Mormon Dances

October 19, 2012 (continued)

When the Nakolo crew got back to our village after being in town, it was bumpin’. All the Mormons were out and shaking it at the Mormon dance, which was held at the Mormon church’s tennis court right next to my house. We started walking toward the noise seeing all the dressed up people we immediately questioned our dress- I had thrown on my Tupenu in the car and Katy’s dress had some chocolate on it that she spilled during lunch- it just happened to look like poop and we were all sweaty and sticky from being in the hot car all day…When we walked up to the dance, I am sure you could imagine the awkwardness that we were in the presence of, mostly parents sitting around the court with a few people in the middle, arms distance apart, moving back and forth. My group was at a loss for what to do until Chiara’s host sister called us on the dance floor, from there it was madness. The kids started to come up to us and they are the craziest dancers I have ever seen- they kind of convulse and have epileptic seizers in circles. They move their bodies in ways I didn’t know little kids could and the boys dance on the boys so that also took a second to get used to. Only the little kids where dancing and the older youth that was there were more swaying. Us palagies joined in with the younger ones and danced until the final slow song when I was asked to dance by a young Tongan girl (don't worry we still had to keep it arms distance apart). The dance was actually really fun and made me hope I will have an active Mormon church in my new village.

this was the dances dj

the dance floor pre palangi invasion

some of the kids being gangster

The dance was for seminary graduates and all graduates get lays by their family and friends so it ends up getting ridiculous. They give out the lays after awhile to different people, but for a good amount of time this is how all the graduates looked

me with the girl who asked me to dance the final slpw song with her

Penis bananas, Site Announcements and Blowholes

October 19, 2012

Yesterday was a huge day for us, we got our site announcements, we got to tour the island of Tongatapu, and we got to go to a Mormon dance!

Yesterday was the day we have all been waiting for for some time now. We got to find out where we would be spending the next two years of our lives… The day started of with some talk of STDs and very emotional stories of past volunteers who contracted HIV during their service. To lighten the mood we got to practice putting a condom on a magic banana- when you peeled it a penis was on the inside. Once we felt proficient enough at condom use the moment came- site announcements. They had all our names with our sites in a little box at the front of the room and one person at a time went up and drew a name and read it aloud. It was crazy as one by one people found out their sites, when I got up it was a little anti-climatic because I drew my own name… But I got what I wanted! An outer village on the island of Vava’u! My school is relatively small (67 kids) and they are also looking for someone to do some cooking classes as well as library work along with teaching and teacher training. I will also get to run community events to increase healthy life style choices, basically I am pretty stoked. It was rad because after the announcements they knew we wouldn’t be able to pay attention so the planned a big lunch and a tour of the island and the volunteers sites who would be staying on Tongatapu, it was cool seeing the sites of our friend's new lives. Our lunch was prepared by the country director, Ruth, we got to eat a bean salad and chicken lasagna with a chocolate cake with cream cheese frosting (-:

Peter and Doctor Sam. Peter is Holding the banana If you look closely the banana has been peeled and now Peter is hold a penis

This is all of us who will be on Vava'u, I am the furthest north

After our filling lunch, we loaded into our van and hit up some of the cool cultural spots around the island. We got to the Tongan Stonehenge, Captain Cook’s landing site and probably one of the coolest things I have ever seen- the blow holes. The blowholes are these seeming endless geyser type things that are at the edge of the island meeting the beech. Waves crash into these crazy tide pools and the water shoots out maybe 40 ft! I could have stayed there and watched it for hours, the amazingly blue/ turquoise waves crashing down upon living pools and then exploding with force to the sky. We went into town when the tour was finished and we all went to the one pizza place in the country, bringing some beers with us, and had a great dinner. We picked up ice cream on our way back to the office for our ride back to villages, we got there early so we put on an episode of Seinfeld (that we found among the books in the volunteer resource room). It was almost like being back in America for a second but of course our ride came no more then 20 mins later and it was off to our villages.

