Just got a new Flip video for Christmas and am making a little test video of the latest art work:

One of the main tasks for my position at DIS is to arrange companies for the Business and Economics students to visit while on two separate academically related tours. The first being a shorter three day excursion into Western Denmark and the second and longer tour that goes either to London and Brussels or Berlin and Prague (depending on what grouping they are in). In addition to arranging all of the company visits for the three groups, I co-lead one of the tours on both the short and long.

Short tour examples this semester were NASDAQ OMX, Jyske Bank, Vestas Wind Systems, Bang and Olufsen, Innovation Living and Lego Systems.

Photo: tba

Long Tour: Transport for London, European Bank for Reconstruction and Development, European Brewer's Association, Belgacom, Coca-Cola Hellenic Bottling, Microsoft, Czech National Bank, Deutsche Bahn, Zendome, T-Mobile and the Czech Beer and Malt Association. Picture below is our group suited up for a tour of the factory floor after being given a presentation by the CFO.

Students also enjoy many cultural activites that are set up by our Study Tours department such as walking tours, museum visits, etc. and meals at iconic restaurants like the Prague TV Tower, Ugly Duckling, and the Berlin Restaurant for the Blind.

Our guide Daniel giving us the low down about the Berlin Wall (directly at his back). He has many interesting first hand experiences from living in Berlin during the fall of Communism.

Below is a video from a Hockey Game we saw in Berlin. It went to a shootout and the Berlin Polar Bears came out on top!

I have been fortunate to come back to Denmark to intern with my old school, the Danish Institute for Study Abroad as the International Business and Economics Program Assistant. Quite a mouth full, I will definitely have to get some business cards made. The contract is for thirteen months and I am really happy to get the opportunity to go abroad again and to see all my old friends and family. In fact, the second day my old host-brother Anders and his girlfriend Tanja (it is less common for Danes to get formally married) had a baby girl, Josephine. It was a little strange for me to think of Anders as a father but both he and Tanja are ecstatic and so is Ander's mom Lisbeth. She is a beautiful bundle of blue eyed joy and I held her like a delicate carton of eggs, always support the head!For the first month I have been staying with Lisbeth, who hosted me while I was a student. It has been good to reconnect with a family that I grew very close to in past. This week I will start renting an apartment in the city and riding a bicycle to work. I have enjoyed living with her because she has taught me about the real Denmark and is just a cool lady. Thanks again Lisbeth!

The one thing on the top of my to-do list this summer was to make it over to backpack around Glacier National Park. Tyler, Josh and I made a plan to take four days after the fourth of July and make our way to North-West Montana to see what the Blackfeet Native Americans call the "Backbone of the World." That saying is truly deserving. The landscape made me feel like a snowflake on Mt. Everest. There were endless 360 degree views of towering peaks, placid lakes, frozen glaciers and the occasional Grizzly...

Our journey into the backcountry toward our site at Poia Lake started innocently enough. That was until we went left instead of right and hiked for several hours until we reached an enormous bowl of cliffs. After some discussion we backtracked and surmised that the trail went off at such an angle that we could cut over to it if we did a little bushwhacking. Don't ever make your own trail unless you are a masochist. We spent a few hours in the deep woods with oversized packs stirring up uneartly aggresive swarms of mosquitos and disappointing ourselves with false sightings of the mysterious lake. When we thought we were at our wits end we broke through some branches and arrived on the beautiful, well maintained Yellow Brick Road that was going to effortlessly take us to salvation (pictured above amid Bear Grass, the large white flowers). Effortless turned out to be a small understatement. Keep in mind that this is hour ten with no stops over twenty minutes and a healthy midget on each of our backs. We hiked with determination in our hearts to find this chimera named Poia for another three hours of merciless incline until we happened across a couple hiking back from our port of call. The woman seemed a little ashen faced as they described the Grizzly who had been hanging around the lake's edge for most of the day refusing to cede any ground to the hairless apes. We had come so far and were so exhausted that we decided we would take our chances with Smoky. Our bear calls became more pronounced as we hiked the remaining three miles with a sharpened sense of our hunter-gatherer instincts. The campsite was heavily wooded and the lake was a further 100 meters downhill. We gave the area a good looking over and besides some fresh bear digs we could not spot the fabled bear. At this point we went back to the campsite and gorged ourselves trying to gain back some of our spent energy. I had my back to the trail with a fist full of trail mix when Tyler gave out a uncharacteristic "Oh my God." As if in a surreal dream, I glanced back and stared at a large dark-brown boulder thirty feet away in the middle of trail that had not been there before. The world turned slower as my intuition told me that this was in fact not a benign rock but a fully grown, flesh ripping carnivorous barbarian. This period of realization was plenty of time for him to have stormed our gates and done as much raping and pillaging as he desired. But to our luck he seemed only curious of the smell of our leaking pasta and man musk. We all stood up bear spray in hand ready to unload but he was as placid as morning pond, just a few sniffs of the passing air and he lumbered his way back down the trail. And so we arrived at a crossroads, spend the night with Smoky the Curious or hump all the way back down the trail we had nearly killed ourselves coming up? We surmised that we would not get a wink of sleep anyway so we should finish our meal and pound it out in the fading light. Thank God for endorphines and adrenaline because I'm sure the body is not able to take that kind of abuse normally. More fresh bear digs on the trail that had not been there before kept our bear calls true and the velcro on our spray cans undone. Never has the sight of my Pathfinder been so sweet as that day.

