New School Orientation

I love working for such a huge department here in Samoa. The Dept. of Education (DOE) is the biggest department on the whole island. Most are made up of teachers to serve the near 19,000 K-12th graders enrolled in public schools. Some employees are not teachers, like myself (Im the behaviorist remember?! ;) and work under DOE. Every year, we have new school orientation! Its a huge event and all are required to attend. This event is so huge that even the Governor comes and says a speech! Its truly an honor for me to be apart of such an amazing event. The Samoan culture just screams out, seeping through every speech, song, and even the attire. All are dressed in puletasi's- the traditional Samoan dress (shoulders and knees covered of course), and ie faitaga's- the traditional samoan mens lava lava (looks like a skirt!). ie stands for "material" and faitaga means "pockets". Material with pockets is exactly what it is! ;) 

Although the dresses are remarkable to look at, my absolute favorite part of these meetings are the beautiful hymns! Almost every meeting I have ever been to in Samoa has a beautiful song sung in Samoan by all the employees. You would not believe how incredibly talented Samoans are at singing. Born and raised in the church, Samoans are not shy when it comes down to belting the notes. They sing loud, proud, with strong conviction. It seriously brings tears to my eyes to hear them all sing in such beautiful harmony together. But what I really want to know is... How the heck do they know all the words?! Haha! They sing so many different songs. How is it possible they ALL know the words? Its a pretty incredible feeling to sit there and be the ONLY foreigner in a sea of singing Samoans who does not know the words. So I did the next best thing.... I took pictures instead. Haha! Even though I've nearly been here for TWO years, this meeting truly made me feel like a tourist looking in on a culture that has such deep roots in tradition, religion, and love! I feel so blessed. ❤❤❤

Pretending to know the words..

Meet the World Teachers

My girl, Liora!