September 2nd was our staging in LA, California.
That was a crazy day and a half- the final goodbyes, freaking out over packing
and getting bags onto the plane (HA! Shelly, we all made it, without having to
pay extra baggage fees! Also Ryan and Tu’anh if you are reading this, it’s kind
of a long story but the hot cheatos made it to Tonga!), and meeting the 14
other people I will be spending the next 27 months of my life with. Lucky our group
is small and gets a long really well. We have all been able to bond and get
close very fast, which has been great since adapting to PC life has been more
challenging then any of us initially expected.
This is our group! We are waiting for the final flight to Tonga!
Pretty much all of us in the
group are in our 20’s but there are 3 of us who just graduated from college.
Not only do I get to be the smallest, but also the youngest… After a 15 hour
plane ride that actually was not that bad, thanks to the generic sleeping pills
and Air New Zealand’s wonderful flight accommodations we all finally made it to
Tonga! Some of the volunteers have been waiting months for this, but some have
been waiting a whole year to get here… As soon as we got off the plane into
Tonga’s international airport (literally a single portable building and one
runway) we saw up on the balcony of the building a huge American flag and heard
cheers. The past group, group 76, along with the PC Tonga staff were all
waiting for us. Hands down the coolest way to ever exit a plane- it was like
being a rock star almost.
Our plane plane landing in Tonga!
This is Cecelia (A Peace Corps from Group 76) holding up the flag for us as we exited the plane!
After claiming our 100’s of pounds of luggage and got
introduced/layed by the people anxiously awaiting our arrival! There wasn't a group last year so they have been waiting a long time for new Peace Corps to hit Tonga!
After the Great arrival and all the pictures we loaded onto a
bus and got to see our first glimpses of Tonga. There were palm tress and lush green plant life for miles
separated only by the occasional church and school.
On the left going from front to back is Sarah, Cecelia and Charity from Group 76
They drove the whole way with the bus door wide open!
Some Tongan Scenery
This is our group! from left to right and front to back: Tynesha, Abby, Jeff, Mandy, Mark, Alissa, Chiara, Wren, Ryan, Peter, Harrison, Me, Katy, Michael and Steph
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