When we finally made it back to the main tourist campsites they were full and we had to head outside the park to stay in a seedy little motel that turned out to be blessing because the alternative was cramming into a ultra-lite three man tent that we had needlessly hauled over hell's half acre without showers. The smell would have been terrific.

If the trip had gone to plan and was free of a few bumps and turns I would have been disappointed. It is an amazing place and an adventure I will never forget.

One more summer of bliss in the greatest place on Earth, Priest Lake, ID. Josh and I returned for a few months of bar tending at Hill's Resort. To all of my fellow bartenders, servers, managers and owners thank you for making it such a fun experience. Belles, Bobby, Beth and Cheri you are the best supervisors I've ever worked for. Ben There, Dane That!These were taken on a hike up into the Selkirk Mountains to an area called the Wigwams. It took all I could muster to hang my legs off a 500 foot cliff. I think the ladybugs are mating?The EHL Crew made an appearance to take a canoe trip up the Thorofare into Upper Priest Lake for a night of camping. I really can't believe that the canoes didn't fly off the cars or that none of managed to flip a canoe with all of our gear. Conor, I am really suprised it didn't happen to you. Have your mosquito bites scarred over yet Billy?Below is definitely the highlight of my summer. Lois Hill, John Ryan, Marcus, Josh and I went to the Green Owl near the town of Priest River. It is the most backwoods biker/logger bar I've ever been to. The owners live in a trailer behind it, three dogs make their way in and out and live on the dance floor, there is no food, one tap and an enormous fish in a tiny tank that they feed cherries. The sign we are standing next to read "WE LOVE YOU WHOREDOG AND WE'LL MISS YOU." If anyone can top this please mail me a picture.

Here is a hilarious video of Ryan Lodge from the Elkin's crew sliding down from the Wigwams, bottle of wine in tow. We were doing commercial ads for "Canyon's Edge" that they had 'borrowed' from the wine tasting the day before.

I just had to include some of the 'good old days' shots that many of you have not seen or maybe wish you hadn't seen. The only reason these moments are memorable is because photographic technology captured them and not because our faculties can recall them.

During our time in South Africa we stayed with Josh's brother Jeffrey and his family. They were extremely hospitable and graciously took us into their lively home. With all the guests it sometimes numbered between ten and fourteen persons. These picture are from the Groenkloof Nature Reserve which is literally right next to the capital, Pretoria. We were able to ride bike from the house into it. There are only ungulates and birds there so you can walk and bike around without having to worry about being stalked by lions or trampled by an elephant. The only danger you could run into is if you are dumb enough to try and ride a zebra. Below is a enormous grasshopper like insect that we noticed around the area. It was about as long as my hand!

The twin boys Isaac and Eugene had a birthday party that we held at the American Community Center, which is a facility behind the Ambassador's house that Americans can use. I got back to my arts and crafts roots and made a pinata out of paper mache. It held true through several glancing blows before a young girl connected with one and then kept swinging as the children dodged the mop handle to grab for the candy falling on the ground. We are lucky no one lost an eye.

This is Esaie, Jeffrey and Rose's baby boy. He likes to wear what he eats especially if it melts.

This is a shot of the beach in front of the hostel we stayed in Mozambique. Amazing place and country. It felt much more like the Africa you think of than South Africa. The scuba diving was also other worldly. So much different sea life. There were giant manta rays and whale sharks being seen everyday.

We met a girl named Lydia at one of the boys' soccer tournaments who had played on the National Soccer and Basketball teams and was giving a motivational, Don't Do Drugs type talk. She invited us to come to Soweto with some of her friends because she partly grew up there. Soweto was the part of Johannesburg that was a black area during apartheid and is actually bigger than Johannesburg itself. In the past there had been a lot of violence and it has a bad reputation but nothing we saw or people we talked to would indicate that. Lydia also is working for the World Cup that is coming to South Africa in 2010 so we were able to see the new visitor's center and one of the stadiums under a remodel.

