The following journal is written by me, Alice Birney about my experience living in Tonga as a Peace Corps Volunteer. All views and opinions are my own and do not necessarily reflect the views of the Peace Corps, its employees or the United States Government.

Alice in Tonga

Princess

So I have joked several times that I feel like a princess. This is true for many reasons, such as being invited to all the special events, getting a special seat at all the feasts, many people know me, many more than I know by name. Also I feel like a princess because I have obligations, many people expect the PCV to be there, someone will notice if I don’t go, many people watch what I do everywhere I go. So there are good and bad sides to this. Oh well it is just an analogy, right? So a few weeks ago, the Nakolo rugby team voted me as their princess. What this entails (or more close to the truth, what they wish I would do) is go to every game, tou’a Friday nights at the kalapu and tou’a Saturday nights for the team plus exercise with the team regularly. Needless to say I don’t do all of this, but I do go to the games when I can and sometimes if I feel like it, I will exercise with them, or tou’a on Saturdays (after a short interview of the participants to make sure no one is too drunk). So there it is, I am a princess.

It Takes a Village

Here in Tonga “it takes a village” seems to be more true than almost anywhere else I have seen. There is such a strong sense of community and family. I often have a hard time figuring out who lives where because ‘family’ becomes a loose term. This is comfortable for me because it is a lot like my family. We always had ‘extras’ whether a boy/girlfriend, someone who works for dad or a friend who needs a place to stay. These folks always become part of the family being invited to parties and having chores. Same in Tonga!

The attitude is almost a pay it forward attitude, but everyone has a job and everyone helps everyone so there is not a time frame to associate pay forward or backs. Generally you just give what you have and what you can, knowing that others will do the same for you, and they do.

It amazes me that everyone has a job, which is usually based on your age and gender. Example children are errand runners and will run to the falekaloa (convenience store) for their family. Remember that family extends to almost anyone you know so seeing Viliami at the store doesn’t mean that he is there for Palu, his mother. He could have been walking by Amalia’s house and she sent him. So it is not uncommon to go to the store and find 3 kids eagerly awaiting their turn too. Once Sione, my town officer asked why I came to his falekaloa? To buy a phone card and butter, I said. Yes but why did you walk yourself, send a child! Duh Alice.

Some other jobs include making tea (young women or girls), harvesting crops in the bush (men and boys if they don’t have school), building/repair (men), making kahoas (flower or candy necklaces) (women and girls), making umu (food baked in an underground oven) for a feast (men and boys), cooking food for a feast (women and girls). These are just a few examples and of course they are maliable. If a family doesn’t have a member that is the right age or gender, obviously someone else has to do the job. Women can help harvest crops in the bush and men can cook and do dishes, but the opposite is the norm.

Friends and neighbors can help fill the gaps also. If you don’t have a young child who can go the falekaloa, call a neighbors kid! (I use this one when I am sick and it is a life saver). When I needed a fence I asked my neighbor where to buy the fencing and she said find some youth, ask Fetu’u and Samu. So I did and later (3 weeks, but that’s another entry) they came with the fence, posts, nails and tools all gathered and donated by neighbors. Wow thanks!

Trimester Report Time!

These are my journal entries I turned into the peace corps, thought you might enjoy them.

I am integrating more each day. My language has improved greatly since moving to site, but I still use English a lot with a few people. In fact some people refuse to speak Tongan to me because their English is so good. I still have a vast majority of the village to speak Tongan to though.

I have found that I have made some groups of friends and I try to branch out a bit, but it is all I can do to keep up with the friends I already have. Not to mention learning the names of their family/ housemates. I feel like there are probably some people in my village I haven't even seen yet! But everyone knows my name and I feel bad when I don't know theirs (which is often).

I am starting to figure out this food sharing thing. I was on the bus and the woman sitting next to me offered me an apple. I declined as I had my own bag of apples, but thanked her. Then 'Ana my neighbor got on the bus and I said hello and handed her an apple. The woman sitting next to me smiled and nodded her approval. So I try, but I know I don't fully understand yet.

My main challenge is that I don't like teaching English. I don't really know how to go about it and the lax environment at school is nice for days that I am having a nervous breakdown, but it is no help in the area of curriculum or guidance. I am immensely enjoying my community and secondary projects, but sometimes dread going to school. On the flip side when I am in front of the class I feel ok. I can deal with the kids, it is mainly the teachers I don't like dealing with. Now if only my planning made any sense.

I guess one of the main lessons I have learned is to go with it. I try to go with it and say yes to everything and so far that has worked and I definitely feel integrated into the community, participating in the work and the play. Sometimes something doesn't make sense and I try to intervene and change it. If it is straight forward, no 'Alisi you rest, we will cook, I might just start chopping anyway. But a few weeks ago I was invited to a feast and we all went and set it up and waited. Then Everyone left the hall and sat outside, but they told me to stay alone? I didn't understand what was happening and of course no one would explain in English or Tongan slow enough I would understand. So I said I didn't want to stay alone, I would rather go with my friends. We did all go outside but 'Evalata just marched me around until she found a way for me to get back in! No matter what I wanted, I was back at the table alone so I should have just trusted they knew what was right and stayed. In the end I was able to eat with the ministers during the actual feast instead of waiting until the rush afterwards. It was a place of honor. Thanks 'Evalata!

I have not felt unsafe personally, but there have been two break ins at my school this year. One involved a fight, but not while school was in session and no one from the school was involved.

Garden

Well I did it, I planted my garden. In the end the hardest part was getting a fence. I have an area about 10x22 feet next to my house that is fenced on 2 sides, the third side is my house and the fourth, a 10 foot entrance for the pigs leading to my garden. There are about 5 stands of banana trees offering the shade I need for growing veggies. Funny that here you look for a partially shaded area and back home you seek out the sunny areas. I asked for the fence and was told yes I will do it tomorrow and it only took two weeks from then to get the fence! Once that was in I went to work breaking up the rock solid ground. We get a lot of rain and that has compacted the soil big time. Honestly I only dug down 5 inches or so and tried to mound the loose soil to give some more depth. I wasn’t sure if anything would even grow.

Well I am always delayed on the writing aspect of my adventures, but this time it has come in handy. I can report that EVERYTHING has sprouted! Now that is not saying everything will make it to harvest, but hey this is a start. I planted morning glories and moonflowers just for fun, lettuce, green and red sweet peppers, basil, cayenne peppers, tomatoes, cucumbers, passion fruit and caleloo. I went with the theory that not every seed would sprout so I planted way to much. I remember specifically the watermelon I put 5 seeds in the mound hoping 2 or 3 would sprout. Well there are 6 plants coming up, I guess an extra seed slipped in! So I am exited to see if my first solo gardening adventure bears fruit, literally.

Sick again?

