Saturday, September 26, 2009

My Bed Saga

My back has been hurting ever since I moved into my house in February. Personally, I think it has a lot to do with my bed, which was a metal frame with wire fencing in the middle. I started sleeping on the floor, but that just made my hips hurt. When Thom came to visit I brought over an air mattress from the Peace Corps office, and after he left, I put that on top of my bed. I had been talking with the medical officer of PC since May, trying to get a mattress, and finally, this week, they sent a foam pad on the boat. Happily, my neighbors also found an extra wooden bed in the house of one of their family members, and I was very excited about the possibility of a combination of the two. The boat, the Pulupaki (which is the only one we have now since the Princess Ashika sank, and this one boat system has resulted in severe food shortages, shipping delays, and painfully slow mail delivery) was spotted pulling into Pangai around 10:30, and at 11 I was at the wharf with Lupe and another woman from my village who has a truck to get my new mattress pad (fakamolu- to make soft) and then go to the village of Hihifo to pick up the bed.

The boat started to unload, and we waited. Some days the Pulupaki and her crew and quite efficient at unloading, but this time that was not the case. There’s a small hut on the wharf where tickets are sold and you can get receipts for items that are on the ship, usually with the container number. The hut was packed with Tongans, and frankly, there’s no such thing as a line in Tonga. Everyone crowds around yelling and pushing, and there’s no order or reason. After 30 minutes, I finally got up to the front of the window, but had to try and yell my name over people screaming behind me in very loud and fast Tongan. Eventually I was told there was no ticket for my item, and I called PC who told me that they did put it on the boat and there should be a ticket. I’d been near the hut for almost an hour, and decided to look around the wharf to see if it’d been unloaded yet, since if something is unloaded, it’s pretty much fair game, and, as a result, packages are mixed up sometimes. It had already been an hour and a half, and the truck that drove me had to get back to Koulo. They told me they would go pick up the bed in Hihifo and that someone else from my village would come by later.

I waited for a while longer and then decided to go back to the “office” and ask them to check the receipts again. This time, after only a 15 minute wait, I got to the front and they found my receipt. But, instead of a container number, it said “c/o Pasifiki” at the top. I asked around for a while, and finally found out that Pasifiki was a person who possibly worked on the Pulupaki and that I had to find him to get my stuff. I finally ran down one of the boys who worked on the boat, but he told me my fakamolu was on the top and I would have to wait until the boat turned around to get it (the boat had turned to back into the wharf so the forklift could drive in and unload the containers). Meanwhile, all around me was chaos. People were climbing all over the boat trying to get on or off of find things. Men on the deck were trying a rope around whatever was on board, pigs, root crops, cases of beer for the bar, and throwing it down to boys who were waiting on the gangplank, dodging the forklifts backing out with huge metal containers containing foodstuffs, cars, and cows, while people were climbing on the forklifts to get up on the ship. Chaos. I realized that all the Tongans who were supposed to have to wait for things until the ship turned were getting boys to climb up and throw stuff down, but as a palangi every time I tried to break into the Tongan system, I was shot down.

I decided to just give up and wait it out, and sat down on the wharf. Soon, a Tongan boy and girl who were about my age came over and started to talk with me. They were actually pretty funny, and spoke really good English, which only meant one thing- they were Mormon. They had both been to America and done their mission work in the Philippines, and kept switching from English to Tongan to “Filipaini” which was quite impressive. The boy told me all about his girl problems and his American girlfriend and the girl kept trying to get me to help him realize that since this girl loves him he should love her too. They were very interested to hear about my boyfriend and kept asking what the “American way” to deal with certain relationship situations would be. Both of them wanted to return to American to go to Brigham Young University in Utah or Hawai’i where there are apparently already a lot of Tongans at, and I really hope they are able to. As much as I hate the Mormons and missionaries, Tonga has me feeling pretty conflicted. One the one hand, the church brainwashes people and makes them ashamed of their traditional culture, but on the other hand it provides a lot of scholarship and opportunities to travel that wouldn’t be available otherwise. I don’t know.

Anyways, I’d been at the wharf for about three and a half hours when the person for my village who was going to give me a ride pulled up. I told him I was still waiting and he pointed to the back of his truck where there was a huge dead pig with a gunshot wound through its head that was bleeding freely. He explained that there was a church feast the next day and that he had to go bring the pig back. I told him I would find a ride back, and was very ok with the fact that I would not be riding home next to a dead bleeding pig. I made the rounds of the wharf and chatted with some people I knew. I was very hot and tired and made the mistake of buying a soda, which meant I had to go back and buy sodas for everyone I was talking with at the time, and then go back and switch two colas for orange sodas because I forgot that Mormons don’t drink caffeine.

I had almost given up hope when I saw three teenage girls flirting with some of the boys who worked on the boat and heard the name “Pasifiki”. Immediately, I ran over and stood with them, telling them I was looking for Pasifiki too. After about 15 minutes of very witty and clever remarks by the boys, we found out the Pasifiki wasn’t actually on the ship- he had stayed in Nuku’alofa. Fortunately, the young girls I was with were dressed in a very western style (which made me think they’d want to impress the palangi) and once I told them I was fiu ’e tali (full of waiting) they started yelling at the boys and telling them to go find the stuff or they would kill them (typical Tongan joking). (Brett likes to tell his kids he will hit them until the poop rainbows, which they find absolutely hysterical. I just don’t get it.) After a while he brought their box down and I started yelling at him to bring mine too. Somehow it worked and, at 3:30, four and a half hours later, I finally got my mattress pad. I walked around the shops, which were packed with people stocking up on things that were unloaded before it ran out and found some people from my village, who said they’d give me a ride, and an hour later, we left town and I finally got home with my new bed and mattress (and my first Tongan sunburn)!