We turned northward from Durban and entered the Drakensburg Mountains just East of landlocked country of Lesotho. We stayed in a hostel at the foot of the Amphitheater, which I grabbed a picture from the internet because our weather was not that nice. There are no trees in this area because of a combination of elevation, rainfall and soil quality so the people are all animal herders. Above is one of the many waterfalls that run off the flat top of the range.

Below are pictures of the Tugela Falls. It is the world's second highest waterfall at 3,110 feet that falls in five steps. It was completely clouded over so the only picture that turned out was the one below where I stood right next to it looking down. I probably would not have been so brave if I could have seen the bottom. The second picture below I found on the internet that shows its size.

The time we spent on the summit was cold, raining and windy so when we made it to the opposite slope we were all a little tense about climbing over a cliff edge on wet ancient steel chain ladders with frozen hands.The weather cleared in the way down and all the wet rock faces shined in the sun warming our hearts and bodies.

On our excursion along the South coast we met two South African guys Gary and Justin who we became friends with over a game of King's Cup in a hostel in Wilderness. They had been studying accounting in Stellenbosch but were from Durban and were making their way back home along our same route before going to London to work for a year. Justin was kind enough to invite us to stay with his family when we got to Durban and we were more than happy to take him up on it. It was a pleasant suprise and a side of South Africa we would have never seen. His parents had recently retired and bought a large Catamaran they were planning to sail all over the world. They were being certified to sail it and we got to accompany them out into Durban harbor for some basic sea trials (above). They fed us a ton of amazing food and I thank them again for being so kind and hospitable. Above we got to drive around in Justin's mom's convertible Saab and see parts of the city. It was a few steps above riding in African buses. Another day we went to the Inanda Dam and went waterskiing on the reservoir. This is in an area known as Kwazulu-Natal and is historically part of the kingdom of Zulus. It's nickname is "A Land of a Thousand Hills" because of the accordian like geography. Justin brought along his small surfboard and gave us all a lesson in barefoot waterskiing. He sat on the board as the boat gained speed and made his way just outside the wake and when we accelerated to around 30 mph he slowly stood up. I had to try and the video at the bottom is my first attempt. Josh took the video sideways so you have to turn your head to the left.

Ouch, and my feet were itchy afterward!

Moving along the Southern Coast we entered the area known as the Garden Route. It is popular among backpackers, which proved useful catching rides and meeting people from all over the world. There is a lot of diversity in the landscape including some of the best beaches in the country and old growth forests. It also helps that it is part of the Indian and not Atlantic Ocean so the water temperature is ten to fifteen degrees warmer.

These pictures are from an area known as the Transkei. It is where Nelson Mandela is from and was a "homeland," which were areas that were set aside and given a degree of autonomy from the South African government to pursue their policy of "separate development." It was just a smoke screen because the local government was controlled by the South African government, there was zero development done and they used these areas to recruit cheap labor for the mines in the wealthy areas. Because of this these areas are the most behind the rest of the country and have a completely different feel. Beautiful but poor.

This was a hostel dog in Storm's River that turned into a statue when you held a piece of food in front of him. So we had some fun seeing how much stuff we could put on him. We gave him the biscut afterwards for keeping us entertained.

I did a little bungee jump along the way. They advertise it as the highest commercial bungee jump at 216 meters off the Bloukrans bridge and into the canyon below. It was my first bungee so I thought what the hell, no sense starting on the bunny hill. Willingly jumping off a perfectly sturdy bridge is a feeling that goes against every human instinct of survival. A middle aged woman went before me and as the two assistants' countdown approached one she crumbled to the ground and fell backwards toward the platform. Her second time she took a pathetic little hop and we could hear her scream go trailing off down the chasm. I was not honestly nervous at all until after I was strapped in by the bare ankles and standing on the edge did the gravity of what I was about to do occur to me. But when the countdown hit one I voluntarily took the suicidal leap and tried not to soil myself as the whistle of the wind increased during the four seconds of free fall and I watched the ground come rushing up at 120 miles an hour. This frightening, exhilerating, midlife crisis ending sensation was followed by the glorious feeling of my lifeline coming into affect to keep my forehead off of the earth below. The bounce up of a hundred plus feet brought all of the blood from my lower body into my skull to say hello. This was followed by another two seconds of free fall and so on and so on. I would have done it again in a second if I could have afforded it because the second time they let you jump off backwards...

