Food and Dance Fakatonga

November 20, 2012

I am learning one of the Tongan war dances. As I have mentioned before, school as of now is pretty much over, it is just the kids learning traditional songs and dances. I take some of the kids during the day and do little English things with them while their peers finish up some test and then that is pretty much the extent of it. The dance is fun though, I get a spear type stick and I get to pretend I am intimidating.

The kids and their families are responsible for bringing me lunch everyday until december 7 so I haven't had to do any cooking yet except for recently when they started bringing me uncooked food. The brought me two large lobsters the other day, which i baked and they came out great! That's right people I actually touched the lobsters and all of the lobsteryness, I am slowly concurring my fear of sea life (watch me peel prawns now Paige!). Yesterday they brought me two big fish and I stupidly told Mele that I wanted to make 'ota ika (a typical Tongan dish that is pretty amazing but it is raw fish- like uncooked). It was perhaps the hardest thing I have had to watch- kids helped to prepare it but the water wasn't working in my house (a common thing) so it was done outside, no hands were washed and the kid cleaning the fish had so many open gashes on his legs that I knew he probably had been picking. Watching them clean the fish almost made me sick, especially the part when they gutted it and then ate the eggs inside of it- is it just me or would other people find this a bit unsettling? They also waste nothing here so we cooked the fish heads and tails in a pot with coconut milk and veggies. Of course you have to share everything here so the other teachers came over and we all ate together- which was fine by me since I was scared to eat too much anyway. In the end I survived so I am thinking this means health codes don't really account for anything...

one of my lunches... isn't this scary to anyone else, it's like eating aliens...

Tongan Pets

November 19, 2012

Today was a challenging day to say the least. I had to burry a puppy. We had found this small puppy that didn’t really have a chance for survival because it needed a mom to feed. I didn’t know what to do so I took it home and bathed it and tried to feed it. It was seizing and foaming at the mouth so I knew it really wasn’t any use. It lasted the night and most of the next day but I had to watch it slowly die. I tried to impart on the kids that this was a serious thing but between Tongans lack of compassion for pets (dogs in particular) and the language barrier, it wasn't really working. I got one of the kids to bring me a shovel and I dug a hole for the puppy because I couldn’t watch it waste away anymore. Eventually it past and we had a little ceremony for it- hopefully that taught some of the kids a little compassion.

This was the same day that they brought me a cat. I had been telling the community that I wanted a cat to help with my cockroach issue (cats eat roaches). Today the show up at my door around 7:30 am and hold up a potato bag. Inside the bag was a cat. As if that wasn’t jarring enough, Tongans perform a ceremony when passing off cats- the cut off their whiskers and pour babyoil in its eyes; I guess the cutting of the whiskers is to make it ashamed to leave the house (without whiskers) and the oil in the eyes is so that the first thing it sees after the oil is its home.. It was hard to watch, I almost expressed my annoyance at the seeming cruelty but I kept telling myself- it’s cultural let it go. The cat is still afraid of me and wont let me come near it- I hate to be cruel but as long as it will still eat the roaches I guess we don’t have to be friends.

As if it wasn't clear, Tongans don't really do pets. They have lots of animals but they don't think of them as pets like Americans do, the animals are strictly functional. Dogs are to watch the house, cats are to eat rats, pigs are to eat everything else (and be eaten). There is anything like pet food here, they just get fed scraps. All the dogs are pretty mean and look like they all have mange and you grow to hate them. You just have to pick up a rock (or pretend to pick up a rock) and the run away because they are used to being hit with rocks by the Tongans. It is hard to get used to but after awhile the dogs become Tongan dogs and you lose your sense of compassion a little bit (either that or you get attacked).

Side note- the cat may still be living in my house. I thought it ran away but I found paw prints on my counter and crap in the corner. I don't know where it is hiding though!

