Tuesday, September 21, 2010
Zakiu he did climb the tree his Lord to see
In church this sunday I was helping with the 4-5 year old samoan class. As soon as I walked into the class already in progress half jumped up and yelled "Jeshka" the other half jumped up and yelled "Matthew." Since Jeshka is hard to say in Samoan and Matthew and I are always together most of the kid asume "Matthew" is another word for polongi and call me Matthew. After using most of the samoan I know.....No fu i lalu (sit down) Filemu (be reverent) and Vaai (look) We got the class somewhat settled down and back to the lesson. The lesson was on Zaccheus (see Luke 19) The rich man who climbed the tree to see Jesus. The teacher pulled out a picture of a white guy in a tree with Jesus looking at him. Of coarse, since its a picture of a polongi and the only polongi they have seen is Matthew they all jumped up again pointed at me and yelled Matiu. The teacher laughed and tried to tell them it was Zakiu, which sounds an awful lot like Matiu. There was no convincing them, Matiu climbed the tree to see Jesus and went to his house for dinner!
knock knock....who's there?
So after the little uh-oh incident we decide we needed to set up some ground rules for the kids. We made the kids all knock before coming in the house. This seemed to be a bit of a foreign concept for some. I'm sure because most of them live with family around and so knocking seems unnessesary but most of the kids caught on quickly. For others all it took was a few fasies and they got the idea. One boy in particular had a hard time but he is the cuttest and chubbiest of them all (I love the chubby ones!) so I tended to be more forgiving with him. But I knew I was getting through to him when after he came in he went over to the fridge door, knocked, and in broken English said, "can I come in?"
Uh-Oh
At times I get so frustrated with the language. I want so badly to speak to these people in their own toung but the words just don’t come and I have no idea what they are saying and I hear them speak and think I’ll never understand. And then there are other time I am quite proud of myself. The other day the kids were out in the plantation searching for coconuts or popos. I stuck my head out the door and hollard, “lua, oi ai uhoh?” (or in really retarted samoan, lua, you eating the center part of the young sprouted coconut?)(if I hear one word about my spelling i'll let ya have it! I can't spell in english, what makes you think I can spell in Samoan!) They all shook their heads and said they were still looking. With that I closed the door, smiled at myself for putting together a whole sentence in samoan and went about my business.
Next, I boiled water and hopped in the shower. Just as I got soap in my eyes I heard a knock on the door. “jeshka you uh-oh”
“ya I’m uh-oh! Go away!”
“Jeshka, you uh-oh” - at this point I realize that on the other side of the bathroom door is a 4 foot tall chubby samoan that dosen’t speak english. I panic as I hear the doorknob twist. I scream and yell the only other samoan word I know, “Lay ie!” or NO! (
The doorknobed stopped and I heard another voice translating what was going on. I said,” tell him to go away, I’ll be out in a minute.” I hurridly finished my shower and went out to find 3 little boys waiting with a fresh uhoh, or the center part of the coconut.
Next, I boiled water and hopped in the shower. Just as I got soap in my eyes I heard a knock on the door. “jeshka you uh-oh”
“ya I’m uh-oh! Go away!”
“Jeshka, you uh-oh” - at this point I realize that on the other side of the bathroom door is a 4 foot tall chubby samoan that dosen’t speak english. I panic as I hear the doorknob twist. I scream and yell the only other samoan word I know, “Lay ie!” or NO! (
The doorknobed stopped and I heard another voice translating what was going on. I said,” tell him to go away, I’ll be out in a minute.” I hurridly finished my shower and went out to find 3 little boys waiting with a fresh uhoh, or the center part of the coconut.
