Australia, family in Tonga, MST, oh my!

"It's Tonga" Moment of the last three months:

I had just walked into my bathroom to have a shower when I saw two dark blobs on the floor. There is no light in my bathroom, so I grabbed my flashlight, and upon further inspection the turned out to be two tiny baby rats. I looked around, unsure of where they came from and if they were alone. No reasonable explanation presented itself; they didn't seem to be walking yet. Huh. I couldn't tell if they were even alive, so I decided to have my shower while I thought about what to do. I considered smacking them with my sandal, but that seemed messy. I was keeping an eye on them while in the shower, and about midway through, one of them became mobile. he started walking around the bathroom, and in a panic I ran and grabbed the first ting that came to mind. My machete, of course. Two minutes later I had a different problem on my hands. Four baby rat halves. It was a bit messy, but I scooped them onto a piece of cardboard, threw them out the door and re-showered. The next day two more appeared on my bathroom floor. Still no idea how they got there. I figured since I was already a killer, I might as well.....chop, chop.

Okay, so...it's been a while, and a lot has happened since my last update. I was sent to Australia to get my tonsils out and had to stay there for three weeks. I got back the day before my family got to Tonga, then a week after they left I was traveling again to my Mid-Service Conference on the main island of Tongatapu. I'm back in my village now; school has started and things are finally starting to settle down a bit again, but here's what I've been up to the last three months:

Australia was...interesting. It was my first time out of Tonga since arriving, and at first it was a bit overwhelming. I left 'Eua on a tiny, 10-seater "island-hopper" airplane, where I got to sit co-pilot in front of all the controls. I flew Air New Zealand to Australia, and let me tell you, it was a different experience. I sat down in my seat, which was all padded and comfortable, and get this: every person had a personal entertainment center in the back of the seat in front of them. You could watch the latest movies (I assume they were the latest; I had never heard of them), play video games, listen to the latest music (assumption again), watch TV shows, or listen to the radio. I was impressed. Before we took off, a movie came on everyone's screen; it was the pre-flight preparation telling you how to fasten your seatbelt and all that. I was watching, and I could tell that there was something just not quite right about it, but I couldn't put my finger on what it was. The lady in the seat next to me asked if I knew what was "off" about it, and then told me to take a close look at their uniforms. THEY WERE ALL NAKED!!! Their uniforms had been painted on, and you couldn't even tell unless you were looking for it. They all just were walking around with these strategically placed seat belts and life jackets and these sly little grins on their faces. I was shocked. Pleasantly. As if that wasn't enough, they gave us food, and it was good. I mean, my frame of reference may be a little skewed after living in Tonga for a year, but I ate salmon with a 7-bean salad on the side. The whole experience was so pleasant,I didn't want to land.

The day I got into Brisbane I decided to walk into town and have a look around. I passed a small grocery store and decided to do a little shopping since I had access to a full kitchen the place I was staying and thought I would save a little money by doing some cooking. I was not successful. I walked through the store for an hour and a half, picking things up for one meal, then putting them back and picking up a few ingredients for something different. I ended up having to leave quickly with a really upset stomach and checked out with the following:yogurt, seaweed, craisens, chick peas, seed mix, and muesli. Chalked that up as a failure.

Like I said, I had to stay in Australia three weeks for a fifteen-minute surgery, so I had a bit of free time on my hands. Luckily, there were a few towns withing walking distance, one huge street promenade, and a shopping mall. Also I learned how to use the public transportation after about a week, so that helped. The first week I kinda just did a lot of people-watching. I was fascinated at all the languages being spoken and the diversity of the people there. Needless to say, Tonga is not a very diverse country. I ended up getting pretty bored, not for lack of things to do, but I didn't know anyone there and so the only people I talked to were people in shops who were trying to sell me stuff. Having zero anonymity in Tonga can be extremely frustrating, but I missed walking down the road and people calling out to me by name. I tried to make friends, but people just weren't as friendly as they are in Tonga. Here's an excerpt from my journal:

"Clinical social retardation. Self-diagnosed. Prognosis: lifetime of awkwardness in social settings. 60% probability of owning four or more cats by age 30."

I ended up buying an ukulele and playing that because I was bored. I did actually end up making a few friends there, and they took me out and showed me a good time and showed me around a bit, but they also told me, "You can tell you've been living on a little island the last year. " Haha, ouch.

Here are some things I really appreciated about Australia:

-Hot showers!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
-Good sushi
-Good hospital :)
-Good public transportation
-Good nightlife
- I remember waking up in the middle of the night one night and being pleasantly surprised that I couldn't feel a single bug crawling on me. How novel.

The day after I got back from Australia I met my family in Tongatapu and we all headed out to 'Eua to spend Christmas. My Mom wrote the previous blog about their trip, so I won't go into too much detail about it. I'm really thankful that they got to come out to 'Eua and see my house, village, neighbors, my Tongan family, and just my life here. It was also great to see family, people who have known me and I've known longer than a year. I think they had a good time too, although the spiders take a bit longer to get used to than they had. I'm not sure how long, I'm not quite there yet myself.

The week after my family left, I was back in Tongatapu for our Mid-Service Training conference. It was really cool to see how far everyone had come in a year, and what we all had been up to at our sites. One thing that shocked me was how small our group had become. There were a few people out of the country at the time, but our group was down to I think 15 from 24! we haven't seen each other in ten months, but we kinda all picked up where we left off and I feel like we have a really tight-knit group. One of my favorite memories from the conference was of most of the group, gathered in the lounge pouring over some recent celebrity gossip magazines someone had received in the mail. Some people on the main island groups were more informed than others, and the following is an approximation of the conversation that ensued:

"Dang, I don't know half the people in this magazine!"
"Yeah, really! Who is this Jon Gosserlin that's all over?!"
"Isn't he the guy that knocked up the octomom?"
"OCTO-mom?!"
"Yeah, that's right"
"Holy shit, who are all these kids with Brad and Angelina?!"
"They have like six kids now, and they're from like seven different countries"
"Is that legal?"
"What the heck is Twitter?"
"Oh, my friend explained this to me, they're like facebook, but just status updates. They're called twits."
"Well, now let's not get rude, I'm sure they're perfectly nice."
"Who is this Adam Lambert? He's wearing more makeup in this picture than I've worn in the past year."
"Oh! I know, he won America's Got Talent, he beat out that homely-looking Susan lady with the great voice."
"Huh. Never heard of her, and that doesn't explain all the eye-shadow."