Church With a Side of Church Please

November 18, 2012

Sundays in Tongan are church, mohe (sleep), eat, mohe, church, eat, mohe. I literally spent more hours at church on Sunday then I did in my entire four years in undergrad. It wasn’t too bad though, the singing is pretty good and it is not like I have much else to do. After morning church they dropped off a ton of food at my house and left (here I thought I would be having a huge Sunday dinning experience with a family, what gives?), I decided to make the most of it and put on a movie. My 13 year-old friend (who is my next door neighbor and comes to keep me company everyday) Suli came over and was taken enthralled by Ironman 2, by the time I got back from my 3^rd round of church we had a small viewing party of the movie. It is nice have a house where people can congregate, hopefully after my Tongan improves my house guest will be over the age of 14...

The Lookout

November 17, 2012

I woke up thinking that this was going to be my first Friday where nothing was planned and I would have absolutely nothing to do, school was out for a holiday and nothing else was on my schedule. I decided to embrace doing nothing and even was planning on enjoying the leisure. After having a nice breakfast of pineapple, I get a text from Dominca and Sean, they wanted to go to this secrete beach which is at the end of my village- score shit to do! They came to my place to pick me up and then looked around a bit and somehow it came up that it was not Friday but in fact it was Saturday; yes that is right, I legitimately was an entire day behind the rest of the world in my head. Before you judge me too hard, there is little use for knowing the days at this venture in my life, maybe when I start officially teaching it will make since, but as of now time is irrelevant in all of its forms.

We walked to this amazing lookout point and then down to this incredible beach. I am so luckily to live within walking distance of one of the most amazing spots I have ever been too.

The secrete beach from the lookout

the view from the lookout

me, Dominica and Sean

As I am writing this three days later, me going to the beach with Sean, Dominica and 2 other palangies is still the talk of my village. Everyone keeps asking me, adults included, so you went to the beach on Saturday? I feel like a celebrity almost, never have I had the insignificant (or significant for that matter) details of my life been such big news!

First Days at Site

November 16, 2012

My first few days at site have been great! The minute I got to site I dropped off my stuff and went to meet the faifekau (reverend) for a quick kava ceremony (where the shells were extra big, yum!). After the kava with the reverend I went to the classroom next door where there was a whole feast set out for me with students and PTA members and the 3 other teachers in attendance. The feast had everything- roast pig, lobster, Tongan chicken and of course root crop…

Yesterday I went to play volleyball at the Mormon church after a Peace Corps workshop with or principals and counterparts. A guy who was playing turned to me after a bit and asked me in perfect English, “so you went to Cal?” (I was wearing a Berkeley shirt). Apparently he is here on his mission and almost played football for Cal in 2010. Such a small world…

I am really enjoying my house except for the cockroach infestation… Every night I am forced to stay in the seclusion of my bedroom because after the sunsets it is the cockroaches’ house. Yesterday I went crazy with this intense bug spray called Mortien and this morning I spent 20 minutes cleaning up dead roaches…They may have won the battle but it is I who got the last laugh; tonight shall be round 2.

The bug spray also brought out the molokau. I have now killed 5 molokau in a verity of ways including the use of a hammar, a shoe, a broom, and a wooden spear that i am using to learn a traditional Tongan war dance with my school.

my room

shower

main living area- the boy on the ground is Suliasi. He is my 13 year-old next door neighbor and has been made to come over and keep me company. He comes over everyday after school and we eva together and watch movies. He has become obsessed with Pokemon on the gameboy (thank you Jake, probably the best PC game).

weird breakfast nook?

Kitchen

I'm on a Boat!...For 24 Hours

November 13, 2012

It is finally here! The day we move to site- the catch is that it takes a 24-hour ferry ride to get to Vava’u… Before the never ending ferry all us Vava’u people got a big breakfast at the touristy Friends Café and then did some last minute shopping around town. I got to have a great conversation with one of the old volunteers who will be leaving at the end of the week. We got to talk about her service and things she learned and some information that will be helpful for me to know early on.

