The year that was...

The year that was.

And like that, another year is over and a new year is upon us. At least this new years we tried to do something celebratory(!) sat it out in the restaurant, hoping to have a quiet countdown, snacked on fried (expensive as from Frankies but once in your lifetime) scallops, sashimi, nachos and chicken strips (yum)  Unfortunately some random pokers arrived and decided our quiet place was the venue to have a little party, brought their own cell phone trash music and all – don’t know why I got my knickers in a twist its a bar and thats what happens!! Guess I  had just envisioned a relaxing  evening and then ended up helping in the Kitchen ugh...anyways, finally it wound down about 11.30 and the evening was actually ok. The fob savaiians got all excited when we could see Fireworks across the water in Upolu, then a random one firework in Iva!! Then a boat started sending up flares wuhoo exciting...we weren’t sure if that was part of a new years celebration or there was actually someone needing help?? Anyways!!

Looking back on 2012 Im not really sure where the year went.  There was a lot of hotel work, hospital work, some new direction for me at the hospital  and some new attitude at the hotel. When I started in this job there was a time I held peoples cancellation policies like a contract...it is really cos they agree to it, but its such a headache enforcing it that now I just throw my hands in the air and give up.  Its like “Fine” ...who cares that you held these rooms for how many months and now changed your mind cos you met a group of auzzies on the ferry partying it up at some cheap beach fale, you can leave with no penalties just my invisible middle finger in your face...lol. Then all this trip advisor blackmail shit...do this or  i will write...man, if i could write to someone it would be to your mother to tell her what an asswipe she raised!

My kids have grown a mile and Ive gotten sadder about not spending more time with them. Its gotten so busy around here I really just don’t do enough with them. In my head I’d like to be that great mum who plays soccer with them outside and reads heaps of books and does painting with them in afternoons...but most of the time I am pretty slack as. The husbands worse....I don’t think any of those activities even register in his head  as something he should do. He just tickles them with his ava gives em lots of hugs and his dad duty is done.

I bought an ebook from kindle which is supposed to be one of the best selling self help books for communication between couples- I read it and thought it was awesome. The problem with that is some assume that buying such a book equals  a rocky marriage but it doesn’t, i just thought some advice on how to do it better would be useful. I know silent wars and silent treatment is not exactly good communication so I was open for advice. Unfortunately  someone else thought I was brainwashed by a book that’s only purpose was to make money and brainwash people. With that attitude the book got the bin and we are back to the silent treatment...sucks to be me

I prayed more in Family Lotu time...like exactly 3 times maybe.. I really have nothing against our church here or the religion  but I am so not used to the way that we pray now. The Samoan style of allocating someone to ask for forgiveness and give thanks etc. It all sounds so good in Samoan, but coz Im shit as Samoan I have to do it in English and when you translate literally what people pray in Samoan – in English it just sounds Dumb. The first time i got ‘nominated’ to say something i almost wet my pants! It was such an unexpected impromptu prayer that I was really very embarrassed about not being better at...my relatives kind of patted me on the back after...like that says something about that performance!! I really miss my own church, despite the fact that we barely ever went in the last 10 years, I think I just miss it being in English. Such a palagi of me, but at least I could follow what was being preached and related and felt inspired or awed. Nowadays I struggle so much just to understand literally what each word in a sentence means that I don’t even know what the heck is being spoken about...it just becomes a bit disillusioning (if there is such a word) and honestly means that its become almost a chore and not what it is meant to be...

The Village...so the hubby got titled this year. It was an experience never to forget. I am not sure if I played my part well and was even surprised to hear I had a new name..a “Tausi’’ or wife of a Matai. I had never even heard of that word before this. How useless am i!! Funny though the hierarchy of our Samoan system. Some woman came up to me after and was jokingly congratulating me on this new ‘status’ and said something like I can now boss around all the other woman..like wa? I don’t eve ‘want’ to do thatJ ?  The obligation of contributing to ridiculous fundraisers is still ongoing. I don’t even want to get into the nitty gritty about that but just give when Im asked. Today i was told its $150 next weekend...ok. 