The funny thing is that no one thought it was strange that I spent my whole day waiting for something off the boat. Here, things happen when they happen, and you’re probably going to have to wait. So yes, the rumors you’ve heard about island time are true. Please me kind to me when I come back home…I fear ‘Alicia time’ may need to be pushed back an hour or two.

Thursday, September 24, 2009

Cat versus Rat

I’ve had a rat in my house for almost a month now, and we’re officially at war. He has eaten my flour, my sugar, chewed through the handle of a pan, eaten the tomatoes from my garden that are on my windows to ripen in the sun, and eaten granola that that was sent to me- low blow. In retaliation, I bought another large plastic container to store food, started doing dishes the second I finished eating, and transferred all my baking supplies to empty peanut butter jars. Still, he lingered, and that’s when I decided drastic measures needed to be taken.

That night, I went next door and returned with my neighbor’s cat. Now, this cat usually comes around during the day, starved for affection, and annoying follows me everywhere trying to rub up on my legs, usually as I’m walking and carrying something heavy. But at night she always returns to sleep next door. I figured if I locked her in at night when the rat is most active, she’d be able to kill him, eat him, and that would be that. What I didn’t count on was the fact that this may be the most annoying cat that ever lived. She spent the first hour I was trying to sleep jumping up on my in bed and trying to get attention. Then, when I threw her into the living room and shut my bedroom door she cried outside that door for the next hour (she’s persistent, I’ll give her that). At last, I heard her climb up into the roof, and I figured she’d be fine.

I was woken up the next morning at 6 o’clock because my neighbor, Fotu, a charming and loquacious four-year old, had fallen down and cut his chin and his parents, instead of cleaning his face, decided to send them to me. I washed his cut with soap (they didn’t have any), put some antibacterial cream on it, gave him a band-aid, and sent him home. The cat had watched all of this before running off into the kitchen, and I hoped she had gotten a whiff of rat and was going to finish him off.

I decided to go back to bed for another hour, and woke up at my usual time of 7:30 when the kids start showing up for school. I went into the kitchen and started boiling some water for tea when I saw the cat trapped splayed out in the window. The windows on my house, and on most Tongan buildings, are made up of panes of glass fitted vertically into holders. When you open the window the panes are vertical, and when you close then the planes are turned up horizontally. At first glance I thought the cat was dead, but as I walked closer, she started to mew. I have mosquito netting outside my windows, and she was stuck between the net and the glass. I tried to pry the window open, but the bottom of the window was clogged up by the tomatoes that had been sitting there to ripen. The glass itself was covered in cat fur and tomatoes, and I don’t know if I’ve ever seen an animal looking that pitiful. It was also pretty funny.

I went next door to ask Le’o for help, and finally we were able to pop one of the panes of glass out, freeing the cat. I have never seen an animal run away from something so quickly. I started cleaning up the smashed tomatoes and I realized that, along with the claw marks from the cats, there were bit marks on some of the tomatoes. The rat had been sitting on the window eating tomatoes and the cat had jumped up to try and get him and her weight had been too much, causing her to be trapped in the window and outsmarted by a rat.

I’ve yet to see signs of either rat or cat in my house for the past few days. It’s possible that they are both traumatized, a symptom I’ve seen more here in animals than anywhere else. (Case in point, Kate and Brett’s dog (sort of), Simba, was missing for a few days while we were in ‘Uoleva. Their neighbor found him eventually inside a water tank which, thankfully, was empty. How/why he was in here, no one knows, but now he spends most of his time hiding under furniture inside Kate and Brett’s house. It’s very sad.) With any luck, the rat will stay away until I can convince the cat to come back inside my house.

Wednesday, September 23, 2009

Hiko Veve (Rubbish Clean-up)/ OMG, I Really Am My Father’s Daughter

On Saturday Brian and Sabina held a trash pick-up event at the wharf as part of International Cleanup Day. It was an event sponsored by a group called Project AWARE, which, I think, is made up of divers who work to conserve aquatic environments. All of the Peace Corps and Japanese volunteers in town came out and we spent the morning cleaning the area from the “old wharf” to the wharf, probably about a mile long. Armed with gloves and giant trash bags we all headed out to different areas and started picking up trash.

Since it was Saturday morning, everyone was in town and at the market, which is right across from the area we were cleaning and lots of people saw us. A few made fun of us (yes, teenage boys are jerks in every culture), more thanked us (“Malo e hiko veve!”) and a couple children and women even joined in and helped us. The amount of trash we found was appalling. Since it had rained pretty heavily for the days preceding, all of the garbage was soaked, which made some of it, especially the dirty diapers, downright disgusting. It was also interesting to see what the most common pieces of rubbish were- I’d have to go ahead and guess that bags from chips, candy wrappers, and ramen noodle wrappers made up a majority of the trash we collected. Areas that were overgrown with bushes hid more trash than we could have imagined, as did crevices between rocks on the wharf. The wharf itself was filthy, and none of it was hidden- people just throw all their rubbish on the ground when getting on and off of boat, and cargo boats usually just leave their packing containers there.

It took us all about 3 and a half hours to cover all the ground, and we finally had to stop because we ran out of bags to put the trash in. Our final count was about 40 bags of rubbish, which all the trash collectors posed with outside the dive shop under a banner promoting the event. Brian handed out certificates and stickers to everyone who helped (the kids and women loved this- in Tonga it’s just not an event without a certificate) and we all relaxed for a bit before heading home.