We then fell into a thoughtful silence.


School has begun, and our grant to build a library at the school has been approved! We lost a teacher from last year, she moved to Tongatapu and wasn't replaced, so we're down to three teachers this year (including me), which means two things: I get more responsibility and I get my own classroom! Both good things. I've found having my own classroom allows me to do more preparation work because I can write on the board before class and I don't have to lug all my supplies back and forth between school and my house. Also I see the kids more each day which I'm excited about. The class 4/5/6 teacher has been reluctant to hand over any responsibility or class time to me, but I'm working on him. The kids who took the class 6 exam last year did really great, and their English scores improved a lot from the previous years.

The kids here never cease to amaze me with their attitudes, energy, and excitement to learn. They come over after school to play soccer and rugby and just run around until they collapse, and they always want to help me clean my yard, fetch water, or organize the classroom. The high school girls come in the evenings to get help with their homework, and they're usually a lot of fun too. Between that and working on getting the library grant finalized, I've been keeping pretty busy!

Just got an e-mail, looks like a cyclone is heading our way right now, so wish my fale Tonga luck!!!*

*UPDATE:
I wrote this blog about a week and a half ago, but was unable to publish it at the time because of internet connection problems. A few days afterward we were hit by a category 4 cyclone, Rene. The PCV's here "consolidated" to the most well-built structure on the island, so we were pretty safe, but ended up having to stay there in a tiny room much longer than any of us expected. Walking back into my village after the cyclone passed I was able to observe the damage. One house had completely blown down (six of my kids lived there) and a few other outdoor kitchens and bathrooms had blown down, as well as lots of trees and power lines. No one was hurt, and the village has gathered around the family whose house feel down and they are being well-taken care of. We lost power for a week. My house fared pretty well, it flooded, but I expected that and had prepared for it. Things are finally starting to dry out now. And the faleTonga did great, I had to reattach some palm fronds, and it got pretty wet, but it held up really well. I found it a bit strange that my neighbors' house collapsed, and my faleTonga had barely any damage, but I think my real house protected the faleTonga from a lot of the wind/ flying debris. Hopefully that'll be the last cyclone we see this season!

To Tonga with Love - Mom, Larry & Jeff

Jenny asked if we wanted to be “guest bloggers” after our visit to Tonga over Christmas. I don’t know if I can be as entertaining as Jenny usually is, but we had an amazing visit and I’ll share our experiences as visitors to the islands.

We arrived in Tonga on December 22nd where it was sunny and probably in the 80’s. After leaving Alaska and 20 below about 30 hours earlier we were ready for the sun! We spent a few hours in Tongatapu before catching the ferry over to ‘Eua. Despite Jenny’s stories about horrific ferry trips, the trip was uneventful except for meeting our first fakalaiti and getting sunburned from riding on the roof of the Ferry. We docked in ‘Eua and although it was a short way to her house, we had so many pieces of luggage and boxes that we needed to find a ride – and soon climbed in the back of a flatbed pickup and were dropped off at Jenny’s front door safe and sound.

The first night in’Eua we were a little concerned about the rodent and spider population, and set the Rat Zapper before we went to bed. We turned out the lights and even though we hadn’t slept in 36 hours, we laid awake expecting rats, spiders or other creepy crawlies to pounce. It wasn’t long before the Rat Zapper started buzzing. What do we do? Jenny’s outside in the faletonga and I certainly don’t want to see a rat! Jeff wanted to see a rat even less and Larry was trapped next to the wall with me in front. The Rat Zapper just kept right on buzzing and buzzing, so finally I get up with my flashlight to see what’s in there – terrified to look. When I do, I’m relieved to see it’s only a cockroach! It’s still alive, but I’m just happy it’s not a rat, and that we never saw a rat, or even spider, in Jenny’s Fale in ‘Eua. We did lay awake at night imagining them though!

Memories from ‘Eua, Tonga:

• The people were amazingly friendly and generous. Everyone brought us food – we had more mangos and bananas than we could eat. Christmas morning breakfast was wonderful – someone just came to the door and dropped off a tray with eggs, fruit and chocolate cake – Yum!
• Hiking on ‘Eua – Jenny brought us on marathon hikes our first two days in ‘Eua. We were so grateful for the mango juice the neighbors brought over right after we got home! The island was rugged and beautiful – even though we weren’t as excited about climbing down cliffs and into caves as Jenny is. We climbed into Rat’s Cave and down cliffs to Fangatave Beach – she gave us a workout but the experience was definitely worth it.
• Speaking of neighbors – I think the village was watching us closely. As soon as we would get home someone would arrive with food or drinks within minutes!
• Church – the singing was such a wonderful surprise. The only comparison that I can think of is that they sing in church at the same intensity and volume that we would yell at a football game. That’s pretty incredible when you think about it that they praise God like Americans praise football players! Hmmm…
• I really like ‘Eua and am happy Jenny’s there. I feel a lot better about her being out on a more isolated island now that I have seen it. The pace is slow but purposeful, they spend the time with people rather than accomplishing “things” and when you slow down and take the time for that you realize the value in spending time with people and in reflection. It was a great experience.
• Larry was most struck by the Tongan kids and the beautiful quality they had. They were so friendly and just wanted to play. They didn’t whine or argue or complain about anything and just showed up in Jenny’s yard and waited until someone invited them to play something. The kids were awesome.
• Jeffrey got a taste was what’s it’s like to live in a male-dominated society. He, as the oldest male child, was presented with a gift on Christmas Day of a large Tapa Cloth. Larry was asked to do a blessing and a speech. The girls were shy but Jeff was asked over and over again if he had a girlfriend, or wanted one!
• I was pretty much expected to sit quietly or at least cry at the speeches, which the neighbor Lupe did. I had faux paus one night when I put on my pajamas and proceeded to sweep out the house. Men aren’t supposed to see women’s shoulders so I was pretty surprised to open the front door to sweep out the dirt and saw Tevita standing there and I was in my camisole top and pj pants. I shut the door as quick as I could. Jenny and Jeff had been at a youth meeting and met Tevita on the way home and he told Jenny I had slammed the door in his face! It seems noone knocks in Tonga – they just stand outside and wait for someone to look outside.
• We were able to learn a lot about their culture, but we also shared ours. Larry and Jeff wore skirts to church and we all wore Tu’avolas, Larry gave a couple speeches, and we shared some gifts from America and were given gifts as well. In Tonga, the men and women don’t sit together in church, and Jenny wasn’t sure it was okay for men and women, and brothers and sisters to sit next to each other. But we decided to share our culture and sit together as a family.
  

Ha’apai --After 4 days in ‘Eua we flew to Ha’apai and took a little boat to Serenity Beaches Resort. There were 2 other couples there when we got there on Saturday, but by Wednesday we were the only ones there. It was incredible to be on a beautiful white sandy beach with this amazing turquoise colored water and to be there entirely by ourselves. It felt like you owned your own private tropical island. Wow – I just can’t think of a better vacation. The weather was fabulous every single day, and although the food probably wasn’t the best we’ve ever had, it was a great destination.

• SPIDERS! Toward the end of our stay on Serenity Beaches spiders became an issue. There were webs along the path to our Fale’ and we had to have a spider search every night before we tucked our mosquito netting in around the bed and went to sleep. Larry was our hero and chief spider slayer. The spiders are not poisonous, but OMG they are big and ugly. Jeff woke up one morning with a huge one on the outside of his mosquito net and was captive until Larry got the spider out of the Fale’.
• Aside from the spiders, the resort was amazing. It had no electricity in the Fale and had a “Garden Shower” which was cold water unless you laid your solar water bag on the beach all day to heat the water. You find out what you DON’T NEED and adapt to a different lifestyle.

• What we did: read in the Cabana, sat on the beach, looked for seashells on the beach (they were all over!), kayaked and rode the waves in the kayaks, snorkeled, Jenny and Larry were scuba diving twice, swam in the “swimming pool” which was a sand covered area of the beach and ocean, had a bonfire on the beach, played lots of cards and board games, Jen played her Ukelele, and we enjoyed each other’s company.
• I will try to load a video of highlights from the trip – a feast with the neighbors, Jenny giving a speech, Christmas Eve play with Jenny in it, slaying spiders, Serenity Beaches, and Jen and Jeff’s spoof on MTV’s Cribs video.
  
  It was the most incredible trip! If anyone’s thinking of visiting Jenny don’t hesitate – BOOK YOUR FLIGHT TODAY. You can’t pass up such a great opportunity to experience the Tongan culture and the beauty of the islands. We will never forget Tonga. Thank you Jenny for being so adventurous to set out on this journey and share it with us. We love you and thank you for sharing your adventures with us! Toki Sio and much love to you and all the people on the island.

Mom, Larry and Jeff

Leaving on a Jet Plane

I am currently in Tongatapu, and tomorrow I will be heading to Australia to get my tonsils removed. It looks like I'll be there a little over two weeks, so hopefully I'll have some time to get some sightseeing in as well.

I have pretty fast internet here, so I thought I'd upload some pictures and try some videos too. School is finished, and the last few weeks were filled with lots of dancing, singing, card-playing, and soccer.

I spent Thanksgiving at one of the guesthouses on the island with the other Peace Corps volunteers on 'Eua. Peace Corps sent us out a big turkey, and we pulled together some mashed potatoes, green bean cassarole, corn on the cob, eggplant parmesean, macaroni and cheese, black bean soup, coconut crab, and of course, apple pie. It was also our last hoorah before group 73 atarts to leave, so it was nice to spend that time all together.



Malia and 'Oline brought their bush knife to school to cut the grass in the yard Walls going up on the faletonga

Ta'anga G.P.S. building the frame of the faletonga

everything about this was a bad idea, but cool picture

Rat's cave

Taniea, Lupe, and Toakase

soccer in the yard

Lopeti dancing with Pita drumming





Class 6 girls ta'olunga




Class 3/4 at the end of the school year. That is their teacher in the background sleeping.

R.I.P. Tahi

This latest update is written with a heavy heart. Tahi- my constant companion, my source of comedic relief, my dog- passed away Saturday. On Friday he was fine, running around the school yard playing, and Saturday morning he couldn't walk. I sat with him and tried to feed him carnation mixed with water (my neighbors said it would help) but he was gone pretty quickly.