Below is a waterfall in Tsitsikamma National Park Josh and I hiked to with a few Germans we had met. The coast line was so different than the white sandy beaches we had been at only the day before. This park is known for its unique tidal and fauna life.

Josh and I began a three week loop down to Cape Town, across the southern coast and then inland from Durban through the Drakensburg Mountains. The trip began with a 27 hour train ride from Pretoria to Stellenbosch where we stayed with a mutual friend Jenny Tracy who was studying abroad there for the semester. After doing some wine tasting and catching up we headed to Cape Town in our Volkswagon City Chico rental car. Our plan was to climb Table Mountain that morning but the weather intervened and it was completely socked in. Instead we orgainzed a trip through a township and to Robben Island where Nelson Mandela and other political prisoners were kept during apartheid. The prison is a spooky place and our tour guide was a former inmate who explained what they went through. We saw the lime quarry where they dug everyday and the cave within it that they famously referred to as the Congress of the New South Africa. What is funny is that many of them did hold the highest offices once apartheid ended including Mandela who became the President.

This picture above is of a medicine man in the township Langa. Josh explained to him the 100 year curse that is hanging over the Cubs and asked him if he could do anything about it. They switched hats and apparently the curse has been lifted. Now the Cubs have the best record in baseball, coincidence?

After several days of the 'Table Cloth' dominating Table Mountain there was a break in the weather and we hiked up one of the trails to the plateaued summit. There is a tram that leads to the top but we were confident with our pocket knives that we could fend off any baboons that tried to rob us of our shiny objects. The weather changes rapidly and after eating some lunch on the top overlooking Cape Town the fog appeared out of nowhere and we moved down. It can get so thick that you can lose the trail. I took the picture above on the way down. The mist rolled over the side and down the mountain incredibly fast before it evaporated at a lower elevation.

Josh and I trekked over to Kruger National Park in the north-east corner of South Africa to see these animals that everyone associates with Africa. We went in our usual style, on the spur of the moment with little to no planning. Our thinking was that we could go there, walk around a bit, camp at night, etc. When we told our plans to a National Park spokesperson she laughed in our face. Apparently, there is lots of stuff that can kill you at night and the only time you are allowed out of your car is with an armed guide (we broke the rules a bit in the above picture). We rented a car with a Dutchman who we met at the hostel just outside the park (pictured above). It was my first time driving a car with right hand drive. I was lucky that we started out at 4:45 am so there were not too many cars on the road for me to hit. It actually wasn't as hard as I feared but a little weird operating a stick with the left hand.

Right off the bat we saw animals at a distance and with the help of my spotting telescope we spent a long time looking at white rhinos and water buffalo from 300 yards away. Little did we know how close we were going to get some large animals in the next few hours. There are so many wildebeast, impala, and zebra that they seemed like flocks of pigeons in a city square. After awhile we saw so many elephants and giraffes that we didn't even slow down unless they were right next to the road. We were searching for some of the cats, which we didn't find until the end of the first day. On our way to our campsite we saw three male lions laying around like a bunch of couch potatoes. The picture above was on our second day of a lone female lion.

This is the southern most baobab tree in the world and a big one at that. Again we fudged the rules and got out to take some pictures next to it to give it some scale.

One of the many elephants that practically were reaching out to touch our rental car. Josh once got a little brave and told me to take a picture with him outside the car but the moment he opened the door to elephant turned and pointed his trunk at him just like a warning. We sped away.All in all an amazing place. Considering how many large animals there are and that it is not a game reserve but a completely wild place it really is a natural wonder.

Josh and I flew into Johannesburg on Tuesday the 29th of January after a non-stop 15-hour flight. Luckily we convinced the ladies at the ticket counter to put us in one of the exit rows, which was crucial. Josh’s brother Jeffrey picked us up at the airport along with his wife Rose and their five children; Bruno, Eugene, Isaac, Morgan and Esaie. We made our way to Pretoria where Jeffrey lives and works for the Peace Corps with whom we will be staying. After a few days of taking it easy and trying to get over some wicked jet lag we are planning to take a few excursions around the area. We saw the sights of Pretoria, which serves as the executive capital of South Africa. This upcoming week we are going to Kruger National Park on the border of Mozambique to see some of Africa’s "Big 5" animals.

The main purpose of this trip has been to get involved with some volunteering organizations and do our small part to help. We have been contacting different groups such as Africa Jam and Habitat for Humanity but it is still early so we’ll see what ends up surfacing. I was chatting with a guy in a music shop the other day that suggested that we look into church groups because they do a lot of philanthropy. Anyone who knows me well is aware that I am not the most gung-ho person when it comes to organized religion but this may be an inroad we end up exploring.