We got to talking about how frustrating it is to see all the trash around and to have so many people oblivious and apathetic to the problems that rubbish can cause, and it made me think of my father. Tim has spent the past 10 years or so walking the lake in my home town in Massachusetts picking up trash. In America, I’d say our education system is pretty good: everyone, at the very least, knows it’s bad to throw rubbish on the ground or in the lake. Still, he always comes home having picked up buckets of trash. He’s received awards from the town and the community always thanks him, yet hardly anyone goes out and helps. And yes, in high school my brother, sister, and I were routinely mortified when several times a day students and teachers would come up to us to tell us they had seen our father, yet again, picking up trash. Now, we realize what a wonderful thing he’s doing, but it really makes me wonder how, in Tonga, where awareness is nowhere near the level it is in America, how to make people care when even Americans don’t. It just goes to show that rubbish disposal and sustainable living are really global issues.

Still, there’s a representative of a non-profit called Costal Clean-Up in Pangai right now, and she’s organizing a big island-wide trash pick-up day in October. All of the school and youth are involved, and I’m really hoping this makes an impact and the kids start to understand the importance of rubbish disposal. I’ll keep you all posted.

Monday, September 21, 2009

Uoleva ‘Eva

As last week was school vacation (our last one this year) Kate, Brett, Sarah, and I decided to go to Uoleva for a few days of palangi beach time in our bathing suits and a short break from Tongan life. Since this had already been an expensive month with whale watching and a few birthday parties we decided an economical excursion was in order: we would hitch a ride with a Tongan fishing boat going to Uiha, a nearby island, camp in tents, and cook all our food over an open coconut fire so we wouldn’t have to pay to use the kitchen at the guesthouse we would camp at. We made massive preparations, stocked up on food, and even bought some beer to keep in a cooler bag for an evening around the campfire.

Kate and Brett’s neighbor told us that there would be some Tongan boat leaving around 10 or 11am Wednesday morning, after a church concert the previous night, and that we should be ready to go by then. We all headed into town early, did our shopping and final packing and were ready to go around 10:30. Unfortunately, we forgot about Tongan time. Sometime close to 1 o’clock their neighbor and his family pulled up and told us they had to run and errand but they would be back very quickly and then we would go. We waited and waited and finally, close to 5 o’clock, they pulled up screaming at us to hurry and that we had to go right now. Yes, after 6 hours of waiting, all of a sudden we were the ones slowing them down! We went down to the old wharf, which isn’t actually a wharf anymore, just some rocks between the ocean and the land, and loaded onto a Tongan boat. There were several of them leaving for Uiha at the same time, and they all tried to race one another, shouting joking insults to boats with slower engines or more people.

Luckily we got to Uoleva before the sunset and had just enough time to set up our tents and gather wood for a fire. We made a wonderful dinner of roasted hot dogs and fish, vegetable skewers, and corn and potatoes roasted in the fire. Kate’s parents had even sent over marshmallows, which we toasted as a delicious dessert. Some friends of Brian and Sabina’s were out there as well, and they and a French couple came and sat with us around the fire. All was going well, until we felt the first rain drops, which forced us back to our tents.

The next day it just rained. It was cold and gray and yes, rainy. Somehow we managed to cook pancakes over a small fire before it got too wet, and we finished just in time. We sat out a bit and talked, and spent the day reading in our tents and coming out when it was just drizzling. It finally let up around 5, and we gathered what dry and damp wood and coconuts we could find and made another fire. Since it was still drizzling we decided to forego our dinner plans, and just made sandwiches. A few people joined us around the fire again, but once again our plans were spoiled by the rain.

It poured all night, and in the morning, wet and tired, we decided we should probably just concede defeat and head back. It was too wet to start a fire for breakfast so we snacked on some cookies while we waiting on the beach to flag down a Tongan boat to take us back to Pangai. However, it was very cold and windy on the beach, which meant boats were most likely waiting for the weather to calm down a bit before heading to town, which meant we were stranded. Luckily, a boat had been arranged to bring a couple back who were staying at the guest house and we hopped on with them, although we were disappointed because when you go as a tourist it’s pretty expensive.

Still, we were happy to be heading back and all looking forward to some hot tea/coffee and a shower, and the boat ride was fairly uneventful until we saw the Tongan man driving the boat pull out a bag and try to open it. He struggled for a few minutes, trying to open the bag while steering through the reef, and just when we realized the bag was moving he reached in, pulled out a cat, and threw it overboard. We were stunned. I got fairly upset and started asking in Tongan, “Why did you do that? Just why!?” The man told us that the cat had eaten food, and that was it. We spent the rest of the ride shocked and wondering why, if they wanted to kill the cat they didn’t just kill it with a knife, like they do with the pigs, or leave it on the deserted island we were on. Went the cat disappeared from our site it was swimming toward the island, and I really hope it made it to shore.

In the end, despite the rain, it was nice to get away for a few days. But, I realized, even if I can live hear without making giant faux pas, I will never truly understand this culture.

Sunday, September 20, 2009

Yes, a Small Tongan Child Broke My Foot with a Cement Block

Two Thursdays ago, the week before school vacation, I was working in the garden with the students, since no school was happening and we need to do some serious maintenance before we replow for the summer planting season. I had specifically assigned certain tasks to certain classes, since I did not want 5 year olds wielding machetes and other such things. However, some of the students got a little overexcited and, in their quest to help me, undertook tasks that may have better been left to older, stronger students.

