Week 4

Things have definitely picked up this week. Last Friday we moved into our house finally!! We had been waiting all week for the houses to be professionally cleaned so we could move in. So Friday rolls around and they tell us they’re finally ready and start moving furniture over from the house we had been staying in. Well we come over to the house and although the floors had probably been swept and the cabinets cleaned out – it had not been otherwise cleaned. We spent the rest of the day going to the store and trying to buy things we needed like trash bins, buckets, mops, brooms, etc but then coming home and cleaning everything before we could unpack. We couldn’t really start cleaning until Tyler went to bed either. Then it was rearranging furniture, wiping everything down with Lysol and then unpacking. We didn’t go to bed until 1:00 in the morning.

It’s a good feeling to finally be settled in one place and know you’ll be here for awhile. Its been over a month now since we’ve been in a house, all to ourselves. The weather has gotten nicer too, not very much rain, dryer and a little cooler. We’ve been trying to not use the AC but our house stays pretty cool with the windows open and a few fans. I really like our house actually. It’s a little more private since its in the back of the property and surrounded by trees on three sides. The balcony off of the guest room/ my office upstairs is great too. It has a great breeze and its very peaceful up there. The kitchen is big and open to the our little sitting area with couches and a t.v. At the other end of the house is a sliding glass door that goes out to a little patio. I definitely think both houses have their perks and I’m happy where we are.

I also finally met with one of the owners to go over my job responsibilities last week. So I was able to start doing some stuff this week but its been a little slow with trying to get internet, get a working computer etc. (Nothing is wrong with our computer, they were just supposed to give me a computer for work and multiple keys on the laptop didn’t work on the one they gave me.) Plus they still haven’t told me what my pay will be. The other owner flew in this week on Wednesday and said he’d discuss it with me on Monday and that I shouldn’t do anymore work until we’ve negotiated something. I hate discussions like this because I don’t ever really know whats reasonable and I’m never one to say – no that’s not enough money for me. I don’t’ know everything about the finances in the company and its not like my income is the sole income for the family so its difficult for me to know how to approach it. So we’ll see what happens. They seem like reasonable people so I’m sure we’ll work something out that all parties can agree on.

Andy and I have also been in the middle of a big mess with trying to buy a car. We were supposed to buy a Kia sedan but had some reservations about it. Well meanwhile one of the staff at work told Andy about a friend he had who had a nicer newer car and we would be able to get parts for it more easily and it was a little less expensive. So we look at that car on Sunday and tell him we want to buy it and set it up to get the car and pay him this Wednesday. Well something with our credit card didn’t work out and we could only get a third of the money to him that day. When Andy was talking to some people at the bank after the man had left they asked what car he was buying and for how much and multiple people told him he was paying way too much for it and he’d be lucky to get half of that in a year when we need to sell it. Well on top of that the check engine light suddenly came on that day and the driver’s side window wasn’t working right. So…it turned pretty sticky when Andy confronted the guy on it and he threatened to sue if we didn’t get him the rest of the money by 4:00 Thursday. So we had to make a few calls to people in the company that hold some weight in the community to make sure this guy couldn’t sue us for having buyer’s remorse. Andy had to meet with a Samoan lawyer today too (for only $25 US dollars) just to make sure we’re doing everything right and then he’ll have a meeting with the guy tomorrow to either negotiate a better price or say –“hey we don’t want it anymore. Give us our money back.” The only problem with option 2 is that we think the guy has already spent the $6,000 tala dollars we already gave him…. So I’ll let you know next week how the story ends. Right now I’m just fed up with it and don’t want to deal with it anymore. Plus the car is a stick shift which I don’t drive and wasn’t really crazy about learning here – in a foreign country where they don’t’ exactly follow the same traffic laws as in the U.S. At least they haven’t switched to driving on the left side of the road yet otherwise that would definitely be a recipe for disaster for me.

(** It’s the next day and the story ends that – Andy went in there all ready to negotiate with the guy for a better price, or to have the car fixed etc. Thinking he didn’t have our money to pay us back. Well the guy just got on the phone and said “I already have another buyer for the car. Meet me today with the car and I’ll give you your money back.” He was very apologetic about threatening to sue and seemed more reasonable. To me that says how much weight this woman Breda has in the community because as soon as we got her involved, he backed down and was willing to work with us more. So…long term I think we’ve learned some lessons that will help us buy a better car in the future – short term – we still don’t have a car. )