All of us at Tongan Stonehenge

Wren and me at the King's burial

Nakolo group at Cpt Cook's landing site

The guys at the blow holes

Walking Across Low Tide

October 20, 2012

Perhaps the coolest thing I have ever done occurred yesterday afternoon with my host brothers, Katy and Wren. We got to walk across the ocean about 100 yards out because the tide was so low. It was a spur of the moment adventure when our afternoon walk took us to an amazing beach at the perfect time. The Tongans were without sandals the whole time (walking across coral and through patches of sea grass that could have contained any number of weird animals or sharp objects) and they would stop periodically to pick up different sea creatures and eat the occasional ouster. I guess it is Tongan legend that sea horses used to live in the beach’s water so you would whistle to bring them forth so my host brothers would stand as far out as possible and whistle at the waves. The whole time we were out on the water eating different sea creatures the sun was setting and the sky was crazy colors. We found seaweed that were like little balls of salt and we (my host brothers) broke open this spiky sea creature, poured out its contents and then we ate some of the left over- it tasted like sandy sea food. As we were walking back in the dark with the only light being from Tonga’s cell phone, Koni and Tonga started catching the crabs running along the beach- Koni even started eating one after he pulled off its pinchers and broke of a leg or two. Unfortunately, we had to hike through the bush to get back; the bush at night is frightening. We step over crabs and walked through spider webs, the whole time listening to the bug chorus accompanied by the bats as their backup. Hiking through the bush at night was never an experience I ever thought I would be brave enough to do before the Peace Corps and now I am just thinking I wasn't man enough because i still had shoes on (unlike my host brothers).

Tonga and Koni made it to the reef before us

at the reef

me, Koni and Tonga

The sunset asd we left the beech

a starfish and this weird sea creature we found that moved in the water like it was dancing, we picked it up and it was like holding warm jelly

Last Week of Home Stay

October 26, 2012

It has been a great final week of home stay. We have been just practice teaching at the primary school in the mornings and then having language class outside under the mango tree in the afternoons. Everyone is pretty much checking out of training now that we all know our sites and we are so close to becoming actual volunteers. Since we don’t all get together during practice teaching weeks, the Nakolo crew is trying to soak up our last bits of time in our communities together before we are all separated and sent off to start integrating all over again.

Practice teaching has been going really great. All the kids still love us and the lessons have been super successful (even though the kids are significantly behind where the curriculum thinks they should be…). I was the only one in our group who taught all three days, and did not observe a day but it was fine because we only taught for 1 hour really extra work. One my lessons was doing reader’s theatre with class 6- we did The Very Hungry Caterpillar; it was awesome hearing their accents and hearing them say the different lines in different voices. All the kids love acting and doing gestures to different words and lines in the story.

me and some of the GPS Nakolo boys

Having language class outside has so many advantages, not only do we get the wonderful breeze (which is the only way to survive the heat) but we also get to watch the community goings on. We get to watch people coming to and fro work, kids to and fro their lunch break from school, pig migrations, cows being walked to the bush, dogs fornicating and then being stuck together and try to free themselves (yes we have all heard it happens, but I can assure you it is a real thing and it is painful to watch)…. After class we eva (wonder around the village) around or we just lay on our tongan mat and eat random snacks. Yesterday, we were a bit more active and we played with some village kids. We played duck duck goose, spelling games, and we made them sing for us, the best part though was when the kids pointed to Katy and called her fatty, like a melon! Katy is super awesome about her weight so we all laughed and were not offended by now it is the joke in our group because Katy has been deemed the fat peace corps in the village (by the community) and we always make jokes about her sino fakatonga (tongan body) and her host mom tells her she will keep feeding her bacon so she will be as fat as their little dog Nemo. In this instance, it was especially funny because the kid was maybe 9 and was very clear about how Chiara, me and Steph were pakau (thin) and Katy was fatty. We are really lucky Katy is so cool about it because it has been a source of much laughter throughout our stay in Nakolo.

Fire Dance!