We had a cyclone. It didn’t really affect Savaii, the worst thing for us was the ferries being cancelled and so 22 persons wanting to extend their holidays when all we were wanting to do was hide with our kids...instead we were making pots of food occasionally by candlelight and convincing guests that it was unlikely to be possible to get a taxi in the middle of the storm to go visit friends a few miles away. And the shops were all closed because there was a cyclone in progress....no shit.  The damage in Apia was unbelievable. I can not really comprehend what some people in the worst hit areas had to go through, stories of being saved by climbing into an idle boat lying in the lawn for yonks is just crazy. I pray that all those people make a steady recovery and hope that are getting the support and help they need...

Its now been 5 years since I moved to Hawaii, oh Savaii...and to be honest, i really hope  that in another 5 years Im not doing the same thing...or at least I hope to have been on 5 holidays...sometimes I feel like Im rotting my life away here...sometimes i tell myself to be more grateful for the things I have in my life...its a constant rollercoaster between those variables in Savaii...oh the life in the bush!I aint gonna sugar coat it or lie about it, its trying and isolating at times, often I feel out of place or like a complete dimwit for lack of knowing something that apparently all Samoans know!  but I think I have a bit of a hermit side so the most important lack of socialising - being amiss  I  am actually surviving, but doesn’t stop me from peering on the other side of the fence and looking at what shades of green their grass is! 

 When people ask ‘how do you do it’ i just want to throw rocks at them...i don’t know i just do. I got married moved had kids and here I am.  What to look forward to in 2013? Well i should be getting a car soon, from japan, hopefully non radiated from their recent nuclear power meltdown, on time and dent free...blardy taken a freaken long tim e(note I was promised a 6 week turnaround time in September- it is now January and don’t buy your cars from prosper in Japan) ..hopefully a new pool  put in for the hotel that I  can float in and drink wine at midnight to drown my sorrows for lack of any other outrageous avenue to turn to (no where to run less i have to catch a boat  no one to run to...oh the joys of the bush!)  hmm what else,... oh my clinic..yea watch this space on thatJ ... I really need a holiday but before that- note to self, renew passport, renew husbands passport, renew husbands visa...save some trallas and just do it ..do it..as the nike ad says..

Ok thats my two sene for this first day of Jan. Lets await what 2013 has to bring  and hope only for good things!!

Up in the Bush

Whats up in the bush?

1)My Computer

My computer is an amazing thing, - my laptop to be precise. I don’t know what my life would be like without it,  especially without internet, especially when you live in the middle of ‘the bush’ , where all your everyday –take- for granted little luxuries are..well..missing. One minute, I'm throwing myself into work(on the laptop) - plan budget reply design...then arrhh..sick of doing that lets browse facebook and google images and recreate a menu that doesn’t really need recreating but what the heck...I like doing that sort of stuff- its what I procrastinate with that still makes me feel productive!...then ahh..tired of that lets blog a little... I swear it keeps me sane, beats going down to dusty ol salelologa to do shopping at _____wholesale where the tellers are only half paying attention to me and half texting their friends or plucking their brows at the same time.On another note- yay- tuasivi now makes Bakels Quality long donuts- for those of you who don’t know bakels- award winning NZ entrepreneur of all baking doughs and goods,, world renown if you are into the baking line of business...thanks mum!!

2) answering phone calls

I just answered a call from a random department in Saleologa who are trying to get credit with one of my relies businesses, some last minute thing and I’m like..sorry no can help,, you need to speak to dat person in particular (my rely) . This youngish sounding person then goes on the “se va’ai sis...” just need you to do me a favor and help me out here...just need your ok so I can do this....I don’t know what it is with us Samoans calling random strangers “sis” like that’s gonna make everything ok cos now we are buddy buddy...and it’s quite annoying having some young sounding  dimwit guy  who wants credit...go on a ‘se sis’ spiel which is completely  out of my help range- and sort of instruct me to do  this favour- like ARE YOU NUTS...eh. Stupid. Fanks for ending my day on a ‘eh’ note....

