Beach Bonfire

Sami, Jason & I thought it would be fun to have a bonfire at the beach tonight - "fun" sometimes isn't as fun as you'd think! We had a great time, but the wind was blowing so hard that to get the fire to even start, we had to start it in a plastic bucket and then keeping it going was really difficult. We kept at it for a while, but finally called it quits. Not exactly how we'd imagined our bonfire evening...

Tongan Sunrise

Jason, Sami & I decided to get up early this morning and go watch the sunrise before we leave Ha'apai on Saturday. Sami wasn't sure if she'd make it up and she didn't, but we ran into Jessie(riding her bike without a helmet!!) and she joined us. She was hiliarous, she'd actually had to sneak out of her house as her family would have never let her come out on her own! I had told my host family who I'd be with and what time I'd be leaving, etc and they (surprisingly) let me go.

PLACEMENT!

I found out today that I will be placed at the Chamber of Commerce office in Nuku'alofa - the capitol of Tonga! I will be there as a resource to assist small businesses with their procedures and try to help them improve how they do business. All through training, we have all been wondering where we will end up and today was the day that everyone found out. During our class, they announced everyone's sites. It is sad to think of our group as being split up ... while there are 10 of who have been placed in Nuku'alofa, there are 6 who are being placed on other islands ... I think we will all miss William & Jason the most - they have brought so much to our group, it doesn't seem possible that they will be gone.

William is being placed back here in Ha'apai, so he got to see his house already ... I went and checked it out with him. The kitchen was an outdoor kitchen and left a bit to be desired, but otherwise, it seems really nice! Here's William at his new home!

One more trip to Sandy Beach...with our host family

Sami & I were able to go to Sandy Beach one last time today...it was a little different experience than our first trip as our host families took us, but it was still great to be there.


Here we are in the back of a truck - notice the boy sitting on a folding chair in the truck and how covered up my host mom is ... Tongan's don't like their skin to get "dark" so they typically use umbrellas or other coverings when outside.

Driving over the coral reef road.

Our kai tunu -- beach picnic

On the way back, we had to wait while the road was closed so that an airplane could land at the airport. There is no other way across the island except to drive through the airport!

Culture Day - Am I Tongan yet??

I have been dreading this day since they told us about it at the beginning of training!

Each village group is required to do a series of tasks to prove that we have learned about the Tongan culture during our homestay in training. The purpose of this day is to display these tasks in front of the entire community and the Country Director of the Peace Corps office. The tasks include:

--Performing a traditional Tongan song and dance

--Creating and performing a humerous skit about life in Tonga
--Sharing an American activity or recipe with our Tongan family

For a few weeks now, we've been practicing a Tongan sitting dance (woo-hoo! I only need to learn arm motions and a song in Tongan) and have been trying to come up with an idea for a skit. Since the day I arrived in Ha'apai, I've been chained to working on making my kiekie. My host mom taught me how to make a really pretty one with flowers, but it also is extremely time intensive. I also made a Tupeno (the wrap around skirt worn here) and learned how to make 'Otai, a fruit drink with grated mangos, coconut milk, sugar and water. And, I taught my host mom how to make my favorite chocolate peanut butter no-bake cookies. YUM.

Done! And SOOOO Happy!

New Language Group :-(

We underwent a mock language test last week in order for our trainers to get an idea of how the group is faring as a whole. Of course, I studied for it to ensure I would do well...little did I know what the outcome for that would be! Based on our test results we were ranked and placed in groups with people closer to our ranking. I am now in a group with new people and have a new teacher. I'm not a huge fan of change and I don't have a lot of confidence when speaking Tongan. It has helped that I've been with the same group of people for the past 6 weeks. Now I feel embarassed to even try to speak Tongan. In addition, I now need to allow about 30 minutes to get to the village that my language instructor is in...Grrr.



Jamie & Sami have language in a village farther than mine, so we all borrowed bikes and road to our new language class today. How do you like our sexy helmets??

Sandy Beach

Jason managed to sweet talk one of our trainers into driving a group of us down to Sandy Beach for the day. What an INCREDIBLE place!! A place where we could be palangis (paw-long-ease = white people) for a couple hours and the water was simply the best that I'd ever gotten to snorkle in.