So I went to the sports day in town. It was fun but long and a hot day. I had to wear the team shirt, which was a polo shirt, not the most breathable fabric so I stayed under the tent the whole day. Towards the end of the day I asked how much longer it would be. I was hot, tired, hungry and thirsty so I opted out of the additional hour of sports and then the closing ceremony and awards in favor of taking care of my needs. I walked to the Peace Corps office where I promptly entered the air conditioning and found my bag with a stash of food. I thought I would eat the apple and peanut butter but once I saw the fritos, I couldn’t resist. After eating and drinking some cold water my headache got worse. Sune came into the lounge and asked if I was alright, which always means you look sick do you need help. She suggested I call Jacinta which I thought was overkill. I just wanted to get home and sleep. Then I realized I had just sent an email without even signing it. Ok fine my parents will know who it is from weather I sign it or not, but I am obviously not feeling well. So I called Jacinta and she told me I couldn’t leave the office, I had to stay the night. So I canceled my ride and sat down outside (the cold was too much for me and I was getting shivers). By the time Jacinta got there I was nauseous and couldn’t get comfortable sitting, standing or laying down. She made the bed for me in the medical apartment and as I crawled in feeling horrible and vulnerable I had a horrible flashback of being helplessly incapacitated for weeks in the same bed just 3 short months before. It’s ok, calm down you don’t have Dengue. As I calmed down and found a semi comfortable place to lay down I talked about what I had done, eaten and drank that day to try to figure out why for the 3 rd time I am sick after a day in town. Yea it was hot but I was drinking water and I had food but probably not enough of either. In the end she told me I don’t eat enough salt! It seems that the lack of salt makes the water I did drink unabsorbable and that mixed with the heat and then sudden cold pushes me over the edge and I get sick. What, an American who doesn’t get enough salt? That explains the craving for fritos. I have definitely brainwashed myself not to add salt to anything unless cooking it. That worked very well back home, but now that I have made Tonga my home I don’t eat as much processed food and therefore there is not as much added salt. But really how is this really possible I say as I reach for my apple and peanut butter (with no added salt) ok fine I guess it is true. So after giving me fluid and electrolytes and a healthy dose to take later too Jacinta prescribed that each time I come to town I need to eat a salty snack first. What a diagnosis.

A Putu (Funeral)

This was the third funeral I have been to in Nakolo. It is amazing to me how this will take precedent over many things, but not everything, I don’t understand it. We had planned a regional sports day in Nakolo the same weekend, which had to be moved to Fua’amotu because of the putu, but we had school and it seemed like an average day.

There are several aspects of a Tongan funeral. One is the tea or meal. There was a tent with tables and chairs and several people handing out bags of food, which were filled with any combination of tapioca, chicken, pork, mutton and eggs. Also some folks were pouring drinks for everyone and as far as I could tell it was just whatever they had at the time. Once it was hot chocolate and the next time he came around it was juice. Not important, just a drink. This food and drink is all made by friends and relatives. It is common for some of the men to stay up all night preparing a huge umu (underground oven) and cooking meat and root crops all night and day.

Then there is an area for singing. Hymns are sung almost constantly during the whole funeral which lasts 4-8 hours. People come and go as they see fit and there is a constant rotation of singers. This is another situation where I never thought to bring my hymn book and when I found my friends and they asked where it was they looked at me like I was crazy (leaving a church hymn book at home and going to a funeral, ha) I quickly retrieved it and joined in the singing, or reading and hoping to get most of the words. Any actual tune escapes me at this point.

This singing is usually outside the house where the body is. Generally the body viewing is similar to funerals in the states. There is a coffin holding the body which is on several layers of woven mats and tapa cloth. There are also layers of cloth, mats and tapa wrapping and draped over the body, but the face is always exposed. Relatives sit with the deceased in this room and there is space for folks who want to sing and be with the family. Then there is the line to the body. This is the hardest part for me. In Tonga it is traditional to kiss the body. Now I saw my grandmother kiss my grandfather at his funeral and it didn’t seem normal, but he was her life partner, husband and father to her children. One last goodbye kiss is fine. But I never met this man, or most of his relatives and yet I find myself standing in line to kiss him. This is a telling point for me. I came here to learn and be immersed in another culture, but this is out of my comfort zone to say the least. Oh well just do as everyone else does. I followed as the line got closer and closer. Then my turn, I knelt and leaned forward to kiss his forehead. A quick peck and off I was. Erie how cold the body was. I walked out trying to hide my uneasiness and although I had the shivers for 5 minutes after, I did it.

Next is the church service. The body is carried to the church. This is where the many mats come in very handy as that is what the pallbearers hold while transporting the body from house to van and then van to church. One difference is the pallbearers seem to be whoever is around and strong enough. After the service there were only 5 men and a woman just leaned out the window, spotted an able bodied young man and told him to go help.

After the service the body is taken to the graveyard where it is placed in a large cement lined hole and covered with a cement slab. That is then covered with a big pile of sand. Once buried the body is actually surrounded by air, not directly covered with dirt. I have heard there are regulations as to how long a body must lay at rest before the same grave can be used for additional family. How Romeo and Juliet.

   

Youth group

So some months ago I heard a knock at the door. I answered and there was a young woman who spoke very good English. She said her name was Asolua and invited me to go to her youth group dance practice. I was slightly overwhelmed as I usually am. Knowing I would never remember her name and the dance would probably be uncomfortable and excruciatingly long I thanked her and said I would think about it. My neighbors also invited me for dinner that night so I chose to eat, at least that has a time limit. However a few days later on a night where I had nothing to do (in Tonga? No!) I decided to check out this dance. Luckily my friend Va was there sitting and watching so I sat with her. Under the pretense of helping me learn names she pointed out her brothers and maybe one other person (she has since tried to sell me her brother). It was fun to watch the rehearsal and meet new people, maybe I was jumping to conclusions, this isn’t so bad. So after going to the performance on Friday I decided I might go again. The next week when I went to watch they wouldn’t have it and made me join in. I had no idea what I was doing, but I tried. It is amazing how hard it is when ALL the instructions are in Tongan, but I had fun trying and folks seemed to realize and laugh that I didn’t understand and translate when really necessary.

Well now Asolua is one of my best friends (and yes I remember her name) we go walking in the mornings regularly. Also I have basically joined the youth group. Dancing has been a fun way to have something to do, meet people, listen to Tongan speakers and be part of a community. I feel like I am part of the group even though I don’t understand most of what is said. I didn’t know if they just put up with me or the other folks in the group really thought I was part of their group.

‘Apitanga (Mother)

Well the answer came on Toetu’u or Easter weekend. There was some sort of camp Friday night. I didn’t really get it but it seemed that we would go to church in the evening and then have a sleepover, boys in the hall and girls in the preacher’s house. Ok fair enough I will go. So I went to the church service and afterwards there was some sort of meeting. I could tell that they were voting, but I didn’t know why. Still I realized that Asolua was the secretary and Steveni was the chief there was also a father, but I didn’t recognize the name. Next they voted on the fa’e or mother. When they asked for a nomination someone said ‘Alisi and when they asked for a second the whole church was silent. So Sione just chuckled and said ok ‘Alisi is the mother. Immediately I turned to Elenoa and asked what just happened and what I had to do. She replied don’t worry you just have to watch over all the children and go to everything. In the end it was just their way to say we like having you around and want you here, so I was touched, I guess.

So everything was way more than I bargained for. Apparently the camp was actually 4 days long, good to know. Church starts at 6am, then breakfast and then bible study and discussion, lunch, church, activities, dance practice, dinner, church, tea and sleep. Wow ok. On Saturday I was a good sport about it, I went to everything and at the point that we started discussing weather or not you have accepted Jesus into your heart, Mikala rode up, what timing. Oh well we will have to leave that discussion for another time. We were going to go to the beach, but as mother I had to make a thank you speech at lunch. Being Tonga lunch started about 2 hours late so we didn’t end up going to the beach, sorry Mikala. I did have fun though, mainly because I could hang out with friends and I don’t understand most of the preaching.

Saturday night church was long, maybe 3 hours lots of church and then praying while touching the cross. Afterwards Asolua walked me home and told me to sleep there and just come to church at 10 not 6. Thank you Aso!