Since we’ve been having a pig problem we decided to reinforce parts of the fence with cement cinder blocks, which the class 6 students were helping me to carry over. One class three student decided this looked like fun, despite the fact that the brick probably weights more than he does. He missed the instructions of what we were actually doing with the blocks, and walked over to my house, where I had gone in to get some string, to ask. When I came outside he was resting the block on the gate of my fence, and I was in the process of telling him to put it down when he decided to pick it up again, and promptly dropped it on my foot. It hurt. A whole lot. I didn’t want to tell any of the teachers how it happened because I knew the child would get hit, and I tried to express that it wasn’t a bit deal, just an accident, but Tongan children are big tattletales, and the poor boy was punished Tongan style.

For the next two days I hobbled around, stopping to sit on the ground with my foot up on whatever I could find, icing it with the frozen soup and fish out of my freezer. True, I was probably up and about a bit more than I should have been, but sitting alone inside my house all day is very boring and I discovered it is possible to ride a bicycle with only one foot, although it’s a bit slow. I also realized that if there’s a place to hurt your foot, this might be it, as no one judges you for not wearing footwear when you go out (my foot was too swollen)- in fact, most people don’t regardless of any medical conditions.

Almost a week later the foot was still hurting quite a bit and pretty swollen, not to mention a lovely green color, so I decided to go to the hospital. I talked briefly to a nurse who told me it’s probably fractured, but that the x-ray machine was still broken (obviously) so they couldn’t check. She offered me some children’s tylenol, which is all the hospital carries, and when I told her I had some pain killers at home she handed me a bag of antibiotics. I asked her if she thought that it was infected, and she said no, that it’s probably broken. I then told her that I didn’t want to take the antibiotics since there wasn’t an infection. I don’t think she liked this show of independent decision making, and she made it clear that there wasn’t anything to do if I wouldn’t take their pills, so I decided to make an oh-so-graceful exit.

As of now, the foot is still sore, but it’s getting better. The swelling is down, and I can put weight on it. If it’s not better by next week I’ll give in and fly to Nuku’alofa to see the doctor and x-ray machine there. In the meantime, I am actively avoiding children carrying heavy objects and keeping my eyes peeled for rogue cinder blocks.

Sunday, September 6, 2009

Whale Watching

Yesterday, Brian and Sabina organized a special discounted Peace Corps/ JYCA whale watching day. Tonga is a great place to see whales (mostly humpback and pilot) in the spring as they are migrating south with their new calves, and I was so excited to spend a day on the boat and see the whales up close! In Tongan you’re allowed to swim in the water with the whales, provided you observe certain guidelines and are going out with a licensed operator, so before we got to the boat we met at the dive shop and got fitted up in wet suits and snorkel gear. Sadly, all of the old Japanese volunteers are leaving (2 in the next week, and the third in November), and were all busy packing and preparing, but a new volunteer, Koitchi (I definitely spelt that wrong- sorry!) just arrived and he joined up on our trip.

We, Brian, Sabina, Kate, Brett, Phil, Sarah, Koitchi, and I, pulled out of the wharf and almost immediately spotted a mother humpback whale and her baby. We followed them for a while until it looked like we could get in with them. All of the girls jumped in and we started swimming toward the whales, but the mother was a bit skittish and they started swimming away. Looking above the surface of the water we could see their backs and dorsal fins when they lifted them out of the water, and there were just beautiful. Beautiful and ridiculously large. Clearly, we were no match for them once they started swimming, and they quickly got out of range, so we jumped back in the boat and started following them again. We went in two more times until finally we were able to see them briefly under water, before they swam away. It was amazing.

Koitchi and Brian brought their fishing rods with them, and as we set off to try to find more whales who might want to play they started trolling their lines. After a while, Koitchi caught a huge beautiful red grouper, which Brian clubbed to death with a hammer, and it was then we decided to stop for lunch. Since we were fishing as well as whale watching we didn’t have time to land on one of the small islands to eat, so we just set everything up in the boat. Sabina had made a pasta salad, Kate and Brett and Phil had all brought cookies, and Koitchi cut up part of the fish for us to eat raw with some soy sauce.

We kept an eye out for whales the rest of the day, but didn’t spot any more. We did stop a few times to listen to them though. Brian has a special microphone that you can put underwater and it picks up the whales’ songs. We sat still for a good while just listening, and for me, that was the best part of the day. Definitely a huge perk, living in the middle of the ocean, and I hope I can spot a few offshore in the next month while they are still around.

Friday, September 4, 2009

Naval Conclusion: Part VII

All in all, the naval aid mission to Tonga was, I think, a great success. The schools got a lot of structural help, and the workshops that were run really seemed to help some of the ministries and organizations in Pangai. Everyone still talks about the events and when the soldiers were here, although quite a few women in my village are very disappointed that daughters didn’t marry any of the single American soldiers. It was a really fun few weeks, and I’m glad I got to be here in Tonga while this all happened!

Farewell Dinner: Part VI

At the ceremony, Phil gave me some exciting news. There was to be a formal farewell dinner for the naval officers and ranking members of the Pacific Partnership that evening at Ha’apai High with the Prime Minister of Tonga and other important ministry heads, and they had invited two Peace Corps to attend. Since Grant and Phil were in their second year, they received official invitations. However, Grant was still out on his island and wouldn’t be coming into Lifuka, so Phil passed on the invitation to me. The PR officer heard about this, and then invited Kate and Brett as well so that all the PC in Lifuka would be able to go together, so that evening we all headed up to the high school, unsure of what the evening would entail.