October 18, 2012

Last night was super rad! Katy and I got to celebrate Koni Leka’s 20th birthday by going with him to the Ohole Beach Resort for the buffet/ fire show! The resort is the one we all go to on Fridays sometimes and we have know that one of their big touristy things is a buffet and traditional Tongan dance show, so I have been looking to go for sometime. The resort is nice from what I can see except it is really small and I have not actually seen any of the rooms (I don’t know where they are), most of what we have seen is the outdoor eating/ bar area and the cave where they have the show. The show coast 40 pa’anga, which is a little steep but I figured, when is the next time I will be able to do something touristy? Although Koni did offer to pay, I thought it would be too much so I settle for the beers he bought us all instead (-; We got their and met up with Chiara, Mandy, Mark and Alissa who had also planned to go. It was great, we started off with a nice ice cold beer (something that doesn’t exist in real Tonga…). I was nursing the beer until one of the servers brought out a round for the table, and then another- Koni being Tongan, drinks like a Tongan, which means a lot all at once. After the long-winded, yet touching speech and prayer from the hotel owner we got to attack the buffet! The whole time during the speech and prayer, I was thinking how unique it was to do at such a public place, I had never hear of a group prayer before a meal at a hotel before- granted the hotel is very small and I guess it offers a traditional Tongan experience! The spread was awesome at the buffet- seaweed salad, ota ika (raw fish), BONELESS chicken, a roast pig and even salad! I made about four trips, filling up my banana plate every time. I tried to impart my buffet knowledge (inherited from my dad) - don’t waste time with root crops and things you have all the time, hit the expensive stuff first and then work down- the rest of the group was not down and the suckers filled up on root crops… The feast ended with me trying to shovel the dessert into my mouth while the rest of our group headed for the caves.

We got front row seats (which wasn’t that hard because there was maybe 20 people in total). The show was really cool, there were several different dances performed, each of the traditional Tongan fashion like the to’olunga, the war dance and of course the fire dance. The owner would introduce every dance with a little routine and he was actually pretty funny and entertaining. What was really cool is all the staff and performers are actually from the villages; I guess the owner said that when he rebuilt the hotel, his grandfather (the founder and operator until a hurricane took the hotel) asked him to hire all the grandchildren of his original employees, so he did. All the dance were great of course but beside the fire dance the best part of the show was when Koni got called up for his birthday. We all sang happy birthday and then Katy, being his moa, went up and got to put a lay on him. It was pretty awesome how embarrassed they both were. After the show the owner thanked each individual group of guests for coming to the show and supporting his place, which was cool except when he thanked us he mentioned that it was nice for us Americans to leave our mansions and come help the people of Tonga. I was kind of annoyed but I guess that is one of PC’s goals- to educate the people on America as well…

All of us

Trying to eat my banana plate

the war dance

Fire dance

A Saturday in Paridise

October 14, 2012

Saturday we were invited to Fatumu to go to the fresh water cave pool! After Saturday class the Nakolo gang, minus Steph plus Wren (from Ha’asini), took yet another amazing Tongan bus ride to Fatumu (the third village down from Nakolo) and met up with Alissa, Mark and Mandy. It was so cool to see another village and how are fellow volunteers are living. We got to see their houses for the first time since drop off, and we got to meet their host families. We hung out with Mark and Alissa’s host family for a while and then they took us (in the back of their pickup) to the cave. It was absolutely amazing- a real natural fresh water pool underneath a cave complete with stalactites and stalemates! We had to walk along a candle lit path before the cave opened up, of course the walk wouldn’t have been so scary, or so dark had I not been an idot and remembered to take off my sunglasses. I felt like we were in the line for the Indian Jones ride at Disneyland except everything was real. The cave opened up about 30 yards into the path and then it was more like we were in the Pirates of the Caribbean ride. It was so cool we go to jump off the cave walls and into the pool and then the Tongans started doing flips of the rocks to show us up. Mark and I, being the only guys, had to show are man hood by jumping off the highest peek in the cave; the jump must have been around 30 ft and it was from a tiny rock that was jetting out from the main rock formation. It was so awesome we all kept imagining talking about our day casually- what did you do yesterday? Oh, you know just swam in a fresh water pool in a cave nbd… After spending a lot of time in the cave we all went to the beach and just spent a few hours relaxing and enjoying the most beautiful scenery. Tonga would beat Hawaii and any other beach destination in the world, but no one even knows it exists. Since the caves are one of the biggest tourist destinations in Tonga, we got to see other palangies beside Peace Corps. It was my first time seeing other white people since being here, and talking to them was strange! I sounded slow because I was very aware of the speed and my word choice (I am so used to Talking to people who don’t understand English) when conversing with a guy from New Zealand (I kept having to remind myself that English was his first language); he must of thought I was a little off when I tried to explain what the Peace corps was and why we were in Tonga…In the end I realized just how removed the tourist population is from the real Tonga.