Eventually the moment came and we all shoved our way to the front of the line (a feat in its own because Tongans don’t believe in lines, just elbows) and got a great spot on the outdoor covered deck area. The Boat is a semi-new donation from Japan so everything is in Japanese but it is a huge improvement from the Tongan ferry before it, the last boat wasn’t Peace Corps safety approved. The boat ride was actually not bad, we got to see a South Pacific sunset on the water and we got to see an amazing view of the night sky. We actually got to sleep a bit and we woke up in enough time to walk around the main island in the Ha’apai group while the boat was docked. Being on the open water, rocking back and forth for hours was all worth it for the amazing entrance into the Vava’u island group. Seeing all the amazing islands and the natural beauty of our new home was the best motivator I have ever received.

When we finally docked, all our principals where there to meet us, mine had ka’hoa (traditional Tongan lays) and sliced fruit waiting for me. We loaded the truck with all of my stuff and set off to my new home.

Sean, Harrison and me

the Vava'u crew

A Pacific sunset

outer island in Vava'u

Swear-in!

November 9, 2012

Our swear-in ceremony was yesterday, and it was super great. We got to take our oath and become real Peace Corps volunteers in the presence of the Prime Minister of Tonga and the US Ambassador! It was so crazy being in front of such important people who were actually there to watch us. The ceremony was in the same small beach resort we went to the older volunteer’s close of service. This time the room (over looking the ocean) was elegantly decorated and the stage was set for the distinguished guests.

the group right before the ceremony

a really bad shot of the Prime Minister

getting my pin

Everyone who wanted to got to do something in the ceremony. Some people read hymns, some played songs on the guitar and ukulele, Ryan gave a wonderful speech and some of the girls did the Tau’olunga (a traditional Togan dance); I performed the tau’ovale, which means I was the back up dancers for Katy and Mandy when they were doing the tau’olunga. When I first said I would do the dance I thought I would be with one other guy and I thought that we would just dance in the back, little did I know I would have to be making a fool of myself shirtless, while wearing war paint and a skirt made out of banana leaves… Oh, I should also mention that I was also lathered in baby oil…. I was really nervous to do the dance because I didn’t know what I was supposed to do, they told me to just dance in the background but they didn’t tell me how... In the end I still didn’t know what I was doing but I got a few tips from and old volunteer and just winged it. We ended up making over 100 pa’anga from the money that the audience sticks to your baby oiled body during the performance, so I must have done something right (-;

me, Katy and Many performing for the PM and other higher ups...

After the performances we ate a thanksgiving type meal with our host parents, who were invited to the ceremony. It was really nice getting to see my host mom again especially since she was the one who made my outfit for the show and came up to dance with me at toward the end of my ridiculous performance… How's that for cultural integration!

All of us used our swear-in as an excuse to have a bit of a celebration. We all, including my host brothers who came to see me, went out to dinner at this pretty decent Chinese place (one of the few restaurants on the island that can accommodate a group our size), and we pooled our money to buy some alcohol for the evening. We had a nice pow-wow at Selas with drinks and sing-alongs and then we all went out. The first bar we went to was reload, my host brothers, Katy and I were running behind and by the time we got there the bar was no longer allowing any Tongans into the bar. This made me extremely angry because I hate white privilege, especially when it is so blatant and in front of people I care about. Luckily, our friends were in the other bar down the street, which turned out better anyway because it had a dance floor. We all had such a great time we didn’t leave until the bar was closing at 12:30. It was a bit nostalgic for me on our walk back to Sela’s when we stopped to get some food at a fried chicken place that was still open, I had flash backs to other intoxicated walks home- from the Celtic bar to my four flight walkup in Bologna, and from Kips to my frat house, and my frat house to my apartment during pledging… I don’t think drunken walks home are going to be quite as frequent here as they were during those times in my life, but it made me excited for what memories this time of my life will make.

