100 and counting...

I have read 100 books since coming to Peace Corps! Here are some of my favorites (in no particular order):

A Room with a View - E.M. Forster

The Sunday Philosophy Club - Alexander McCall Smith

Eat, Pray, Love - Elizabeth Gilbert

A People's History of the United States - Howard Zinn

White Teeth - Zadie Smith

Ishmael - Daniel Quinn

The Tuesday Night Club - Agatha Christie

The Help - Kathryn Stockett

This Side of Paradise - F. Scott Fitzgerald

The World is Flat - Thomas Friedman

And still plenty of time this year for more reading!

Sun and Sports

This week was the inter-house sports competition at Mailefihi. The students and teachers are divided into 4 houses for competitions throughout the year, including this one; I am a part of #3 this school year. On Thursday and Friday of this week, the students competed in track and field events. My favorite events to watch were javelin and the 400m relay. Javelin is entertaining because Tongan boys are really, really good at it. They can throw so far! I like the relay because they are really, really bad at it. I didn't see a single good hand-off. There were some really talented athletes, and I'm sure the students will do great at the inter-school competition in March. Go blue!

A Cyclone and a Sunburn

6:00 am - woken up by heavy rains and strong wind

6:30 am - power goes out

7:00 am - watched a banana tree blow over

7:30 am - rearranged living room so furniture wouldn't get soaked

9:00 am - storm is finished

9:30 am - swept out leaves and water from my house

10:00 am - started reading a book about a Peace Corps volunteer in Mongolia, mood is lifted

11:30 am - neighbors bring me breadfruit from a tree that blew over

1:00 pm - walked around town with some friends

5:00 pm - returned home with a sunburn. oiaue.

7:30 pm - dinner by candlelight

8:00 pm - continued to read Mongolia book using headlamp

9:00 pm - bedtime

the end.

Rain, Rain Go Away

Three weeks and counting...three weeks of wet, windy, nasty weather. Three weeks of wet laundry, muddy feet and lots of time indoors. Also, this is peak cyclone season, so we are on alert for cyclone warnings and possible consolidation. Oiaue.

In other news, last week was the beginning of school, although not the beginning of classes. The students at the catering school came in to fill out their school applications and scholarship forms to help pay for their school fees. The teaching staff had meetings with officers from the Free Wesleyan Church offices in Tongatapu, updating us on changes for the 2012 school year. Next week will be our first week with the students. We will start with orientation and field trips to local hospitality establishments.

The beginning of school also marks the beginning of track and field season. I may try my hand at coaching again this year, although coaches are more often found socializing under the mango trees as opposed to actually helping students. If this is the case, I am more than happy to help coach =)

Outside of school, I have been hanging out with my fellow town folks, Dominica and a new Australian volunteer, Jessica. We take advantage of our close proximity to town by eating lots of ice cream and buying lots of DVDs. Good times in Vava'u!

Back in Vava'u

Hello everyone! Sorry for the lack of updates lately, but now that I'm back at my site I should be able to start blogging again.

To wrap up my time in America, I spent a couple days giving presentations about Tonga. I spoke to classes at Highland Middle School, Reynolds High School, and the Sunday School classes of St. Mark's, all of which were great audiences. I loved sharing my stories, and I hope others enjoyed them, too.

When I arrived back in Tonga, I attended a training session with the rest of Group 76. It was great to see all of the other volunteers from different islands and catch up.

Now that I'm back in Vava'u, I'm just cleaning my house and getting ready to start school. Next Monday, we begin planning week and the following week is the first week of school. I'm excited to get back to school, see all of the Mailefihi staff, and meet the new students.

Here's to a great 2012!

Hello America!

Family, food, malls, cars, cold, food, Christmas, food, friends, travel, beer, food. America is a little overwhelming! However, it feels so great to be home and I could not be happier to see my friends and family.

Wishing everyone a merry Christmas and joyful new year!

Happy Holidays

Here in Tonga, the holidays are now in full swing. Not only is Christmas quickly approaching, but last week was graduation which marked the official end of school. In other words, in Tonga it is summer break and Christmas at the same time! How fabulous is that? This magical combination means that the past couple weeks have been lots of fun.

The first holiday celebration I attended in Tonga was our Peace Corps Thanksgiving dinner. We were able to track down all the traditional Thanksgiving foods; turkey from Tongatapu, stuffing and cranberry sauce from America, homemade rolls, mashed potatoes, glazed carrots, pumpkin pie, and apple pie. Yum! Also, it was great to spend some time with my Peace Corps family.

Last Tuesday was our Christmas program at school. Even though it's still November, Tongan schools usually do a Christmas program early before summer break begins. Each class was responsible for preparing a Christmas tree. Most classes brought in regular old trees with branches and leaves because pine trees are non-existent in Tonga. Even though most weren't traditional Christmas trees, they still looked beautiful with all of the garland, ornaments, and balloons. The program also included lots of Christmas songs. My favorite was "The 12 days of Christmas" performed by Class 1 and Class 2. So cute!

The most recent celebration was our graduation ceremony on Thursday. It was very different than most graduations I've attended in America. There were the usual speeches and announcements of the top students, but there was also lots of music, tons of candy necklaces and money as gifts from students' families, and a table full of prizes. It was also my first time attending a ceremony where I had students graduating. I was so proud of them all! Now it's time to travel, relax, and visit with family and friends.

Happy holidays everyone!