Last week was a pretty eventful one, as many of you saw via internet news sources. First, thank you to everyone who sent a concerned/worried/impressed email- I am completely fine, and I really appreciate that you were all thinking of me!
So this whole chain of events (at least from my perspective) started with a previously underwater volcano that decided, hmmm, life down here is getting pretty boring, I should probably stir things up. It is located between the island groups of Tongatapu and Ha’apai, although closer to Tongatapu, erupted at the beginning of last week, and from what I have heard, it was a pretty incredible sight. My first indication that something had happened was when no planes came into the airport all day on Tuesday. Since I live right next to the airport (literally, check google maps) I’ve become buddies with most of the airport employees. Usually our friendship extends primarily to yelling morning greetings over the roar of the airplane engines, but in the absence of any planes or work going on, I headed over to chat with some of the workers to see why things had come to a standstill. Most of the airport grounds workers speak only Tongan, but I was able to conclude that there was a reason the planes weren’t running, ie the problem wasn’t that they were all maumau (broken) as has happened frequently in the past. When no planes came in the following day either, I sought out another source of information, who told me that there had been a volcano in the ocean, and the radio news broadcast that morning confirmed this info…although I was still pretty shaky on where the volcano was and what, if any damage it had caused. Most people I talked to were either unaware of the volcano or wholly unconcerned, so I deduced there hadn’t been any casualties or damage, and decided to carry on as usual until the internet started working and I could check the news over the weekend.
However, on Thursday morning, I was woken up by a pretty rough and violent shaking. Looking up through my mosquito net, I could see the discs and mirror on my wall falling off, and my immediate thought was something like, “Ugh, I don’t have to be up for another hour.” followed by, “I hope my mirror doesn’t break- it’s from Nuku’alofa and I have no idea where I’ll find another one.” There are earthquakes from time to time in Tonga, it being a string of tiny islands in the middle of a very large ocean perched on several tectonic plates along the Tongan Trench, but this one was a bit larger than most and lasted for a good two minutes or so. Still, nothing much to worry about.
It wasn’t until later that morning when, listening to the radio over a cup of tea before school, I began to grow concerned. For the serious topics or things that are transmitted from other countries, the radio will be in English, at least for a little bit, and it was then I heard that a tsunami warning had been issued, I think from Hawaii. Crap- Ha’apai, in particular, is a very low-lying island group (the last storm we had washed out a huge chunk of the main road and several houses) and if a tsunami were to hit, we’d all be screwed. Actually screwed…well, probably more like dead, but you get the point. Apparently, the earthquake (or maybe the volcano) has set some events in motion, and things were not looking good. Thankfully, the warning was cancelled about 15 minutes after it was issued, a fact PC obviously missed, as they called later that morning to issue a ‘code white’ alert, which they then rescinded a few hours later.
In the end, we all came out completely fine, although slightly baffled as to how people half way around the world knew what was happening here before we did- one PCV here found out about the volcano from friends in California. I’m just hoping that the volcano is still acting up a bit, or at least smoking, when I fly over it on Monday on my way back to Nuku’alofa for In Service Training (IST) with PC…I’d hate to be so close to such an awesome phenomenon and not even get to see it!
Wednesday, March 25, 2009
Saturday, March 21, 2009
In Which I Ate Tongan Chicken…and Possibly Enjoyed It!
Greetings All! Well, it took some detective work and many persistent phone calls, but we finally figured out why out internet has been off for the past two weeks. Apparently, PC has neglected to pay the internet bill since last August, yes, August 2007, and so the Tongan owned TCC company finally got around to shutting off the connection. Now, while I do blame PC for failing to pay and failing to recognize they were not paying (for, you know, a year and a half), to be fair, the bills have been being sent to…well, we’re not actually sure where. Anyways, the debt has been paid, and once again, we have access to the wonderful world wide web.
After a morning of rain and hand-washing laundry, I headed into town last Saturday to pick up some supplies for myself and my neighbors and to stop by and visit with Kate and Bret. They had, through some miracle of fate, secured an avocado (holy crap- an item of produce that’s not a banana!) and we formed grand plans to eat said avocado together later that evening. As I had a few kilos of rapidly dethawing chicken in my backpack for my neighbors, I decided to bike home, drop off my purchases, and return to Pangai. However, when I arrived home, I astutely noticed that there were feather scattered all over my yard. Upon closer inspection, I deduced them to be chicken feathers and, walking around to the backyard, I saw a very dead, very naked chicken in a pot of boiling water over a coconut fire. My neighbor, Le’o, came over to me with a huge grin on his face.
A few weeks prior I had been talking to Le’o and Lupe and they asked me why I don’t eat meat- a very fair questions, especially in Tonga. I did my best to explain the environmental concerns I have with eating meat and the volume that is consumed, but really tried to focus in on my complaints with the meat industry in most first world countries. I told them how, most of the time, animals are kept in cages and squalid living conditions, and, to prevent illness, are given lots of chemicals, and how the food they are given is often full of chemicals as well. For these reasons, I explained, I stopped eating meat.
