Tongan Wedding

December 19, 2012

I got to go to a Tongan wedding yesterday (by accident really). I was invited to learn how to play basketball (Tongan basketball, which is just netball with more players) with some girls- at first at 5 in the morning, then as they saw my face and it was changed to 6. I woke up and went to the field and no one was there, so I told myself there is no excuse for me not to exercise since I am already awake. On the walk back to my place to get ready for the run Suliassi’s grandma told me that I was going to a feast later with them- score! Getting up early really has its benefits.

We got into town and to the house where they were preparing the food. The amount of food being cooked was mind blowing- 12 pigs were being roasted, a cow was being chopped up, lu, sausage, crab, fish, and of course a ton of root crop! Sean was also invited so we bummed around until it started. First the couple goes to the court and signs the papers before which they get paraded around in a car with a tappa matt covering it and a line of cars behind them (basically the major players in Wesleyan church in my village) honking. After the court they go to church. The couple is accompanied by their aunt- on the bride’s side, and the uncle- on the groom’s side, and they are dressed in a tappa covering. Apparently they are the lowest rank to the person getting married. What’s interesting is that the couple is not allowed to be coupley in public and they are even separated in the cars they are driven around in, most of the pictures that were taken were of them individually.

While I was waiting for the hall to be set up, loud music was playing and I danced with so many old ladies from my village but what was even more awkward is Tongans are so obsessed with finding me a girlfriend that my principal and others would literally bring me up to girls and ask if I like them, like right there in front of them. I spent 20 minutes with my principal as she pointed out 3 sisters and asked me which one I liked, then said look and decide and she will tell them. So during the dancing portion I was brought to several women. After the wedding my principal brought one of the sisters up to me and then told her to give me her number! I totally don’t understand, it is perhaps the most awkward thing that has ever happened to me, and it happens a lot here, your older elementary school principal should never be your wingman, and never in such an aggressive way!

After what felt like forever we were finally allowed to start eating! It was awesome and I am so glad that no one will ever see me at a feast- it’s like I revert some kind of primal species, I literally attack the food- no fork or knife is used- and I eat until I almost can’t move. Of course this was a Tongan feast so you have to take leftovers and people kept telling me to bring a bag, which I laughed about but Suli’s grandma had her purse full of bags and she told me to grab one of the weaved baskets in the corner of the hall and we put a whole leftover pig in it! I felt kind of weird about it but I guess it is some unwritten rule that it is okay, except I had to carry the basket for the old women and so now everyone thinks I am that white guy who shows up to feast and steals whole pigs... A lot of people didn’t even stay until the end, they ate grabbed their food and dashed. Here the family spend so much money on the huge wedding feast and people steal all the leftovers and don’t even stay to the end…

These are the guys who spent all morning roasting these pigs!

Of course you got to have root crop and lu. This is going to go into the ground in the huge umu they built

This is what they do instead of tie cans to the back of cars

the bride and her ant

the hall where the feast was- i guess it was equivalent to a wedding reception?

crazy old women dancing

Kaitunu- Tongans at The beach

December 27, 2012

Today was the day of the Wesleyan Kaitunu. A kaitunu is a picnic on the beach normally it consist of a roast pig as well. We loaded up in a couple of trucks and a big van and all went out to a beach near by called Keitahi. Tongans love the beach! They are actually like fish and I am sure if they had the opportunity they would definitely live in the water. We spent all day at the beach from around 9 to about 4ish ( I have stop carrying any time telling device so I have no idea the exact times of anything) and the Tongans spent pretty much the whole time in the water. The men had set up a kava circle of course amoung the trees but I had a bit of a stomachache so I chose not to partake. Most of the older women sat back and ate until about midday after the big meal. We all ate basically bbq chicken and hotdogs and water ever food people brought ie chips, cookies, horse meat (that I finally got to try! It tasted like beef but also distinctly different), and fruit for the big lunch type meal. When this was done a lot of the women started entering the water. The funny thing about Tongans at the beach is the go into the water fully clothed, I am not just saying with a shirt on but I am talking jeans, shoes, hat, jacket, actually fully clothed. It is pretty hilarious watching someone run full on into the water wearing all their clothes. It is really great because after a while women will drag other older women into the water, there is some resistance at first but then the women being dragged kind of submits. Some of the women don’t have to be dragged in though, some like it so much that they were jumping off the rock and splashing around with all the kids. The men would take breaks from kava and join in too, some had a sharp piece of rod iron and they were spear fishing!   It was a pretty awesome day even though I took a few naps on the beach and got sunburned