Tonga is not highly concerned with conservation...that being the case, we actually drove from one island to another via a road that had been placed right on top of a coral reef.










I was completely overwhelmed by this incredible place!














Only Sami was the one in "Tongan Acceptable" attire!

It isn't acceptable for men to go shirtless in Tonga, so this was a treat for the boys too.

If you wanted to stay at Sandy Beach, this fale would cost $150 - $200 a night...this virtually untouched beach is right outside your door...

Community Day

Each of the four language groups was required to put on a "community day" in each of the villages we were placed in. The goal was to get the youth/children engaged in healthy activities. Our group decided to do something similar to an American Field Day and include a scavanger hunt in which they were requried to collect different types of trash for recycling or throwing away properly...of course we provided prizes of candy and other free food to ensure participation!

My Birthday as a Noble

I woke up today knowing that it was probably going to be a rather excruciating day ... my day as a noble for class. Meaning, I would have to sit on my own at the front of the room during class and be paid respects by my classmates. Then at lunch, my host family would dress me up in some hideous costume and serve an enormous feast for the entire class. Although I rarely wear make-up now, today was a day to wear a little to help make myself feel better about what was to come, definitely a make-up day...




Here I am at the start of class...sitting in a special chair places on several mats at the front of the room. Jason is serving as my "talking chief," as nobility does not talk to commoners.

At taimi ti (tea time) ... my first cake of the day - Yummy chocolate!!

With my host family, in a "special" outfit the dressed me in. Ladies, don't be too jealous!

Sami played the role of the lowest ranking family member whose role it is to serve the highest ranking member. She got my food and beverages and had to sit lower than me during our meal.

My official birthday cake ...

My family & language group ... ready to feast! Jason also got to wear a special outfit ... he was really excited about that.

Turning 30

Today was my 30th birthday...how crazy to be 30 and to be living in the South Pacific with a family where my every move is watched and I'm not allowed out of the house on my own. My parents called first thing in the morning and we talked for a long time - it was SO great to talk to them about everything.

My official birthday celebration will be on Wednesday, where I will be treated like a nobel (I happened to draw the card for being "nobility" on this week).

Tonga has 3 classes of people - Royalty, Nobility & Commoners. It sounds like something out of a fairy tale or a movie or something, but it's very real. Each week, someone out of our group of 16 gets chosen to be a nobel for the first few hours of class, so that we can all learn what it is like to be one and how the rest of the people must act around nobility.

As Special Sunday

This Sunday our church service was filmed for Tongan TV. The fiefekau (minister) told the congregation last week and asked that everyone wear white and wear their best clothing.

My host family took this as an opportunity to dress me as they wanted.

Here I am ... ready for Tongan television!

Dawn was asked to do a scripture reading in the service - we were very proud of her!

After the service, we had the biggest kai pola (feast) I had ever seen ... definitely put our church potlucks to shame! All of these tables were loaded down with food. Although there were 2 - 3 times the number of people as there were chairs, that is not a problem in Tonga. As soon as a chair is vacated, another person will sit down and continue eating where the other person left off...using the same plate and everything!

With my host "mom" (she's younger than me!), Mo'ana.

'Uoleva

(Pronounced Eww-uh-lay-vah)

Our trainers decided to take us on an excursion this weekend - boy did we need a getaway! We took a boat ride in the morning and spent the day doing a quick business survey of the very basic tourist operation there and then enjoying ourselves immensely!

Kirsten & Amanda's host families had "prepared" them for their journey with special outfits. Lucky them!



















As usual, Sami was the first to try out climbing a coconut tree! William, not to be outdone by a girl, wasn't far behind, testing out another technique...

'Uoleva had the nicest beach I've seen yet in Tonga...lovely sand stretching for miles and extending far out into the water, making for wonderful swimming.

If you come to spend the night, you could stay in one of these fales (fah-lays)!

Our language instructor, Poli, making a basket from coconut fronds.

A group playing some beach football.

Taua & Paea roasting some piglet for us for our kai tunu (beach picnic).

And, Jason demonstrating that he has all the other guys (& girls) beat when it comes to tree climbing.