I was a good sport the rest of the day and went to everything. One fun thing was there was 2 police officers who would report misbehavers and the offenders would be fined. A few examples were Loa accused Asolua of stealing his bread and giving it to Fusi, and Saia of being late to church. Fusi accused all the boys of asking me to tou’a, and the babies of disrupting the prayer. All in good fun, some folks had to offer an explanation or pay a fine like $1 or something. Tangulu also accused Loa and I of talking during the prayer. Fair enough we were talking, but in my defense I didn’t know we were praying as she gave a speech and then went right into the prayer with no clear indication of the switch. Yes she probably said lets pray in Tongan, but I didn’t understand it. Our punishment was to take the chaperones home as we had to be punished together. Again all in good fun.

That’s What It’s All About

So I know I have been griping a bit lately about being sick and the truth is I don’t know what I am doing here. Sure I am supposed to teach English, but how and what and I don’t speak Tongan and where to start and on and on. “Well just do something” I said to myself. But what? Something easy and fun and we can try to make it all fit curriculum like later. Maybe a song? So I brought my song book to school and as soon as Sione saw it he was delighted. This is fabulous as I haven’t related with him much so here is some common interest that could spark some actual team teaching! We looked through, choose a song and I made a poster of the lyrics. The next day I presented the song, had the students read line by line the first and second verse and try to sing it. I also had them separate and sing in groups to prompt the quiet ones to participate more loudly, which worked. They seemed to enjoy it, and we translated the lyrics so hopefully they understand “He’s got the whole world in His hands” All in all not a bad days work.

Later that day I went out eva with Laukau and Va. We walked to the school so Va could cut the grass. Class 6 was congregating getting ready for their night class. I rarely eva to the school so I don’t think any (many?) of them knew I was there. As a group of students walked up I heard the unmistakable singing of “He’s got the whole world in His hands” And that was just the first group, two more groups were singing it later. Now I can’t say if that was just the song for them, they just wanted to sing, it was something different, or what, but the fact remains, they liked it! This experience was great, and exactly what I needed to get me out of this rut.

Environmental Lesson

Feeling overwhelmed hasn’t done much help for my planning. Luckily here in Peace corps Tonga we are a family and Jesse set a day as Peace Corps Tonga Environmental day. So I decided to do something. Trash pick up came to mind as the most accessible when dealing with a group of primary school students. Still I needed something more, different. What do I have, know, do that the other teachers don’t? So I choose to make it a recycling awareness lesson. There was supposed to be some trash pick up lesson with the school, or someone as this is a special week, or day or something. I don’t really understand why, but that is part of living in a different culture. After inquiring about when this will be I find out they are not picking up trash, just talking to the kids this afternoon. So I pulled together a plan and we split the kids into groups and hit the road. We all walked down the main road the whole length of town. This in itself is an interesting thing when compared to the states. It took about an hour to walk down and back and pick up trash, not a huge town. The whole time we only had to move to the side for a car 3 times. That makes being responsible for 65 children on the main road that much easier.

I think the trash pick up went well and we did end up with a big pile of trash. Now the recycling part. We divided into groups, each had something they were looking for. First we dumped out the bags 1 or 2 at a time. Then the recyclers came in and picked out the cans and separated them into drink and food cans. Then we took the rest of the trash and put it back in the bags. This was a process but it worked as each kid knew their responsibility. Now we have 3 piles, 1 trash, 1 drink cans and 1 food cans. Then in groups the students went to wash their hands! Very important as they will all be eating soon. At this point I checked the time and we had two minutes until lunch. Wow what a success. Then Lopa, my principal turns to me and said “this is a good lesson because the students learn what is recyclable and we (the teachers) learn at the same time” yes recognized success! I walked to the recycling cages with some of the students. Of coarse knowing me I saw a few cans along the way so I picked them up. The students saw this and they were on the search again. They even saw a burn pile with many cans in it, more than I was going to ask them to deal with. They didn’t agree and the picked all the recyclable cans out unprompted. This truly is what the Peace Corps is all about.

‘Eva to the sea

So I went out eva because I didn’t have anything else to do. As I was walking Kisaia, my neighbor asked if I wanted to go to the sea with her and her friend. This seemed intriguing, and I wanted to see if my ankle could handle the coral hill now, or if I needed more rest. We walked down and on the way Kisaia stopped and cut a coconut leaf and carried it down with us. It is a funny sight to walk down a path following a 7 foot coconut leaf as I couldn’t see her at all anymore. When we reached the beach I learned the reason for the leaf. Kisaia sat down and hacked up the leaf and wove two baskets in about 20 minutes. Impressive.

Then we walked out on the coral. It was low tide, the lowest I have ever seen and there was about 25 people walking around peering into tide pools and collecting creatures. I had no idea what we were looking for so I helped carry stuff. We found some shells about the size of my fist called kuku. There was obviously some creature in there and they assured me it was ‘ifo (delicious). We also found some small fish which they gutted and threw into the baskets. Occasionally they would cut the gutted fish into a few pieces and had a little snack, hey it’s fresher than sushi! I did enjoy watching saia walk up to a rock and stick a screwdriver (who doesn’t bring a screwdriver to the beach?) into it pulling out a little fleshy thing. Then she ripped off the toe and handed it to me saying ‘ota or raw. I was a little skeptical so she popped it into her mouth and got me another one. Not terrible, but not my favorite.

What a Wonderful World

Well I realize I have been grumpy lately and my emails have showed that. I guess it is easier to write when it is venting frustrations. So a few days ago I found myself sitting on a cinder block fence waiting for a bus. Nakolo is on Halaliku (cliff road) and I had a beautiful view of the cliff, or hill and the ocean and ‘Eua the neighboring big island. It was a gorgeous sunny day and I was sitting in the shade, the one place that you can think of the sun as gorgeous in the tropics. In Tonga it is rarely if ever appropriate to be alone so when I said I would go wait for the bus my friend Va said she would wait with me. All in all I had good friends to talk to, good weather and a beautiful location. I would say life is good.

Sewing

For those of you who know me, you were probably wondering when I would write about sewing. I planned on buying a sewing machine when I moved in to my house, but it proved to expensive and a fan and plates and such were more important. Plus I have been rather sick so no time to sew. Well now that I am feeling better I get a call from Alexis another volunteer. She has been working with a group who want to learn sewing and they are looking for a teacher. I am in! We talked and it was decided that first they needed someone to look at/ fix/ troubleshoot their machines. So we set up a date (which was canceled and rescheduled last minute, ahh Tonga) and I went to fix machines in Lapaha. It was like a dream to see so many sewing machines! Of course they were all broken. There were treadle and electric, womens group and personal machines. I started setting up and looking at the treadle machines and came up with a new rule, I will look at your machine, but you need to clean it first. I spent 1/3 of my time cleaning. There was plenty of help and we cleaned and looked at all the salvageable machines. One treadle machine was falling out of it’s table, we didn’t work on that one. I fixed 4 machines and found the broken part to one. Not sure where she can get a replacement part, but I found the problem. Another woman who was working with us fixed 3 machines. All in all a very productive day!

When I was ready to leave there were still two machines that I couldn’t fix. They both needed to be taken apart and I would need several hours if not days of them laying open with screws out and such. One of these machines belongs to the princess so everyone wanted me to do all I could to fix it. I agreed to take it home along with the other broken machine and look at them when I had time.