Initially, it was a bit awkward. The Prime Minister’s office had organized the whole event, and they intended it to be a very formal and official dinner. They had assigned seating and guest lists (we had to show our invitations at the door to be let in), and, as luck would have it, Phil, Brett, and Kate were all at one table, and I was at another. However, when taking into account decorum for the evening, they didn’t factor in the open “bar” that the navy took their own initiative in providing. True, it was just regional beer and wine, but sailors, even military ones, even commanding officers, can drink. The dinner itself was delicious, and the prime ministers office did a great job of combining local Tongan feast food (roast pig, root crop, raw fish) and Americanizing locally available foods (lobster bisque, lobster in butter sauce, bread (!), salads) and the high school provided dancing throughout the meal, which the boys doing traditional war dances and the girls doing some remarkably graceful tauo’lunga. I was seated next to the minister of cultural affairs, across from one of the civilian dentists I had met while translating at the hospital, and next to an officer who actually went to GW, a fact that grew more and more amusing as our wine glasses continued to be refilled. Throughout the meal groups of Tongans began to gather outside and look through the windows until, at the time we left, the crowd was at least 10 people deep around the whole building. Everyone was talking and mingling and having a good time until disaster struck: there was no more beer left. Some members of the US navy even crawled under the table that served as the bar and dug through the trash trying to find more to drink, but to no avail. That’s when we decided to move the party over to Mariner’s.

Somehow all the Peace Corps and a few soldiers got a ride in one of the buses the navy had brought for transport the two block to Mariner’s CafĂ© where the crowd was absurd. Soldiers were spilling out onto the street and everyone was drunk- I felt like I was back home! We all had a fun night talking with American, Australian, and New Zealander navies and the Japanese volunteers who live here, and various soldiers kept buying us drinks. Some Tongans even made a little dance club-ish area by setting up a hut of coconut leaves down by the wharf where a lot of Tongan youth joined the soldiers in drinking and dancing. To date, it’s still the only time we’ve really been “out on the town” so to speak, and it was great just having other Westerners around to talk and joke with.

School Time: Water Tanks, Painting, and, of course, a Celebration: Part V

The navy drew up different projects for each of the primary schools they worked on. They rebuilt and repainted GPS Pangai and GPS Faleloa, and worked on the toilets at some of the schools. At GPS Koulo, they gave us water tanks! Up until now, we’d been having a serious water-supply issue. All of the tanks at the school were broken, and there was no where for the kids to get water to drink or wash in or to flush the toilets when the piped water supply was out, which is fairly often. My sema vai (cement water tank) had been broken as well, but when a few members of the navy came in April to do reconnaissance and found out “an American citizen is living without water” they fixed it then, for which I am still profoundly grateful.

The soldiers came to my school armed with 3 brand new giant green plastic tanks, and spent the day digging holes and laying a cement block foundation for the tanks, setting them up, and reinstalling gutters on the school and the houses in the compound, including mine. The gutters are important because the rain goes off the roof into the gutters which run through pipes into the water tank. They also played a bit with the kids, who followed them around standing inches away, if that, and were completely star stuck. (For the next month every boy in my school played ‘American soldier’ at every opportunity: before school, during recess, after school, during school, all running around armed with sticks, making machine gun noises, and shouting out any English words they knew, primarily “Dead!” and “Winner!”.)

The next day I ran into one of the officers in town, and he told me there was some extra paint from painting the other schools and he told me they would be happy to come and paint GPS Koulo provided people from the village came to help. I called my principal and the town officer, and the next morning a few soldiers showed up with a huge supply of paint, brushes, and rollers and, with the help of most of the fathers of students at the school, painted our sad little school a very bright white with red trim, to match the uniforms of the students. While all the fathers worked, the mothers set to preparing a huge lunch for the soldiers (and the Tongan men, who ate afterwards and were a bit peeved to discover they couldn’t nap after eating, but had to get back to work). I walked around with my camera and the men and students alike would literally sprint across the school yard in order to pose with the soldiers or with the paint supplies. When they were finished, the school looked wonderful, just in time for the following day’s thank you ceremony!

Phil came that same day and helped us set up a schedule for Koulo and Holopeka’s thank you celebration for the navy. With his help we convinced my teachers that I shouldn’t dance again as one of the entertainment items, that yes, all the students should bring gifts, and no, we shouldn’t use this as an opportunity to tell them how poor Tongans are and list all the problems that we have that the navy should stay and fix. (Apparently it’s very Tongan to keep asking for more once you get something, and at other school’s teachers had actually made speeches not thanking the naval officers for coming but requesting more money/wok/materials and saying they hadn’t done enough…sometimes different cultures just clash on certain issues, and I wanted to make sure this didn’t happen in Koulo.) It wasn’t easy, but in the end, we thought we’d made our point. Phil told us what other schools had done, and we stuck to their schedule: opening speeches, entertainment numbers by the kids, thank you speeches, gift presentation, etc. My teachers obviously wanted me to emcee the event and make all the speeches, but with Phil’s help we convinced them that the soldiers would rather hear from the Tongans themselves, since that is who they came to help.

In the end Le’o, my neighbor and class 6 teacher, was elected to be the emcee and give the thank you speech and Viliami, the class 5 teacher, would give the welcome speech. My principal had to be forced to receive the donations from the navy and just say thank you. Le’o and Viliami asked if I would write the speeches for them, and I told them I would not, but that I would help them if they wanted to come to my house that night. In true Tongan fashion, when they showed up, they asked where the speech that I had written for them was, and were astounded to find that I actually didn’t write it for them. (This happens all the time with a few high school girls and girls taking classes at the USP (University of the South Pacific) branch in Pangai I help with English assignment.) So, we sat down and together wrote the speeches. I did have to do a bit of editing, namely convincing them to just say thank you and not ask for more, but all in all, they did a wonderful job and came up with some very kind things to say.

