#THIRDGOAL

As an organization, Peace Corps has three main goals in each of the countries where volunteers serve:

1. To help the people of interested countries in meeting their need for trained men and women.
2. To promote a better understanding of Americans on the part of peoples served.
3. To promote a better understanding of other peoples on the part of Americans.

You might have seen myself or other PCVs using the hashtag #ThirdGoal on social media or blog posts, and we do so to highlight the countries and cultures we come in contact with everyday.

Recently, I was able to do the biggest #ThirdGoal activity of my service (so far) with my dad! During our term break in April, my dad came to visit Samoa (and me) for a week. He embraced as much of the Samoan culture as possible in the week he was here, including: wearing a lavalava everyday, taking the bus (three times in one day LOL), husking coconuts, riding the ferry, learning short words and phrases in the Samoan language, scraping taro, making koko Samoa, and preparing the umu. He also helped me in my library at school with fixing books and removing old papers that had been glued to the wall years before my arrival. At the end of the week, I asked him what he learned from his time in Samoa, and he responded: “I learned that Samoan people work very hard everyday to live here”. It was so fun to see his curiosity about the Samoan way of life and have my Samoan family welcome him with open arms (and LOTS of food). Check out some of the pictures from his week in Samoa below!

His Samoan experience began with a ferry ride from Upolu to Savai’i, something that Samoans who live on Savai’i must do to get to the airport and capitol city on Upolu.

Scraping the taro to prepare it for cooking.

Husking the coconut to make coconut cream for the taro. It was a little tricky at first, but he was able to fully husk two coconuts on his own!

Pounding the koko beans to make koko Samoa! 

Trying the Samoan “moon pie”, a pastry filled with pineapple and baked in an oven.

Two worlds colliding: my American father and my Samoan host parents.

Enjoying the Samoan meal my host mother cooked! Taro, chicken soup with ramen noodles, fresh fruit, and pasta salad with tuna.

Working on removing the alphabet that was glued to the walls of my library. Some of my students even came to help!

We waited for 20 minutes in the rain for this bus #classic.

Correction: I waited in the rain 20 minutes for a bus, dad found a tree to stand under.

Carrying food (taro and pork) that was cooked in the umu in a woven palm basket.