Tuesday, December 30, 2008

New Week, Same Problems

Brett, Kate, Sarah, and I came back to Pangai early yesterday morning from our Christmas getaway. Later that morning, Viliami flew back to Ha’apai and we had a big meeting with all the teachers, PTA members, and church officials who were in town over which house to put me in. Basically, it just sucked. The whole meeting was all in Tongan and I could only understand about ¼ of everything. Plus, who doesn’t love a room full of strangers sitting around talking about and pointing at you while you just sit there. In the end the eventual decision was that they would have to wait until all the teachers were back to vote again, but for now I could stay in the house. Wonderful. Viliami went back and forth on whether to have me unpack and begin to settle in or not, and still talked about moving my site to Vava’u. I don’t know…eventually we decided to have me move in for now. We’ll see how this all goes. Obviously, this wasn’t really the meeting I was hoping for, and I very clearly ended up in the middle of church/school politics that I know nothing about. I hope this gets easier and I can at least meet some people/ neighbors.

Christmas Time Is Here

With all the drama and frustration that’s going in Pangai I was all for the plan to get away for Christmas, and I’m so glad we did- I had a wonderful time. Grant, a current volunteer who has been here for a year, offered up his island and house to head out to for the holiday. Since Eric, Melanie, and Monica couldn’t get into Lifuka or Foa (the boat situation is more difficult than we realized) we decided just to head up to Ha’ano, Grant’s island, for about 5 days. So, Grant, Kate, Brett, and myself caught a ride up to Faleloa, the town Sarah lives on Foa, which is where the boats to Ha’ano come in and out, picked up Sarah, and crammed into a little boat to make the 45ish minute ride to the next island. We spent Christmas eve in his village and even got to see a mini Nativity play that the children in one of the churches put on (adorbs) and stayed through Christmas day since we were invited to a feast after church at the home of one of the teachers at Grant’s school.

Later, we walked almost a mile from the village out to a half-constructed “resort”. A man from New Zealand is in the process of building a few small houses around a main house area with a kitchen and porch that will eventually be used for tourists. But, in the meantime, it was the perfect place to get away and have some time to ourselves. We spent a few days there swimming, sunbathing, snorkeling, and generally hanging out and enjoying the beautiful weather, beach, and coral reefs. It was the first time I have ever been snorkeling, and it’s so much fun! The fish and coral are absolutely beautiful- vibrant and colorful. Most of this trip I felt like I was in the middle of a post card. We also spent a lot of time talking about food (shocking) and managed to make some delicious meals ourselves with the food we were able to bring up and find/catch there, relying heavily on Grant's spear fishing skills! It was lovely to be able to spend time with everyone, and relax and really appreciate and enjoy the beauty of the ocean and where we are. And although it didn’t feel at all like Christmas, which probably made it easier, it was a great week. Of course, I was thinking of all of you a lot: I love and miss you and hope you had a wonderful winter holiday time.

Wednesday, December 24, 2008

Site Arrival...

After all the craziness of Swearing-In and my site swap, we flew to Ha’apai Friday morning and immediately had a PC run “partners workshop” which was supposed to be with our counterparts from our job sites. There was a woman from the Wesleyan school system there, who was very nice, but she doesn't actually work in the school I'm working in (they have a primary and high school, and I'm supposed to teach in the primary)- she is the principle of the collage (aka high school to us) but she is leaving in a few weeks because she got transferred to Tongatapu. Regardless, after the meeting she took me to a house, supposedly my house, dropped me off, and after a few minutes left. The house was just horrible- first, it didn't meet any of the PC safety requirements, it hadn't been lived in or cleaned in years, and it was in the driveway of a minister's house- he's dead but his wife still lives there. I was a bit confused because when they confirmed the site the other day they told PC about a house that Viliami said he knew, and it was a totally different house. And, when I asked the minister's wife she made me feel like shit and basically said that I was being a spoiled American, although not in so many words. She phrased it as, “I thought you wanted to live like a Ha’apai girl.” I didn’t know what to do, so I borrowed a broom from her and started to sweep. I swept up huge piles of dirt and ants, animal poop, and dead animals- mostly lizards and mice. After the third dead mouse I kind of lost it and had my first real breakdown in Tonga. Not knowing what else to do, I called the education program manager and he came right over, took one look at the house, and told me he was taking me away. We sat outside in the driveway for a while just thinking and me, doing my best not to cry. I just felt terrible- I realized no one knew I was coming or they just didn’t care. Either way, I felt like they didn’t even want me to be there, and it made me so sad. Viliami took me to the guest house where he was staying with the outer island Ha’apai volunteers, and I ended up staying there for a bit more than a week. I had no house, and even though Poli, one of the language teachers, came to stay with me, there was a lot of confusion about the housing situation.