)-:

everyone grabbed spots under trees to set out their mats and start chowing down

some people from my village

that is the rock that even the older ladies jumped off of. As you see everyone is fully clothed....

Kilimasi LeLei

December 26, 2012

My first Christmas in Tonga came and went pretty quickly. Christmas is not a huge spectacle here so in all truth it didn’t really feel like Christmas at all. On Monday, Christmas Eve, I spent the day with the Mormon missionaries in my village on their day off- P-Day. We went to a Church in another village and played some volleyball and ate a big meal. It is the one day off the missionaries get a week so they all got to change out of their uniform and relax a bit. It was really interesting seeing into a completely different program and hear their stories and drama and what not. A couple of the guys were actually getting ready to leave, they had finished their 2 years. It is cool talking to them and hearing how they weren’t ready to leave- if they are that enthusiastic after two years and their program is way more strict than PC, it gives me a lot of hope for my time here. It was funny hearing how a few of them had plans to get married already; I guess they don’t waste anytime… I finally got to try ice cream bread too! It is really just what it sounds like, ice cream put on to a loaf of bread. The church we were at was doing some sort of kids program so they had this special treat and of course in Tongan fashion, they had to serve everyone who was there. Ice cream bread is where it’s at.

After P-Day I got a suto into town to spend Christmas Eve with the Australian volunteers who had invited me the previous day when they came to the beach in my village. I figured since Tongans don’t celebrate Christmas Eve I would spend it with the Australian Aid people. We put together a slip n’ slide out of tarps and had a talent show of sorts- where I performed the dance I had taught the kids for their graduation. I also got to have a really great conversation with one of their older volunteers who help me get a different perspective on my service here.

I stayed at Sean’s house because I am sort of watching it for him while he is on vacation and it was supposed to work out well because his neighbor, Mone, is related to Suliasi’s family and was going to take me to the beach where we were all going to celebrate Christmas. I was worried that this message didn’t get to him however, so I woke up at 6:30 to tell him and see when we were leaving. Turns out the beach day got canceled for some reason- either the doctor said or the rain, the whole not understanding Tongan yet makes things like this confusing. They gave me some cake and then I left to borrow Sean’s bike and head back to my village to try and make it to church at 10. The ride to my village on a bike takes maybe 40 minutes if you are making good time, I should explain Sean’s bike is a beach cruiser. My ride consisted of several hills of all sizes and I left at 9:10, basically I had quite the ride ahead of me. I started riding and the tires started flattening so about half way through the way back to was like peddling through sand. I decided to take a turn to go the back way so when I got to my village I didn’t pass people on their way to church. Well I thought I knew where I was going, turns out I was kind of lost and of course it started pouring down rain. So here I am on Christmas morning biking up hill on a beach cruiser with flat tires in the pouring rain. My white shirt was see through at the point I finally reached a familiar village and got on the road to my town. I looked at the clock and realized I made it back in enough time to get to church- it was 9:55. I quickly showered donned my Christmas tie and went to the Wesleyan church only to have my principal tell me to go to the church of Tonga. After church I got to go to a feast and then I drank kava for a few hours. I went back to my place and after watching every Christmas episode of Friends I went to eva. I said hi to a car passing, as is customary, the slammed to a halt and asked me if I wanted to go with them around. I mean I wasn’t really doing anything so I said yes and ended up going on a drive around Vava’u doing random drop-offs with the family. Got back to my place and made myself some pasta and finished the night watching the Grinch- Merry Christmas!