My neighbors (who live in the same schoolyard and take care of Tahi when I travel and have three dogs that Tahi hangs out with all the time) told me, in no uncertain terms, that Tahi had been poisened. They had seen it before (apparantly it's not uncommon?) and it had in fact happened to their dog last month. That kind of added a whole new dimension of grief. I heard this not only from my neighbors, but also from a few different people in the village, everyone saying the same thing, he must have been poisened. They even explained to me how it is done- they mix bettery acid and pesticide with a can of tin fish and feed it to the dog. They said someone probably got mad at Tahi because he had killed their chicken or something. But the thing is, Tahi has been extremely well-behaved lately, he hasn't been chasing pigs or chickens and as far as I know he defninitely didn't kill any. At first I wrote it off, it HAD to be an accident, everyone on the island knows Tahi is my dog and I feel like because of that he is granted a lot of leeway where other dogs might be more severely treated. For example: the day Tahi ran into church they all said it was okay, he could sit with me in church (I quickly vetoed this however). I think there is no way someone killed Tahi as a result of Tahi misbehaving. So then I got to thinking that IF someone hurt Tahi on purpose, they had to have done it because they were upset with me. I've heard of Tongans hurting volunteers' dogs before when they were upset with the volunteer, it is seemingly a more socially acceptable way of expressing anger than risking a confrontation with someone, especially a palangi. So I poured over my transgressions of late. This is what I came up with, my confessions:

-Two Sundays ago I skipped church and came to the office to watch T.V. shows on the computer.

-On Tuesday, it was a warm, clear night outside- I could see every star in the sky, so I snuck out of my village and went on a walk. I snuck out because if I told anybody they would send their kids with me (to protect me from the tevolo- devil) and I just wanted to walk alone. Unfortunately I wasn't very good at being sneaky- every single dog started barking as I made my way back into the village.

-Wednesday I went to tea, then afterwards came down to the office and didn't return until after dark.

-In church on Sunday one of the men in the village told me I'd been traveling too much. He doesn't know I was in Tongatapu because I was sick and then went to Ha'apai to help with the training of the new group. Maybe he has been upset because I've been away a lot.

-I've been building a fale-Tonga with my neighbor, Tevita. Most of the village has been assuming I'm involved with him simply because I spend time with him. They also thought I was involved with the guy that was teaching me to play guitar last year and who is now in Tongatapu. In fact I'm not involved with wither of them, but I never really disputed the rumors as I've found that it doesn't matter what I do or say, they WILL talk about me. This is a VERY difficult place to be a single palangi woman and keep your reputation in tact. So maybe someone was angry that they thought I was kaka (cheating).

After spending two days trying to figure out what I did wrong and why someone would do this to Tahi, I came to my conclusion. I cannot allow myself to believe that someone hurt Tahi on purpose. If I believe that, I don't think I could continue to work here and put my heart into my work. If someone did hurt Tahi on purpose, I will never figure out who, or why, and I will never find peace with it. Furthermore, there is a LOT of toxic stuff around here. There aren't exactly safe places to put toxic stuff such as old batteries, motor oil, etc. And all the cars are generally leaking something. There are any number of things Tahi could have gotten into, and I can't continue on here wondering if my neighbors, the parents of my students, the people I sit next to in church killed my dog. So I have decided to consider this a tragic accident, and to mourn my friend.

Here are just some of my favorite Tahi moments:

- Sitting on my lap on the plane ride out to 'Eua

- Spending nights with me in my hammock where we huddled for warmth when it was freezing clod and he was still a puppy

- Running down the center aisle of church the first time I took him- for some reason I was under the misguided impression that he would just sit outside and wait for me to come back out.

- Camping with him at Fangatave beach when he was still small enough to pass down the cliffs

- Hiking with me in the rainforest and him drinking his water out of a half coconut shell.

- Him draping himself across my legs as I sat on the floor and played guitar.

- Him jumping in the wharf to swim with me when it became clear that I was swimming away from the dock he was standing on- he was a great swimmer!

Highs and Lows

Ready to go!

There's a pool table in 'Eua!

Back by popular demand- It's Tonga Moments:

- I was riding in a van with my neighbor, Tevita and his sister. It was dark. We could see something ahead on the road, but couldn't quite make out what it was, we thought maybe it was a loose cow or something. We were all kinda joking about it, but as we got closer, it became clear. It was two very large pigs trying to make baby pigs. The female pig's eyes were about to pop out of her head. I laughed, but quickly realized I was the only one laughing. In Tonga there is this brother/sister stigma and anything remotely sexual in the presence of siblings is EXTREMELY uncomfortable and inappropriate. Once boys reach puberty they may no longer sleep under the same roof as their sisters. If a boy is at a dance club or party and his sister comes in he has to leave. If a guy starts dating the sister of one of his buddies, they can no longer be buddies, and the brother will avoid his sister's boyfriend at all costs and will even give him dirty looks. Anyway, it's something that is deeply rooted in the culture, and there's more to it than even I understand. But the rest of that car ride was spent in really awkward silence.

- So as you may have read in my last blog, all my students were convinced I was going to die when I went out scuba diving. The last day of my certification course we were doing two open water dives. It was the Saturday before the class 6 exam, so class 5/6 had school. As I was heading out that morning, they were all waiting around for class to begin when I left. They ran out of the classroom and asked me where I was going (typical Tongan greeting). I told them I was going diving, and once again they tried to convince me not to go. When I made it clear again that I WAS going, we said our goodbye's:

Pita: Bye Jennifer!

'Ana H: See you manana!

Hingano: See you later!

'Ana L: See you in Heaven!

Lopeti: Bye Jennifer!

Me: Bye guys...Hey! 'Ana, the closest I will be to heaven this weekend will be in church tomorrow, I will see you there.

'Ana L: (looking skeptical)

Scuba diving was amazing, and I can't wait to do more. It's something I have always wanted to do, but the amount of equipment and planning involved was kind of a turn off. It's not something you can go out and do on a whim, but I've concluded that it's worth the preparation. Also I think the diving here is probably among the best in the world, the water is relatively warm , crystal clear, the fish are abundant...it is a world apart under there. And one of the coolest things is that here it's relatively untouched. Scuba diving in 'Eua began just a few months ago except on special dive trips out to the island, so it's not a place that gets a lot of human traffic. OH! One of the coolest parts? We could hear the humpback whales singing. They were quite far away, but it was neat to hear them. I finished the dive course and made it back safely to go to church on Sunday, much to the surprise of my students.