The next day, preparations started around 5 am. Parents arrived and mowed the grass and set up tents and benches on the school yard. I was barricaded in my kitchen having been asked to make 15 cakes the night before (I settled on carrot cake, banana bread/cake, and ‘chocolate’ cake) and pizzas so that the soldiers could have some American food at the lunch, which we set up buffet style under the awning outside one of the school room buildings.

The soldiers arrived around 10 o’clock, and the program started. The whole school performed a dance, and some of the girls did a special tauo’lunga dance, and everyone looked adorable in their costumes. Le’o and Viliami, despite being nervous to speak in English gave wonderful speeches (I was so proud!) and my principal, Manusiu, had to be pulled out from the crowd to accept the navy’s gifts of soccer balls, mini Frisbees, and school supplies. The families also really outdid themselves with gifts for the soldiers, and brought all sorts of Tongan handicrafts. The naval brass band was there, and between each item in the program they played songs, which all the kids ran up and danced to. Some of the older women, who love to clown and get a laugh, were being particularly bold and kept trying to escort embarrassed soldiers away so they could flirt with them and kept pulling the commanding officer up to dance. The soldiers were great sports about all of it, and the kids had a blast.

Right before we were going to eat the lunch, we heard a loud noise from the sky, and the kids went crazy. The navy had a few helicopters on board the ship and at each school visit they landed the helicopter for the kids. Since my school is right next to the airport and our yard is pretty small, they landed the helicopter right off of the runways, and we walked the kids around on the main road, while their parents jumped fences and climbed through bushes to get there faster. The helicopter crew was a riot, just what you’d expect helicopter pilots to be, and everyone loved them. They let all the kids climb into the cockpit and sit in the pilot’s seat, and each one of them wanted their picture taken (I think I have photos of about half the school sitting in the helicopter). Once the students had all been though the parents climbed in, and they seemed even more excited than their children. They’ve all apparently seen ‘Top Gun’ (which I still haven’t) and the men all wanted to exact flying maneuvers and war scenes. A surprising number had the same idea to yell into the radio “Mayday!” while everyone else looked on and laughed.

After everyone had a turn, we went back to the school yard where we ate and then wrapped up the ceremony with songs from the DJ and the brass band and lots of dancing. It was a wonderfully fun day, and I haven’t seen the students so excited before or since. I just hope the boys will lay off the soldier game; I’m a little tired of being ambushed every time I go out of the back of my house to get water.

Ship Tour: Our Time on American Territory: Part IV

On July 17th, a Saturday, the public relations officer of the mission invited all the Peace Corps volunteers on a guided tour of the ship, the USNS Richard E. Byrd. Like every naval vessel, the ship is technically considered sovereign U.S. territory, so for a few hours that afternoon we were back home, a fact we found rather funny that also made us a bit homesick.We were taken out to where the ship was anchored (I think it was a few miles offshore) and when we finally pulled up next to the ship, we were shocked at how huge it actually was. The first thing we saw, after we climbed up the world’s narrowest flight of stairs to the level right below the deck, were lines of heavy machinery (think bobcats and whatnot) taking up a tiny portion of the storage space, which gave us an idea of just how large this boat was. We were given our tour by a very cool member of the non-naval crew (we later found out that most of the actual ship’s crew weren’t members of the military) who showed us around and kept us from getting lost. We got to see the top decks, the steering and control room, play with the giant binoculars on the deck, visit the engine room, and roam the halls. Highlights definitely included the water bubblers that were on every floor of the ship, climbing flights of stairs for the first time since October, seeing the cafeteria, finding out there were televisions in every lounge that somehow were able to get American TV and catching a glimpse of a live MLB game (!), walking by an ammunitions storeroom and seeing a crew member unloading cases of Budweiser (since this was a humanitarian mission the ship didn’t carry any weapons, and the soldiers used that extra space to store the beer they brought with them from America since on previous occasions they had drank small island nations out of beer- we also learned that there was a naval party planning committee of sorts onboard that organized the purchase of said beer and other fun things), and, finally, the ship store. It was packed with all sorts of processed food (soda, chips, dips, cheese sticks) that I would have avoided back home, but suddenly found irresistibly appealing. The ship only took American cash, which sadly I had none of, but people were kind and lent me enough to buy some goldfish and a Klondike bar…heaven! We went crazy in there, and certain individuals practically bought out the store- it was wonderful. I never thought that being inside a mini 7-11 would make me miss home, but there you go. It was definitely a bit tough to get back on the small boat and go back to Pangai, but we all went to Mariner’s afterward and consoled ourselves over beers and chips and salsa from the ship’s store.

Dentists and Translations, Nutrition Classes, and Veterinarians: Part III

After the welcome ceremony was officially over, I stayed around to help clean up and pack away mats. The assistant governor asked me to come help translate at the hospital, so I went to a meeting at the governor’s office first, and then down to the hospital for about 4 hours that afternoon with one of the teachers from my school and helped some dentists explain things in Tongan. I now know all sorts of handy words like cavity (literally, 'little hole'), decay, brush your teeth, important, filling, drill, and dentures- pretty cool, I know.