Christmas kava! Yes, I am wearing a Christmas tie- that got several compliments I might add.

this is my town officer being a big kava drunk and posing for the picture

Konoseti

December 21, 2012

They had a church fundraiser in my village last night, which consisted of a lot of dancing and kava drinking. How these work is the church sets up a dance, which is mostly the older women of the village and everyone comes and gives money. Every song women and kids get up and dance around and the people come up and give money, then the song ends and they count the money say thanks and repeat for about 3 or 4 hours. There are also tou’olungas and it gets real crazy when the women get one of the men from the kava circle- that was going on in the background- to come up and dance. It was a lot of fun and everyone died when I danced with a girl so it was pretty easy to keep the crowd entertained. I took this opportunity to mingle so I was drinking kava in the back with the men, hanging outside with some of the youth, drinking kava outside with the guys who brought the speakers from a different village, and dancing in the middle when a song came on that I liked.

from the back where the kava circle was set up. As you can see the men are drinking kava and the women and kids are in the center dancing

Holomesi dancing in the back, I have a video of this that is priceless!

there are specific dances too, this is one of the ones the younger girls did. The lady walking away had just gone up to give some money- they do this by putting the money down the dancers shirts.

one of the tou’olungas

The Best Eva Ever

December 22, 2012

I had the best Eva ever today! I just felt like I needed to get out after doing nothing really so I went on a walk around my village and shortly after I set out I got invited in to eat, I had already eaten so I just had some otai. The next house down gave me a bag full of bananas and then I ran into the guys drinking kava. After drinking kava for a bit I walked to the Church of Tonga and got a bag of candy and free ice cream! Around Christmas, each church does a day where the give out candy and small toys to the kids in the village. I just happen to be walking by at the right time- more because the men in the kava circle told me to leave so I could go and catch the free candy. After spending some time at my house I went for another eva at night and got to talking with some people and went to a house to grab someone to go drink kava. While we were waiting for the guy to get ready I was talking to the dad and had a little language mix up, instead of talking about the daughter being hungry and I would eat if food where out I just agreed that I would eat so they gave me a dinner plate and then made me some warm milk with coffee- I guess it went a long with the theme of the day…

Overseas Family Reunions

December 20, 2012

I got to hangout with the Mormon missionaries today and we got to go to another feast! It is that time when tongans from overseas start coming back to visit and so this feast a family reunion celebration, it was in my village and they were welcoming family visiting from the Alaska (of all places...) and New Zealand- side note all the little kids have a New Zealand accent and say “heeps…” One of the missionaries is a palangi and he is really cool and his Tongan is crazy good. Before the feast he brought me the Mormon extra strength bug repellent, we used it to spray my house because the other day I was almost bit by a molokau (luckily I have cat-like reflexes and a hammer in proximity).

The family got a huge box shipped to them from the states as well and it took them about an hour to unload. Along with goods to sell in their falekoloa, there was a bike, a weed eater, a TV, and three computers! Apparently, they want to open up a faleneti, which would be computers set up in their house and connected to the internet so other people can pay to use them. It would be great because than I would have internet in my village, I just don’t think it will actually ever happen.

It was a great day that happened to be relatively busy considering, and it was nice to hangout with another white guy and not feel like such a token. I may get to hangout with them on Monday for their one day off. We may even eat dog!

Failotu

December 17, 2012

Another aspect of the Tongan funeral is called the failotu. The failotu is a three-day event that happens after the burial of the desist. The church congregation that the person belonged to meets at a house to sing hymns and say prayers. I have been going to these prayer sessions and it is really neat to watch the people gather (wearing the traditional funeral garb) and support each other. Even though there is some crying, there is also a lot of laughter and smiles. It is really powerful to sit among the group as everyone says their prayers out loud at the same time and then they slowly start to sing while some people are finishing up their prayers- it is crazy, I got chills.