Two weeks later I get a call from Arisa, the dive instructor on the island, saying hey if you want to go out and swim with whales this week we can go Monday or Tuesday. Um...yes, please. There are only three places in the world where it's still legal to swim with Humpback whales, and Tonga is one of them. This fact did make me stop and think for a bit about WHY there's only three places in the world left where it's legal to swim with these whales...but it was an opportunity I wasn't going to pass up. We went out Tuesday afternoon- it was a beautiful day and the water was exceptionally calm. Within twenty minutes we had spotted whales breaching in the distance. We caught up to them and realized there were at least seven or eight all swimming together, which is unusual. They were spy-hopping, breaching, and really it looked like they were just playing and having a little whale party. We slipped in the water. At first I was a little apprehensive- they're just so big!- but as soon as I got in the water and saw them underwater I immediately felt at ease. Any trepidation I had was gone; there is just something supremely calming about being in the water with these giants. From the underwater viewpoint we counted at least nine of them. They were moving through at a leisurely pace, and at times it seemed almost as if they were showing off for us. At one point I was pretty close to this whale and I dove down and was swimming eye-to-eye with him for as long as I could hold my breath (we were snorkeling). It sounds cheesy, but looking into the eyes of a humpback whale, you get the feeling they hold all the answers to the world. It was a profoundly moving experience, and probably the coolest thing I've ever done. I know we hit a really good day, because Arisa was super excited about it and she does this every day. I had in fact been putting off writing this blog because I knew how difficult it would be to do this experience justice with words, and I knew I wasn't nearly talented enough. But there it is.

So those have been the highs, now for a few lows...

I currently have tonsillitis for the third time since being at site, and am now in Tongatapu being treated. But getting here was not easy. Yesterday I woke up and my tonsils were a little swollen and painful and I maybe had a little fever, but I went to my teachers meeting, and after that I went hiking with another PCV (Ashley), my neighbor Tevita, a couchsurfer, and Arisa, the dive instructor. I almost didn't go, but it was a beautiful day, I hadn't been on this hike in a while, and I love showing new people around the island. Ashley and I were the only ones who had been on this hike before, and it's about an eight-mile loop that would take us to two caves, two lookout points over the rain forest, and a giant banyan tree. It was a great day, a great hike in great company even though I wasn't feeling one-hundred percent. When we finished, we were on the opposite side of the island from my house, and I had planned on staying at Ashley's house last night so I didn't have to walk the additional two and a half miles home. Ashley was tou'a-ing (serving kava) that night in another village, so she just left me with her house keys. I took a nice bucket bath and started watching a movie on Ashley's computer. Almost immediately I started feeling crummy. I called the PC medical officer who told me to come in to Tongatapu today to see a doctor. Okay, that was good. But I started feeling worse and worse, I was feverish, I couldn't eat and could barely drink because my throat was so swollen. I decided I needed to go home, especially so I could get my house ready to leave today and get packed up. So I called my neighbor, Lupe, and she sent Tevita to come get me in her van. Ashley was still gone. Her door to her house is funny in that you cannot open or close it without a key from the inside or the outside. She had left me with the spare key, but when I went to open the door to get out, it didn't work. I slid the key under the door for Tevita to try it from the outside. Didn't work. Dang. By this time I was feeling REALLY crummy AND tired. After trying the key for ten minutes we concluded that it really just didn't work. At which point I pulled out my leatherman from my backpack and dismantled the doorknob. It worked. I was finally free from the house. Tevita and I reassembled the doorknob...and then were face with the problem of how to close the door. It won't close without a key. And I wasn't going to leave it unlocked. I had been trying to get a hold of Ashley, but predictably was unable to reach her (it's bad form to have your cell on while tou'a-ing) and you usually tou'a until one or two in the morning. I just wanted to get home. I was in tears by this point, which I mostly blame on the fever. I ended up calling another PCV on the island who has another spare key to her house, running to his house to get it, then coming back and locking up Ashley's house. I felt a wave of relief as I climbed back into the van to head home. Tevita turned the key. It wouldn't start. The engine was barely turning over. Cue more tears. Tevita gathered five Tongan boys to push the van until it was going fast enough that somehow it started. Okay, finally on my way home, but...as we passed the wharf I realized, with much despair, that all the flights off the island had been cancelled for today. I would have to take the boat, which leaves around five in the morning. I would have to be at the wharf around 4am. And the last seven boat rides I've taken between 'Eua and Tongatapu have found me hanging over the railing retching. Cue more tears. I wasn't even sure how I was going to be able to throw up considering my throat was nearly swollen shut. Does it get backed up? Would my head explode? No doubt it would be painful. By the time I made it home it was nearly midnight, I would have to be on the boat in four hours. I wasn't packed. My house was a disaster. I collapsed in my bed, thinking I would wake up early to pack and get my house ready, when I heard a knock at my door. It was my neighbor Lupe. She came in, sat on my bed, and rubbed baby oil on my throat for an hour and a half. Her sixteen-year-old son, Viliami got out of bed and came and washed my dishes and cleaned up my table. Tevita stayed up and fixed Lupe's van so that I could get to the wharf in the morning and catch the boat. I tried to tell Viliami that he didn't have to wash my dishes, but it was no use. Finally I just relaxed and closed my eyes and let Lupe rub my throat. It felt really really nice.

I woke up this morning not feeling any better and not having slept much or well. Luckily, the boat ride in was as smooth as it's ever been when I've been on it, and I was actually able to sleep a little. I did not throw up. The PC medical officer saw me, got me some medicine and went and got me some soup (on her day off). She is also putting in the paperwork to DC (again) to get my tonsils removed. I'm crossing my fingers they approve this time, because being sick here really stinks.

