Back To Koulo!

Well, it’s been sort of a crazy week, but definitely a good one. As my previous posts indicate, things were not going so hot at good old Taufa’ahau. Viliami called me on Sunday and told me that he was not able to come down, but the Poli would be coming to Ha’apai that week (she was the LCTF who stayed with me last time while I was waiting for a house). She arrived on Tuesday, and that’s when the whirlwind began.

I went to school as usual to try and observe some English classes and after school went home. Brett called me to tell me I’d left something in the PC office, and mentioned that Phil was in Koulo and that Poli was there with him. Phil works for the Ministry of Education with all the schools in Ha’apai training teachers, so he knows most of the GPS school, which is an awesome resource. Anyways, I called Phil and asked if it was true that Poli was there and generally what was going on and he told me him and Poli were meeting with the teachers in Koulo and that Poli said to pack my things. I was in complete shock- we hadn’t even met or talked with my principal and it was already 4 in the afternoon. Within 10 minutes, Phil, Poli, Kate, and Brett were at my house in the bed of a huge bush truck along with 3 Tongans from Koulo.

Poli went next door to talk to my principal, and ended up putting him on the phone with Viliami. Meanwhile, everyone came inside and literally tore through my house, packing things in whatever boxes and bags we could find, and bringing them out to the truck. We were out of the house in under an hour- it was absolute craziness. Seluini, my old principal, was very understanding about the whole thing, and seemed to understand that the school and community had problems that weren’t going to be fixed.

We brought all my stuff to Kate and Brett’s house, and I crashed there until Thursday morning, which was a nice destresser (totally not a word). In the meantime, up in Koulo, the school and PTA frantically almost finished my house in essentially a day, and told Poli that they were so excited to be getting a Peace Corps.

I moved up to Koulo on Thursday morning, and everything went really well! The house is almost done, but all the big things are there, and it’s nice and clean. It’s right on the school campus and right next to the airport…literally, the runway is in my backyard, and I really love the location. There are only 1 or 2 planes a day, so the noise isn’t really a problem, and I like being on the school grounds. All the kids were obviously very curious, and kept coming around the house and peaking in through the windows as we moved everything in, but they are adorbs, obvi, and I’m so excited to start working with them.

We had a meeting that afternoon under an awesomely huge tree in the school yard with the teachers and the PTA and ironed out what my job there is, and all those fun details. It was wonderful though, and everyone seemed really happy that I was there. The one concern they had was about me acting like a pelangi, and what if I had a moa (boyfriend) and he was coming around the house and even sleeping there (gasp!). I’m definitely going to have to work on the whole ‘boys and girls can be friends and not have sex’ concept, because I’m definitely not going to turn away other volunteers if/when they come visit- I need all the friends I can get! But this definitely means I’ll have to find some creative solutions from when Thom and Eric (yes, I’m trying to peer pressure you through my blog to come visit me before you go back to the US) come. I’m not worried though, everything will work out. After the meeting, some of the parents brought food over to my house, and it was delicious. I told them that I don’t eat meat, and while this sent up the usual collective gasp, one of my neighbors told me they were happy, because fish is not expensive- they just go fishing! This gets them out of buying the obligatory guest foods like kapa pulu (canned corn beef) and sipi (mutton flaps) which are quite pricy.

The next day, I started to unpack and try to organize the house. The kids came to school again, but they told me they were vainga pē (just playing) today…oh Fridays in Tongan schools. My principal came over with a schedule for me (planning in advance!?!) and it looks great- I’ll be teaching 3 classes each day (classes 1 and 2 and 3 and 4 are taught together since there are only 4 teachers), 2 in the morning and 1 after lunch, and possibly picking up some night classes with class 6 as well as forms 5 and 6 at the high school to prepare for their exams at the end of the year. I also found out that most of the things in my house had been bough on credit (the carpeti, connecting the electricity, the toilet) and there are still more things that need to be installed (a bathroom door, an indoor water tap, a fence) so the PTA is have a fundraiser next Friday called a conserti. To my surprise, I was told that I would ta’olunga (a traditional Tongan dance) in front of the whole town at this fundraiser to raise money for my house (they lather you in oil and people come up while you are dancing and stick money on you)…I will literally be dancing for the money to finish my house…haha, only in Tonga.

We then went to the school room, and while the kids played outside the teachers and the PC staff and I had ourselves a Tonga welcome feast- ifo ‘aupito! My neighbors made all the food, and the teachers made Tongan welcome and thank you speeches, and it was just such a warm welcome. While on this subject, my neighbors are amazing! The couple that lives next door to me are so kind- the husband is a teacher at the school and they have two small kids- a boy who is 4 and a little girl who is 1- they are both adorable. The other family lives kind of behind them and seem super nice as well. Not sure how many kids/ relatives live in the house, but everyone has been so nice and welcoming.

My neighbors showed me around the runway and airport last night, and we saw a bunch of plants that they pulled up from the bush and are going to plant around my house to make a yard. They are also redesigning the airport grounds, as some of those flower bushes are coming to my house as well! We then just sat outside for a few hours, talking and drinking coffee and playing with the kids and the dogs. It’s such a different feel in Koulo vs. Panagi, even though the distance isn’t that great. There’s just much more of a small community feel, and I’m loving it so far!

I feel so lucky- the community has been wonderful so far: really open and welcoming, and I think excited that I’m there. It’s such a 180 from how I was feeling a week ago today, and I really do think everything is going to be great in Koulo. This was the site I was initially supposed to be at, but then was pulled last minute because the house was not finished and there were some problems with the PTA and principal and power politics. But, there is a new principal now, and it seems like the PTA and school really came together and figured out a way to work with one another to get things done.

Thank you so much to all of you who sent messages and emails and comments of support. It’s so wonderful to know that I’m not alone, ever, and I appreciate it more than I can tell you. I am so happy with the changes that have been made, and I’m excited to start school on Monday.

Also, exciting news: I have a permanent address, so send out those letters you’ve been holding onto!:

Alicia Green, PCV
General Post Office
Pangai
Ha’apai
Kingdom of Tonga
South Pacific

The old address to the PC office in Nuku’alofa will still work as well, and might be a better address for packages to be sent to (hint hint…)

Alicia Green, PCV
Peace Corps
PO Box 147
Nuku’alofa
Kingdom of Tonga
South Pacific

I love you all so much, and I’m so happy with how everything is working out. I will be sure to let you know how my public embarrassment (ie dancing in front of the community) goes, and how everything turns out!