Today was the last day, and on the last day of the failotu there is a feast of sorts they gave out bags of chicken and pork. I even got to watch as they got the pig out of the pickup and then started to chop it up with the machete! A large pig took maybe 15 or 20 minutes to chop into 5 – 10 oz pieces. I was happy for the food because I left my wallet in town and don’t have any meat at my place so now I am chillin’ for the week, which is nice except I feel strange because I didn’t know the person who past.

A Pig Shaving, And Then Some....

December 13, 2012

On my eva yesterday I got to see the craziest thing- the preparation of a pig to roast. Okay so here is how it went down, I finished playing my customary couple hours of ping pong and then was on my way to the falekoloa to buy some soy sauce (I made a dank meal of rice noodles with stuff in them!) when I got to a group of guys shaving a pig. They shave it with a couple of knifes, kind using them like a straight edge. I was amazed at how they picked up the pig and moved it around with such ease, it was a small pig maybe the size of the average microwave but still the way it was flung around was surprising to me. There was a bucket of really hot water that they would dip the pig in from time to time as if they were washing their clothes. After the shaving process was done the cut of the genitals and from there, opened the pig then they dumped/ scooped out all of its organs. It was crazy seeing all of the pig’s intestines spill out on to the peace of tin like it was on the operating room table. They took the organs that they normally eat- which I think was the liver and lungs actually- and then through the rest to the dogs who had been anxiously waiting for the their share of the pig the entire time. Attached to what I think was the liver (people in medicine will have to help me out here) was the bladder I think. The reason I say this is because he was careful to remove this small sack from the liver and the waved it in front of the small puppy’s face before throwing it against the nearby umu where it burst open, much to the dog’s discontent.

I am sad to say that although this scene should have ruined my appetite I went home and made dinner and I was even a little disappointed that I would not be enjoying that roast pig.

G.P.S. Holonga Graduation

December 4, 2012

So on Tuesday I am hanging around the school watching all the students cut the grass and “clean” the classrooms when Mele (one of my counterparts) comes up to me and asked me if I can teach the class 1 and 2 something to perform for their graduation Thursday night- Umm sure Mele let me just pull out that age appropriate Tongan dance that I know and teach it to these 6 year-olds who don’t speak English. Anyway, I said I would try and think of something- so I took the class aside and thought about teaching them to single Jingle Bell Rock because it is super short and kind of fun. Well that was a mistake, we couldn’t even get through the first 2 lines:

Jingle bell jingle bell jingle bell rock

Jingle bells chime in jingle bell time

Insert Peace Corps skill number 1- adaptation.

I decided let’s do something that doesn’t really require them to know English. So I made up some dance moves to the song and we did that instead. It worked out pretty good- these kids just love to dance!

The graduation was last night and it was a fun little ceremony where we did all the dances we did for the show we did a week ago (yes, I reprised my amazing kailao performance) and then each class did their own dance. Before their performance the teacher gets up and announces each kid's percent and place in the class, starting with group D from 0-35% and then moving up to group A 85- 100%. It was so strange to see the kid who was in the last group get up in front of everyone and then every one kind of laugh/ cheer. I guess the idea is that maybe they will all want to try hard so they can not have to be in that group in front of everyone? Either way all the kids get money put in their shirts when they dance and lays made of candy so as far as they are concerned it works out for them.

I wish I could have attached some pictures with this post but I still have not been able to get back my phone/camera. I hope to have a photo-taking device of sorts soon.

