My Independent Study Project

Okay, lets talk academics....so, my SIT Samoa program is basically an independent study program, and we are reaching the point in the program where it is time to independently study. I have decided to focus my study on politics (partly because I promised my advisor at Villanova that I would research a political science topic here so that I didnt have to take a similar course back at school... I figured if I could get credit for a difficult research class  in 80 degree weather near a beach- it was a good idea to do so) In order to understand my research topic, I need to give you a little background on Samoan politics...
Samoa has been independent since 1962. Although Samoa is a democracy, there are many elements of Samoan culture that are included in politics, so democracy functions differently here. For example, only matai (the chiefs of villages) were allowed to vote up until 1990-when universal suffrage was introduced, and even today you will find that the prime minister and the members of parliment hold many, highly respected matai titles. The complexity of the fa'asamoa and politics is very confusing-especially to explain in a little blog like this- but just understand, Samoan culture greatly influences and drives political activity. Although Samoa is a democracy, it has often been a 1 party state. The Human Rights Protection Party has dominated politics in Samoa. Currently, the party basically controls the country uncontested by any political opposition. However, there are general elections in March of 2011, and therefore opponants of the HRPP are attempting challenge the party and create a formal opposition. I am going to research the formation of the opposition party, and look at the challenges of creating an opposition to the HRPP- which has been incredibly successful in maintaining popular support and control of the country. Add one part political parties and two parts Samoan cultural influence on politics and you have the recipe for my research paper-in a nut shell.
During the month of November we dont take any classes, and we are free to roam around the country and study our topics. I am planning to interview some members of government, some academics and some villagers to get a nice range of opinions and feelings on politics. At the end of the month, we present on our topic and turn in a 40 page research paper- then we pack up and head home...

university of the south pacific

When we are not living in villages, or packing up and heading off to American Samoa or Fiji, we spend our time at the University of the South Pacific (which we all refer to, lovingly, as USP) USP is a beautiful campus. It sits in a valley and is surrounded by mountains covered in greenery and coconut trees. The campus is sprawling and large. The university studies focus on agriculture, so there are fields of taro, mango trees, and other pacific island food staples planted around campus. Most of the students who attend USP are majoring in agriculture, which is a very popular and relevent major in the Pacific.
My time at USP has been full of emotional highs and lows, new experiences and challenges, and a whole lot of mosquitos...
First of all, I live in a single room, but share a common room with 4 roommates. Unfortunatly, I also share my room with an army of ants. After losing too many packages of crackers and jars of jam to the ants- I have taken extreme measures to ensure my food stays safe from their mini-ant mouths. All my of food is placed inside plastic baggies, which are then zipped inside my backpack, which is then placed inside my suitcase and stowed away- so far, with this new method, my food is untouched and the ants have gone hungry. Creepy crawlers are common here- on an average day I come in contact with  mosquitos and flies at the gym, milipedes and centipedes in the grass, roaches and ants in the bathrooms, and lizards and geckos (i like those!) everywhere at night.  I have also hung a mosquito yet above my bed, which i love- the draping netting is a lot like a canopy and it makes me feel very cozy at night.
My roommates love to play their music (imagine, the "best of the 90s", and you have a good sense of what they play) all day, and all night, all the time...every day. They talk loud and laugh louder, and because there are no soundproof walls, or windows that shut, sound carries incredibly easily... I have learned that in the Pacific, it is incredibly rude (and completely weird of you) to ask people to "please, turn it down". Thankfully, I have finally escaped this volume problem (after a month of sleepless nights) by employing the use of earplugs- which might be my new favorite things on earth. Showering at USP, is not my favorite activity. There are often lots of milipedes and ants to keep you company in the tiny stall. I have not had a heated shower since I left Hawaii. The cold water, although refreshing, is always a shock when you first get in. Cleanliness is a constant battle. My feet are covered in a thin layer of dirt 24/7. I tried to hand wash my clothes for the first 2 weeks while I was on campus, but I quickly learned that hand washing is quite possibly not one of my talents, so I resorted to paying for the washing machine (and I havent regretted my choice) I dont mind being dirty and sweaty all the time, but it will be nice to feel clean again some day...
Every day Zoe (my best bud on the trip) and I wake up at 630am and do yoga in the fale on campus. Its a pleasant way to wake up, and afterwards we head to breakfast. Breakfast at USP includes, one tiny apple-bananna (a mini, sweeter version of the palagi banana), a slice of papaya (not my favorite, as nice as it sounds), 4 pieces of white bread, and usually oatmeal or cereal or sandwhiches or something like that... Breakfast is one of the best meals. We spend the rest of our mornings (and much of the afternoon) in language class, or traveling around Apia to visit NGOs, universities, organizations, or listen to speakers discuss social and political issues in Samoa.
In the afternoon I try to hit the gym. It is the same gym that the national Samoan rugby team uses, so the weights are SUPERSIZED. It is hard to find any machine that doesnt have less than 200 lbs. stacked on it. However, Im happy to have a gym- although the only machines are bikes (with broken seats, so you must stand to ride them) or urging machines (that are also broken). Exercise, therefore, requires a good amount of creativity. Some people on campus play volleyball before dinner, and some of the boys play rugby in the large open field.
Dinners at USP vary, but a generous serving of white rice, taro or boiled green banannas always accompanies the main dish. Veggies are a rare sighting.
There is a lot of time at USP to read, so most of us spend a significant amount of our time diving into some good books. There is no TV, and the computer lab is open occasionally (the only place where there is air conditioning) but the internet moves at snail speed and is tempermental so we spend a lot of time just talking.
It is nice to spend some time, in between traveling, on campus. My room is comfortable and feels like my little home, for now.