Katy with my host brothers Koni and Tonga

The Final Countdown

November 7, 2012

This last week of training has been a whirlwind. We have had tests, massive amounts of shopping, and we have been trying to spend the last bits of time together before we are all separated. I am also trying to figure out times to skype people from back home while I actually have internet easily accessible; once I move to Vava’u it will be hard to come by...

We have spent this last week at Sela’s Guest House, which has been a funny bookend since it is where we started the PST journey a couple of months ago. We have been having a good time hanging out with each other and exchanging movies, t.v. shows and music, getting stocked up for the next 2 years. We have had some interesting encounters at Sela’s as well, like the man in the room next to Mandy and Chiara’s room having a lady-of-the-night visitor as we were all trying to study for out Language exam. It was my first time I had ever seen one of these types of deals go down, and it wildly sketchy and pretty damn awkward… Last night the same guy asked Michael, who was playing guitar, to play a song for him. After his rendition Your Crying Eyes (which he sang to seductively to be real), he told us how the Russians have been working on a weather controlling device… These incidences have given us all a much-needed break from all the stress of finally moving to site. We have all been given 1000 pa’anga to buy everything we will need for our homes for the next 2 years, that includes fridges, stoves and any other items we think will be necessary for survival in rural villages. 1000 pa’anga seemed like a lot until the shopping started and I realized everything here is extremely expensive! Plastic bins to store food (so the rats don’t get in) cost 40 pa’anga, and forget about the cost of any silverware or washing buckets!

Along with the shopping we were all stressing over our language test that happened yesterday. We had to have an oral test to make sure we reached a certain level of language before we start service. Mine ended up going okay even though I feel like my answers where too elementary and didn’t reflect how much of the language I have actually been able to learn (thanks to Tasi and kava circles). I am sure I at least passed but I hope I did a little better than just that.

We actually got to watch the election coverage today! One of the PC staff, Kevin, had invited us all to his house and we made salsa and tortilla chips and bought pizza. It was really fun being able to get caught up on some American news, it is amazing how disconnected you can get here, I am ashamed to say that I am not sure I would have even known it was election day if we did not have such a big event for it. We are so isolated from any news out here that without making something like an election viewing such a spectacle it will be tough for us volunteers to stay informed. It was really great having one of our last palangi events for a while, even though I know I will miss everyone and our gatherings, I am ready to do what I came here for. Goodbye comfortable life hello Peace Corps life.

Attachment Day 3: More of Vava'u and a Halloween Party

November 3rd, 2012

The last day was very chill, we went to meet the mayor (who is younger than I thought but super nice and really huge)  and the department of education officers. We all split up after that and kind of all did our own thing, I went with Sean and Jeff to the place were a Japanese volunteer has green houses and helps train Tongans on sustainable and healthy farming practices. This is the place where I will be getting the seedlings for my garden so I wanted to meet the guy and see what his operation looked like. It was a really cool place and the volunteer there is super nice. Since we couldn't really rally enough people to hit up a beach we didn't really have any plans after the gardens so Sean and I took a leisurely walk back to his place and relaxed for a bit before meeting up with everyone at the coolest restaurant in Vava’u. The restaurant s the Aquarium Café, it is owned by Americans (from SoCal) and the make both pizza and Mexican food; it was ridiculous; they even had draft beer and wifi. It is really nice that there is one place on the island that we can escape to if we are ever being overwhelmed by cultural integration… It was rad having a big dinner with everyone and after we decided to grab some drinks and go back to Dominica’s to continue the festivities. We all were hanging out and talk about our favorite movies, books and bands, it was a great feeling to know our island group jells really well together (since we are stuck with each other for 2 years). I am feeling really good about the next two years after attachment and hanging out with everyone; I am thinking this is going to be a very different experience than I expected but definitely something I can get on board with.