PCV Thanksgiving 2012

November 23, 2012

Our awesome PCVLs (Peace Corps Volunteer Leaders- they extend service for a year and work part time for PC and help with training) organized an amazing Thanksgiving dinner at this great house in town. We all found our ways into town and I spent the day with Sean, Dominica and our white friend Justin (his family has a business here) cooking. It was really cool to be able to share the day with people and we made sure we didn’t half-ass the menu either- we had turkey, mashed potatoes, green bean casserole, apple and pumpkin pie and the best gravy I have ever tasted (made by Mark as an after thought). There was even the lovely family turmoil that the holidays always bring out thanks to Sean and Dominica’s bickering. Yes, it was truly a wonderful spectacle. After dinner we all had some drinks and played a charades type game (idea brought to us by Mandy, who is the queen of all camp type games). We all stayed up until 4 am, mostly because Dominica caught a second wind and wanted to see the sunrise, which in hindsight was a terrible idea because it just meant we kept drinking. It was really awesome to be with people on a day that might have been really hard to get through otherwise, it gives me confidence in this whole experience and reminds me that sometimes it is nice (and necessary) to be palangi sometimes.  

the amazing view from the house we were able to use for a feast.

a little food prep. Sean, Dominica and Justin deciding how to make the fried onions to go on the green bean casserole

Sean doing the honors of carving the turkey

the feast. I should mention there was only one thing of cranberry sauce because the only place the sold them on the island was this America store (all their stuff is shipped from a Costco in the states, probably by a relative who lives there) and is outrageously over priced- 12:50 for a can of cranberries!

The Funny Thing About Tongan Sports

December 2, 2012

When I was taking a stroll in the village I happened across a netball game. I am not sure if netball has made it to the states yet, but it is a game, played among girls, that is like a cross between basketball (without a backboard) and ultimate frisbee- it is basically basketballs version of softball. Australia and New Zealand have pumped a lot of aid money into Tonga to get the game played here and there are actually village leagues. Our team was playing a village close to town on a netball field they had made a few weeks before. Now, ignoring that fact that I don’t understand the game at all, and that most of the players kicked off their shoes to play barefoot, Tongans playing sports is just strange to watch. Tongans don’t really take anything seriously and seeing that attitude during a competition is kind of strange. All the players had smiles on their faces and laughed whenever they messed up or a bad play was made. It may not seem that weird but trust me, seeing it was kind of peculiar. I am not sure I would ever make it as a coach here, competition just doesn't seem to have the same affect on their culture as it does ours- good or bad I don't know.

Village Days

December 3, 2012

I have been having a pretty solid weekend chilling in the village, I went to the beach with Suli on Saturday and I have been fai-ing kava pretending I speak Tongan. I went to Mormon church this time and had an amazing lunch at a family’s house (lu that was all the way cooked and awesome). The Missionary at the Mormon is white and speaks amazing Tongan so he has set the bar for me really high in the Mormon community (good thing there aren’t that many Mormons in my village). After church I hung out and went to kava again, which is the best way to spend a Sunday I have decided. This morning there wasn’t school because there was a holiday (yay sleeping-in!) a kid woke me up at 6:30 to get a plate (oh that’s right you can’t sleep-in in this country), shortly after that a family came to bring me a chicken, (Tonga has two types of chicken, imported that you can buy frozen or moa Tonga, which is like fresh killed chicken and it is delicious) I cooked it to perfection with the special hot sauce I got (kind of took) from a restaurant in town. Pretty much just try to adjust to slowness of life around here until school starts again in February.

Night Swimming with a Sad End

November 29, 2012

Some of us met up in the city for Harrison’s birthday, the bar (the Tongans refer to it as a night club, which is absolutely hilarious) does quiz nights on Thursdays so we were going to meet up for dinner and then do quiz night. I got a ride into town after class and met up with Sean before hand to have a drink at Aquarium. It was super nice getting to go and have a drink after class, I can imagine it is what my life would be like on the daily if I was working in the states (if only they had happy hour in every country on earth)…

Quiz night was a lot of fun and we actually ended up winning- our group had to split up into two teams and Sean and I ended up pairing up with our Australian volunteer friend and Justin (another palangi who’s family owns a cart tour business on the island). It was nice to win because you get a free drink, that drink with the free one we got for the joker round plus the ones before, I was feeling pretty under the influence. After the game we all danced a bit and then it was someone’s idea to head to the little dock behind the bar and go night swimming. It was actually awesome, the water was warm (it was extremely salty, like mouth soars salty but hey, we were drunk), it was basically a private night swim.