Lord of the Flies
“Jessica, come quick, and watch your step!”….not exactly the call I was expecting this early in the morning. I was hoping more for “breakfast is ready” but this morning I wasn’t really in the mood for what was being served. I walked into the kitchen to see Matthew crouched down on the floor with a paper towel. He looked up at me, “look” he pointed to the floor which was covered with hundreds of maggots. I squealed, but this time it wasn’t so gleeful. I ran to grab the paper towels. “Where are they coming from?” “they hatched last night and now their coming out of the garbage” for the next hour we cleaned up these creepy crawly critters coming from who knows where. I would pick one up in the paper towel and then another and another and then they would crawl out so we learned you have to pop them or they are still alive. We would clean up a part of the kitchen and then go to another area and come back and it would be covered again. So we spent the morning clean, sweeping, moping, and cleaning again. As we ate we eyed our food very closely and watched our step. They seem to be subsiding now….I haven’t seen one in several minutes!
Fale Sweet Fale
As we drove up to our new home we were so excited! It’s 3 bedrooms and 2 baths with a huge family room and kitchen. We still don’t know what to do with all the room! But the family has been very sweet and told us we could paint and make it our own. Matthew went a little wild with the calking sealing every nook and cranny he could find, so far I think the calking count it 12 tubes and counting. The best was when we sealed off a geckos home and a few minutes later the gecko returned and just stared at the place where his home use to be. The next morning we realized what it really meant to not have a hot water heater. When they said their wasn’t one we thought, ya, but it’s Samoa, it’s hot and humid, it’ll be fine…..but we came in the winter and it can actually be below room temperature here and cold showers are just un friendly in the morning. So Matthew, being the genius that he is rigged up a warm shower for us. He found a foil pan and poked holes in it and then we boil water on the stove and pour our hot water in and the cold water from the shower and wamo….a warm shower! That lasted a few days till our tin broke. We went and got a camp shower,so now we take really short showers! Here is a frightening yet modest picture to show you what we mean.
Though we still don’t have furniture except for a bed , table, and a few chairs from the family we are still working on furniture but the home is coming together nicely. I’ve sewn drapes and Matthew has done an amazing job on the painting! I think after a month we’re really starting to settle in but, be it ever so humble, theirs still no place like home!
Though we still don’t have furniture except for a bed , table, and a few chairs from the family we are still working on furniture but the home is coming together nicely. I’ve sewn drapes and Matthew has done an amazing job on the painting! I think after a month we’re really starting to settle in but, be it ever so humble, theirs still no place like home!
Thursday, August 5, 2010
Talofa Samoa
3 days is not a lot of time when you come to think of it. At the beginning of the week 3 days felt like an eternity before we were to board the plane but for the Hyde’s it was just the right amount of notice, 4 days would have been forever and 2 days wouldn’t have been enough. The Lord sure knows us individually! We packed up, sold our car in a matter of hours, cleaned our studio, said goodbye to friends, received priesthood blessings and our dear friend Lee drove us to the airport.
As we checked in we prayed as our bags were weighed. we prepared to pay about $200 for our baggage. One bag came in over weight and we were asked if we wanted to shift the weight, since we had an extra check on bag we shifted what we could into that and everything past with a nod and a wink from the check in lady. Our passports were checked and we were sent to security without being charged for our bags. Tender Mercy #1. We passed through security and for the first time they didn’t search any of our bags! Tender Mercy #2. We got something quick to eat though my stomach was full of butterflies we still felt relatively calm under the circumstances and as we passed to the gate Marvin stopped us and asked if we knew Jen. Marvin is tender mercy #3. It was so great to see a friendly face and have someone who knew us to show us the way. So we got on the plane and settled in for a long flight.
At the airport when we arrived we pulled up to the airport and there were people on the runway asking if we wanted to buy some fish. (j/k…that’s a joke for our Samoan friends) but they did let us off on the tarmac, That was our first hint. There weren’t a lot of lights around the airport but we could see the golden arches which offered little comfort to Matthew. We walked into the airport and showed our passport hoping the guard spoke English (most people speak at least enough to get by), then we waited for our baggage so we could take it through customs. With security behind us we walked out to greet Samoa. We walked out to a sea of faces and banners waiting for loved one. We walked through the masses and then I heard my name. “Jessica” I turned around and there was Helaman! My first instinct was to cry as I ran and hugged him. I was so excited to know someone in this crowded throng. Matthew was behind me pushing our bags, waving to all the people thinking they all showed up to meet him. My excitement continued as I saw Myra who hugged us and asked, “what’s your plan?”…..My excitement waned. We were expecting to find the family at the airport with smiles and hugs all around and then to go home to our new rental would be waiting to greet us. This question was a bit unexpected.