The next week I went to MAFFF (Ministry of Agriculture Fisheries Farming and Food) to do essentially the same thing. I fixed 4 machines and again took one home. We are working on setting up a regular time so they can announce by district for women to bring in their machines. It looks like I may be fixing a lot of sewing machines in Tongatapu. Hopefully it will be helpful. It feels good to do something concrete, quite the contrast from teaching English where the changes are very gradual.

Dreams

One of my life goals is to dream in another language. It is a silly goal I guess as I have absolutely no control over weather or not it will ever happen. Sure I can study other languages, but there is no guarantee I will dream in them. Still it seems like fun so there it is my silly goal.

So I am not sure if this will count, but I had a dream last night. I was walking down Okemos Road with Martha and Mom. We were on our way to see Phantom of the Opera. Then Sione, my town officer pulled over and offered us a ride. I was speaking Tongan to him and English to Mom and Martha, but I kept confusing the two and making a comment in Tongan to Mom, or answering Sione’s question in English. Either way Sione said “Poto ‘aupito lea faka tonga ‘Alisi” So I was happy.

Maybe I just want Sione to actually say I speak Tongan well. Maybe my brain is just to jumbled with languages. Maybe this is just a reflection of my everyday life as I speak Tongan and English regularly. Either way I am happy to dream partially in Tongan.

Yesterday I dreamt I was in the produce section of a large grocery store. It seemed to stretch on and on with everything imaginable. I stood in front of a display of carrots. There were hundreds of them and they were all in good condition and cheap. I was trying to choose how many to buy as I woke up.

This one is very directly from my market experience the other day. My friend sent a recipe for no bake carrot cake cookies. I was intrigued so decided I would pick up some carrots at the market. When I found some they were all starting to turn already so I had to pass them up.

The market is becoming more and more sad. Each time I go there the bundles of veggies are smaller and more discolored, under or over ripe or even bug eaten. To top it all off they are more expensive now! I am just hoping the threat of ALL produce going out of season is just a cruell joke. If there is no produce then what will I eat? Processed peanut butter and sugar filled jelly on white bread is not my idea of a sustainable diet. Hopefully the veggies will come back soon. I miss them.

In case anyone wants to try them, here is the recipe.

Carrot Cake Cookies Recipe - No Bake

Ingredients:

• ½ -1 cup grated carrots
• ¼ cup grated ginger
• 1 stick butter
• ½ cup milk
• 1 ½ cup sugar
• ½ tsp cinnamon (or more to taste)
• 2 cups crushed wheetbix cereal (or something like that, maybe oats too?)

In a pot, melt butter, throw in carrots and ginger, sauté a little and add milk. Add sugar and bring to a rolling boil for 2-3 mins (stirring every now and then). Take off heat, add cinnamon and wheatbix. Stir and plop on a flat surface and let cool.

If I had raisins and nuts, I'd probably have used them, be even better like that! Try them out they aren't bad, if you do tell me what you think.

What is the problem?

Here is my theory. I wanted to leave the country and culture I was raised in and I am comfortable with so I could learn about a new culture and language and help where I could. Right, well I am definitely out of my comfort zone, but I am learning about another culture, and therefore completing my goal. But there are several aspects, one I don’t know what I am doing. Every word, direction, interaction is new. Two The culture is inescapable, even if I try to escape into a little personal sanctuary for a few hours when times are especially tough, the radio, the food, the noises of dogs, roosters and pigs outside is all still Tonga. Also at any moment someone might stop by, cue language and culture studies!

All of this put together means there is no way to fully relax. Not entirely true I can relax, but the effects don’t last as long, it is easier to snap back into being stressed with a little incident. In the end I am just on edge a lot and I think it is effecting my immune system and concentration. At least that is my theory as to how after having tendonitis in both of my wrists, which got better only when I got Dengue fever, spraining my ankle a few short weeks later, now I have a cold. Yes it could be because this is my first year teaching and the students who are currently sick are also my neighbors. Or it could be that I don’t have a sink to wash my hands with soap, the best alternative is the shower which works at least half the time or the simavai (rain water tank) where there is no soap. In the end I guess it is a little of everything, but I will say I hope I can get comfortable soon because this is a hard experience anyway and being sick and hurt every other moment is not making it any easier.

So what is the bright side? Well all during training I was having varying levels of intestinal trouble ranging from true sickness to just not right. So the good news is since I got over the dengue, I have had normal poops. Almost 6 weeks! There is always a bright side.

Well I am sure you all have had enough of me complaining about being sick and wounded so…

Tongan Clothing

In our Peace Corps "what to pack" instructions, it was stressed that in Tonga it is appropriate to always cover your shoulders and knees. This is the best way to translate Tongan dress into a packing list for Americans. Really women wear dresses or skirts and shirts. Pants are ok, but not for work. On many occasions women wearing pants will also have a wrap around skirt. Jeans are becoming more and more popular, mainly in the city, and only worn by the younger generations. Men generally wear a tupenu which is a wrap around skirt with pockets. To work men will wear a button up shirt but a t-shirt is fine for casual dress. Some men are starting to wear pants or shorts, but in my village, tupenu’s are still the preferred garment.

On any occasion that calls for dressing up, men will wear a ta’uvala and women a kiekie. A ta’uvala is a woven or crocheted mat worn over the tupenu. These are generally made of leaves or plastic. A kiekie is similar as it is worn tied around the waist over the skirt, but generally it is more like a belt with many decorative strips hanging down. These can be woven, crocheted, macramé, braids or strips of tapa. Really the sky is the limit with kiekies so whatever creative ideas women have they can take them out on a kiekie and it will fit the bill. They can be flat woven leaves, plastic, tapa cloth or a softer more malleable (braid able) leaf. As you may imagine the fiber artist in me is in heaven with all the different kiekies and how to make them. Wearing a ta’uvala or kiekie is similar to putting on a tie in the states. It is not necessary every day, but a way to dress up for work or a special occasion. It can be appropriate for women to wear tupenu (although womens tupenus don’t have pockets?) and ta’uvala, but I have never seen a man wear a skirt and kiekie.

Guests of honor can usually be identified by their ta’uvalas. For weddings the bride, groom and parents or guests of honor will all wear very large ta’uvalas. Many times these will be from chest level to the floor with decorative shells, feathers or ribbons on them. Sometimes there are several layers of woven and tapa ta’uvala or even fabric draped behind like a train.

My Less Than Brilliant Moments. Enjoy!

So here is some news, I do to much sometimes! I know I have this problem but the combined 5 week break with now starting school has allowed me to pile on the tasks. Many peace corps friends and I wanted to go camping, but I had already committed to dance at a concerti for my school so we decided to camp at the beach near my town. We met at my house for a few minutes and I thought we should get out of here! To many mixed gender friends at my house and all the neighbors are watching. So we headed to the beach and got set up. Hanging out on the beach seemed so inviting, but I feel obligated to this concerti and dancing and I need to shower etc. So I went home to get ready.

Not wanting to be late (really so we could just get this show on the road) I was there promptly at 8. Guess who else was there? Ha ha that would show an assumption of SOMEONE being there. In reality there were two men there, one making kava, and one wanting to talk to me about all the things he wanted me to do in Nakolo. Although he could only come up with two ideas and when I asked for more he just said take it slow, one thing at a time. Whatever I am just trying to see what everyone, not just you, wants. I was cranky and just wanted to get this over with. I had my bags packed for the beach and at the hall so I could leave when I was done.