I went back to help translate for a few hours after school for the rest of the week, and it was really shocking to see the state of teeth in Tonga. Most of the problems people came in with were as a result of rotting teeth, everyone from older men and women to little children. Some of the elder women didn’t even know what a toothbrush was, which was a bit disheartening, but all of the kids did- Tonga has a tooth brushing program at all of the primary schools, and it seems to be doing a good job at installing basic dental hygiene. Since the navy wasn’t able to bring all of its’ equipment for any of the projects (they had to downsize to a smaller ship because the one they were planning on bringing had a case of swine flu and public relations issues arose) and there were only a few dentists for the entire population of Ha’apai most teeth were simply pulled if the cavity was too large or they needed a root canal. They also did special fluoride treatments for the children, which terrified them for some reason (I think it may have been because they were told they couldn’t eat sugar for the rest of the day after: no lollies, no soda, no ice cream…scary stuff).

I biked to the hospital every day after school for the first week the navy was here to help with translation, but by the second week there were enough people in the community coming to see the doctors who knew basic English and could help out, which was good because I was able to go and sit in on some basic nutrition and food sanitation classes that were run in the MAFFF (Ministry of Agriculture, Food, Forestry, and Fisheries) office that Kate works in. Those sessions were really interesting because they had some good information and statistics, especially concerning food and the major health problems in Tonga, heart disease and diabetes, and because some women from local women’s groups attended and it was really helpful to watch their reactions to information and hear their questions. Kate and I really enjoyed the information they gave out, but we did realize that a lot of the basic health solutions which are taken for granted in America aren’t as easy in Tonga for economic and cultural reasons. For example, most families here on the main island do not have refrigerators, and those who do just have deep freezers, so saving leftovers in the refrigerator to prevent bacteria growth isn’t feasible most of the time. And, our island has electricity most of the time. Many of the outer islands in Ha’apai don’t have electricity at all, or only for a few hours at night when they turn on a generator so the men at kava can watch rugby. Also, when cooking for a kai pola (feast) most of the food preparation is done the night before, as there is no way you can cook for 30 people (at minimum) the day of an event- everyone is up all night the night before as it is. Still, it gave us a lot to think about, and gave me some great facts that I’m trying to use for my nutrition classes at school, and the soldiers who ran the session were so nice and really fun. They even snuck us American food off the ship in their backpacks: bagels, cream cheese, and cereal!

There were also two teams of veterinarians at MAFFF, one who made visits to different villages to look at sick pigs, horses, cows, and goats (most had parasites), and one who stayed at the office and spayed and neutered dogs. Apparently on other pacific islands, especially Samoa, Fiji, and Kiribati, they have a huge problem with the number of stray dogs, and their neutering services were very much in demand. Here in Tonga, we don’t really have a problem with dogs- they all “belong” to someone and tend to stay around their turf. Some are definitely underfed and malnourished, but they still are a certain family’s dog. Tongans also love puppies (as had been made abundantly clear by the frequent theft of puppies) and like their dogs to breed, so they weren’t all that interested in these services. Us palangais were though, and almost all of the foreigners living on Lifuka brought their dog or cat to be fixed. Since my neighbor had already taken a bush knife to my dog, I just stopped in to watch and get some heartworm pills for Muimui.

Kate and Brett brought their dog, Lucky (who is my dog’s sister), to be spayed, since they didn’t want her ending up like most of the female dogs here- constantly pregnant. We didn’t realize what an invasive operation it would be, and poor Lucky was pretty pitiful for the days following during her recovery. She was terrified of the needles, and, as a result, of white people in fatigues, and defecated all over one of the vets a couple times while they were here, which was sad since she was so terrified, but also a little funny, as was watching the dogs come in and out of the sedative they gave them. Kate and Brett also brought their neighbor’s dog, Simba (also from the same litter), and were told the procedure would be much simpler: all they did was inject a shot into his balls to sterilize him. All seemed well until the site of the injection became infected, and Simba had to be brought back several times, which he did not like, and somehow built up a resistance to the sedative shot, which means he was given larger and larger doses. Since he kept licking the infection, one of the navy vets made him a cone out of a pink plastic trash can which was duct-taped around his neck, much to Simba’s dismay and consternation. As a result of their medical mishaps, Lucky and Simba had to stay inside for a few days, and Kate and Brett’s house was like a sick bay. They couldn’t turn on the lights or have loud noises near the dogs because, combined with the anesthesia, it made the dogs hallucinate. If there’s anything more pathetic than a scared and hallucinating dog, I’ve yet to see it, and I don’t think I’d want to. Still, in the end, both dogs recovered, although they both continued to run with their tails between their legs and hide every time they saw someone in the navy.

The Naval Welcome Ceremony: Part II

On Monday, July 13th, the large ship arrived and on Tuesday there was a welcome
ceremony at Ha'apai High School. It was moved inside since it was raining like crazy, and the whole thing was a bit packed and claustrophobic. Students from three of the primary schools, their families, high school students and teachers, the town and district officers, and the naval officers all gathered inside.

Faleloa (Sarah's school) and my school were enlisted to provide the entertainment. And, since this is Tonga, drama ensued and nothing went according to plan. My school planned to use the dance they learned last year for the coronation, and they did a few refresher lessons the week before they arrived during school (obviously). The governor’s office called my principal and me on Friday and informed us that they wanted me to dance with the school for the soldiers. My principal told me she'd send her daughter and a few other girls over to my house on Saturday and Sunday to teach me the dance. In true Tongan form, despite phone calls, no one ever came, and since I was still feeling pretty sick and tired, I didn't track them down. Monday was a holiday, and with no school, all the girls were supposed to come to practice all day. However, it poured for almost 24 hours and we got a few feet of water, so obviously that didn't happen. Around 2 I called my principal again, and she promised to send girls over at 2:30- they got to the school a bit after 5. We started teaching me the dance and after the first verse another one of my teachers decided that we weren't going to have enough time to prepare so I should refresh the solo dance I'd learned before, and Koulo would do two dances. I also later learned that there was a CD availability issue (the CD with the song the students dance to belonged to a DJ in another village who was in NZ and had the CD in a locked briefcase that no one knew the combination to...they were practicing with a DVD from the coronation). Since this decision was made around 8:30 I didn't get to start practicing the other dance until after 9 with Lupe, who also stayed up all night perfecting my costume since I would now be dancing alone.