From the Left: Love, me, Sean, Mandy, Abby and Ryan

The Vava'u crew

me and Dominica

When we all got back to Tongatapu we all debriefed each other on our different experiences once we settled in to Sela's Guest House (where it all started). Everyone seems to really like their sites especially Katy and Chiara who will be on Eua. It is good hearing about everyone placements because after this week we will be all separated and wont be able to hear from each other as much... Jack, a volunteer from the last group, and his girlfriend threw a post-halloween party and invited all of us. A lot of people ended up bailing because had been a long few days but a few of us still went. It was surreal because Jack's girlfriend has a real job working for the Australian embassy so she has an actual house. It was so strange to see a whole bunch of white people and be at a house party in the middle of Nuku'alofa. It was really fun though, and I got to have a great talk with Jack about his experience and things he wished he would have done. We even talked about different side projects that we thought could do well here. Eventually a few of our group got a little too carried away and had to go back, which was a little embarrassing for me (we are the PC and people are throwing up in bushes). Katy and I held our own for a bit longer after the bulk of our group left and I was able to try an amazing beverage called a coffee martini (phenomenal). When we got back to Sela's Katy and I decided to be roommates (since we are both without one) and Wren was still up so we all stayed for a while just shooting the shit. Sela's is a really nice bubble and it is nice to be back here for a bit.

me, Wren and Katy at the party

Attachment Day 1: Getting to Vava'u and Leiti Shows

November 1, 2012

We just got back from attachment today. Attachment is when us trainees go to stay with an older volunteer near our sites and learn what their day to day is like and just be able to see how a volunteer lives. This means I got to actually go to see my site and where I will be living and working for the next 2 years! Even flying into Vava’u I knew I was in the right place, it’s not the Tongatapu is not beautiful but Vava’u is what everyone thinks of when they think of the south pacific. It is absolutely spectacular, there are tons of small islands and teal water and the main island itself is incredible. Mt Talau

The first day we all met our attachment volunteers. 3 of us guys were staying with Sean who is going to be or volunteer leader next year (he is extending his service an extra year and working part time with PC to help with training of new volunteers among other things). We got to see the main town of Niafu, which is tiny but fun and there are a few nice restaurants that will be fun to go to when we can’t handle Tongan food anymore. We all made a great lunch at Dominca’s house (the old volunteer leader, she will be leaving in December). Her house was really nice and big, she made it very cozy with couches and candles and what not. After lunch we met up with Mandy and Love (a volunteer from Sean's group) and went on an amazing hike up the tallest mountain in Vava'u, Mt Talau. The mountain had lookout points that had views of the whole island and some of the outer islands! When the hike was finished we were significantly sweaty (Vava’u is hotter the Tongatapu and more humid) so we headed over to Sean’s place, which was definitely more of what I expected of a PC house to look like. It was about the size of a master bedroom of a normal house and the bathroom and shower were located on the outside of the house. It was nice though and easily manageable, of course the first thing I see when I walk in is the infamous molokau! A molokau is the island’s crazest/scarest predator to us volunteers, it is a giant centipede that has pincers and its stings are incredibly painful- the damn thing was curled up right where I would be sleeping that night… After settling in and what not we got ready to go to a fakalati show. Fakaleitis are basically drag-queens but it is a bit different because there are some really interesting cultural aspects behind it- one being that make the choice to be raised as a girl at a very young age in a country where homosexuality is illegal. We met up with Mandy (who was staying with Love) and Mark and Alyissa (who were staying with Dominca) at Tongan Bobs (the only real bar on the island). It was such a crazy show; never did I think I would be watching drag-queens grind up on my fellow volunteers during my PC service!  

our plane some of the new Vava'u crew

some of the view flying into Vava'u

welcome to Vava'u

the molokau.