What has surprised me most about South Africa so far is how unique and fresh their history is and how it affects daily life. Before this I knew what I thought was the basic history but now that I am here and have read more about it I realize how much more complex it is. Apartheid ended only 14 years ago. That is like being in the United States 14 years after the civil rights movement. But now imagine that the US population is 90% black and how the power structure would have changed. The inequality that still exists here is inescapable. The wealthy suburbs, which are 99% white are separated from the city center and the surrounding townships. We are currently in one such suburb and the security here is like nothing else I’ve ever seen. The crime rate is very high and there is still segregation and a tinge of racism in the way the population is separated. There are areas here that are like being in a posh Miami neighborhood and two miles away there is abject poverty. Jeffery’s house has a ten-foot tall wall around it topped with spikes and four electrified wires. Assuming anyone could get over that there are two guard dogs. After that they would need to get into a house that is completely barred up: every door and every window. Inside there is a security system that automatically calls armed guards only minutes away. The upstairs has it’s own prison style barred door that is closed every night so that no one could get to the bedrooms assuming they could get in. To me it all seems a bit overdone. I just can’t imagine anyone would even fathom of breaking into one of these houses, which I guess is the point.

Me feeding Esaie.

My travels continued, which brought me next to the first National Park in the United States, Yellowstone. My friend Connor Tremelling Giorgi was working in the park for the fisheries department shocking various streams and rivers to see what species floated to the top. Exciting stuff. While he was out committing genocide in remote corners of the park, I did several day hikes out where the buffalo roam and the skies remained partially forecast all day. Being the end of October the mornings were a bit brisk reaching down to the low 20's but that didn't stop me. The above picture is Osprey Falls and below is the always abundant Lamar Valley.

Bison are an incredible creature. Absolutely massive and always on the move. They block the roadways in the park and move for no one. The Lamar Valley blew me away everyday. Herds of buffalo and elk graze through this wide depression with packs of wolves always watching from nearby. Connor and I were lucky enough to see one of these packs just before dust moving over the rolling hills on the fringe of the valley. Seventeen in all not more than 150 yards away. Even a park ranger who also happened to be there said that it was the best sighting he had seen all summer.

Just an example of what was following the same trail I was.

Second stop in my little jaunt across the country was to New York to visit my friend Zeke and again because I had never been. I remember hearing a New Yorker say that people who live in other cities must really be joking when they compare it to living in the big apple. Again, I agree. It is sort of like entering the twilight zone after living in a Samoan village and Northern Idaho. The sheer scale of how many blocks of skyscrapers and square feet of concrete that has been torn up and rebuilt over the life of the city is hard for the mind to get around. Since I'm not one of those people who goes on bus tours or to Broadway shows but enjoys walking around and taking in all the cityscape, people, sounds and smells (there are quite a few different smells) I ended up walking a lot, maybe 8-10 miles a day. When I wanted to get across town I rode the subway, maybe the best in the world I've ever been on. You can literally get within a few blocks of anything if you know what you are doing.

The shot above is from Katz's Delicatessan. I'm told the most famous deli in New York (where Meg Ryan does the fake orgasm in 'When Harry Met Sally') but I'm sure that would be debated depending on what neighborhood you were asking in. This is the best pastrami sandwich I've ever eaten and those who know me well know that I have a love affair with pastrami. The best $15 I ever spent.

I don't know why I thought this banner was so funny. The irony of finding a driving school in the heart of China town was just too much for me. I have to say this is one of the cooler neighborhoods I went to in Manhattan, with its old buildings and seafood in baskets all over the sidewalk. The diversity of New York is no secret but what struck me was how different all the different neighborhoods are. Just in Manhattan there are dozens all with their own feel and that isn't including the Bronx, Brooklyn, or Staten Island. It affects New Yorkers vocabulary too. Every conversation includes street numbers and subway routes, something like this;

"Why didn't you take the NRQW up to West 56th street?"

"Because I had to get cross town from Brooklyn and the L ends at Union Square and 3rd Ave!"

"Listen to this freakin' guy, heh. Take the bus you schmo."

"Hey! Oh!"

Ok just my own perception. Thanks again to Zeke and Sean for putting me up.

I started a little trip over in Chicago to see my friend Josh and also because I had never been to the Midwest (beyond an airport). Someone told me that Chicago is great because of its working class roots. I would definitely agree. The city has a great night life, lots of younger people and not too heavy of a big city vibe. The highlight of the trip was going to see a Cubs game at Wrigley field. Josh, two of his friends and I barbecued a few blocks away then made our way to the outfield bleachers where we scored some great seats four rows above the ivy in left center field. I came to understand why Josh got so mad at me when I referred to Wrigley as a baseball stadium, it's not a stadium, it's a ballpark. The old style ballpark is so small and intimate that we could yell at the center fielder of the Pirates and he would laugh and nod his head. He even threw us a ball, at least we thought that he threw it to us. The toss was a little high and the ensuing scramble resulted in several beverages being spilled. But who can complain about a ballpark that sells tall cans of Pabst?

