Dad's Visit part 1

After flying from Cleveland to L.A. to Fiji to Nuku'alofa, my dad arrived here in beautiful Vava'u on July 26th. He came with a suitcase marked "very heavy" and a handful of Tongan words, ready to experience my life here in Peace Corps Tonga.

The first couple days dad was here, we spent a lot of time relaxing, allowing him to adjust to the new time zone. We went to morning assembly at my school and saw some classrooms. We also walked around town, stopping at places like the wharf, the Peace Corps office, and some shops.

Friday was our first adventure...whale watching! Unfortunately, the waters were especially rough which resulted in some people on our boat getting seasick. Thankfully, dad and I took motion sickness pills in the morning and went the whole day without getting sick. We were able to see quite a few whales throughout the day, which was fantastic! We also stopped at an island for lunch and some snorkeling. Some people attempted to get in the water to swim with the whales, but were not successful. Maybe next time!

Saturday we took a trip out to one of the resort islands, Mala. We spent the day kayaking, snorkeling, and hiking around the island. It was a gorgeous day, and gave us the perfect opportunity to enjoy the beautiful island.

Sunday was an important day at my church because it was the last Sunday for our boy's head tutor before he leaves for Tongatapu. All the students and teachers attended church, and the school band provided accompaniment for the music. I borrowed some Tongan clothes from my neighbors for dad...he looked great! Sunday afternoon we went for a drive to some beaches on the island and just made it back for the afternoon church service. After church, there was a dinner for the head tutor, so dad experienced a Tongan feast. He tried some raw fish, octopus, and, of course, roasted pig!

Monday was a public holiday, so in the morning we went to one of the lookout points. It was a little bit of a hike, but the view of the cliffs and beaches is well worth it. After that, we went to the beach for a picnic and some swimming. Finally, Monday night we celebrated a volunteer's birthday with some pizza and drinks and a local restaurant.

After a busy weekend, Tuesday we just relaxed and did some laundry. However Tuesday night was a momentous occasion...dad's first time drinking kava! He went to the local police and fire station, enjoying the Tongan music and lots of joking.

Today we hiked to the top of Mt. Talau, the highest point of Vava'u. We saw some fantastic views of Neiafu, the harbor, and the outer islands. It was a little hot, but a nice adventure.

More things to come next week!

My dad is in Tonga!

He's here! Updates soon =)

Rugby

This weekend was the end of rugby season, and I think I would be leaving out a significant part of Tongan culture if I didn't dedicate at least one blog post to the topic.

Tongans love rugby. It is probably the equivalent of American football in most parts of the U.S., but only the parts with crazy, die-hard fans who paint their bodies for games and fall into deep depressions at the end of the season. Our entire school schedule was switched because of rugby practices, I've heard rugby mentioned in church sermons and we are having a huge feast for our rugby team next week. It's a big deal.

Anyway, I enjoyed rugby season here in Tonga. At the school games, the students do lots of fun cheers and it is a big social event. The village games are a great way to spend an afternoon on Saturdays after shopping at the market. I still don't appreicate everything about rugby (i.e. it can be very violent) nor do I understand all the finer points of the game (scrums are endlessly confusing), but I do appreciate the school spirit and community spirit the game brings to Tongan. Although the schools and villages have finished their seasons, the Rugby World Cup starts soon, where the whole country will be rooting for Tongan national team. You can be sure I will be cheering for the Ikale Tonga team too!

July, July

After a fabulous month of June, it is time to return to school, fundraising, meetings, music classes, and the like. I think my recent holidays caused me to unknowingly embrace island time. Suddenly I find myself strolling over to school 15 minutes late and feeling strong resentment over the fact that I cannot take an after lunch nap. My morning crossword time is severely lacking and I can't take day trips to the beach. How frustrating.

Anyway, having so much free time on my hands recently did give me a lot of time to think about why I am here in Tonga and the things going on in America. I missed some big events that happened at home during the month of June; my little sister's high school graduation, a close friend's wedding, road trips. Even though I was able to see plenty of pictures, hear stories on skype, and get updates on facebook, I was still sad to miss these important occasions.