We were quickly informed that the adult Myra, our new landlord and Jen’s sister was coming next we and they were expecting us to be on the flight with her so the house wasn’t ready. With that new information we decided to go to the hotel for the night, which is where tender mercy # 4 came. The Hotel van drove up right behind us and Nana and Papa went over to make our arrangements. Next thing we knew we were on the shuttle to the hotel.
When we arrived we were a bit shocked at the price but relieved at the accommodations. We stayed at the tradewinds, which is like a Marriott. We had a nice room where I didn’t even have to use my hotel sheet (mostly because I was so tired) . After a run around with the internet and a run in with our first fafafine (more about that later) we plugged in our new magic jack. It only took till 3:30 in the morning but we got it working for the next days work for Matthew. And with that we were off to bed but we were up again at 7. We had our continental breakfast of cold imitation cereal and warm milk product from New Zealand and went off to work. Matthew was able to get to all his clients which was tender mercy #5 since now we know that he wouldn’t have been able to do that had we been at the house sine we are STILL waiting for the internet. After Matthew’s clients Uncle Larry, Auntie Bernie, Hewitt, and Myra came to pick us up at the hotel and take us to our new home.
As we checked in we prayed as our bags were weighed. we prepared to pay about $200 for our baggage. One bag came in over weight and we were asked if we wanted to shift the weight, since we had an extra check on bag we shifted what we could into that and everything past with a nod and a wink from the check in lady. Our passports were checked and we were sent to security without being charged for our bags. Tender Mercy #1. We passed through security and for the first time they didn’t search any of our bags! Tender Mercy #2. We got something quick to eat though my stomach was full of butterflies we still felt relatively calm under the circumstances and as we passed to the gate Marvin stopped us and asked if we knew Jen. Marvin is tender mercy #3. It was so great to see a friendly face and have someone who knew us to show us the way. So we got on the plane and settled in for a long flight.
At the airport when we arrived we pulled up to the airport and there were people on the runway asking if we wanted to buy some fish. (j/k…that’s a joke for our Samoan friends) but they did let us off on the tarmac, That was our first hint. There weren’t a lot of lights around the airport but we could see the golden arches which offered little comfort to Matthew. We walked into the airport and showed our passport hoping the guard spoke English (most people speak at least enough to get by), then we waited for our baggage so we could take it through customs. With security behind us we walked out to greet Samoa. We walked out to a sea of faces and banners waiting for loved one. We walked through the masses and then I heard my name. “Jessica” I turned around and there was Helaman! My first instinct was to cry as I ran and hugged him. I was so excited to know someone in this crowded throng. Matthew was behind me pushing our bags, waving to all the people thinking they all showed up to meet him. My excitement continued as I saw Myra who hugged us and asked, “what’s your plan?”…..My excitement waned. We were expecting to find the family at the airport with smiles and hugs all around and then to go home to our new rental would be waiting to greet us. This question was a bit unexpected.
We were quickly informed that the adult Myra, our new landlord and Jen’s sister was coming next we and they were expecting us to be on the flight with her so the house wasn’t ready. With that new information we decided to go to the hotel for the night, which is where tender mercy # 4 came. The Hotel van drove up right behind us and Nana and Papa went over to make our arrangements. Next thing we knew we were on the shuttle to the hotel.