3) Preschool

My daughters  been going to a local preschool...I've always been  excited about that and hope her Samoan improves, she’s got some words down but string a sentence together you ask?? More like- “se mum, se aua wola wola aise fai alu a ea?”.....I’m sure she will pick it up in time though....she’s got enough people around her speaking Samoan. I remember just getting it kinda sorted by yr 8- kinda meaning ‘can manage to string a sentence together’...not so sure on the exact grammar and all...I remember writing essays in Samoan at home, and my sitter would proof read it ( or at least thats what i thought she did) ...and she would crack up in fits of laughter, not that my essay was comic or had humour at all of any sort (that I knew of) and then she’d run along and show the worker next door, and take it to the shop and show someone else...seriously- I wish I had kept a few of them to read now, maybe Id get what was so pathetically funny about them, .Lucky I was a kid and couldn’t care less..I was like uh? Whatever...why are you showing everyone my essay...don’t know why you think it’s so funny? Give it back already before I tell you on my mum...

4) driving

I still hate driving in Samoa.... Savaii is admittedly less stressful then Apia. Apia has had an explosion of cars  and there are like 2 cars  for every building you see, sheds and fales included. Its seriously stressful there..esp buses and taxis. But buses and taxis are no different in Savaii. Pull out infront of you, stop short with no break lights, being overtook on a curb and then almost shoved off the road when an opposing car comes its way..dammit man. Seriously i just about lose it sometimes and feel like following these idiots home...and yelling some sense into them- what if i got into an accident becos of you!RETARD...what if my kids were in the car!EGGHEAD! what if  someone got KILLED! LOSER...and BLOODY WELL HOPE ITS YOU ON that end of the stick one day! Ars$$%*le... 

READ the freaken rode code..dangit...dont know if people in Samoa even KNOW a road code exists...but on a positive note i used to get comments from colleagues/friends in nz when i lived there that i have very good defensive  driving skills...comes from 10yrs of defensive driving lessons by default.

5)Cooking

Lately the hubby and I have been pretty lousy at it. Cooking for ourselves...and to think we run a restaurant AND have kids....we have just been soooo busy, we’ve had quite a few of our staff call in sick/go on leave lately which has meant we are pretty much doing 6am til 10pm days everyday and when it comes to the evenings to cook something for ourselves (by which time we’ve both realised we haven’t eaten all day....you’d think we’d be losing weight already- nah...doesn't work that way when you stuff yourself silly because you are Starving by the end of the day!LOL) but we’ve hit that place now where we get to 6pm and one of us looks at the other, like- so are you gonna cook something? And im thinking- dang ive been soooo busy running around ALL DAY   and now i have to cook (i know- how immature- soon the kids will be cooking us dinner the way things are going with us!lol) and hes looking at me with that...can you see how tired i am ? can you see how disheveled I look- that's how i feel ...yes...and you want me to muster up something?   then we are both like- crap..we had better get something done up for the kids we have,  and whip up a totally unhealthy fastfood fried food  poor excuse of a dinner...must not be good for my kids but you know, i figure they are growing so it isn’t THAT bad for em...and there are always heaps of veges in whatever fry up we can conjure up in 5 minutes....but yea...i can feel my arteries clogging up as i type...dammit. if only lettuce wasn’t $20 a head in Samoa.

 Yep- so thats my top 5 list of whats been a happening lately....fair to say its a pretty usual week for us here in the bushJ  keep ya all posted in my future blogs!!

Bush-mechanics, last minute buffet and grey hair...

Yesterday, I arrived back into da bush- after spending 3 days on the mainland. It was a last minute decision (like literally we decided within 30 minutes of the ferry departing) we had too many things piling up on our "to do list" for Apia and as it looked to be a quiet week at the business, we jumped shipped and went to the big city.

