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
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