Of course I was asked to tou’a and I did to bide the time. As folks started to show up I went out and tried to find some of the teachers. Some women found me and wanted to dress me in my tauvala. I realized that I had forgotten the cd so I said hold on I will be right back. I didn’t run, but I was definitely speed walking. I just have to get the cd and get back, dance and then I am done. I was moving fast enough that it took the students they sent after me a minute to catch up. I was in a hurry because I was doing too many things. I have to remember that time isn’t everything and I should go with the flow more. Regardless I was hurrying so I kept up the pace and jumped over a rut in the road…

I fell. Oh well just get up, get the cd and get back to the hall. My foot hurt but I stood up and my vision started to blur and I felt a little light headed so I sat back down in the dirt. This is it, the ultimate slow down. I don’t know if I can walk and I have two of my students freaking out and wow, what to do now. I sat for a minute and decided to try again. I was able to stand, mostly on my left foot but still, and limp with help from Tisiola to my house. There I got the cd and my umbrella (cane if you will) and headed back to the hall. I realized this would take forever if I walked, so I asked my neighbor Tavake for a ride. On the way I saw Alexis and Mikala who were on their way to pick me up. I said meet me at the hall and we went on. At the hall I limped to the nearest house where I was dressed in a tapa cloth ta’uvala and was rubbed down with coconut oil. Then limped out to the hall and performed a tau’olunga without moving my feet at all. Glad that is over.

Now to talk with the peace corps. I knew I couldn’t walk down and up the hill, but Mikala pleaded that I go. So we got a ride part way down the hill and I limp, walk, hopped with much help from Mikala, Alexis and Justin. What a relief to collapse in the sand and know I didn’t have to try to walk anymore. I could crawl to the tent and around the fire so yea I am done. Pass me a rum punch! There were chocolate chip cookies and Patrick had his birthday story for Bobby and they waited until we got back to read it so I got to hear that. Nice night.

When I woke up I realized what a stupid move going to the beach was. Now I am down at the bottom of a huge hill! We hung out for a while but everyone wanted to go early and I wasn’t up for the yoga and swimming I planned for the morning so I was ready to start the adventure of getting me up that hill too. Most folks went ahead, hey I didn’t need everyone. So I crawled, scooted backwards, hopped, swung, and was carried up the hill. I think the scooting backwards up the steep pointy coral part was probably the most amusing. Once we got to the bush road I rested and Alicia called Palu and Pelimani, my neighbors, who came with the van. They couldn’t get all the way down so Bobby and Pelimani carried me the rest of the way. Then we almost got stuck turning around. Then finally I was home and my friends were on their way. I iced my foot and elevated it. It took a little convincing, but I did get my neighbors to stop offering Tongan medicine. Now I am here and I don’t have to leave my house until Monday morning. Time to rest.

Crazy things I said. I am learning Tongan and getting better, but there are always mistakes. Here are some of the more amusing ones.

Ko ho’o tapa ‘oku ne faka ‘ofa! Instead of Ko ho’o tapa ‘oku ne faka ‘ofo ‘ofa.

Your tapa cloth is pathetic! Instead of Your tapa cloth is beautiful.

Hanga katoa ki he mu’a. Instead of Hanga katoa ki mu’a.

Everyone look at my front (chest). Instead of Everyone look at the front.

Ko hoku ‘uma mamahi. Instead of Ko hoku uma mamahi.

My kiss hurts. Instead of My arm hurts.

Visits 2-7-08

Well I received the holiday party video and was able to see and hear many of you. Thank you for all the wonderful messages and well wishes. I hope you are all doing well too and anytime you can bear standing in front of a video camera and spouting out a message to me, I would love to see that too. I miss you all.

That said many of you said you wished to come visit and I would love to see each and every one of you. I know a few people are planning a visit and I have been talking to you already. For everyone else there are a few details about my living situation that I must share. If I was living in America I would say Yes visit! And leave it at that. But this is Tonga not America. So:

Single women, yes visit!

Married couples, yes I would love to see you too, but you must come together. Also I can offer a place to stay to the wife, but the husband may need to sleep at a neighbors house or in a tent.

Single men, sorry boys you aren’t really even able to be alone in my house with me. I would still love to see you, but you may need to stay in a guest house in town and I can come in and spend the day with you, but it is not appropriate to have you stay in my house regardless of our relationship.

Folks that can’t visit me in Tonga: Of course I wish I could see you, but that is fine no hard feelings. I can’t come visit you either. Guess that is one of the hardships of the Peace Corps. I just want you to know that I love you and I think of you often.

So the last email had some pictures of interesting things I thought you might like, or at least might represent the differences or make you laugh. One of the responses I got was wishing there was a picture of me! Opps I guess I do hide behind the camera a lot. So I am sending a picture of me and my friends after our youth group dance. It is blurry but my camera is sucking right now so I hope it is better than nothing.

Dengue Fever Aftermath 1-24-08

Well I guess I explained the first few days of agony, but not all that happened to me. In the end Jacinta said I had Dengue Fever. I also talked to Amanda, the Assistant director, she has had Dengue twice and she said that is what it sounded like. Of course I still haven’t gotten any test results saying that is what it is, but I got one test that was negative for DF??? Then what is it? I am calling it Dengue. I had a fever for 5 days, rash for 3 days, didn’t get out of bed for 9 days then it took another 5 days for me to actually walk, cook, sit up, overall act like a person again. I still don’t have all my strength back, but this is great compared to what was. It is very strange to get sick and then fall into a fever stupor. Then when you wake up it is a different year, and you are a different age? Wow wierd, oh well I feel better and that is what counts. Now I can go home!!! Yea!!!

Or not…

Jacinta drove me home Tuesday January 15, 2008. 16 days after I first got a fever. I was ready to be in my own space again, except when I walked in and realized how bad my space is destroyed. I have been gone for almost 2 weeks and I left sick and dazed so it was not buttoned up perfectly. Also while I have been gone it has rained almost every day except for 2 which were scorchers. In the midst of it all we had a cyclone (hurricane in the Pacific is called cyclone). It didn’t hit Tongatapu, or any of the Tongan islands thankfully, but we had some wicked weather. I was laying in bed watching the wind whip the gigantic mango tree outside. I was amazed how far the branches could sway! All the while my house is taking a beating too. Mainly the wind was tearing through the house bringing in bugs and water. Also since I didn’t clean hardly at all before I left (in my defense I couldn’t walk well, let alone stand for more than 30 seconds) there was food out and perishables that needed to be eaten long ago.

I threw out (to the pigs) a papaya, half a cabbage, three pieces of banana bread (I really thought there were 4 on that plate?) half a loaf of bread, 2 green peppers some crackers, milk and lettuce. The breads were growing their own ecosystems of molds in various colors some fuzzy and some flat. Anyone need any penicillin? Just kidding. Gross.

The wind had blown in the window by the dishes covering them with a fine film of dust and knocking some on the floor. OK I have to wash everything even the dish drying rack, fine. The dish water was still in the bin and it was growing things too. It was also killing things, 6 cockroaches to be exact. I had to throw out the water and clean the tub before I could clean anything in it. Then I set to the all day task of cleaning the dishes in small increments, carrying in water at least 4 times today. I walked in the bedroom and saw the tea I didn’t want to drink before I left, it was also off and 2 cockroaches met their death in the sugary concoction.

This is really frustrating and I am still weak.

