August 7th, 2013
I guess we have been here long enough to warrant our second site visit by Peace Corps. As a Vava’u island volunteer, very far away from PC HQ, it is always a big deal to actually have face time with any of the Peace Corps staff so site visits are actually a pretty good thing. For the site visit our Program Manager and her assistant where suppose to come by and observe us teach then give us feed back on our service as of yet. I received a text message the night before they were coming my site, the message was informing me that they were coming along with the Director of Program and Training (essentially the head honcho since our Country Director lives in Fiji), his wife and a high up representative of the Ministry of Education here in Tonga. I was happy because I pre planned pretty decently and felt good about my lesson but I was also a bit overwhelmed by the increased numbers, mostly due to the fact that the room I now teach in (since taking on just class 5) doesn’t have any chairs (my kids sit on mats and use their benches as desks).
The morning of the visit I told my principal about the update to our guest list and she was a little thrown off because we had planned to cook for Ila and Lavinia and she didn’t know if there was enough food for the new people (she also asked me if white people would eat canned beef, my response- “well I eat it, so I guess”).
While I was teaching I marveled at how amazing my students could behave if people where watching them! They were all perfect respectable angels. All in all my lesson went great, my kids were awesome and I received super flattering feedback. I told them how much of a struggle it has been to find my groove teaching here and that I was very happy to hear that they felt I did a good job. I told them of my idea for a side project- first aid education and training in primary schools, and they really liked it. They also gave me the most flattering comment I think I could have ever received which was that if there was a reward for the most integrated Peace Corps volunteer in Tonga, they would give it to me. I was truly very happy to hear that since I have worked very hard to integrate myself into my community and learn this language. Sometimes it is the smallest comment that can really make you feel awesome about your service, and it’s those comments you have to remember for when the times you feel useless come about.
As a parting bonus when we all took our picture the women from the ministry grabbed my ass, a gesture that I chose to accept as a token of appreciation at a job well done.
Me with Tupou (on the left) and 'Una (the kid in the back) who are class 6ers and little Saane who is in class 3
this is (left to right) Timote class 3, Peesi class 1 and Sina class 4 after a garden clearing work day, the one being creepy in the back is Violeni she is in class 5
this little guy is Vaha, he is in my class 3, and yes that is a bush knife between his legs
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