Once again I have been overwhelmed with the outpouring of love and support from the Tongans surrounding me. They don't have much in terms of material things, but whatever they have they share. Even more than that, however, is how giving they are of themselves and their time. They're never too busy, too tired, or too self-involved to help someone, and that doesn't just go for me, it goes for anyone who needs help with anything, ever.

On a different note, class 5/6 took their exams two weeks ago, which means no more night school (And early morning school and Saturday school)! It also means from here on out school winds down pretty quickly. After their exams every day the village had a feast for the kids, and I gave my first impromptu fakamalo (thank-you speech) in front of the whole village. Everyone kinda smiled and nodded, and I thought it went pretty well, then the lady that went after me stood up and explained to everyone what I had been TRYING to say. Haha, oh well, they seemed to appreciate that I tried.

The weather's warming up finally, and the village and island seem to be coming to life again; the youth are more active, people are out of their houses more, and there's just more going on. I decided that I wanted to build a fale-Tonga (Tongan hut) and so the past two weeks I have been working on that with the help of my neighbors. It is nearly finished, the only thing left to do is weave all the coconut fronds for the roof and sides. When the new group of trainees goes through attachment, I will have three of them come stay at my house, which is too small for four people, so I will sleep in the fale. Also when my family comes I will sleep in the fale because (like I mentioned above) culturally it's not appropriate for me to sleep under the same roof as my brother. Also, now that it's warming up, it'll be a nice place to hang out and read a book as it will be cooler than my house.

Speaking of books, I've read a couple really good ones recently: Ishmael and Papillion. Ishmael I think should be required reading for human beings; it makes you look at things from an entirely different perspective. It's a little abstract, and I had to read it slowly to process it, but it was well worth it. Papillion, on the other hand, is a terrific story terrifically told. It's a true story of a guy who unjustly got sentenced to life in prison and how he finally escaped after many failed attempts. I highly recommend both books if anyone is looking for something to read next.

Tsunamis, swim lessons, and scuba certifications (how's that for some alliteration?)

Tevita juggling
Class 5/6 one night after poako
I was cleaning my house and found a molokau, which Tevita captured, then proceeded to de-fang and play with (must be a guy thing?)
I was cleaning my house and got distracted and decided to practice juggling...



I've received a lot of e-mails, facebook posts, and even a few phone calls inquiring as to my safety after the earthquake and ensuing tsunami. I want to let everyone know that I am all right, my island was basically unaffected by the tsunami. Also I live on the highest coral island in the South Pacific, so I feel pretty safe here in terms of tsunamis.

I spent the last week in Tongatapu (a main island) for a week of training on how the incoming group of Peace Corps Trainees should be trained. A few days before I got there I was contacted with an opportunity to teach swim lessons while there to women who don't know how to swim. Many Tongans, despite their inevitable proximity to the ocean, have never learned to swim. This was an issue that was thrust into national attention after the Princess Ashika boat tragedy in which every woman aboard perished. Last I heard it was illegal to talk about in public- so enough of that, eh? Okay, one more thing, it has been interesting to note the different approaches that the governement has taken in dealing with the Princess Ashika tragedy and the recent tsunami which killed 9 people in Niua Toputapu. They seem a lot more sympathetic and proactive towards the tsunami situation, whereas with the boat sinking they seemed to spend more time and effort denying any responsibility or even trying to avoid the subject all together. Okay, that's it, really.

When I got into Tongatapu on Friday, I met with a representative from the Red Cross to solidify the plans for lessons the next week. As it turns out, not many plans had been made. We didn't have a place to do the lessons, and when I asked what her goals for the lessons were, she explained to me that she wanted to teach the women life-saving techniques, and how they can help other people who are in trouble in the water. "Huh. It was my understanding that these women don't know how to swim...?" I asked. "Oh, no, they don't." She replied, matter-of-factly. "Um...do you think that might be our first step...?" I suggested. She thought about it, then agreed that we probably ought to teach these women to swim before we teach them to save others in the water. With that cleared up we set about figuring out where we were going to hold these swim lessons. There is one swimming pool in Tonga that we had contacted, but they wanted to charge us $50 a day to use it. We decided on trying the Navy base, even though it is a deep wharf, but it is protected and close by. Well, come Monday morning we still hadn't confirmed that we would be able to swim at the navy base, but at about 10:30 it came through that they would allow us use of the wharf area. That was a relief, but I still wasn't sure anyone was going to show up.

As it turns out, we had plenty of people show up- they were all fifteen minutes late (which was difficult because I was trying to fit the lessons in during the lunch break of our training sessions), but we had 14 women show up. I introduced myself, and talked a little about what we wanted to accomplish that week. The women all seemed on board...until it was time to get in the water. Apparantly they hadn't been expecting to have to get in the water, and that was a deal-breaker for some. As it turns out, the lady from the Red Cross had made all the Red Cross workers come, and most really didn't want to be there. As it was, we got nine in the water that first day, and we actually ahd a really good first lesson. I was optimistic about the week. Tuesday rolls around and at the lunch break I rush to the Navy base...and no one showed up. Not one person! We called the Red Cross, and they said since it had rained at 9am that morning they couldn't make it. Another lady had a stomachache. Wednesday I had three: Lavinia (a Peace Corps program manager) a doctor from an outer island and her daughter. Lavinia and the doctor didn't know how to swim at all, they started out in their life jackets, while the daughter (she was about my age) was already a pretty proficient swimmer. By the end of Wednesday, the doctor had a breakthrough and swam across the entire wharf without her life jacket. She was pretty athletic and once she had the confidence she took off. By Friday, Lavinia was also swimming without her life jacket and able to float and tread water. So it turned out t be successful, at least for those two, and we had a good time with it. I think it's a really important skill to have, especially in Tonga, and hopefully I can do it again and plan a little better next time.