Laukau came over to see how I was and told me of the festivities while I was gone. I missed uike lotu (prayer week) and Nakolo day. I thought I just missed new years eve and my birthday, but no. Many people asked about me. Where is the Peace corps? In addition to the celebrations I also missed the town meeting I have been looking forward to for a month.

As she was talking of the festivities and telling me about her new boyfriend I saw a big brown spider crawl up the wall behind her. Ewwww the critters seem to think the have free reign of my house now. Or maybe he is just looking for his friend I found dead under my fan. I also found the missing piece of banana bread near a hole in the wall. What is big enough to carry it? And fits through that hole? Gladly a rat couldn’t fit so it was probably just a mouse, or a ginormous spider or some other creature I haven’t met yet.

Then there was the mold. It has been uncontrollably humid lately with all the rain. Just try to dry laundry, I dare you. I checked my clothes but they are fine. Cool I like them. I know they said everything will mold, get sun bleached, tear or just generally wear out in the two years, but it hasn’t even been 4 months. I was amazed at the places I found mold really. Not on my clothes or shoes, but my chopsticks? What? And my wooden spoon. Those were the first to get washed. Good thing I bought bleach in town. And my beloved backpack! Ok to be fair it is almost 10 years old and it has been to 11 countries, 8 rainbow gatherings, and 4 continents, but apparently 4 months in Tonga is the toughest on it yet. My wrist braces have mold on them? What? I need to plan a trip to the laundrymat and wash AND DRY MY STUFF. My Sheets need it too after being sick. This is crazy.

Well this is an ordinary to do list where the cardboard is warped and the magnet is pealing off the back. Think of how long this disfiguration would take at home? In the middle of a hot humid summer? In the winter (if at all)? So where I am living now the humidity caused this in 8 hours!

My faka ‘ofa holidays

Faka ‘ofa- sorry, sad or pathetic

Well I guess I should start with Christmas. A little sad at first, but I saw some friends and went for a walk, all in all a good time. So was boxing day, all of group 73 in Tongatapu got together for a potluck. Good times.

December 30, Sunday

I went for a long bike ride. I noticed that it was very sunny and wondered if I would get burned. I forgot the sunscreen, oops. As I turned around about 18 KM from my house it clouded over, yea! Then it started to rain and rain and rain. I was soaked through by the time I got home. Still I showered and got ready for church. At least this is the tropics and I wasn’t that cold. Still it chilled me and in the evening I felt a little warm. Enough so that I took my temperature. I have these cool one time use thermometers called thermadot. There are 9 rows of 5 dots and depending on how many turn blue that is your temperature. I followed the directions and there they were my blue dots, 99.6. Well now I know I am justified in going to bed at 8pm. Good to get in some extra sleep so I am ready for new years eve!

December 31, Monday

When I woke up I still felt sick. So much for trying to ride my bike into town. Maybe if I rest I can still take the bus in later. I spent the day moving slow but still able to make food and such. No dishes or cleaning mind you, but I was still cooking. By 10 am I knew this bug was going to keep me home tonight, no dinner then bar for me. All is well at least I can see the Tongan style New Years celebration of church from 10-12 right? Well maybe not. I just kept feeling worse all day until I went to sleep at around 10. I did get a text from Enrique a little after midnight so I was aware of the New Year in my drowsy state. Then at 3:30 I woke up freezing. I arranged my two sheets over me, but that wasn’t nearly enough. So I pulled my thick blanket over me, doubled up for extra warmth, nope I am not going to get to sleep like this. So after much mental preparation I got out of bed and shuffled to the kitchen for some water. Then I got my first aid kit and brought that and the water into bed. Slowly I found the sample packet of Tylenol and tore open the package realizing how difficult this all was while alone. And I was so happy to finally be on my own, now all I wanted was someone to hand me two Tylenol in one hand and a glass of water in the other, maybe help hold my head for a moment as I swallowed. Nope I live alone and this is all up to me. I got the package open and took the meds. Thank God that is over, time to cuddle back into the covers. The fetal position is a good one when cold so I tucked in and pulled the covers up. Still cold. I had a sarong on the bed so I wrapped it around my head in a makeshift hat. There I should be warm now. But I wasn’t. What I wouldn’t give for a warm water bottle to snuggle with. After laying and shivering for another 20 minutes I started to feel my body warm up and I was ready to relax into sleep. Not so fast I wasn’t just warm I was starting to get hot. I wasn’t warming up, my fever was breaking. Fine whatever just let me sleep. I flung the blanket and sarong off and rolled over, exhausted and yes my body let go and I slept.

January 1

Last night was horrible, but my fever broke so I thought I would just reconfirm it was gone and take it easy. Oh my gosh so many blue dots! Now my temp was 102.8, this is bad. I didn’t feel like making food, even getting water and I have a high grade fever and I am alone. I wanted to take a shower, but it is cold. Nope can’t do it. I ate mostly crackers and jam as they are so easy to make. I got out my medical handbook and it seems I need to wait 24 hours for a high and 48 hours for a low fever before I call the PCMO. So tonight will be 24 hours with a high fever after 24 with a low fever, fair enough. After a day of crackers and jam and of course water and plenty of rest, I was ready to call Jacinta. I took my temp again so I had the most current data, 103.6. She prescribed water, rest and Tylenol every 6 hours. Really, not that I want to take lots of drugs, but I don’t want to have a fever anymore!! As I lay in bed in my own filth dreading a cold shower Laukau called. This is it, I need help and I am not afraid to ask. She came over which was great in a way, and in another way I had to get up and open the door when all I wanted to do was lay still. She was very helpful and helped me borrow all I needed to take a warm shower. Ecstasy, aside from the fever of course. Laukau was worried so she offered to stay the night. It is very Tongan to stay with friends especially if they are alone and after last night I will welcome a friend to help if I need it. So at about 9 PM I fell onto my pillow and passed out.

January 2 Wednesday

How do I still have a fever!! But I do 102.4. I don’t even feel like eating. Laukau made me tea even though I asked her not to. Too much sugar for me. Trying to drink as much water as I can hold down but it is a one sip at a time endeavor. Jacinta is coming to visit today, maybe she will have some good insights. In the end she brought some more drugs. Extra strength. back to the 6hour dance. I found that the first 4 or 5 hours are just uncomfortable, but the last hour I just watch the clock and try to ignore the pains until I can take the next dose. She also brought a real thermometer, but it was in Celcius. Now I just have to learn the difference between 39.4 and 38.3 (in the end they are both fevers 37.0 is normal)

Laukau stayed again most of the day and asked if I wanted another shower, I don’t think I can handle that just yet. She didn’t stay the night though, she had to go tou’a so she left rather early. That is fine I just passed out early anyway.

January 3

This morning I still felt bad so I called Jacinta again and she offered to pick me up and take me to the Medical office apartment. It was hard to pack and it took me the whole hour off and on of course. It was great to be around other folks though. Both Jason and Kasa were staying at the apartment with me and they helped a lot over the next 4 days. I didn’t leave the apartment for days but they brought food and water and helped me make warm showers. Life here was that much more tolerable. even thought I am throwing up occasionally.

January 4 Friday

This afternoon… my fever broke!!! That’s right no more fever. Still can’t walk around the apartment or make my own food but at least I am not excessively hot or cold.

January 5

Yesterday Jacinta asked me about a rash??? Well now I know why, my hands and feet itch really bad and when I took a bath I saw that my whole body is covered in a red rash. So this is phase 2 of Dengue huh? Ouch I hope I don’t discover why she asked me about a nose bleed tomorrow.

January 7, Monday

My Birthday!

