Back to the Capital for Training

January 25, 2013

We all had our In Service Early Service Peace Corps training last week on the main island. Even though we all had our doubts about this training (because it seemed thrown together in an effort to please our new country director), it turned out to be pretty solid. It was really great getting to see everyone again and hear about all of their experiences settling into their sites. It was also super great getting to eat Chinese food! The training wasn’t half bad either, even though it was a lot of discussion without much action, we had some really great guest speakers, like the minister of education, and Abby and I got the ball rolling on one of our secondary projects, which will be to create a teachable curriculum for TEFL in Tonga. We stayed at Sela’s Guesthouse again, it is strange going back there because it reminds me of our first day in Tonga and how different things are now.

The highlights of the training, besides the food, was getting to go back to Nakolo and getting to say goodbye to Meredith and Dominica. Chiara, Katy and I went back to our home stays the Sunday of training. It was so cool getting to see everyone again and be able to speak better Tongan. My family was having a big family reunion and I got to meet their family from overseas in Australia and New Zealand. We also had a big feast that Katy ended up coming to and I got to try dog meat (which was surprisingly good, it tasted a lot like pig). I had a lot of fun getting to see my host brothers again and seeing some of the guys from the village, of course we got talked into drinking (Katy serving not drinking) kava so we stayed in the village until past midnight. I am excited to go back again and hopefully be able to speak even better Tongan and see my host brothers again.

the feast

my first experience eating dog meat

How To Build an Emu:

Step 1: dig a big hole in the ground and fill it with rocks and coconut husks and set them on fire.

Step 2: remove rocks and place food into the oven.

Step 3: cover hole with banana leaves and scrap corrugated tin

Step 4: cover with blankets.

Step 5: cover area with dirt.

Step 6: uncover after an hour and a half; eat right away.

Dominica’s and Meredith’s send off was an awesome night! We went to this restaurant and basically were the only one’s there. All the current volunteers plus some Ausaid volunteers and some of our staff came, we had a lot of fun owning the dance floor and basically requesting any song we wanted (of course the DJ’s selection was some what limited). I really hope that when my time comes, I will be able to have everyone around too.

Dominica, Meredith and me

all of us, the one throwing up the gains signs in the front is Lose, she is our Language Coordinator

The training was really fun and I was very pleasantly surprised that getting back to site was not a hard adjustment at all. I really thought I would be a bit bummed for a day or two but as soon as a got back and unpacked it was actually kind of nice to come home (after I cleaned up all the dead bugs of course). Now it is just getting the last things prepared for the start of the new year in about a week! Service is about to get real and I am excited for it.