitchhiked our way home. That night, we celebrated the holidays with our World Teach Christmas party. It felt weird to be singing christmas carols and decorating cookies while I was profusely sweating (my sunburn from that day was no help)...but it was comforting nonetheless. What's a christmas party without a gift exchange? The answer is nothing...especially when you walk away with a pint of homemade ice cream from Samu's like I did! Later on, we met a group of fishermen who work on boat that brings in tuna for starkist. Johannah and I charmed our way into a free giant tuna (that's in the freezer now if anyone wants some), and a giant hunk of marlin, freshly caught. For the next few weeks, we'll be eating poke, ceviche, tartare, and tuna steaks for breakfast, lunch, and dinner..nom. Sunday was relaxing, as it should be, and filled with lesson planning. It's hard for me to get myself to do much of anything regarding school when the weeks are so tiring and days are endless, but getting most of the nitty-gritty out of the way on sunday helps immensely. On these nights, I always get a little sad that another weekend has ended and another school week will fly by in the blink of an eye, but I guess that means more adventures to look forward to! 1 more month till Christmas!!
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AuthorThe only way to find yourself is to get lost (and eat a lot of ice cream). Archives
January 2017
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