Training today was a real life cultural experience. They paired us up, picked us up really early in the morning and dropped us off in various places. We had to find a particular village and get some information about the village, go to Apia and then get a bus back to the training village by 4 PM. I was paired with Charles and we were the last to get dropped off. About 5 minutes before they dropped us off, they blindfolded us. It felt like we were 4 wheeling and I asked Setu where in the heck he was taking us. We took the blindfolds off and were on top of a mountain (see picture).
We started walking where the van went and found a home. We asked him where the village that we were supposed to find was. He pointed us in the opposite direction and we started hiking down the mountain. After about 30 minutes of walking a car started coming down the mountain. We hitched a ride to the village and ended up hanging out with “Junior” – the guy that picked us up. He gave us a tour of the village and then gave us a ride to Apia. We sat in the back of a pickup truck and drove to the city for about 45 minutes. As we sat in the car I realized how impressed I am with the hospitality, generosity and kind-heartedness that the Samoans have. It would be a scary thing to hitch a ride in the States, but it is very safe here (in fact our trainers encouraged that we try to hitch a ride). I am so fortunate and blessed to be in this country: beautiful people, untouched natural wonders, a country rooted deeply in Christianity.
We rode the bus from Apia to our training village. The bus was overcrowded and a school girl (who was not the skinniest girl in the world) took it upon herself to sit on my lap. My whole leg fell asleep after about 30 minutes. I am not afraid of the whole bus situation here.
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