A scuba dive business just came out to 'Eua, and they run scuba dive certification course, so a few of the other PCV's and I decided that this would be a great opportunity to get scuba certified. Our certification course starts on Saturday, and we're all pretty excited about it. We received our books last week and were instructed to read them and answer the questions at the end of the chapter. One night I was sitting on my steps reading my manual when my class 5/6 kids came for night school. They saw a new book in my hands and their eyes lit up. I let them look at it and explained that I would be diving on Saturday. When they heard this a few of them started frowning, then one boy blurted out, "But you're going to die!" The rest quickly agreed, that yes, I would defnitely die if I tried to do that. One boy suggested I would be eaten by a whale. (I've been seeing whales on a daily basis the past month) They went as far as to tell me not to go. I assured them that I was NOT going to die, and that I had already paid for the course and was definitely going. They looked at each other, then one boy turned to me and said, "Well, can I have Tahi (my dog)?" They proceeded to argue amongst themselves about who would get what when I died as I sat there staring, mouth agape. Finally I said, "I AM NOT GOING TO DIE! Time to start class, let's go."

After night school that night my neighbor Elizabeth came over to get help with her homework and saw my dive manual sitting on the table. As she flipped through it I told her I was going to do that this weekend. She looked at me, then back at the book, then up at me and said, "But you're going to die!" "I AM NOT GOING TO DIE!!!" I replied, as calmly as possible, which was not very. She was quiet for a while, then said, "Well, when your family comes in December I'll make sure to take them to the place where you died so they can see where you died." I assured her again that I really, really wasn't going to die. She remained unconvinced. So, if I DO die this weekend while scuba diving all these kids are going to look pretty prophetic, eh?

I have a little problem that I don't know if anyone can help me with. It's about my dog. The neighbor's dog had puppies, and several times now I have seen Tahi drinking this other dog's milk. Is that normal? Should I try to stop this, or just let nature run it's course? In my defense, I am feeding Tahi plenty, he's probably the fattest dog on the island (not saying much).

As far as day-to-day things, school is almost finished, the class six exam is next week. School doesn't ACTUALLY let out until December, but after the class 6 exam, things wind down pretty quickly. By that I mean, the kids come to school and play cards all day. After the class 6 exam there will be no more poako (night school), so I'm kinda looking forward to that. It's warming up here, which I'm really excited about, but that also means probably a return of the rats in force. There've only been one or two a night lately :) The new training group arrives in less than a week, and I will be heading to Ha'apai to help with their technical training. I'm pretty excited about that, Ha'apai is pretty much a perfect opposite of 'Eua. Whereas 'Eua is covered by rainforest and perfect for hiking and exploring, Ha'apai is the place to go for pristine beaches and snorkeling. I'm hoping to get out scuba diving while I'm there (If I don't die first). So a few things to look forward to :)

Live Music and Soccer

Lia getting down with the girls Dinner is served

Lopeti and Heather are still feeling each other out

Pita and Arisa dancing

Ashley getting down at the dance party Pita taking it away on the drums

Jordi, Lopeti and Siale

I'm skipping the "It's Tonga Moments" segment for this installment due to lack of good material. Sorry.

In other news, another couchsurfer came to 'Eua last week. His name is Jordi, he came from Spain and had been living in New Zealand for a year. I met him at the wharf and was (pleasantly) surprised to receive the greeting of a kiss on each cheek. Of course the wharf is a bustle of activity when a boat comes in, so everyone there saw and reported the "scandal" to their respective villages. I still get asked about my "moa" (boyfriend) walking down the road. There are three ways to respond to this, you can say, "What? I don't have any chickens" As the word for chicken is also "moa." Or you can say, "Which one?" which never gets old. The third option is to lie, deny, and counter-accuse. Someone told me this strategy during training, and I think it should be included in the formal training curriculum. Your relationship status here is always a hot topic of discussion, and usually comes up within five minutes of meeting someone new. They need to know if you have a Tongan boyfriend, want a Tongan boyfriend and if you will get married here in Tonga. After all, (according to Tongans) I'm getting pretty old not to be married yet. So when I am seen talking to (or REALLY risque- WALKING with!) someone of the opposite sex, I get harassed about it for weeks. I get asked how my boyfriend is by people I don't even know. Last week I went on an early morning jog with one of my neighbors and we came back into the village right as the morning church service let out. That was a pretty awful walk of shame. The only thing worse would have been if it had been on Sunday, because then it would have been illegal too! My neighbor didn't seem to think it was a problem, and it is clear that that universal double standard exists here in Tonga too, where because he's a guy he'll get props from all the other guys about going on an early morning jog with me, whereas I will be seen as the village hussy. Part of me thinks it's crazy to be embarrassed about something as innocent as jogging with a friend, but I know how the people in my village see it and how they will report it to others. It's kind of a bummer about living here.

Back to Jordi. He seemed like a really neat guy and joined us for our weekly palangi tea meeting. He didn't seem too into hiking, which is about all there is to do on 'Eua, so I invited him and everyone else over to my house the following evening for dinner and soccer with my students. I've been playing soccer with class 5/6 in the afternoons before night school, and Jordi had mentioned that he's a soccer player so I thought it would be fun for him to get to hang out with Tongans and I knew my kids would be thrilled. The next afternoon I made a huge batch of tortillas, Ashley brought over some beans and fresh veggies, and we made chicken burritos. Heather brought homemade salsa, Arisa (a Japanese dive instructor living on the island) brought some homemade sushi, and Lia brought ice cream. Jordi and I got a big game of soccer going with the kids which was a lot of fun. When I play with them I usually don't enforce rules, but Jordi tried hard to teach them all the rules and how spreading out would be more effective than everyone chasing the ball. After a while I think he realized that his attempts were futile.