Coming back from Western Samoa in the summer with nothing to start till fall my Peace Corps friend Josh and I decided that it would be a good idea to have fun in the sun for a couple months. Luckily my family has an amazing cabin on pristine Priest Lake in the Idaho panhandle that had our names written all over it. We quickly snagged jobs as bartenders at a local resort called Hill's and bought some fishing licenses. The summer has been nothing but fun. Fishing, boating, hiking, partying, water sporting, etc. Many articles have been lost to the lake gods (cellphones, sunglasses, cash, etc.).

John and Bob made a brief appearance. The madness that ensued was to be expected. A couple detours through British Columbia, Vancouver, and Seattle aside we've been enjoying the lake and all the cool people we get to work with. The hikes in the surrounding area are some of the best I've ever done because they are so few people who come here. View from Mt. Roothan over to Chimney Rock. Doesn't that pose just smack of genuine spontaneity?

Well my service has been brought to an end, saying goodbye was the hardest thing I've ever had to do. That is another reason for the long time between posts. It's been hard even to talk about it let alone write it down. Luckily it was a motivator for my family to finally get a picture with everyone. I'd been trying for at least three months for this picture.I left on a Monday so on the final Sunday my village chiefs had a To'onai (Sunday feast) for me and gave me all kinds of gifts that I really didn't expect. I gave a farewell speech and tried to hold back my tears, I was unsuccessful. Afegogo just put his head back and closed his eyes for a few minutes so he wouldn't cry. He did tell me that he broke down in the plantation. It's amazing how close you get to people here both because so much time is spent in close quarters and lots of time to just chat. Here is another picture I tried to get of the whole village but only about a quarter of them stayed. I'm that big tall white thing in the back in case you were wondering.

When the Peace Corps vehicle came to pick me up in the morning it was almost a euphoric feeling, like a dream. It didn't feel real that I was leaving this place that had come to feel like my home. The whole village came over to my house and they stopped school so all the kids came over to see me off. It was the most emotional experience of my life to see all the love that these people are capable of giving. My young host sisters didn't really understand that I was leaving for good and the boys couldn't even look at me they were so sad. But by far my host parents were the most emotional. I was absolutely bawling when I hugged them goodbye. They kept telling me to come back. Driving away the kids ran after the car and I looked over a village of Samoans that had come to be like my second family.

This looks like my final garden update, I'm passing the torch to my host family and the women's committee to carry on my hard work and nutritional expertise. Tapu and Ma'anima will do the weeding and maintenance and Afegogo will work on the crops. I've never seen cucumber grow so fast, it has run up the fence I made over it (below). I am writing about this from back in the states with some lag time because the last thing I wanted to do as I was getting ready to leave was update my blog. I tried to take it all in. Recently, I talked to my host-family and they told me that the cucumbers are already coming in large. Hopefully my host brothers will continue to work on it, actually I'm hoping that my host parents make them maintain it. Once they see what yield they can get I think it will motivate them more.

Check out that bok-choy! It grows like a weed! The only downside is that the bugs like it as much as I do. Left of center is some heady cabbage that is coming in nicely, although I may have stunted it's growth by not transfering it soon enough. Only time will tell.

I am part of an NGO called Avanoa Tutusa (Equal Opportunities) a group of Peace Corps volunteers started a few years ago with the aim to hold an annual career day for the students of Samoa. We raised funds through selling funnel cakes during the Teuila Festival (cultural event) and through donations from private companies and from the Ministry of Women division of youth. This year was by far the biggest career day to date and we got a lot of good press for it. We coordinated 1,500 students, 50 businesses, and several ministries. We worked together with the National University of Samoa to hold both the career day and their open day in unison, which showed not only job but also higher education opportunities. The response from students was really encouraging. We wanted to show them that there is a future for them to be successful in Samoa without having to go overseas, which is a commonly held belief.

This is an example of one of the booths. Students seemed to be really attracted to idea of being a Police officer.