But still feeling crappy. Jason left but Kasa is still here. At night she, Alexis Andrew and Enrique sang and brought me a cake. I even ate half a piece. My folks figured out how to call Tonga and I was able to talk to them. It was nice to have some recognition for my birthday even though I was still laying in bed.

January 8

I left the apartment! Well I just went downstairs and over to the computer lab but it was more than I had done in days. I am starting to feel better! Now to just get rid of this exhaustion. Jacinta offered to let me stay through the weekend. At least I don’t have a fever or rash anymore and I can get my own food, well not from town yet, but from the kitchen. We will see when I leave Peace Corps.

Now I would like to say Thank You to Jacinta, Laukau, Ana, Jason, Kasa, Sarah Kate, Soraya, Lara, Trenton, Enrique, David, Alexis, Sune, Poki, Sarah, Mikala, Alicia and everyone else who helped me behind the scenes.

Music 12-20-07

Well the only word I have for the music here is random. Yes there is a rich traditional culture of music. I truly enjoy Polynesian music and it’s reminiscence of the calm island lifestyle. However this is still 2007 and there are definitely influences from other genres of music. I guess the reason I think the music is so random is because in my culture music is usually separated neatly by radio stations. If you want to listen to R&B then you turn to that station. Then the mood strikes to listen to oldies, there is a station for that too. If you turned on the classic rock station and they played big band, listeners would probably check the dial, seeing it was right then they may call in and ask what is going on? Not that big band is bad, just that is not what was expected from that station which claimed to play only classic rock. There are mixed stations but again the claim is out there as to what they will play (Wrox playing hits from the 80’s 90’s and today). Then there is the idea of mixing songs. My understanding of this is finding tracks that have, or work well with the same beat and as one ends keep the beat going so you can “mix in” the next song, or part of a song. Fine not my personal favorite, but I can dig it. So the difference I have seen (or heard) is that there is really no separation of genre. You could hear a traditional Tongan song, then oldies, then R&B, then a show tune. That is not uncommon.

Careful what you joke about, you may hear that horrible best forgotten song next on the radio. I bought a Grease shirt just before I left. Now I like Grease as much as the next girl I guess, but it is not on my must see again list by any means. Well what a manifestation that was “You’re the one that I want” by Olivia Newton John and John Travolta, very popular here, I hear it all the time! I was out with my host sister and Alicia and we heard “Rivers of Babylon” Great I love that song. Bob Marley is a good staple all over the world. Note the tempo and beat (slow and reggae). Then I heard the scratching, they are mixing it with… what is it… any guesses, pick something random! Yes that is it. Rivers of Babylon mixed with Who let the dogs out! Wow I guess I have heard it all. But no there is more, my ultimate favorite random mix. I was listening to the radio and a slow quiet song came on, I knew it, but couldn’t place it at first:

Lets start from the very beginning

a very good place to start (what is it? It is older, maybe from a movie)

when you read you begin with ABC when you sing you begin with (really? Sound of Music? That’s right!)

Time 12-17-07

I feel like I finally have time to take the 10 deep breaths I have needed for two months. In a way I have just collapsed into this new perfect house and I wonder how many days it will take for me to pry myself up again. Let alone unpack! Either way I am here and I have been intermittently writing, unpacking, sleeping, and of course eating (hey this is still Tonga)

Given this time here is an update of the last few weeks after homestay.

Last Week of Training

Well after our 6 week home stay I was ready to be back at Sela's Guest House with the whole gang and have all the comforts of Nuku'alofa. The first time I walked by a falekaloa (convenience store) and noticed how much stuff they had, (not just the pure number of goods you can buy, but choices even) I thought, "Let's see am I in the mood for orange juice, or pinemango?" We were lucky to get any juice in Holonga.

Beyond material possessions we also had our friends. All 33 people not just in the same city, but in the same guest house. I was so exited to hang out with everyone. Unfortunately it was a little too overwhelming and the first two days I spent mainly in my room. I just couldn't handle everyone. The crazy part is I really wanted to hang out with someone, even two or three people. And I didn't really care which group members it was, I like everyone in the group, just not all at the same time. Luckily I calmed down and had several days of fun times with the group.

Part of the stress was just the end of training. We had our OPI language test, classes, swearing in ceremony, meeting our counterparts, shopping for everything we need for our house (which some of us have never seen before) and of course this is the last time we will all see each other for three months and that is huge after spending ten weeks living and learning with each other. Any one of these can be a big stressor but all together makes it a full crazy stressful week.

OPI was not too stressful for me because I didn't let it be. I knew that if I stressed and studied every moment and didn't talk to anyone unless it was in Tongan or we were discussing Tongan I would want to cry and my score wouldn't be that much higher so I decided to just study a little and let the test come and go as it would anyway. I don't know if my brain agreed because when I woke up the morning of the test I was studying in my sleep. I wouldn't say I was dreaming in Tongan, but going over dialogues we had practiced in my mind while asleep. Nice when your brain just studies for you. In the end maybe I should have studied more and made myself insane. I was placed at Novice High, a little low in my mind as the goal was Intermediate Mid. Oh well at least now I get extra language lessons!

The swearing in ceremony was great. The guest of honor was the Minister of Education of Tonga. His speech was reassuring, pointing out how former and current peace corps volunteers have helped students and encouraging us to do the same. Yea this is what we are here to do. After the ceremony we had dinner and my counterparts found me and invited me to talk with them after dinner. We talked a bit and watched traditional Tongan dances.
As of about a month ago all the guys (well almost all) started growing out their beards. We are Peace Corps Tonga group 73, but they decided to make it more interesting by all shaving and leaving just mustaches so we looked like Peace Corps Tonga group 1973. A lot of the women straightened and flipped their hair, I don't have enough hair to flip so I wore a headband. All together we looked almost convincing, but the real fun was just getting ready. No one person could have pulled off what the group looked like, except for Bear. He had this crazy sideburn connected to mustache in addition to brushing his curly hair, wow what a look. As soon as it was all over several guys ran to the bathroom to shave, guess it is not their style! Sai pe.

Shopping

Well shopping was a huge stress point for me. I have had fun shopping before, but this is something else. We had to buy everything for a house most had never seen with not quite enough money. I tried to hold back and let folks on outer islands buy stuff first because I am on the main island. After about four days of price shopping and not being sure what to buy I realized that all I had acquired was a soap dish, a strainer (note I had not yet bought a burner or a pan), a laundry basket and a mini wonder (it slices, it dices why the hell was this my first purchase?). My two main shopping goals were a bike and a refrigerator. I also needed a stove and dishes and all sorts of small stuff. Finally I saw my bike. Melinda had bought a woman's beach cruiser. I am amazed how many bikes are men's bikes. Especially in a culture where women wear skirts everyday and men wear Tupenus (wrap around skirts) almost as often. So now I am the proud owner of a candy apple red women's beach cruiser with a rack on the back for stuff and a bell. Yea. Unfortunately I pushed the fridge purchase to the limit so if I wanted it delivered I needed to buy it that day. When I went to Premas to get it, it was sold out. The same fridge was sold out at Lords Mobile too. So I went back to Premas to buy the smaller one. When I checked out they had over charged me so I pointed it out and found no they were actually out of the smaller one two, the third fridge left in my price range was the last of the three I wanted, the next shipment wasn't coming until Marchish and they don't do returns. Oh well I have a fridge and I need to start loving it. When I finished shopping on this last day I had to go back to the guesthouse and have a beer even though it was only 1:30. Oiaue!

