More on Samoa

Okay, I originally had a long blog written out but I'm not quite sure how to get it on this computer. So this will have to be another short and sweet message.

We officially started language training yesterday. It was definitely a laugh. We'll be switching trainers over the next 11 weeks, but Samoan is definitely hard for us. There are 5 vowels, with FOUR different ways to pronounce each vowel. It sounds very similar, very subtle differences, but once we train our ears it should be easier. Then there are 13 consonants. It's not too bad and we laugh a lot.

We also found out that we will be finding out what village we will be in for the next 2 years on July 24. So I am very excited.

Other than that, our days consist of getting up around 7:00 am and having breakfast and then training starts at 8:00 am. We have various topics containing life and work, safety, medical, and some others. The majority of our time is spent on language.

And my Samoan name is Sefa. I was going to give you a run down of everyone in my group's name, but I think I'll have to do that another time.

Last nite we went to a sports bar in Apia with some volunteers and had some drinks and watched the World Cup. Well, we were going to watch the World Cup, but they played rugby on every channel. So I got a run down on the rugby rules from a current volunteer. It's great meeting a lot of the current volunteers.

Yesterday Amanda (my roommate) and I went to the market and shopped for our own fresh food for the first time. I love it! We got mangoes, coconuts and this Samonan food. It was wonderful. We also bought some puletasis (the sarongs women wear)...lavalavas are what the men wear.

Alrighty, I am off to get some food now!