on the hike up to the mountain... oh the things you find in the backs of pickup trucks here

one of the islands next to the main island of Vava'u

some of the main Island

Sean, Dominica, me and Jeff over looking some of Vava'u's main island

more lati

me with the most convincing lati

Harrison got all the action

Farewell Home Stay

October 30, 2012

The last day of home stay went really well. I got to spend a lot of time with my family because class ended early to give us time to pack. I got to help make kava and my host mom made me made me a huge dinner with all my favorite foods here. The Mormon youth had a session for us, which was a bit awkward at first because they were praying for us and then said how much they loved us but they didn’t really know me all that well since my family is Ba’hai and I didn’t go to their church (like the others did who were staying with Mormon families)… It was really nice of them though and they gave us little gifts which was thoughtful. When I went back home my host brother Tonga presented me with an amazing woodcarving he made for me! He also painted it and my family wrote a little note on the back, it is one of the coolest gifts I have ever gotten and I was so overwhelmed that he went through so much effort for me, he is the coolest and nicest guy in the world (he still calls me to check up and he met me at the airport the following day to say goodbye) The last kava party was great as well, Katy was the tou’a and our Tongan was on point. We were making jokes and talking with all the guys and one of them even bought us snacks and a drink. We were able to hold out until after 1 (we were being picked up the next morning at 6:30 to fly to our sites) before finally having to say goodbye to everyone. We went around and shook hands with all the guys and got our Tongan kisses (a sniff on the cheek), it was awkward because I assumed my host dad was going to give me a Tongan kiss, because he did the first day we met, so I leaned down after shaking his hand and he didn’t do it! I quickly made for my sandals to try and act as if that was my plan the whole time and then I bolted out of there with Katy; oh awkward cultural mishaps…

my home stay room

me and Tonga with his cool gift

this is the carving. He drew it, colored it and cut it and then my family wrote a note on the back

Katy with a kava guy

this is a shot from the inside of the falekalapu (kava house)

Cooking Day and Farewell Dinner

October 29, 2012

Today was cooking day! Before they send us off to live on our own they decided we should have a day where we try and actually cook. We got to go into town and cook at the PC office. We separated into our language groups (plus Wren from Ha’asini) and we were given 30 pa’anga. We went to the market and bargained (using our extensive tongan vocab...) to get all the food we needed to make our meal. We bought root crops and lai’pele (a leave vegetable) and carrots and onions and lamb. We also found pineapple! I was so stoked, my first Tongan pineapple- everyone here knows I am dying to eat all the pineapple Tonga has to offer so they were all very excited for me… Our meal turned out great, and even though one of the groups didn’t get the memo that we were all going to eat together, the Futu’mu group did and we had a nice lunch, especially with their addition of their group's cabbage wraps (-:

our cooking group plus Nemo (the fat dog Chiara is holding)

After lunch we all did some business in town, I took the chance to splurge on an ice coffee, which even though I knew was expensive, almost worth it. We rode back into the villages and Nakolo decided to take a detour before going home and we all went to our little library to finish the last of our teatime supplies (did I mention that we are the fat group?)… Chiara and I have been making it a routine to hang out at Katy’s house after class and today was no exception. We were over at Katy’s watching her take in her laundry (because village life is just that exciting) when we saw a group of baby chicks. I went over because I thought it would be fun to try and hold one, well they all went right through the fence but their fat mother couldn’t fit through. She knew I was trying to pick up the babies and was not pleased; she turned from the fence and with a evil look in her eye she flew directly at my face! That’s right, an angry chicken attacked me, and I will be honest, it was one of the more scary moments of my life.