I woke up the next morning and went with Sean to his schools graduation. Of course the event was very Tongan and little kids would leave their seats so the parents could yell at them and fix their clothes. It was at the graduation when I went to take a picture that I realized my iPhone had been stolen. Unfortunately, our night swim resulted in the loss of the only camera I have here plus a lot of really meaningful messages from friends back home. I have been pretty bummed about that since, I am continuing to search for it (you know, small island no one really has an iPhone, plus it doesn’t even work here as a phone!) but I don’t have high hopes.

Random Church Feast

November 26, 2012

I was just wondering around the village after playing make shift ping pong for a bit when I stop to talk to a guy trying to make a sign for something. He asked if I was good at art but I didn’t want the responsibility of making the sign since I didn’t know what it was for so I said no (the responsibility thing plus I am just not good at art). The same guy who woke me up a few days before to borrow my computer came by and asked if I wanted to go to church with him, I thought I have nothing better to do, so I said yes. I got into the back of the truck and was joined shortly by some older Tongan women who were nicely dressed, I immediately started to question my decision to come along because I looked like a village kid- dressed in slightly dirty shorts and a white t-shirt. We get to the church and I guess it was some event to present a gift to the ministers. All the older ladies started dancing around in laps around the inside of the church. I was getting into it- it is what I imagine a Baptist service to be like- loud singing and everyone calling out hallelujah!

To my pleasant surprise after the event there was a feast! I used my powers as Peace Corps (or just being white) to make sure I got a seat at the table. I know I have been here for a while because I was not phased at when one of the guys brought the roast pig’s head down to our side of the table and the preceded to take the face off to get at the meat on the inside. Instead of being a bit taken a back I helped the man tear a peace off for myself. Beside the food the best part about Tongan feast is the minutes right after the meal when everyone quickly tries to snatch up all the leftovers, using anything (including the plastic wrap that originally covered the food), to bundle up the leftovers. Even during the closing prayer you can see the eyes of the elderly Tongan ladies shifting about, checking out what they are going to grab first. It is pretty awesome to watch and on the occasions they hand me a plate I am always thrilled!

Kailao! End of the Year Culture Show

November 27, 2012

At the end of every year each elementary learns cultural dances and songs, which they then perform for the community in a bag ceremony. I have already mentioned that I have been learning the war dance that the kids are learning at my school, today was the day we performed. I was told by my fellow teachers, especially my (crazy) counterpart Mele, to invite Sean and Dominca to the show so I did. Dominica said she could make it and found a ride into my village with my town offer (side note- my town officer is crazy, he is bald and really funny and always is a bit kava hung over, his kids are also pretty hilarious).

I was a little nervous but I just figured that it is just going to the village and the will probably just think it is cool that I am trying- plus I think they like when white people try and do Tongan things (they think it is absolutely hilarious). Point here is I know the dance but not amazingly so or anything. So Dominica gets dropped off at my house and my town officer offers to take us to the village, now I am confused. Dominica (who has been here for 3 years so knows how to speak Tongan) conversed with him for a few minutes. Apparently, the show is in another village and is with 2 other schools and in front of the officers from the ministry of education- now I am nervous. I guess my fellow teachers forgot to mention that this show was a bit more of a thing. After I hurriedly grabbed my stuff we met up with the teachers at the town hall (where I thought we were performing) and I chastised them for not telling the palangi what was what. We drove to the next down and I was garbed in some Tongan essentials- kahoa (lay), flowered belt and war paint. I ended up doing the dance and only messed up a few times, but hey it’s Tonga, even the official things really are not all that official.  

getting ready, before my warpaint was applied by my counterpart with her lipgloss...

all 3 schools lined up before the ministry officers

Holonga's specific village song where they offered kava (the plant in the picture) and then a pig

the kids doing one of the songs- each has accompanied hand movements

me with my school doing their dance, to my left is 'Ela (a teacher at my school) and Lose (a teacher and the Prinicpal)