Us hitchin' a ride Koni, Katy, Chiara, Una (Mandy's host mom), me, Mark&Alissa's host Bro, Mark, Alissa, Mandy, and Wren

Me being an idiot walking through the cave with sunglasses... A few of us in the pool

Getting ready to jump like a boss Some of the cave's ceiling

Getting ready for the high jump Perfect picture platform.....

The beach we got to hang out on for a bit

On our way back to Nakolo, we stopped back at Mark and Alissa’s and had some fresh watermelon and cookies (provided their host family). As we were toed back we dropped off one of their family members in the bush (their farm) and as he jump off the back of the pickup, he went to the driver and was handed an old shut gun! It was perhaps the most badass thing I have ever seen, us in the back (drinking coconut with straws) seeing this guy hop out of a truck and grab a shotgun (what was he going to shoot?). The day ended well as I was able to skip out of drinking kava and go to bed semi early.

Sunday was nice and slow until the afternoon when Katy, Koni and I hiked through the bush to go to the beach. After we got there our friends Siosi, Pati and New Zealand/Tongan Guy met us with some Tongan homebrew…. Little did I know I would be day drinking on the beach in Tonga…

Saturday Nights and Sunday Hikes

October 7, 2012

During training we have language class on Saturdays but it is actually kind of fun because it is only for an hour and it is pretty laid back. For us in Nakolo it is nice because class doesn’t just give us a reason to get out of the house for a bit, but it also gives us a chance to use the internet. This Saturday we had a good class where we got to pretend to be falekoloa owners and use one the falekoloa by our schoolroom!

Our teacher Tasi with Katy's host puppy Nimo after he followed her to school (he has become a theme in our class, appearing in most of our language dialogues)

After class and sufficient internet time, Katy, Chiara and I went on a long walk around the village and then hiked down to the beach. It was beautiful (just like everything here), I felt like we were in Avatar or Jurassic Park, as we walked through the tall grass and between banana and coconut tress butterflies would fly out in front of us. We spent a lot of time just walking along the beach but around 5ish we started to head back. We ran into the guys on the way back and we got Katy to become the tou’a for a kava party tonight. We also ran into a litter of puppies on our walk back to Katy’s, so it is safe to say the walk back took a lot longer than it should have.

  

Chiara and I walking through the 'uta to get to the beach (this is in a natural clearing) Katy and me on the beach

This is what we walked through to get down onto the beach

  

Me with the runt of the litter We ran into Steph on our way back, and needless to say joined in the puppy play

It was really nice because after Chiara and I decided we had spent enough time away from our families we parted ways from Katy. When I got to my house I was greeted with dinner and there were a lot of people around and being social and I just thought how lucky I am to have such an amazing home stay.

Since it was Saturday my host my host brothers and I decided we would go to Ha’asini (the next village over) for a kava circle, of course Koni being the big kava drinker he is went about 3 hours earlier than Tonga and I. Tonga and I casually ate dinner stocked up on some snacks and then hung out with some guys for a bit then around 9:30 we decided to walk to Ha’asini. By this time it was pitch dark, the only light we had was the light on Tonga’s phone and the whole walk I just kept thinking of how many Peace Corps rules I was probably breaking. We tried to suto (hitch hike) but as our luck would have it we were the only people on the road. The walk was actually nice in a way, I felt like I was adventuring with my Tongan friend the whole time so I tried to convince myself that I was just integrating instead of worrying about all of the spiders that I was stepping on/ over. We finally make it to Ha’asini after about 20 minutes or so and we join the kava party, taking place at my friend Wren’s host family’s church.