While we were there, we thought we'd get our vehicle looked at (finally) it was making a disturbingly loud humming noise when you drove it (for lack of any other mechanical explanation)- like the mechanic asked me over the phone- "whats wrong with your car"- me (with no idea of how a car works)- "uhm, it hums...like really loud." questions like " do you think its a bearing and which one or a cv joint??" mean nothing to me..you might as well be speaking chinese. Anyways, me and the hubby constantly fight over where to take our cars..the ongoing- you dont know who to trust debate (i.e they might take parts from your car to fix their friends car and us being clueless would not know...) always prevails and for the last few years our vehicles always end up at some bush mechanics front lawn.

Definition of bushmechanic- A person with some experience but most likely no qualifications, who ends up being a known "mechanic" in the bush because well- there are no car garages/qualified mechanics here...skills are questionable but they could probably glue a hosepipe, a saucepan and some twine together and get your car moving again...for a week or two...

I lose my mind every time our car ends up at the bush mechanics place because- 

1) they have no concept of time and constantly hold you at randsome- ie.well i dont have time today but maybe next week- leave you car here and Ill do little amounts of work over the next 3 months to get that thing fixed
2) they dont really have tools/machines/parts/oil etc things you need to diagnose/resolve problems and we constantly have to run into town to get stuff.. (you know stuff a normal garage would usually have like Oil, grease, brake fluid ..a spanner)
3) they dont ever clean your car and infact you get it back with a few CDs missing, hand grease marks all over the ceiling/side doors/ on the floor that can not be washed off
4) if you are lucky like us and your car stays there for a month, bet your bottom dollar it will also have nasty mould in it on it and around it as well...thanks
5) the twisty packets and bubble gum on the chair are small hints that maybe some young children found a play haven in your car while it was at the mechanics..
6) when it does get fixed..most likely the mechanic WONT call you and tell you that your car is fixed and ready to be collected, but  instead use your car for a week for personal errands, and when they run into you on the road- they may throw  you a nonchalant apology- " theres been a funeral in the family" and they just need to cart pusa elegi and Povi to a village kua in your car..

and lastly..at no point can you sue them, yell at them, throw stones at them for how uunprofessional the above is because..your car might die at the Maliolio river one day and you may need his Mcgiver quick fixes to get you out of their before the river bursts...

nuff said.

Anyways- we took the car to a 'proper' mechanic and prayed he did a  good job and didnt replace things with old bus parts...we got it back looking pretty buff, cleaned and all the faulty things resolved..however the mechanics failed to screw the bolts of a wheel on tight and halfway to the wharf the hubby (and I swear someone is looking out for him) happened to see 3 silver things fly out the side of the car, he pulled over and his front tyre was one spin away from coming off completely...he was with my daughter and we can not count how many thankyou prayers we have said as he avoided a major accident surely. Of course the "proper" mechanics got a bit sloppy and the hubby gave them a peice of his mind...dang it..this might mean that our cars go back to bush mechanics int he future...crap.

So now , we are back on the big island...Now I know Ive mentioned many times my grey hairs, in actual fact its one small patch of grey hairs that I have that make me look a bit rogue/xmen like...Just discovered this week that this is a genetic trait common in pacific islanders..wow..that explains it all- but Im sure its accelerated by stress!! haha...and what stress do I have to share today? Well..part of the hubbys  business' biggest stress is our bar/restaurant. If  I had seriously known how much work this sort of enterprise required I think I would have thought twice about going into this. But as we have, over the years we've tried things that have flourished and things that have failed. There are many things we dont get in Savaii so we try to keep things minimal, fresh, tasty and straight from our surrounding suppliers ....what always gets up my nose (just a little) is when customers come in and say things like "why dont you have Samoan food on your menu?" ok...we have oka, falai I'a, faiai fee ,kale moa..etc...but no they want umu and luau, pua'a and mamoe kao..but oh did I mention we want our food served in 20 minutes otherwise "this is the worst place Ive ever been too" ok..an umu takes hours to prepare..and if you have 1 guest dining a day..its just not feasable..