As Le’o came up to me, smiling, he started to tell me about how he’s been thinking a lot about our conversation about why I don’t eat meat, and how he agrees and thinks that my reasons are good ones. But, again stressing how much he’d been thinking about it, he’d found a solution: I could eat moa fakaTonga! Tongan chicken, namely the chickens that run around everywhere, is distinctly different from the chicken that is bought frozen at the Chinese shops, which is imported from NZ, and usually only eaten on special occasions or in times when there are no other options, though usually after all the neighborhood dogs have been finished up. Tongan chicken, he said, is not kept in cages- indeed they roam about where ever they please, even in my house- and aren’t given any chemicals, they are organic chickens (his phrase). They only eat coconut and grass, and none of this has any chemicals either. Therefore, I could happily eat meat again in Tonga!
I was so touched by how amazingly thoughtful and kind this gesture was: not only had he seriously listened to what I was saying before, but he thought about it and analyzed it, quite literally, and found a solution. The thought that maybe I wouldn’t want to eat meat never factored into this- after all, who wouldn’t want to eat meat!?- and it wasn’t anything I even mentioned. So, I sat down to a meal of Tongan chicken with my neighbors, and was pleasantly surprised. Once I got over the whole “crap I’m eating meat” thing, I realized it may have been the best chicken I’ve ever had. They are pretty active birds, but they eat a lot of coconut, high in saturated fat, and as a result the meat was incredibly moist and tender. And Le’o and Lupe were so happy that I enjoyed it, they want to kill a chicken every month or two to share with me. I just feel so lucky to have such kind neighbors, so willing to feed me and make me happy here.
In fact, just this week, my village has brought me the following foods to make sure I’m staying well fed and getting “sino lelei” (sino means both “body” and “fat”…obvi): octopus boiled in coconut milk, raw sea urchin, a fish head, and, my favorite, ota ika- raw fish “cooked” with lime juice in coconut milk. So, in conclusion, as added incentive for all of you to trek on out to the South Pacific, I can safely promise you many culinary experiences, including the best “free-range” chicken you’ve probably ever tasted!
After a morning of rain and hand-washing laundry, I headed into town last Saturday to pick up some supplies for myself and my neighbors and to stop by and visit with Kate and Bret. They had, through some miracle of fate, secured an avocado (holy crap- an item of produce that’s not a banana!) and we formed grand plans to eat said avocado together later that evening. As I had a few kilos of rapidly dethawing chicken in my backpack for my neighbors, I decided to bike home, drop off my purchases, and return to Pangai. However, when I arrived home, I astutely noticed that there were feather scattered all over my yard. Upon closer inspection, I deduced them to be chicken feathers and, walking around to the backyard, I saw a very dead, very naked chicken in a pot of boiling water over a coconut fire. My neighbor, Le’o, came over to me with a huge grin on his face.
A few weeks prior I had been talking to Le’o and Lupe and they asked me why I don’t eat meat- a very fair questions, especially in Tonga. I did my best to explain the environmental concerns I have with eating meat and the volume that is consumed, but really tried to focus in on my complaints with the meat industry in most first world countries. I told them how, most of the time, animals are kept in cages and squalid living conditions, and, to prevent illness, are given lots of chemicals, and how the food they are given is often full of chemicals as well. For these reasons, I explained, I stopped eating meat.
As Le’o came up to me, smiling, he started to tell me about how he’s been thinking a lot about our conversation about why I don’t eat meat, and how he agrees and thinks that my reasons are good ones. But, again stressing how much he’d been thinking about it, he’d found a solution: I could eat moa fakaTonga! Tongan chicken, namely the chickens that run around everywhere, is distinctly different from the chicken that is bought frozen at the Chinese shops, which is imported from NZ, and usually only eaten on special occasions or in times when there are no other options, though usually after all the neighborhood dogs have been finished up. Tongan chicken, he said, is not kept in cages- indeed they roam about where ever they please, even in my house- and aren’t given any chemicals, they are organic chickens (his phrase). They only eat coconut and grass, and none of this has any chemicals either. Therefore, I could happily eat meat again in Tonga!
I was so touched by how amazingly thoughtful and kind this gesture was: not only had he seriously listened to what I was saying before, but he thought about it and analyzed it, quite literally, and found a solution. The thought that maybe I wouldn’t want to eat meat never factored into this- after all, who wouldn’t want to eat meat!?- and it wasn’t anything I even mentioned. So, I sat down to a meal of Tongan chicken with my neighbors, and was pleasantly surprised. Once I got over the whole “crap I’m eating meat” thing, I realized it may have been the best chicken I’ve ever had. They are pretty active birds, but they eat a lot of coconut, high in saturated fat, and as a result the meat was incredibly moist and tender. And Le’o and Lupe were so happy that I enjoyed it, they want to kill a chicken every month or two to share with me. I just feel so lucky to have such kind neighbors, so willing to feed me and make me happy here.