I have probably mentioned this before but just to enforce the point, kava is pretty freakin’ discussing so drinking it for hours on end is a feat in of itself, let alone trying to understand anyone when they are all speaking Tongan with their kava drunk lisps. I came to the realization that kava circles are like beer pong and shots rolled into one- you are drinking out of the same coconut out of who knows how many other people, when its your turn you down the shell and look for anything that can be used as a chaser, and when it is not your turn you are kind of down to drink more…. Tonga and I joined the circle of my host brother and dad and the tou’a. It didn’t take long before they made me sit next to her and I had to turn on the charm. I realized that you don’t have to be exceptionally amazing to get the tou’a to like you, you just have to be less of an ass whole then all the other guys. I also realized that Tongans can be pretty racist. Right now there is hostility from Tongans to the chinese because they are starting to immigrate to Tonga in large numbers and they are successful business owners (Tongans believe they are stealing jobs). In the kava circle there was half chinese, half Tongan guy and the Tou'a thought he was ugly because, as she put it, he was a half breed...

Now, I enjoy the kava parties as much as the next guy, I mean listening to the classic Tongan songs, the funny conversation (when I can understand it), practicing my language and so on, but when the clock strikes 3 I am done. 6 hours of drinking kava definitely took its toal on me, and by the time we finally left I was feeling sick and very much over drinking dirty pool water. I mean Koni (my host brother) was passing out and I was debating joining him by the time my host dad got the van for us to leave.

Like any good Tongan Sunday I was able to not do anything today, which was good because I felt my first ever kava hangover (basically your whole body feels really tired). Even though I didn’t much feel like doing anything Katy has been “talking” to my host brother Koni and me and Chiara ended up going on a double date with Katy and Koni exploring the caves and walking along the beach. The caves were a lot muddier this time around and when Katy slipped we all couldn’t help but laugh. We were so dirty when we got out of the caves it was nice to wash in the clear seawater. We ended up walking a long the beach for a mile or so and it was amazing. The beach ranks probably in my top 5 most amazing things I have seen- the sand was soft, there were tons of tide pools and we had a breathtaking view of Eua and the Pacific. As we walked I kept thinking how I felt like we were at a resort and we would all go back to nice restaurant, then I would remember the only thing in my future is a cold shower…

Weekday Update: Final Placement Interview, Language Test, Bush Party

October 12, 2012

This week was an exciting week to say the least, we got to have our final placement interviews, we had our mock language test, and I ended up partying with the local guys in the bush right outside my house!

There is nothing like starting a week off thinking it is going to be pretty slow and then having it turn out pretty awesome. In case you were curious, this was also the week of love for Katy and Koni. Katy and Koni’s heated romance has become the only thing we talk about beside site placement so it is hard to imagine no one else caring that they have advanced their nightly strolls to the falekalpu (kava house) next to my house…

Beside the Katy & Koni love affair, we had our final placement interviews, which for me turned out interesting since Lavinia (the site placement supervisor) asked me almost exclusive outer island questions. It would appear that they are looking to place me in one of the outer outer islands of Va’vau. She kept asking me questions like, how would you deal with the loneliness, how would you cope with the separation from your friends, can you travel by boat, and she asked if I could manage without things like internet and running water. I am kind of excited that I might be going to such a remote area but I am second guessing myself about handling the challenge it would present; we have been so privilege during training, with running water, food being cooked for us and daily interaction with white people, I feel like I may not be able to adjust to life on an outer outer island. I am also a little confused because My preferences were outer villages on Va’vau and so many of our group want the outer outer islands, it seems strange that they would even consider me. I am pretty excited though, it will be awesome to have to face the challenge head on when if I open the placement package next week and find out I will be in the middle of the pacific somewhere….