Anyways, we try to put some local things on the menu but a big fat  Samoan feast really is only on offer for a booked buffet or Sundays (where we will just share our family toanai) anyways..today, a group of 30 guests staying with us for a local "event" (comprising of locals from Apia) were humming and hah-ing overwhat to get for  their dinner, theyve been here 3 days and mostly never eat at our restuarnt (apparently they are being fed by various clubs/churches etc) but today they come up, look at our menu (ala carte menu, you know, like steak, fish and chips etc- one meal will serve on person) and said- well, we dont feel like this. Instead could you make us plates like this  (like sunrise style)for $20 and could you get us some moa samoa etc etc  ok its Saturday afternoon..the shops are all closed..and now you want a buffet?? at the last minute? for a miniscle price??.."you know, we are in Savaii so we feel like these things" right- first of all- get yourselves organised please and think of the sod who now has to run around like crazy for your last minute appettite...I cant exactly go out and buy a moa samoa from a little shop in the village...I can faakogu some from families,...but for tomorrow...people are not exactly sitting at home hoping that some visitor will come and ask them to go catch a chicken for them to eat that very day..e se kailo se...I swear my siga patch just expanded...lol- in actual fact the poor hubby, all 110kgs and 34 yrs of him, ran around the hotel..and actually caught a couple of moas...yes, believe it. He was panting terribly by the end of it and probably lost a few pounds as well...but thats what you gotta do to Satisfy your customers....hmmm...

I wonder whether these people walk into Restaurants in Apia and look at the menu, and then demand something completely different? like who does that??arggg...then they look at you with an eyebrow raised as if to say " you are in the hospitality industry, its your job to please me and bend over backwards to fulfil my dreams of food in Savaii"...Ia ua lelei la  Mr I dream of Savaii food...LOL.  Anyways- this is my usual rant and rave over the headaches of my  day/week...at the end of it all...I think we get the job done and people go away satisfied...agailoa le blog lea Id probably be hung!haha....

anways- gotta go now and look for stock for this buffet...maua gei foi le mea foi gale e 30 people ga book ae o appettites a le 90 people so need to hunt down  the last of potatoes, taro veges etc ,..remaining on the side of the road stalls and in village shops! Sei aumai foi i Salafai se Farmer Joes faamolemole! Til my next blog..ciao!

busy-ass-day

That sums it. As usual..my 4 hour allocated  plan ended up being 8 hours...catastrophe after catastrophe at work today much to the delight of 50 patients waiting..patiently...outside the emergency room doors .  What is frustrating as usual with our people is the perception that Im going put my finger on someones pulse...and figure out exactly what is wrong with them. no..doesnt work like that any more...back in the Day of zulu china medicine thats what they did...in lack of any other knowledge of disease and medicine- they figured out a fast pulse was = sick and slow pulse also = sick and the 4 things that could cause that . If I put my hand on your pulse..all I can tell is whether your heart is beating normally or abnormally. If it is abnormal...there are a million reasons we now know  for that andmy finger alone can not solve the mystery of your illness if you cant give me a bit more information....

  A difficult case we received one day was an elderly man brought in practically pa-dead. (no disrespect meant at all ..just me own venting slang..) but literally wheeled in blue in the face..struggling to breath. His relative..sat there comfortably in a chair and while we were rushing madly to try to revive the guy..I was trying to get a history of what happened prior to his pa-deadness to try to pick up the pieces of the puzzle. She insists he is sick because he fell

This is an age old saying in samunda. If a kid has meningitis...its because he fell. hard. a month ago. forget the fact that there was a 3 week interval of wellness....now that he is sick...it all comes together in the parents eyes- that fall must have been the cause. Which is why everyone must be taken first to the fofo...to massage his head which struck the leg of the chair when he fell and he got a small bruise and cried..and caused the meningitis. Same with pneumonia...or joint sepsis...or tummy bugs..they are apparently all the product of a fall..somewhere sometime ago. eggs me. I dont want to hear about the fall unless he broke a bone....or hit his head and became unconscious. And I can not continue to try to convince people that falls dont often lead to many illnesses unless they got a cut and it got infected..or they broke a bone

so Im trying to get more info out off the relative while resuscicating a patient and she perisistently insists that there is no need to tell me anything else except about his fall..where he landed on his behind...and then needed a massage. the man cant breath..looks toxic septic..his heart trace is abnormal..and all she wants to say is he fell.arrrghhh...I am a medical practitioner but not a magician

