Measles

They shut down our make up classes and closed the buildings at Pesega so there would be no chance of spreading the measles.  That means we have a couple of weeks to get ready for our trip the the USA.  We will fill it with lesson preparations for our next class and pick up on these make up classes in January when we return.  As of yesterday, there have been 44 deaths and over 3000 cases of the measles.  There are still about 60,000 people that have not been vaccinated although there has been progress in vaccinating the younger children.  We held just sacrament meeting today with no one under 19 attending.  The government has banned anyone younger than 19 from attending any public gatherings to try to deter the spread of the disease.

We held the traditional American Thanksgiving dinner on Friday (Thanksgiving in America) in the Seminary building behind our house.  We had about 30 people there including senior missionary couples from both the mission and the temple, some junior missionaries from the office, and a young Danish couple who are volunteering at the dental clinic for a month.  It was so good to taste these traditional tastes again.  We consumed two turkeys, about 15 pounds of mashed potatoes and gravy and a couple of gallons of dressing along with all of the trimmings and of course pies!  It was glorious.  We were so exhausted from the preparations that we took most of the next day staying off of our feet.

Small recreational fale under construction on the beach

With some of our new time opportunities before our trip, we are going to do some stenciling in preparation for out graduating ITEP Teacher certificate students.  We just finished up two teacher's program and should have 9 more teachers finish before we leave in July.  We are hoping to have an assembly with both schools (over 1000 students) and honor them.  We are preparing to give them a stenciled shopping bag and lavalava with the ITEP logo on it with a Samoan design along with a few teaching supplies that you just cannot get here.  Janice has been busy negotiating with her stencil artists (see below) to get just what she needs to do the work.

Janice negotiating with her stencil boys!

Stencils made from Used Xray film