1 Month in Tonga!

October 5, 2012,

Yesterday was the official mark of our first full month here in Tonga, and little did I know I would be celebrating it. We finished up our first week of practice teaching, which actually went really well. When we got to the school yesterday morning the kids all gathered around us, per usual, and one of the kids had done his hair, so I commented by calling him talavo (handsome). Three other kids then preceded to wet their hair and copy the first kids hairstyle, it was pretty great. The kids are awesome and get really excited in class when you do any activity involve singing. We had been getting reviewed by Ruth, the director of Peace Corps Tonga (who was a professor and a dean of a university), and Dominica, she was the old Peace Corps Leader for group 76 (she had extended a year). They are the more intense then are previous observers, Lose and Sean. What was nice is that they both had really nice things to say about our (my village group’s) lessons and teaching. Ruth was very complementary to me about my individual lesson with class 4 and again with Chiara and mine’s (2 hour!) lesson with class 6. After this week I have become very excited about doing this teaching thing for 2 years. After we finished for the day at the school all the kids had picked massive amounts of fruit for all of us to take back to our homes. Except we didn’t take it, the little kids put all the assorted fruit in boxes and coconut baskets and then carried each to our houses for us!

Kids in Tonga are so much more independent in the states, they leave school for lunch, the mow their schools lawn (yes with an actual lawn mower) and the also like to chase each other with a rusty machete every now and then... It is just hilarious to see young kids doing things that would be considered deathly in the states with ease. All the kids are really tough here and It makes me realize how we can be so over cautious, they don't even have baby food here, they just mama bird the food mostly, and forget about baby proofing the house!

When we all got back to have our Tongan language class after teaching we thought we would slice open the watermelon and munch for a bit but then were disappointed to find that it wasn’t ripe yet. Plan B was taking the watermelon to Chiarra’s host brother’s baby cow Supreme. We were able to have the cow eat right out of our hands, next tasks and seeing if it will let me right it.

Us petting Chiara's host brother's cow Supreme, which has become part of our daily routine.

Because of team teaching, our group has not had class together for a week so we all made plans to have a beach tea time and meet up at the small resort beach that we normally go to on Fridays. It was really good seeing everyone again and hearing about their teaching weeks, it sounds like everyone did well and is still happy. A group of us were sitting on the sand talking about Mandy’s lack of moves when Michael comes up with a black terd thing from the sea. We were all trying to figure out what it was while Mandy was offering people money to take a bite out of it. No one ended up eating it sadly but we did determine it was a sea slug and then took several pictures with it before returning it to the sea.

Michael trying to eat the slug...

Later, after dinner, Tonga and I went to meet about with some of the local guys before crashing the Mormon volleyball game. We were hanging out when a group of guys came over (we were in a kid’s outside room). One of these guys was so drunk who could barely talk. Wasted people are universal! This guy was just being super drunk and trying to point his arm around everyone and he tried to tell me about how he needs a palangi girlfriend. Tonga was scared I was freaking out, even though I was chillin’- I have seen worse -I didn’t mind heading to the volleyball game so I didn’t object when Tonga got up to leave.

The volleyball game was a lot of fun, not because I played at all but because the whole time Katy was scouting around for a Tongan moa (boyfriend). I had given her number to some of the guys the night before and they all happen to be at the volleyball game, even the one who looks 15, which provided us with some good laughs. I had intended to play, but it turns out Tongans are really good at volleyball, or maybe it is just the Mormons who are good- channeling all that sexual frustration… Instead of playing we just watched and I help Tonga text, on Katy’s phone, some of the guys who had been texting her. It was great, because Tonga would go off on them in Tongan and we could watch their facial expressions from where we were sitting as the read the messages. We also got another visit from the drunk guy who tried to serve the ball and almost fell then literally ran away…. After the game I realized that I had made a mistake and kinda of said a loud curse word in Tongan that I now feel really bad for, I guess since it is all the same guys we normally hangout with I was thinking it was fine, I just forgot we were at the Mormon church….

Anyway, after the game we went to another guys outside room to hangout. This was the guy I was supposed to give 5 kilos of sugar to in order to make Tongan homebrew. I had bought it earlier in the day so Tonga and I went back to my house to get it, When we got back I gave Tonga the bag and the realized that this whole operation had to be done undercover because Tonga was thinking of ways to sneak it past my host mom. I had no idea that we weren’t supposed to be making this stuff otherwise I probably wouldn’t have encouraged the making of it ( (-;). Anyway way, we decided the best way to get it down stairs would be to use my tau’ovala rope to lower the bag off the balcony down to the ground… We actually get the bag to the ground and I am able to leave again, then I am told we need yeast so I have to go back to my room and get my wallet, by this time Iam sure my host parents think I am crazy. I had to give Tonga the money so he can buy the yeast and keep the other guys from asking me to buy them cigarettes… After sneaking back and forth from my host to the falekola on the corner a few times we get what we need and then I am told by next Friday we can drink the hopi.

This is Tonga trying to figure out if we can actually lower the bag down. Right under this balcony is the living room window so we had to kind of angle it as to not be in view of my host parents who were downstairs...

Tonga and I separate from my other host brother and this guy Pati (the 15 year old) and we go back to meet up with the guys we were with after the game… At this point I am confused why we were not giving the sugar to them and when I tried to ask Tonga he made it seem like we shouldn’t talk about it in front of them… I am always confused here. We pass a couple hours just hanging out, I am trying to follow things and they are doing their best to keep me involved, but eventually I was too tired and had to leave. I felt lame but I was falling asleep and was very happy to be able to pass out in my bed, which I did right as my head hit the pillow.