In the end I have to politely tell her that I dont need to know about the fall..but can she tell me about his fever..and whether he had chest pain etc. she looks shocked...as if I have asked her  a stupid question...Im trying not to lose my cool.

Later on another relative comes in...and disclose that patient has actually been unconcsious for 2 days.... and where the wife informed me that "he ate this morning" was actually them trying to force vaisalo down his throat while he was comatose....ok nuff said.

Man I love/hate my job..I wish people could just answer the question and give us the info we need....would make our job alot easier....I knew it was not going to be easy...but some days- its just ridiculous. ..

ae kau alu la i le toilet and "eh" mai kagaka...hmm...and one wonders why ones hairs are turning white!!lol...
good day folks- going to try some Vailima Pure!!

what a week

Yes... I am butt crack tired and while I have a mountain of paper work to do- all I can find the energy to do is BLOG. Yes....its my 2  minutes of sanity for the day:) And for some reason it feels fulfilling. Unlike paperwork, it has that...how can I describe it...that kinda satisfaction you get out of swearing under your breadth at something that annoys you! ( I know a cousin of mines who would nod their head at that comment..stop swearing) yes....anyways.

Had a full on week in my number 3 shoes as a doc at the hospital. Had to do some extra hours to help the team which has been...tiring to say the least. (number 1 shoes is mom and number 2 shoes is the home business) This week has been UNUSUALLY busy and the OPD clinic has been chokabloc by 10 am the line of patients surpass the seats available-go beyond  the corridors past the dental unit all the way down to the immunization clinics...thats like...way too long for me. It has been...trying. Man...my problem is...I genuinely want to help people. I want to see the sick people quick and get them treated and sorted. From time to time I do eyeball checks when I run out to the loo and pull people out of the stupid numbering system of first come first serve and just get them inside to you know, prevent them from keeling over and having a heart attack...but work never fails to get my blood pressure up

on one very busy day- I forced our team to try to triage people (you know- do their recordings (temp/blood pressure etc) and bump up the ones who were really sick (i.e very high temperatures or short of breath or low bPs) so that we could see them quick enough in the mass of hundreds out there who were mainly repeat perscriptions sniffly noses and pain killers. Man, to my shock...all hell broke loose. people were yelling, nurses were trying to calm them down..and to top it off one person in particular stood up and abused the staff outside very loudly about a kid who was ushered in before him having a number which was further down the line from him - ended up discovering he was a priest from a certain village!! talk about keep the peace....in the end..traige fell apart because of the big mouths outside...for freaks sake man...bet it wasnt the really sick ones that piped up...e se kailo se

today ..after a whole week of slugging through the masses..I started to lose my cool. Up to number you know..67 and the patient sat in front of me could not really say why she was there...fiu e fesili aku poo le a le ma'i and in the end she says- I just came to visit a friend in hosp and thought I would get a check...for ..nothing. number 67 been in line for 4 hours...ae leai se mea o kiga...then starts fabricating reasons for me to check her left nostril which hurts sometimes and the other day she had a rash on her hand but its gone now. Koeaikiki percribe aku se kui lou muli.