When we arrived we were a bit shocked at the price but relieved at the accommodations. We stayed at the tradewinds, which is like a Marriott. We had a nice room where I didn’t even have to use my hotel sheet (mostly because I was so tired) . After a run around with the internet and a run in with our first fafafine (more about that later) we plugged in our new magic jack. It only took till 3:30 in the morning but we got it working for the next days work for Matthew. And with that we were off to bed but we were up again at 7. We had our continental breakfast of cold imitation cereal and warm milk product from New Zealand and went off to work. Matthew was able to get to all his clients which was tender mercy #5 since now we know that he wouldn’t have been able to do that had we been at the house sine we are STILL waiting for the internet. After Matthew’s clients Uncle Larry, Auntie Bernie, Hewitt, and Myra came to pick us up at the hotel and take us to our new home.
Wednesday, August 4, 2010
Aloha Oi Hawaii
By now most of you have heard that we have moved to American Samoa (ya, it’s a real place, go look it up on a map). After some quick packing and a lot of prayer we arrived here safe and sound on May 20th. On the 16th, which was the Sunday prior to our departure we were greeted at church by our wonderful bishop Schlag.( We believe he was asking questions in regards to a few possible callings, that’s really why we left so hastily J) “Hello bishop! “ “and how are the Hydes today?” “we’re doing great, thanks, and yourself.” “doing well, Congratulations on your graduation.” “ Thanks bishop, it’s been a long time in the making!” “Well congratulations, and how long are you planning on sticking around now that school is finished?” “ we’ll we’re not quite sure about that, we’re still waiting for a little direction but when we know, you’ll know.” “ I appreciate that. You two have a great Sabbath.” “ You too bishop”……that was the last time we ever saw bishop Schlag . Which reminds me, I need to let him know we’ve moved.
Anyway, that got us thinking, we need to make some plans. So we arrived home from church with a bit of an uneasy feeling. As we were discussing this feeling Matthew blurted out, “lets move to Samoa.” To which I offered a sarcastic “ um, okay, I’ll start packing.” Surprisingly, Matthew was serious. As we applied reason to this seemingly unreasonable decision it truly started to make sense, that’s when we knew we were in trouble. So we decided to leave it to the Lord. We decided to go and prayed that the Lord would confirm our choice if it was right.
With our prayer said, Matthew set off to choir practice like the valiant saint that he is and I stayed behind to chat with family online. Several minutes passed and I got a phone call in Samoan! My friend Jen Fiso from back home called and started talking to me in Samoan with such a thick accent that I had no idea even who it was. Once I figured out who I was talking to I told her we were thinking about moving to American Samoa, and by the end of the conversation we had a place to live and someone to pick us up at the airport. …..The Lord has such a sense of humor!
When Matthew returned from choir practice we started making our list of what needed to be done by Thursday at 5 o’clock pm HST. Why Thursday you may ask? Because that was the next flight leaving for American Samoa, and we were going to be on it!
Anyway, that got us thinking, we need to make some plans. So we arrived home from church with a bit of an uneasy feeling. As we were discussing this feeling Matthew blurted out, “lets move to Samoa.” To which I offered a sarcastic “ um, okay, I’ll start packing.” Surprisingly, Matthew was serious. As we applied reason to this seemingly unreasonable decision it truly started to make sense, that’s when we knew we were in trouble. So we decided to leave it to the Lord. We decided to go and prayed that the Lord would confirm our choice if it was right.
With our prayer said, Matthew set off to choir practice like the valiant saint that he is and I stayed behind to chat with family online. Several minutes passed and I got a phone call in Samoan! My friend Jen Fiso from back home called and started talking to me in Samoan with such a thick accent that I had no idea even who it was. Once I figured out who I was talking to I told her we were thinking about moving to American Samoa, and by the end of the conversation we had a place to live and someone to pick us up at the airport. …..The Lord has such a sense of humor!
When Matthew returned from choir practice we started making our list of what needed to be done by Thursday at 5 o’clock pm HST. Why Thursday you may ask? Because that was the next flight leaving for American Samoa, and we were going to be on it!
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