We had our mock language placement test yesterday and it went well. I wasn’t too worries because there is such little stress, I mean if I didn’t do well what would they have done? Shipped me back to the US? I ended up celebrating my success however, with the local guys later in the evening. Here I was ready to fall asleep to some Tongan TV with my host mom, when Tonga comes to get me to taste the Hopi. I have been a little sick so in hindsight I am regretting my decision to go with him but it was a lot of fun. We ended up walking into the bush near my house and there was a group of guys (pretty much all shit faced) in a circle drinking. So I sat down and after a while I joined them. I had to pick a few bugs off of me and we were drinking out of an ice cream bucket, but it was almost like being back in the states… One guy, Koli, kept telling me that it was the island way and when you get drunk here it’s called happy happy (they are always happy though so to me it wasn’t much different, beside the people puking off to my side). Since they all smoke here I got to learn how to roll a cigarette as well (my island skills are increasing!). The drink itself was kind of gross- a little like thick beer- I liked it best when my friend Jeff told me to market it in the states as Sifa’s Island Drank… When I finally left the circle around 1 and excited the bush I realized it was the first time I could see the stars since being here. The sky was so clear and I saw the most stars I had ever seen in my life, it was simply incredible. The stars mixed with the baby puppies we walked over to get back to the house were the best end to a night I have had in a while.

This is the road we walk home from school in Ha'asini (the next village over from Nakolo)

School Feast!

October 10, 2012

Training update: things are going well except everyone is frustrated with our TEFL training. It just seems like it can be much more applicable to our situation than it is. I don’t feel like we are learning any real skills yet except for the few times we work to lesson plan. We have a lot of experience we can draw on from the old volunteers that we are not using, like today for instance- we spent hours learning about different types of testing and a bit about writing test. Instead we could have looked over how the test and Tonga and learned ways to teach kids how to take those tests and how to prepare them for their ultimate grade 6 exam… It appears that we are just going to have to do a lot of on the job learning.

Our group in Nakolo was invited to the school’s end of exams feast, so after our frustrating class we were able to go to the school and feast and play with kids! The sad thing was we got to look at the class 6 exam that they just took and we saw just how hard it was. There is no way the kids were going to be able to pass it. We will definitely have our work cut out for us… The feast was awesome though! There was ton of food including roast pig, crab, candy bars, fruit and even curry chicken! Everything was set up so nice, which was kind of funny when we all ate in the true Tongan fashion- using just our hands. I guess it is also a Tongan thing for people to stand up and make speeches throughout the meal because there was always someone talking, thanking teachers and the students mostly, some of the people thanked us Peace Corps- but of course we only understood a few words so for all we know they could have been cursing us…. We thought that we should get up and say something so we all thought of our little Tongan sayings and got up in front of the gathering to say thanks and what not. Luckily, my since of humor works well for Tongans- when I told them how attractive and smart I was, they all laughed along with me (or at me). After the feast we got to play with the kids and run around with them, which was hilarious because they all have such amazing expressionful faces so whenever you say or do something the least bit funny the get all contorted and loud.

Me, Steph and the class 6 boys

Us at the feast. We think we were at the important people table because we had the roast pigs This kid is my favorite, he has the best facial expressions

We were sitting across from this guy, Steph and I thought he looked like a turtle. Me playing with some kids after the feast

The little one in the back is also Sifa

All of us plus a class 6 boy

On the walk back the kids and I found the smallest puppy I have ever seen! It followed us all the way to my house and wouldn’t go back home so I didn’t want to leave it. The two little boys with me (both being very Tongan) kept telling me just to keep walking and not to worry about it, but it was so small I knew it would get run over or eaten if we didn’t find its home. After awhile the kids took it back and convinced me they would find the right home. A little while later I was hanging out with some guys and we were watching some kids chase each other and then try and fight each other and what do I see in the distance but the little dog again! I made the kids bring me the dog and I sat with it for a while- all of the Tongans thinking I am crazy at this point. I was adamant about not just leaving the dog stranded though so Tonga went around the village with me and helped me find the owner. We went around to every house with puppies and Tonga would hold the dog in the palm of his hand and show it to the people and ask them if it was their puppy. People would say now a suggest another house, and on we would walk. It took a good 30 to 40 mins but we finally found it! Even though I am sure people were thinking I was a crazy palangi who cared too much about a dog, both the owners and I were glad we brought the little guy back. Thankfully, Tonga is nice enough to always indulge me.