In order to say goodbye to us Chiara’s host family decided to throw us a going away dinner. Because her family, along with Steph’s and Katy’s, are all Mormon we had it at the Mormon church. I felt really bad because my host mom couldn’t come because she is really sick, I often feel like we are outsiders because my family is not Mormon so it was a bummer not being able to fully participate. I felt as if the families almost felt bad for me, which is sad because my home stay family rocks and I was sad I couldn’t show up with them to show the other families. Regardless the dinner was really awesome and extravagant. There was tons of food and the kids performed Tongan dances for us. The kids were awesome but of course we all had to dance and the Tongans loved when we get up to groove with them, they especially loved all my moves of course…. Steph’s host mom was dancing with us at one point and felt it necessary to pick me up in the midst of dancing (I don’t know who decided I should always be picked up but I am a bit sad that it made it all the way to Tonga). The families each spoke and said really nice things (from what I could understand) about us. We also got up and said a little something that we prepared in Tongan. We felt really honored that they did so much for us even after hosting us and we are all excited to come back and visit everyone once we get established in our site communities.

this is Dorthy doing a traditional tauolunga

Havili and Paula (Chiara's host brother) doing a tongan war dance

Katy and Chiara dancing with Chiara's host mom

the kids doing some more dancing for us

Steph shaking it with her host mom

Final 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 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 (by ourselves this time).

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 so it wasn’t any extra work really. One of the lessons was just doing reader’s theatre with class 6. We did The Very Hungry Caterpillar; it was awesome hearing their accents and trying to put different emphasis on each word (most of the time they accomplished this by just yelling the lines).

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 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 andwe 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 this and we all laughed, she is deemed the fat peace corps in the village and we always make jokes about her sino fakatonga (Tongan body) but this was priceless, the kid was maybe 9 and was very clear about how we (Chiara, me and Steph) were pakau (thin) and Katy was fatty. If you are not secure with your body, Tonga would be a really hard place to live.

Lau (my home stay nephew)

me with some of the Nakolo boys

Attachment Day 2: Site Visits and Quiz Night

November 2nd

The next day I got to go and see my site! I got to see my house and my school (literally 3 steps away from my house), I got to meet my principal (who is super nice) and counter part (who is super crazy and used to work for PC as a language trainer at one point) and I also got to meet most of the kids! The school was awesome and I know it is perfect for me because they grow pineapple in the back of it! The house is huge, the biggest PC house they have and I have no idea what I am going to do with all the space but it is nice to have I guess. There is a big yard and there will be lots of space to garden and grow coffee; I think I will also build a chicken coop for fresh eggs. My principal's husband was also there and I got to talk with him about working in the 'uta and he said he has 20 chickens that I can take care of and get eggs, he sounded like he was very willing to help be start up some of these small projects. The principal and my counterpart and I had a big lunch after I met the kids and looked around the school. The lunch was extensive with lobster and chicken and fish and a dish called ota ika (raw fish with peppers and onions and coconut milk). The meal was great and I got to talk to my principal a bit, I found out they were really confused because they thought they were getting a volunteer named Joe so they kept asking me what happened, I didn't really understand at first but then it sort of clicked and I explained to them that Joe, Joseph, Joey is my name in fakapalangi (english) and Sifa is my name in tongan. They laughed after that and my counter part told me it is good I go by Sifa because apparently one of the most famous fakaleitis in Tonga goes by Joey. Overall I am really excited, the only thing is the house is on the school compound which is a little isolated from the community so it might be hard to meet people at first. I also didn't get to see much of the actual village but I have two years to do that so I am not too worried about it.

the kids in front of my new school

this is my new house, literally right next to the school

more of the kids

After site visits we all just hung out until dinner, we went to this place that serves actual hamburgers! We also went back to Tongan Bobs for trivia night! It was really fun because since it is such a small island everyone on the different teams knew each other and was talking crap back and forth the whole game. We got to meet some of the local palangis and we got free drinks by winning the joker rounds (-: It is cool to know that there is also a small community of white people that live in Vava'u as well, it seems that it would be nice to find a balance of living in my community and also being able to join the palangi community on the island as well.

at Tongan Bobs, the tall kid is and the girl to the right of Jason (the one in the blue shirt) are not PCVs and but they a part of the small palangi community