One of my latest endeavors has been to build a computer lab in the Primary School not only for the kids and teachers but also for everyone in the village who wants to learn how to use a computer. My initial attempts to motivate the leadership in the village weren’t all that successful. So I used the carrot of two donated computers (my old laptop and a old desktop from my parent’s office, thanks again rents) if they would raise the money to prepare the room. It needs a desk, chairs, surge protector, fan, and needs to be sealed because in Samoa if you don’t have air conditioning the next best thing is to seal the room with cardboard and keep a fan on max speed whenever the computer is on because the humidity does bad voodoo to electronics. That was my offer and suggested that they do some sort of fund-raising to acquire those few things, not that it was a big deal but I was trying to find a way for the community to have ownership of the project.

To my surprise, during the meeting of parents (almost like a PTA) and the school committee they decided to have a Bingo to raise the money. Bingo here is like a national past time. It is played almost bi-weekly by people of all ages. They then debated about how many, what kind of games, what the prizes would be, and which families would be responsible to bring which prizes. I am basically a Bingo virgin. They went on about 4 ons, 6 ons, Specials, Jackpots, Bonuses for over an hour. I was confused the whole time. But it all worked out as you can see from the pictures. Because the school draws kids from my village and the next it was deceptively large. It was during this afternoon that I lost my Bingo virginity.

The normal prizes consist of laundry powder soap, laundry bar soap, body soap, Top Ramen packets, rice, sugar, mosquito coils, etc. And the Specials, Jackpots, Bonuses have the stuff mentioned above plus boxes of cup o noodles, eggs, big bags of rice, and someone was supposed to bring a teapot but they dropped the ball. Exciting stuff.

All in all we raised 850 Samoan tala or about $220. I have to say I was blown away. It’s way more than a few of the things we need cost. To add to that I just got a grant approved from the Australian High Commission for school furniture that I was unsure about. So there has already been some rumors about wanting to buy some other computers and I have a contact through other Peace Corps Volunteers of a computer store owner in New Zealand who will ship us deeply discounted computers. If that happens it would work out better than I ever thought it would.

My plan is to have different classes during the week mostly for school age children but also for kids my age and adults. If anyone is interested in donating any computer related equipment or software it would be much appreciated and well used. Please contact me by email first and I will give you my mailing address here.

Village matais (chiefs) counting the bread. My host-father is on the right. Nothing like Bingo and Pall Mall Menthols.

So I got a little tatoo the other day... I went to see a tatoo artist named Suluape who is known in international tatoo circles as one of the better traditional style Samoan tatooists. I went out to his house and brought a case of beer with me as a gift before we started (part of the culture and the man likes to drink Vailima), we talked for awhile then went back into an open fale with a couple of his boys, and before I knew it I was laying down with the guys stretching the skin while he tapped a stick with sharpened boars teeth (that he also raises in the back) on the end with another stick to inject the ink in a series of tiny dots.

All in all it took about four hours with one break halfway through. It was a really good experience and to be honest the actual tapping didn't hurt very much. Afterwards I had a fever until I went to sleep but now I feel good. It's really swollen today and sore as you maybe can tell from the pictures.

Going up to his place and seeing him it is hard to believe that he goes around the world to give tatoos. While he works he has kids lite cigarettes for him and he smokes no handed. Dogs were running in and out of the open house, kids playing everywhere, all while I was laying there watching coconut and breadfruit trees sway in the wind; it made it all that more fun and rewarding to have a real Samoan experience. Mom, dad, please don't be mad at me and Mor Fa please don't disown me.

The tatoo is actually the upper portion of the Samoan naval to knees tatoo that men get when they finish puberty. The star-like symbol sitting by itself on the front of my bicep is where the bellybutton would be and the back of my arm would be the lower back. It had to be stretched a little differently because my arm isn't exactly in proportion to a waist. All the lines of symbols mean different things but Suluape isn't much of a talker so I'll ask someone else who knows.My host-family's reaction has been entertaining. They of course love it, as Samoans are into tatoos in general. They couldn't believe that I had it done the traditional way and not with a gun. My host-father has been showing me how to take care of it. He gave me a fofo which is like a heavy massage on it. It hurt like hell but is good because the ink tends to bleed if you don't work it out because I'm told that with the tapping technique it gets under the plasma when a normal tatoo does not. When I tried to go to sleep with a bandage around it so that the ink didn't bleed all over my sheets my host-parents about freaked out. Apparently your not supposed to do that. They kept telling me "no, no, you'll get sores, you'll get sores!" So I just threw down a lavalava on my bed and let it run. I am going to go with local knowledge with this one.