After soccer he spotted my guitar in my house and asked if he could play a little. I gladly let him have a play on the guitar, which before long turned into a big outdoor concert, complete with barefoot dancing and some of my boys breaking the sticks that make my fence to use as drumsticks. My fence suffered, but it was well worth it. Jordi is an extremely talented musician, singing songs in both English and Spanish. The kids were ecstatic, and they are still talking about Jordi, asking when he will return and where Spain is. It was one of the more fun nights we've had here in 'Eua.

There's a boy in class 5, his name is Sunia, and I adore him. He is the smallest kid in the class, and just a genuinely sweet kid. I've talked quite a bit before about the teachers hitting the kids in class, but one thing I may not have mentioned is that the kids also hit each other a LOT, and this is perfectly acceptable during class, playtime, and whenever. It seems like after kids reach the point where they're kids and not babies anymore, they're pretty much raised by the older kids in the village and their siblings. These older kids discipline the younger ones by hitting them, because that's exactly how they were raised. When a kid is not paying attention in class, the teacher tends to ignore it to a certain extent and the kid will get smacked upside the head by another kid for not paying attention. One interesting thing is that this never escalates into a fight, and the kids don't get mad or hurt very often from being hit by one of their classmates. Anyway, the point is the kids hit each other quite a lot here, and I don't like it much. I tell them that when I am teaching their class, I don't want them to hit each other. Unfortunately it is pretty much instinctual by now for them to hit each other, so they slip up quite often. When they do, I ask them to apologize to their friend which they always do. Well, one day I was playing soccer with the kids before night school, and Sunia jumps over my fence. As he's doing this his tupenu (man skirt) flies open briefly. No one saw anything, but another student, Pita begins to give him a hard time about it. pita is the biggest kid in the class, and I wouldn't call him a bully, but he does have a tendency to give other kids a hard time sometimes. Pita continues on teasing Sunia, and I watch as Sunia walks over to Pita, gives me an apologetic glance, then says, "Sorry, Pita." And just DECKS him. I tried hard not to laugh, Pita had it coming, and Sunia didn't hurt him. When I composed myself, I thanked Sunia for apologizing to Pita, but told him that usually apologies come AFTER you do something wrong and not before, and that maybe you're not REALLY sorry if you apologize then decide to do it anyway.

One of the things I've noticed here as my grip on the Tongan language has gotten better is that sometimes it is difficult to express yourself in Tongan due to a lack of adjectives that can describe how you feel. I was listening to the radio with a my neighbor yesterday, and we couldn't find a station that was playing music, they were all just talking. I go, "Well, that's annoying." Then I try to think of what annoying is in Tongan, and my neighbor doesn't know, so I look it up in my dictionary. It's not there, so I look up irritate, which is in the dictionary, but the Tongan word for "irritate" is the same as the Tongan word for "mad." Huh, I tell my neighbor, well, no, I'm not mad exactly....that's not the right word for it. He tells me then I am either lotomamahi (sad) or faka'ita (like mad). Well, no, not exactly, I tell him.

This situation got me to thinking about how many ways there are to express discontent in English. You can be mad, but you can also be irritated, upset, annoyed, bothered, perturbed, and countless other adjectives that all mean something a bit different. In Tongan you are mad, sad, or like-mad. Another distinction that is seen as fairly important in English is the difference between "want" and "need." They mean two very different things to us, but in Tongan, the same word covers both- fiema'u. this can be really frustrating when you're trying to tell someone you NEED something, but you know it can be interpreted as you want that thing, or, the more likely scenario, you're trying to tell someone that you want to do something that is not a pressing need, but it will be attended to as a pressing need for you.

This lingual difference again got me thinking about what that says about our respective different cultures. In English, it is important for us to tell others how we feel in a very specific manner, but here in Tonga, personal feelings don't hold much value. Especially if that feeling is anger. The Tongan way of dealing with anger towards someone else is to do it very indirectly. Take the generic scenario of living with a roommate who is a sloppy. In America, we would tell that roommate, "Hey, slob, pick up after yourself." Well, in Tonga, that situation would be handled very differently. The offended party would tell the other roommates, the neighbors, the landlord, and the household pet about her irritation with the expectation that it would get back to the offending party, and it would, because talking and gossipping is a big part of the culture here (Gossipping tends to have a bad connotation to most westerners, but it is not seen as a bad thing here at all). Once the offending part heard that the roommate was upset with the mess, she would clean up, and not a word about it would ever be exchanged between the person that was upset and the sloppy roommate. Another thing I noticed right when I got to Tonga that Tongans start most of their sentences with "Mahalo pe," which means maybe. They usually use this when they are stating a personal opinion, which leaves room for everyone else in the discussion to respectfully disagree without causing confrontation. They also always pose suggestions as maybes, as in, "Maybe it's too sunny for you to walk to Mata'aho today."

This culture of indirectness can be frustrating at first, like when you hear through other people that the neighbor is upset with you because your dog has been chasing her pigs (purely hypothetical...i wish). Or like the time when I went to school thinking it had started an hour late and asked the principal why school had started late which was answered with a sincere and profuse apology from the principal, only to find out later that school had in fact started right on time, it was I who was an hour off.

So why all the indirectness and avoidance of confrontation? Well, Tonga is a really small country (~100,000 people) and most people live in small villages where all their neighbors are their relatives and lots of people live in each household. They can't afford to argue because it could tear a family, or even an entire village apart. The culture here is far more people-centered, and a high value is placed on interpersonal relationships, and Tongans take really good care of their relationships. So, while it can be frustrating, and sometimes seem unusual, there is a sort of virtue in being indirect, gossiping, beating around the bush and sometimes even lying.