Moving in

Oh my gosh I have the perfect little house! It was a little nerve racking when they pushed my move in date back a day, is it not done? Is there a problem? But when I got here and saw it WOW. It has two main rooms, a living/kitchen/ dinning room and a bedroom with a door between. The kitchen nook has counters which the gas tank and the fridge (yes the bane of my existence fridge) fit perfectly under. I have a table and two comfy chairs also three folding chairs a beautiful meal set out for us. Unfortunately I didn't tell anyone about the whole vegetarian thing so most dishes had capa pulu (canned beef/ corned beef) in it. Oh well.
And in the bedroom, a princess bed. True story! I have a full, 4 post bed with a canopy over it and white satin bedspread. Wow. And the bed is firm which is perfect for me.

Contrary to most Tongan houses I have regular light bulbs, no fluorescents. I feel at home, in fact it is a lot like home, well maybe not, how many cockroaches did you find in your dish water this morning? (2 in mine) The house also comes with many promises. A light in the bathroom, a new socket in the kitchen, a sink, a latch in the bathroom door. Fun stuff like that. I am not too worried as the security screens are up and I can lock my doors so if I don't get anything else at least I am safe. Side note two men came today and fixed the kitchen light and installed a light in the bathroom and by the back door. Way to exceed my expectations. Yea! Life is good.
Now to just learn Tongan...

Some Tongan

Here are a few interesting tidbits of the wonderful Tongan language.

Sai pe- literally good just. Good, fine, its all good, are you good? This can be used for ANYTHING, seriously. Everything can be sai or sai pe. Almost more useful than hello!

Eva pe- literally just wandering around. I recently found out you can eva on foot, in a car or even in a boat! Eva pe was taught to us in our third week of language. We got some basics, then learned how to say just wandering around, why on earth would this be so important? Well let me tell you, it is the only thing to do. It is also a good way to get someone off your case. If they ask where you are going and you don’t want to explain, or just want to keep a secret, say you are just eva.

Vaca puna- flying boat or airplane. Yes you know you are living on a small island when airplanes are classified as a type of boat.

In the Beginning Tonga Travel 11-7-07

Most of LA was a blur. We had staging which was a basic intro to PC and a little about Tonga and teamwork and such. I met a lot of great people and we hung out and got to know each other. Then we all packed our bags in the bus and went to the airport. We are on our way!

Before leaving, Alice, her sisters and mom got tattoos, the three sisters.

The first flight was 10 hours, 9 of which I didn’t mind. The last one was cramped though. Oh well we made it to Samoa! We had a 2-hour layover there so we just hung out in the airport, the small airport. We did our first community yoga session and learned the real difficulty of doing yoga in the required dress, shirt with sleeves and long skirts. Next our flight to Tonga!!! We left Samoa at 6:30am Wednesday October 3, and arrived in Nuku’alofa Tonga after a 1 ½ hour flight at 8am Thursday October 4. Basically the only change was the dateline. 

Tonga is the first country to great each new day. The dateline actually curves around Tonga so it is all in the same time zone.

Once in Nuku’alofa we proceeded through immigration and customs which was the fastest I have ever experienced. No surprise as it is a really small airport. We were greeted by a lot of Peace Corps staff who gave us leis and took our picture. Is that really necessary after so many hours of travel? It was great to have that welcome though. Then we went to a guest house. I was ready for a nap and a shower, it was nice to have time for this. 

Then in the evening we went to a welcome kava ceremony. It was all Peace Corps staff, volunteers and trainees and none of us trainees knew what to expect. I was thrilled just to watch and observe how it all worked. But of course I had to participate. Villiame the community education director lead the ceremony. He said a prayer (everything in Tonga begins with a prayer) and then sang a phrase in Tongan, plus a name. Then someone at the other end of the circle answered back and a woman would bring a bowl of kava to whoever was named. This continued until everyone was served. I thought it tasted a little like earth or wood, which makes sense. It is a root dried and ground into powder, then mixed with water and strained. It is not like alcohol because it doesn’t affect your brain, just your body. I felt my mouth go a little numb but that is it. Oh well it doesn’t much matter as kava is only for men anyway. I won’t be drinking much, but I might get to serve it.

One of the first few things I noticed about Tonga is the clouds. There are a lot of clouds. Often there are more than two layers of clouds. The lowest layer usually moves very fast. I like having regular cloud cover because it is still beautiful, but not as quick to burn your skin. The rain is interesting too. It has mostly only sprinkled, with a few heavier patches, but rain seems to come and go fast. Sometimes you can see a rain cloud off the coast and as it moves in it may not only miss you, but it could miss the whole island! Also Tongan people have the largest body mass in the world, and this seems to be true. I am seen as unhealthy because I am so skinny and I don’t eat much. The Tongan weight chart is very different than any I have seen in America. I looked under 5’7” and didn’t find my weight. I was off the charts in the emaciated section. I did find my weight in the normal section for someone who is 4’11”. This is a huge change for me as about 6 months ago I was in Thailand where I was a big person both in height and girth. Now I am mousy and wasting away. I guess I should just continue being happy with my body as is.

Diet so far seems to be meat and potatoes. Luckily for me fish is acceptable and available and people will only think you a little weird if you just eat fish. However something is obviously wrong with a person who doesn’t eat puaka (pig). For meat the favorites are pork, chicken, fish (including ‘ota ika or raw fish), beef, corned beef and a variety of sea creatures like octopus and muscles. Potatoes is not the right word, root crops is better. There is Taro, yams, tapioca, sweet potato and at least 5 other varieties I haven’t figured out the difference yet. There is Lu or taro leaves. Cooked up it is like any other greens, but usually it is wrapped around beef or mutton and cooked in coconut milk. Oh well. At least there is a steady supply of fruit. Mango season is coming up!

On our last day in Fua’amotu we were invited to a feast. I think it was someone’s birthday, but I can never be sure. We walked in and found about 50 people sitting at various tables and making room for the pisicoa (Peace Corps). The head table had a huge array of food. Then as I sat down I saw that all the other tables were piled with food. Really piled. There were plastic containers of all sorts of foods like fried fish and chicken, coleslaw, muscles, octopus, imitation crab salad, tongan dumplings, taro (various kinds), watermelon, fruit baskets with apples, oranges, kiwi, pears, potato chips, suckers, a whole small roast pig right in front of me (there were 5 on that table and probably 15+ at the feast) skewers of prawns and probably a dozen other things I didn’t see or try. After a few minutes of looking at the food in amazement I realized that under the pile of precariously balanced food there were place settings. We had to work together to free the trapped plates from the feast, but we did it. After about 15 minutes of prayer from at least 7 different people and several songs we dug in. I ate until I was full then tried 2 more things. Then I was stuffed. Then they came around with fruit salad and ice cream. Too much food! I wasn’t hungry for about 24 hours after that feast. Wow!

The beach is beautiful, but I wouldn’t call it a great place to swim. It is basically a reef with some sandy spots. There is sand for the beach, but in the water it is advisable to wear shoes. Well you don’t have to but I have already run out of Band-Aids because I take my first aid kit to the beach. Good thing Peace Corps has more. Fua’amotu, the first home stay village has a great walk to the beach and some fun spots to hang out, do yoga, fish, climb and of course play rock the rock. Yea it gets a little boring so whenever they can the guys have been throwing things at other things ie rock the rock. Depending what is around they sometimes play rock the shell or maybe melon rind the water tower ;-)