Then a mum comes with her 17year old daughter. She stands over her with her eyebrows raised...me- introduce myself- whats wrong- Mum- practically shouts out "lea...gale...gae ma'i" (shes sick look at her) ok..try to ask the teen about her symtoms but shes rolling her eyes at her mum as if to say "i hate you you dont understand me" you know that teen stage where you and mum are just not best friends...again- what is wrong what are the symptoms- "well obviously shes sick!" says mum- look at her  as if eyeballing her is going to miracoulousy give me a vision of what has been the problem .."sleeping all day..faimai kiga le ulu..gae mai - aumai saga fualaau tui  (give me antibiotics)poo se mea e koe faa ala ai maka!" ok...now resort to the close ended questions we were always taught never to use- Do you have a sore head YES..sore back?YES..sore eyes? YES...have you had fevers YES.. ok...every question was a yes..but examination revealed a big NO as patient sat there chewing gum and texting someone in the middle of the consult...at the end of the day mother daughter dispute really su rmounted to NADA...daughter needed panadol for headache and mum needed a stick removed from her.....ok will stop there...the jist is I kept getting these rubbish patients and in the end the last one got a "dont waste my time" growlin...sorry..it was waiting there to be said. It happens and I try to be ok about it ..but sometimes there are just people there to waste time...ae uma komumu i le kaugaka o le lima kala leaga kokogi.

now...Im pooped...Im tired...I need to shower...I hope I didnt pick up any of that hand foot and mouth virus i saw on a kid  today...I need a boxing bag to destress myself..and my friends pics of eating crab overseas somewhere has made me really hungry...and all I have at home is saimigi...se crap ia se!!Lol ciao

Bullet point blog

Because I want to blog, but its an ongoing inner battle that goes something like" what the heck are you doing? you see that list there- yes, there , with 10,000 things listed?? that's what you are SUPPOSED to be doing..so GET OFF...NOW"

and cause I only have 2 hours in front of this laptop with no kids wanting me to "turn it on paint" or turn on DORA or just turn my head to face them and give them some attention...kalofae....

But bullet points for the week are

1. toilet hygiene. Can someone explain to me why some Samoans, tend to leave soiled t-paper..OUTSIDE of the loo pot?? seriously i see it everyone, in our hall toilets, in the boat toilets etc etc...fargs me off. is someone seriously gonna pick that shit up (literally) and kiai it again?? I feel like putting a sign up in our almost public toilets (that every fa'akau niu in the village uses secretly when no ones looking) that says- if you cant put it in the toilet and flush it away..put it in your bag and take it home with you! fanks very much

2. My Desk. I found out a while ago the old as rickety desk I sit at hours upon hours, which is actually pretty solid compared to these days l-cheapo from the wharehouse type desks...actually belonged to...wait a minute...my grandfather. Yes, here in Lalomalava, in the village of my inlaws in their business office, I sit at my very own grand daddys desk. See my grandparents actually lived and worked here for some time. Raised their kids here at good old St marys etc. And when they closed up shop and moved to the big city, the sold my husbands family this desk. Brings a tear to my eye sitting here. Scoured the desk for possible little doodles, you know..Neil for Bella forever type thing, in a heart...but alas. My grand pop was not that kind of a man. He was the big kahuna in our family. So solid and sensible...a commanding force and yet the most caring grandpop who would read his litter of grand kids stories in bed...love him always. how awesome it is to sit here at this desk which is a sentimental piece of history to me:)

3. Xmas and news years in Samoa. Has meant tons of head injuries showing up at the hospital. you'd think it would all be drunken violence, when in actual fact Ive seen about 50 /50 really..lots of actual stupid violent injuries to the head...(dont get me started on how dumb that is...) and actually alot of - "fall out of trees"...(i.e Breadfruit/coconut) Perhaps they were climbing intoxicated.??.who knows...anyways, I have had to be a paramedic and accompany a couple of these particular patients over to Apia..bag and masking (i.e artificially breathing for them) all the way- me and a very good nurse Henry- actually..he did most of the baggin, I just gave him breaks and gave drugs..either way, we both had to suck it in...all the way:). yes, I got sick on the boat and its blooooody hot in the ambulance when the car is turned OFF even with all the windows open..BUT..you have no opportunity to be sick. So its just a "suck it in" kinda ride...and do your best for the poor soul on the bed. Tough times....but very exciting non the less.

OK...I am gonna keep it short and sweet...fill in the rest of my bullet points at the end of the week!!ciao!