american samoa

After spending 3 days in American Samoa, I am happy to be back. We took a teeny, tiny 16 person plane from Samoa (called Western/Indepedent Samoa) to American Samoa. The view on the 30 minute plane ride was spectacular- you could see the entire island, the reefs and the open ocean- I even saw a huge whale! American Samoa's geography looks very similar to Western Samoa, plus the "luxuries" of American culture-including: KFC, McDonalds, Cost-U-Less (likes Costco), Pizza Hut and all the candy bars and junk food available in the States. In fact, American Samoan's pride themselves on their American fast food, and as a result we ate fast food for ever single meal. Because I am not a fast food fanatic (in fact, I really dislike fast food) eating McMuffins for breakfast, fried chicken for lunch and burgers for dinner was slightly painful. The living conditions in American Samoa span a wide range. Some peope stayed with families in "palagi houses" (two story, concrete houses that look like ones from the States). However, I stayed in small house on the beach- our kitchen was outside, there was no running water so we bathed in a bucket, and we slept on the floor. We ate McDonlands, with extra Mayo, and Top Ramen for our meals. Oh, I also rode around the entire island in the back of the pickup truck. My host sister (who i loved) woke me up at 5 AM so we could tour the entire island (which takes only 45 minutes) before I left.
In class, we listened to speakers discusses Samoan music, the matai system (the village form of governance and order), archeology and history of the islands. We even made our own lavalavas in a traditional samoan art class! We also hiked up a stream using ropes to climb up sheer rock- the hike was nice, but the mosquitos were fierce-and I was happy to be done. In other news, everyone is continuing to get sicknesses (mostly fevers and sore throats) and huge infected cuts and boils- all common ailments in the pacific. Im trying my best to stay healthy and keep my distance from flesh eating bacteria....

savaii

The birthday celebration began on Friday when we all boarded the ferry from Upolu (Samoa's main island) to Savaii (the more rural, largest, most naturally preserved island)...our suitcases were full of sunscreen, bug spray, boxed wine and grapefruit flavored vodka (we thought it sounded refreshing, and semi-tropical...it would do the trick) The ferry ride was about two hours, a perfect time for a nice little power nap curled up on the seats. The view of Savaii from the ferry is vast and amazing. The coastal water is tiffany blue and sparkling,  the volcanos on the mountains are covered in dark green swaying palms and tropical trees and the whole island is scarecly populated (compared to Upolu) so the dinge and grease of the city is no where in sight. We disembarked and headed for Tanu beach fales-where we would celebrate my birthday! We were greeted at the fales with young coconuts- which have a carbonated, delicious flavor. (all of us have become pro's at identifying, opening, drinking and eating good coconuts.... and, i will never want another coconut again after this trip) After we settled into our fales we all got changed for dinner. I was sooo excited to be able to wear palagi  clothes for the weekend (at the fales you are allowed to wear bikinis and shorts...something not allowed on the rest of our trip) we all even put on some makeup! its funny how little things are such a big deal and soo much fun when you go without them for a while- like having clean feet, or wearing makeup, or eating icecream (things we all look forward to when the occasion arises) That night we drank wine, watched the sun set on the beach, ate dinner together then played in the water and looked at the stars. The nights in Samoa are absolutely stunning, the sky is so massive and the stars are so bright you feel like you are inside of a snow globe and the sky seems to curve around you.
Saturday morning: we wanted to maximize the birthday celebration soooooo....we got into our swim suits at 9:00 am and opened some bottles of champaign on the beach and drank a little, swam a little and enjoyed the pleasant morning sunshine. the rest of the day was spent frolicing in the sunshine and doing other activities one does when one turns 21. at night there was a fia fia (a samoan performace/talent show). i was, of course, called up and everyone sang happy birthday and gave me flowers. we all performed in the fia fia, danced and then ate chocolate cake (which was the first time i had eaten chocolate cake since i arrived, AND it was refridgerated!-which is amazing, becuase all of our food is normally served at room temp, including milk...interesting huh?) The day was absolutely wonderful and I couldnt have asked for a more untraditional, exciting way to turn 21!
The rest of the week: we spent the rest of the week exploring Savaii (and doing very little, if any, school work at all...which was a nice little break) We spent our time with Warren, our 80 year old Australian tour guide who spent his life traveling the world and studying geology . On our first day with Warren he casually explained, "today will be relatively easy, in the morning we will eat breakfast and then hike a small volcano..." That set the tone of the week and we were off and exploring!! We went to the lava fields and Warren described the most recent eruptions in Savaii and the impact of the lava on the coast and the villagers. As Warren had promised we also hiked a small volcano (and Warren, at age 80 also made it all the way to the top!) at the top we saw the endangered flying fox (a bat, one of the samoa's 3 native mammal species). It was a gorgous hike, it reminded me a lot of hiking at home...only there was a lot more mosquitos and sweat involved. Later on in the week we did an all day driving tour around the island to see some of Savaii's famous sights. We saw the powerful blow holes and shoot water over 200 feet into the air, the jagged coast line made of lava, huge lava caves and arches that extend into the water, and we also went to Savaii's most western point....the furtherest west you can go and last place the sun sets in the world!
highlights: instead of having language class one day, our language teacher bought us all Vailima (Samoan beer) in honor of my birthday, and we played drinking games in Samoan...so far a GREAT trip....more updates later
buggs