Finally, all of our stuff that we bought in Nuku’alofa came on the boat (we could only bring carry-on luggage with us for the first week and a half) and Poli insisted that I be moved into a house before she went back to Tongatapu for Christmas, and I was taken to a different house, which was quite dirty, as it hadn’t been lived in for 3-4 months, but wonderful and right near the school and other teachers. We broke the lock since no one had a key, and left my stuff inside although I still stayed in the guest house. The house had belonged to an Australian volunteer who had married a Tongan and was now pregnant and living in Pangai with him and his family, and she left maybe a hundred creepy and moldy little kangaroos and koala bears, complete with ‘I <3 Australia’ t-shirts and flags hanging from strings on the ceiling and curtains…it was just weird. I came back and cleaned like crazy, and was so lucky to have Grant’s help (a PCV who has been here for a year and lives on an island, Ha’ano, close by).

Today, Christmas Eve, the head of the Wesleyan church for all of Ha’apai essentially tracked me down in his SUV and began to yell at me for moving houses. This same man had publicly scolded me after church on Sunday and told me I was a bad Peace Corps because I didn’t like my house and accused me of running away and other fun things. At the time I didn’t know who he was and was shocked that Poli and the only other woman I knew would let someone talk to me like this without any sort of help or defense- thank god Tongans don’t get sarcasm. Once I learned he was a fifekau, it all made sense. Anyways, he decided to voice his opinions again while I was alone, and it was terrible. Every time I tried to tell him I was staying in the second house, he would switch from English to Tonga- my Tongan is by no means fluent, and I was so upset I couldn’t even begin to answer. On the verge of tears I just said “fine” and walked away. Cue Alicia calling Viliami crying part II. It's Christmas Eve, I have no real home, no community, and instead of inviting me to Christmas church or youth group or something the head of the community I was placed in yelled at me- I haven’t felt so badly or so angry in a long time.

I found out the real reason he and others didn’t want me in the second house was because they use it for Australian volunteers, most of whom are retired, who come for 3 months to volunteer and, upon leaving, usually donate money to the school. Since everyone in Tonga is looking for a free handout, whether it’s in the form of grants, aids projects, or actually handing over cash from friends, family, or complete strangers, it’s all beginning to fall into place. Tonga won’t even buy a new boat to replace the Olovaha, the main supply boat that carries goods from Tongatapu to Ha’apai and Vava’u, despite never being intended for use on open water, which is always broken and not running, because the Japanese are going to donate a boat at the end of 2010, and god forbid Tongans buy anything themselves.

Admittedly, that was not the most culturally sensitive rant, but from what I’ve seen so far, it is true. I just feel so poorly, and I know my “community” doesn’t care whether or not I’m there, just that I'm not going to be as profitable. I am upset with PC for putting me in this placement, despite a complete lack of site development or even advanced notice. Viliami is still contemplating moving me to Vava’u, so we’ll see what happens. In the meantime, he is coming back to Ha’apai on Monday and we’re going to have a meeting with the school. I hope things aren’t as bad when I get back from Christmas.

Wednesday, December 17, 2008

Some Last Minute Changes, Part II

New Site: Pangai, Ha’apai. My new assignment will be teaching English at a Free Wesleyan Side School (a primary school where English, rather than Tongan, is the primary language of instruction) in Pangai. While I’m really happy to still be in Ha’apai, I’m a bit disappointed to be in the “city” so to speak. I was really looking forward to being in a smaller community and to having Pangai to go to as needed. But, as a few people have pointed out, Pangai is hardly Nuku’alofa. There are only a few thousand people living there, 3 “big” stores, one restaurant… Also, I’ll be living on the school compound, so hopefully I’ll be able to get that small community feel at the school. Admittedly, I’m not wild about now being in a church school vs. a government school- I’m having enough problems with the prevalence and power of churches here (which I will most definitely post about soon) not to mention pretty much having to go to church every Sunday, but with any luck the school portion will be kept separate from the actual church and its leaders.

Tuesday, December 16, 2008

Some Last Minute Changes

Well, it’s the day before the Swearing-In ceremony, and three days before we’re supposed to go to our sites, and I just got some pretty frustrating/stressful/disturbing news. I’ve been pestering Toma, (the Safety and Security officer) who has done site visits to ensure that our homes are up to PC standards, for the past few weeks after hearing a rumor that my house was not finished, but he seemed confident it would be done in time. Because of everything that happened last year, PC mandated that the town could not use the house the other volunteer lived in, which is actually in the next town, Holopeka, on a family compound, and the school said they would build a new house right next to the school (and airport). However, the house is not finished, and Viliami just pulled the plug so to speak on Koulo. Apparently there has been fighting between the principle and the PTA over who would finish the house and how much they would spend, and as a result, it’s not ready. Also, Viliami told me the principle has not been getting back to him for a few weeks, and between their lack of communication, inability to finish the house, and the past history with this village he does not want another volunteer to ever be in that village. Awesome. Viliami told me he’s looking at some sites that were developed but not selected this time around, and hopes to have a new site for me tomorrow. I’m pretty stressed out and a little frustrated that there have been problems for so long that are just being dealt with now, but am trying to remain flexible and open. This week has been crazy enough, but it looks like it’s just going to get a bit more interesting.