Saturday, March 03, 2007

Quick Update

I realize that it has been awhile since I posted anything, and I just wanted to post a quick note to let you know I am still alive and functional... for the most part. :)

Life here has been so crazy these last few weeks. In fact this month is going to FLY by. This month is the 7th Annual Career Days in Samoa. The NGO I help with, Avanoa Tutusa (pretty much run by Peace Corps, but we are now working more closely with the Ministry of Youth in the country) throws a Career Day on both islands here once a year for Years 12 and 13 students (like juniors and seniors in High school). I am one of the event coordinators. My area is the schools. It has been my job to send out all letters inviting schools to attend the event. We are throwing it in connection with the National University of Samoa's Open Day. It's going to be HUGE. 'Upolu's Career day is this Tuesday. And Savaii's is March 21st. I then had to call all schools to follow up and make sure that they are in fact attending. This proved to be a huge headache. Most schools don't have the most reliable phone systems. A good majority of the schools I tried to call did not have phones. Those I did call couldn't find the letter or never received it. So, one of the days I had to come in to get my sinuses x-rayed, I ended up getting a PC driver to drive me around the island and deliver letters personally and answer any questions to all schools on 'Upolu. This was a feat! School starts at 8 and ends at 2. There are 34 Secondary Schools on the island and we didn't reach them all, though we did get the majority of them. Talk about busy. The driver and I had fun chatting about schools we visited, comparing them and sharing a nice cold Fanta at the end.

I am in this weekend to prepare for the upcoming Career Day then we have to turn all of our focus to the Savaii one. Therefore, March 22 I will finally calm down some, get a much needed chill break where I just teach all day and don't go anywhere for a good month! Then my parents come to visit in May! That will be fun.

Health Update: I went to the Medical Center here a few weeks ago and had my sinuses x-rayed. I haven't heard the official results back from Washington, but the doctor did tell me there was definite cloudiness there. So, until further notice, I am back on another dose of antibiotics for a very long extended period of time. Other than that, it's going as is expected.

Well, this turned out to be a bit longer than what I was planning to write, but better for you all! "Until Next time..."

5 Comments:

At 10:41 AM, Anonymous Anonymous said...

Good luck with the Career Days! Sounds like quite the production.

 
At 9:25 PM, Anonymous Anonymous said...

Hey you. You're in my thoughts and prayers even if I'm horrible at staying in touch. It looks like you're doing truly amazing and powerful things on the other side of the world and I'm very excited for you. I can't wait to read the next update and good luck with getting everything accomplished.
All the best-Brandon Stanley

 
At 7:52 PM, Anonymous Anonymous said...

It is always good to hear the latest from Julya. I hope the antibiotics do some good for you.

I wanted you to be the second (after my Mom) to get the good news... ...I am now OFFICIALLY making my Chocolate Covered Wild Turkey Pecan Pie for that new restaurant here in Maple Valley.

I start Monday with 4-5 pies for the grand opening on Wednesday.

Thank you for your encouragement and support in this endeavour.


God Bless,

Your Cousin Tom
(I guess this makes me a dessert chef now!)

 
At 12:32 PM, Anonymous Anonymous said...

HI Julya, We haven't met but we are neighbors in W.Seattle of your grandparents. They and your dad shared your blog-site when I told them our 17 year old would be in W.Samoa on a school trip from Mar 27 til Apr7. It is not like you will see each other but we are enjoying your comments and photos. She will be in the village of Faleseela staying with a family. Her group is just 4 kids and two faculty from our upper school at Univ. Prep here in Seattle. For the record, my daughter's name is Raija Sanford. My home e-mail address is kristipat@comcast.net.

 
At 11:13 PM, Blogger Julya said...

Congrats Tom! Will i be getting some of that here in May... ;)

Good to hear it is going well. I will join you some day and be a pastry chef too, along with my HS teaching

 

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