But rather than dwell on these missed opportunities, I instead choose to focus on the opportunities I have here. I work at an amazing school, the people of Tonga are lovely, and I am learning new things everyday. I am truly blessed to be here, even though I don't have time to finish my crosswords in the morning. There are plenty of exciting things coming up soon...a big catering event for my school, my dad's visit, and Camp GLOW. And for those of you who know me well in America, you know that I honestly like to stay busy and stay involved. I am excited for the work that is ahead and all the things this new month will bring!

Adventures

During the first two weeks of June, my students from the catering school were working in local restaurants doing their practical work experience. The last two weeks are the mid-year school break, so I have had lots of free time this month for adventuring. Here are some of my favorites!

1. Camping on a deserted island

To celebrate several birthdays, most of the Peace Corps volunteers in Vava’u, a few Tongan friends, and a friend from New Zealand took a trip out to a little island called Vaka’eitu. Local stories about this island say that the village that used to be there relocated because it is haunted. A former chief found his wife cheating on him with another man and murdered her. Now her spirit haunts the island. Despite the stories, we had a great time there swimming, playing volleyball, and hanging out around our beach bonfire.

2. The Magic Circus of Samoa

Last week, Vava’u hosted a travelling circus from Samoa that has been visiting all the different island groups of Tonga. Some of the acts included juggling, tightrope walking, clowns, trapeze, and magic tricks. Unfortunately no animals since they don’t travel very well on the boat. At one point, I was called up on stage and I was serenaded by a dwarf clown. Definitely a unique experience!

3. Aloha Night

Last weekend, my boyfriend invited me to a social night hosted by the Catholic youth. The theme for the dance was “Aloha Night”, so we had matching, Hawaiian-themed clothes made for the event. It was much more formal that I anticipated. There was an opening processional march and a waltz competition. However, the youth are very fond of disco (western-style dancing) so there was plenty of that too. My boyfriend and I won two awards: best clothing and king and queen. I have to keep practicing my waltz so next year we can win that one too!


4. Mala Island

Mala is a small resort island, only a 5 minute boat ride from the beach on the main island. A lovely family stays there; a Serbian man, Tongan wife, and 3 beautiful children with a 4th on the way soon. We went to spend the day swimming and relaxing and hopefully enjoying some yummy food. When we inquired about food, the owner replied, “You can use the kitchen. You are Peace Corps, figure it out!” So, that’s exactly what we did. We cooked an awesome dinner and enjoyed our food as we watched the sunset.

5. Holonga

Last Thursday, I went with Ashley, Farfum, Carolyn, and Sephora on a bike trip to Holonga look-out point and beach. We rode bikes most of the way there (about a 45 minute ride) with the exception of some rather large hills. We then hiked up to the look-out point, which is an incredible view of the ocean and surrounding cliffs and beaches. We had a photo shoot and picnic at the top. Our next stop was the beach where we got to swim and cool off after lots of fakamalohisino (exercise). One the journey back we got a bit dirty. Well, actually we were covered in mud. Regardless, it was a fabulous day and it reminded me of the beauty of Tonga.

Next adventure...my dad in Tonga!!!!! I can't wait =)

50 Years of Peace Corps

This year marks the 50th anniversary of Peace Corps, so countries around the world are celebrating in a variety of ways. In Tonga, the volunteers and staff on the main island had a big event where several past volunteers shared their stories and lots of important people made speeches. Here in Vava'u, we are a little more chill, so we had some less formal celebrations. Our first event was a clean-up at the Neiafu market. The Vava'u volunteers, several Peace Corps staff members, a couple University of the South Pacific Students, and some Tongan children all participated.

Part 2 of our celebration was a dinner at a local restaurant. We invited our Tongan counterparts to come to share in our evening as well. Our country director gave a speech about Peace Corps in Tonga, and volunteers and counterparts shared about the experiences with Peace Corps. There were so many positive stories...it was really encouraging! Hopefully there will be many more years of Peace Corps and many more postive stories to share.

Kaukau Tuitui

One of my most recent discoveries in Tonga is something called kaukau tuitui. In Tongan, kaukau means to shower and tuitui is a small nut. In order to use the tuitui to clean yourself, there are several steps. 1. take a hammer to crack open the nuts 2. use a knife to get the nut out from inside the shell 3. put the chunks of tuitui in your mouth 4. chew together with good-smelling leaves (usually cinnamon) 5. use the finished product as a soap, rubbing out all the dirt from your skin. It's a great exfoliant!