Being in the Peace Corps in Samoa is like…

…being a celebrity. Or what I would imagine being a celebrity would be like. I never was famous in America despite all my effort…

Peace Corps has been in Samoa since 1967. It was one of the first countries the Peace Corps ever went to. Peace Corps has helped Samoa with infrastructure, health, education, and even brought them the flush toilet (thank goodness for that one). Needless to say, it has quite the reputation here. I have even heard older Samoans reminisce about how they had a Peace Corps volunteer (Pisikoa) in their village when they were children.

Because of this amazing reputation that so many volunteers before me have brought, I have the fortune of feeling like a celebrity. It also helps (or doesn’t help, depending on how you look at it) that I stick out like a sore thumb.

I have now been in my village for over 2 months, yet somehow even within the first month, everyone in my village seemed to know my name. This is no easy feat given that I live in one of the larger villages of Samoa. I go for runs and hear people calling my name. “Hi Sana.” “Bye Sana.” I walk through the town and taxi drivers ask, “Sana, do you need a ride?” I walk home from school and every child is outside, waving and yelling, “Bye Sana!” Meanwhile, I wave back and think, “Have I ever even met you?”

This particular aspect of my life in Samoa has positives and negatives. I have gotten a couple free taxi rides thanks to my celebrity status. However, it is really weird to have everyone know my name. I don’t get a lot of quiet if I want to go for a walk.

I am just hoping that my celebrity stays with me just a little when I go back to America. I need to be a washed-up celebrity so I can finally go on Dancing with the Stars.

All The Free Time

I had been hearing since I arrived in Samoa (and probably even before that) that the hardest time in service is the time between when pre-service training ends and the school year starts. In Samoa, the school year starts at the end of January and goes until the beginning of December. This meant, with pre-service training ending at the same time as the school year, we would have seven weeks until the beginning of the next school year. Luckily, however, that was shortened to six weeks since we had training the week prior to the school year beginning.

It has been rare in my life that I have literally had nothing to do except work to integrate into my community. I am the girl who used to work and go to school 7 days a week at one point. I thrive on being busy. This, however, seemed like it wouldn’t be too bad; I am good at finding things to keep myself occupied.

So what can you do with literally all the free time?

Read 8 books

Color 6 pictures

Write 4 blog posts

Watch 9 movies

Watch 8 seasons of America’s Next Top Model and 3 seasons of Big Bang Theory

Run 12 times

Do 20 workouts

Go to church 13 times

Visit some Peace Corps volunteers

Go to the beach 5 times

Sing countless songs

Meet countless people

What did I learn from having all of this time?

-I can actually find a lot of things to occupy my time.

-I love reading and need to find time to always read.

-I hate having nothing to do (although I already knew this).

-Naps are my friend.

-Whatsapp is also my friend.

-I’m so grateful for the other volunteers.

-While I love being alone, this may have been too much alone time.

-I am lucky to have the host family I have.

-I can definitely make it two years here.