Alright so the garden is beoming half way respectable. It took a lot of work constructing a fence that can keep the zoo of chickens and pigs from coming in and feasting on my little seedlings. My host brothers and I collected coconut frawns that had fallen down and dried and stuck them in the ground vertically. Chickens being the highly intelligent animals that they are don't try to get in if they can't see what is inside. I am also using coconut husks around the small plants to keep the soil in place during heavy rain and to keep weeds down. So the current crops are pole beans, tomatoes, chinese cabbage, head cabbage, carrots, cucumber, corn, melons, lemon grass, lau pele, kang kong, mint, basil, sweet potato, and a couple little experiments. We'll see what can survive the insects, floods, locusts, fire and brimstone that will probably conspire against me. The whole village has been coming behind my house to have a look so the buzz has been good. The women's committee is setting up their own fence and now the next village wants to make a cabbage garden.

Me learning how to weave a coconut palm around a fish so that it can be put in an umu (hot rock oven).

Typical meal after church on Sunday. That's palusami, breadfruit, taro, beef, chicken, and cream soup. My host-mother said she is trying to get me fat. Me playing Samoan cricket. The bat is like a primitive club. MORE TO COME!

This last weekend I went back to our training village of Vaie'e to visit my host family and to visit the new baby my host-parents had. They chose to name him Tana (my Samoan name). Me with the new bundle of joy.

As part of a secondary project that I am trying to pursue I asked my host-father Afegogo, who is also the village mayor, if I could start a garden. At first he and the rest of my host-family were a little skeptical. They told me that I wouldn’t want to do that because I would get dirty. They tend to have a specific idea on how Westerners are. After reassuring them my host-brother Ma’anima and I went into the jungle, machetes in hand to cut us down some trees to make fence posts. Even at the tender age of 14 Ma’anima can embarrass me with machete wielding technique. When the rest of the family saw us, hands dirtied, they assumed that I was serious and really got into it. The next day I saw Afegogo back on the proposed area chopping down everything he could make posts out of and cutting off branches to let in more light. He told me that we will grow lots of cabbage and other assorted vegetable, we will make it big, and it will be an example for the whole village. So this has got me excited with the possibility of getting other families to start gardens and hopefully getting the school involved with one complemented by nutrition classes. Also, I’m looking forward to eating some vegetables myself.

I thought it would be fun to have a quarterly garden report for the blog with a photo to show progress and set backs. So here is the first one. I know currently it may not yet be a garden party so much as a small gathering of friends but give it time and we’ll see in three months.

I went to my second Samoan wedding last week in the neighboring village of Utulaelae. Actually, I went to the last day of the multi-day affair. On this day the family of the deceased who was an older matai (village chief) began cooking in the early morning hours in preparation of the several hundred meals consumed throughout the day by family, relatives, and fellow villagers on site, as well as, taken by visitors to their own villages to be given out to their families and friends. As part of the customs this day relatives from outside the village come to exchange gifts. This exchange (usually fine mats, boxes of tin fish and corned beef, slaughtered pigs and cattle, cash, or any combination of these that you can imagine) I think is a real hallmark of the Samoan culture. I just now have enough understanding of the language and culture to comprehend the ins and outs of this highly formalized affair. For example, the deceased’s cousin from a village across the island comes with thirty boxes of canned corned beef and five fine mats, usually presented like the picture above. They all sit in a group at the very front of the yard with the orator (a specific kind of high chief) standing in front with his staff and whisk. The orator then presents their gifts to a similar group of the deceased’s family also lead by an orator. This is very formal respectful language that I sometimes don’t understand. The gifts are accepted then the orator (to continue my above example) may give back the equivalent of %120 to 150 of the amount received, such as a cow, pig, six different fine mats, and 200 Samoan tala. Of course this can very widely but just to give an idea. Throughout the day many groups of relatives may come by to show their respects depending on the size of the family and if you do the math this can be a large burden on the family. From what I’ve been told, funerals are a common time for relatives to send financial help from abroad (usually New Zealand, Australia, and the U.S.) and/or make the trip back themselves.

The day I attended there is much more than just an exchange of gifts. The entire day the ‘daughters if the village’ (girls born in the village) sit around the body in an open fale and sing together. Matais of the village come in a formal offering of palms (pictured above). Around a dozen people are cooking food in huge pots and pans constantly. There is really no somber feelings the whole day like I imagine an American funeral. People are laughing and joking around, visiting with friends and above all eating a lot. *Footnote on the last comment, the time I did see solemn faces was when the proceedings are done and the body is moved from the house to the grave in front (pictured below).

Samoans love to talk to me about the differences between the palangi life and the fa’asamoa life. It’s interesting to hear how some people react when I tell them that American funerals last maybe an afternoon and it is a relatively straightforward ordeal. I can tell that some of them are a little envious of the simplicity we have but some just act nonchalant and say “well this is just our culture.” I’m glad that they have kept their old ways even in the light of Western influence and Christianity.