In fact, just this week, my village has brought me the following foods to make sure I’m staying well fed and getting “sino lelei” (sino means both “body” and “fat”…obvi): octopus boiled in coconut milk, raw sea urchin, a fish head, and, my favorite, ota ika- raw fish “cooked” with lime juice in coconut milk. So, in conclusion, as added incentive for all of you to trek on out to the South Pacific, I can safely promise you many culinary experiences, including the best “free-range” chicken you’ve probably ever tasted!
Wednesday, March 11, 2009
Sports Day
For the past several weeks at school lessons have been concluding an hour early so that the kids could run around and “exercise” for the duration of the school day. Early last week I discovered there was an aim to this: practice and preparation for Sports Day. Sports day, in essence, is a glorified Field Day (everyone had that at school, right?) when for a whole day the students participate in mostly running events while their families come to watch. I discovered the particulars when I was asked last Tuesday to coach the Red Team, so for three days I lead half the school in warm up runs, stretching, jumping jacks (hilarious to watch 5 year olds try to do), tuck jumps, and anything and everything I could think of from my 18 years of playing sports. Adorbs.
There is a big emphasis in Tonga on speed, and the fastest kids are looked up to by everyone, but not so much on endurance. I found out it’s perfectly acceptable, mid race, to announce “Hela ia!” (“I’m tired!”) and sit down…typical. On Wednesday after school the class 5 and 6 boys had to stay late and, using a lawn mower, they helped Le’o create a circular track with five lanes around the entire school field and a shorter straight away through the center. It looked amazing when they were finished, and it actually worked really well!
Sports Day itself was on Friday, and I got up at sunrise (6am) to make some coconut milk and subsequently some curry for lunch to eat with my neighbors and who ever else wandered by. Every family comes to watch their kids compete, and everyone brings an inordinate amount of food to picnic around the school grounds after the big races have been run.
Each class competed against itself (red team vs. blue team- I was for team red and wore the t-shirt to prove it) with a boys race and a girls race- they ran short sprints and long(er) relays and there was even a sack race and mini obstacle course. Classes one and two were particularly adorable, especially in the sack race. Lots of cheering and trash talking took place in the early hours of competition, but as the day wore on, and the sun grew hotter, the two teams eventually melded into one under the shade of the giant tree in the school yard. I was the official "card hander outer", which meant that I stood at the finish line for each event and handed out the 1st, 2nd, and 3rd place cards for the kids to take to the scoring table, manned by the local fifekau, our guest of honor, so the results could be recorded…although I never figured out what the purpose of that was- each team got the same prizes at the end: candy and chips.
It was a wonderful, if exhausting, day, and I loved meeting all the families and seeing everyone come together to support their kids, even if they were the slowest one out there, or won by cheating horrendously (not so much of an issue here). But don’t worry, it’s not back to school in earnest yet…we’re still going to continue breaking 45 minutes early every day so the fast kids can practice for the island-wide sports day at the end of this month. All the school on Lifuka and Foa (the next island) have “try-outs” and their best athletes will compete at Ha’apai High School in Pangai on March 28th…I’ll keep you all posted on how Koulo fares!
There is a big emphasis in Tonga on speed, and the fastest kids are looked up to by everyone, but not so much on endurance. I found out it’s perfectly acceptable, mid race, to announce “Hela ia!” (“I’m tired!”) and sit down…typical. On Wednesday after school the class 5 and 6 boys had to stay late and, using a lawn mower, they helped Le’o create a circular track with five lanes around the entire school field and a shorter straight away through the center. It looked amazing when they were finished, and it actually worked really well!
Sports Day itself was on Friday, and I got up at sunrise (6am) to make some coconut milk and subsequently some curry for lunch to eat with my neighbors and who ever else wandered by. Every family comes to watch their kids compete, and everyone brings an inordinate amount of food to picnic around the school grounds after the big races have been run.
Each class competed against itself (red team vs. blue team- I was for team red and wore the t-shirt to prove it) with a boys race and a girls race- they ran short sprints and long(er) relays and there was even a sack race and mini obstacle course. Classes one and two were particularly adorable, especially in the sack race. Lots of cheering and trash talking took place in the early hours of competition, but as the day wore on, and the sun grew hotter, the two teams eventually melded into one under the shade of the giant tree in the school yard. I was the official "card hander outer", which meant that I stood at the finish line for each event and handed out the 1st, 2nd, and 3rd place cards for the kids to take to the scoring table, manned by the local fifekau, our guest of honor, so the results could be recorded…although I never figured out what the purpose of that was- each team got the same prizes at the end: candy and chips.
It was a wonderful, if exhausting, day, and I loved meeting all the families and seeing everyone come together to support their kids, even if they were the slowest one out there, or won by cheating horrendously (not so much of an issue here). But don’t worry, it’s not back to school in earnest yet…we’re still going to continue breaking 45 minutes early every day so the fast kids can practice for the island-wide sports day at the end of this month. All the school on Lifuka and Foa (the next island) have “try-outs” and their best athletes will compete at Ha’apai High School in Pangai on March 28th…I’ll keep you all posted on how Koulo fares!
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