So in other news – Suzie came on Wednesday! I’m so excited to have more people here and to have a friend. Tyler has been so cute with Kye too. They follow each other around the house and talk in gibberish and get into trouble together. They get into fights occasionally too when they want the same toy, but I think they’re good for each other. Because our houses are so close together and we usually have the windows open you can hear the other baby crying (or the baby next door). There have been a few times in the middle of the night that I thought Tyler was crying and went in and he was fast asleep and it had really been the neighbor’s baby crying. But for the most part a mother knows her own child’s cry and I know when its Tyler. Anyway, this morning they had just put Kye down for a nap and he was quite sad about this and was crying pretty loud in his crib. Well I’d also put Tyler down for a nap, but he had also decided he didn’t want to sleep. Tyler’s room is in the front of our house and Kye’s room is in the back of theirs so they’re directly across the yard from each other. Well as Kye is sobbing in his crib – Tyler is yelling out the window of his crib – KYE! KYE! KYE! It was the cutest thing. It was like he was saying “Its okay buddy. It’ll get better. You’ll adjust.”

I can tell its been hard on Suzie with the initial shock of being here. I see her going through all of the same emotions and frustrations I did a few weeks ago. In a way its hard because I feel like I’ve come to a better place with it and its like reliving it again to see her go through it now. Its been nice though to have someone around to talk about everything with. Nathan’s sister Lindsay is also here for two weeks.

I feel like I’ve had a lot of ups and downs emotionally this week. Surprisingly I haven’t cried since I’ve been here. I guess I am one to keep things to myself emotionally. So I haven’t had a breaking point that low yet. I was feeling really good about being here this past week and loving being settled into our house, unpacking, having good weather etc. Then all of the business with the car kind of left a bad taste in my mouth about Samoans for some reason. I think that combined with a bad experience I’d had on Tuesday trying to convince the cleaning guy that he was supposed to clean Nathan’s house and our upstairs because he’d never done it the first time was frustrating. It wasn’t until I brought up Breda Fitua’s name and told him I’d talked to her that he took me seriously and actually did what I was asking him. I guess I started thinking – can I really trust these people? Do they all just see me as some silly Palangi trying to live in another country? Or do they just see me as a rich American that they can take advantage of because they think I have money? Obviously I can’t stereo type everyone that way, but it made me a little less trusting. Also, since we’ve had high speed internet I’ve been in contact more with friends and family back home and checking blogs and its made me more homesick. I was reading one friends blog about all of the fun summer stuff she’s doing with her kids and I just thought – that’s what I should be doing right now with Tyler – normal summer stuff like going to the pool, the zoo, the park etc. Instead we’re wandering the street of Apia with thick layers of bug repellant and sunscreen, shooing away wild dogs and trying to find some toys that aren’t 4 times the price I’d pay in America. Of course when I was telling Suzie this yesterday she made a good point that yeah, maybe its sad we’re not doing those things, but I bet a lot of people are looking at our cool beach adventures and saying – I wish I were doing that this summer. Its all how you look at it I guess.

I also have started to become sick of rice and pasta. We eat one or the other for almost every meal. White rice I am especially getting sick of. I think I will have to get over this though because its cheap and served with almost every meal here. I also haven’t watched a television since I’ve been here. No, I did not get to watch the season finale of LOST and it will take up too many of our allotted mega bytes on high speed for the month to download it. I’m mourning that as well. For the first time last night I really had the urge to just sit on the couch with some chips and salsa and forget about the day while watching Law and Order. I miss my Law and Order….

Of course I know I will get past this. I feel like what’s keeping me going right now is having realistic expectations about my experience. I know there will be ups and downs all along the way and that what I’m feeling right now is completely normal and will pass over time. I look at my sister Sarah who’s nearing the end of her “living abroad” adventure in India and feeling slightly envious that she’ll be back in the states soon. However, Sarah says that’s she’s feeling sad about leaving and that instead of looking forward to all of the conveniences she’ll now have in the states, she’s thinking about what she’s had in India that she’ll never have again.

*** I’m writing this section the next day as well. I got to drive for the first time in a month today. We borrowed the owner’s car and Suzie, Lindsay, Tyler, Kye and I went into town to go to the market. We loaded up on bananas, pineapples, avocadoes etc. Suzie served a mission in Hawaii so she’s more familiar with the island fruit and could identify stuff for me and was more adventurous about trying new things. I was proud of myself for being able to drive around town though. Every time I do it the town becomes smaller and I realized a few stores were closer to each other than I thought. I could park my car in one place and go to 4 different stores that I like all within walking distance. Suzie brought her jogging stroller and we discovered that if we don’t buckle them in we can fit both Tyler and Kye into her stroller just one behind the other. It made it easier to walk around today and may be a good temporary solution. The boys were good sports about it too.