We got up early and went to the school where all the female students along with myself and Sarah were stripped down right outside the auditorium by anxious mothers and wrapped up in our tau'olunga costumes. 5 of the girls from Koulo were sick, another one fainted, and one more threw up, so our numbers were down considerably. Without any warning we were rushed into the auditorium and were all standing at the front. My principal took this opportunity to inform me that I would not be dancing alone, but with the students- the dance that I knew 1 minute of because no one ever came to teach me and that I was told to stop learning to practice the other one all night. I got very angry and frustrated and dizzy and had to sit down, which made them think I was even angrier
and wouldn't dance.

Meanwhile, the DJ started playing music for Faleloa's dance even though Koulo was standing up there, so the other school ran in and stood in front of us and started dancing. I was quite upset that I was now going to have to stand up there with my students for a dance I don't know in front of a bunch of officers. But as soon as Faleloa's dance is over they start playing the music to my solo dance...big wtf. My teacher literally shoved me in front of the platform, and I did my dance without passing out (I was so nervous) and then we all filed outside. Apparently they didn't have the CD to the song the students were supposed to dance to, but the message was reversed in the telling. So much stress- I don't think Tongans understand why this would be such a big deal to me. Luckily, all in all, the dance went pretty well.

I changed out of my costume, and met the commander and a bunch of other officers
who were very nice, along with the other volunteers: Kate, Bret, Phil, Grant, and Sarah. While we were mingling, the navy brass band started playing, and the kids went nuts. They all gathered around the band, dancing and jumping up and down, which was pretty adorable to watch. High school girls walked around with cups of sugar-coffee for the soldiers and tried to impress them and catch their eye with lots of hair flipping and dance moves right out of rap videos. I was later told that all these American soldiers were prime marriage material, and for the rest of their time here, it was fun watching the teenage and twenty-year old girls pursue various unsuspecting and uncomfortable men.

The Navy Arrives: Part I

(Yes, to begin with, I have been meaning to write this post for over a month...now almost two months...) In the middle of July the navy came to Ha’apai. A U.S. naval ship, the Richard E. Byrd, carrying a couple hundred military and civilian volunteers arrived in Tonga as part of a humanitarian mission. Officially titled the “Pacific Partnership”, it was comprised of people from the U.S., Canada, New Zealand, Australia, and Singapore who came as part of their tour through the Pacific, visiting and working in Kiribati, Marshall Islands, Samoa, the Solomon Islands, and Tonga. The official mission statement for, well, the mission, is to provide humanitarian assistance and disaster relief and disaster relief planning. Here, the projects focused on health services and improving the government primary schools (technically, I think they called it ‘civil engineering’), and although most of the projects took place on the main two islands of Lifuka and Foa, a few medical teams were sent out (via helicopter!) to three of the larger outer islands in the group. On the main island, Lifuka, the navy completely took over our hospital, and had general doctors, dentists, and optometrists available for almost two weeks to whomever came for free, which was pretty amazing. Usually, our hospital is understaffed (by that I mean, there’s only one doctor) and empty (all he and the nurses can do is administer children’s tylenol and antibiotics; there are no x-ray machines (been broken for as long as I’ve been here), never mind MRIs, and if anything serious happens you either go to Tongatapu or, in most cases, do nothing and apply Tongan ‘medicine’/ traditional remedies), and it was such a change to see the place overrun, with people waiting throughout the building and outside. At the hospital they brought literally thousands of eye glasses, tooth brushes, and ran clinics on CPR, First Aid, and nutrition. There was also a team of veterinarians that traveled around checking up on the pigs, cows, horses, and goats of the two main islands, and spaying and neutering dogs that were brought in. But, I’m getting ahead of myself...

Wednesday, September 2, 2009

Welcome/ Packing Suggestions for Group 75!

Greetings PC Tonga Group 75! First, congratulations on finally getting your invitation! I hope you’re excited to finally get to Tonga, and believe me, we’re excited to meet you all in October. I’ve heard from other volunteers that some people upon learning their PC country assignment actually do research and check out the blogs of current volunteers for ideas and suggestions of what to bring/ expect…wish I had been that organized.

Anyways, I’ve compiled a short list of things to pack that are beneficial while living in Tonga. By no means will you be able to fit all of what you need into your allotted luggage weight, and, like most of us here, will probably rely on packages from friends and family. (Let me take that beautiful segway to say thank you to my mother, who is wonderful.) Admittedly, this will be more useful to girls, at least in the clothing section, but hopefully there will be tips for all.

Kitchen:
- good kitchen knives, especially one for fish
- measuring cups (liquid and solid, especially if you’re a big baker)
- a frying pan, although less critical
- hanging 3 basket set (complete lifesaver)
- tea/ coffee (depending on your preference- hard to find good stuff here)
- spices (can find the basics here, but, again, if you’re a big cook, you’ll want more)
- bullion cubes
- Brita filter (may seem excessive, but I’ve found it handy)

Bathroom:
- a few bottles of shampoo/ conditioner and soap (sometimes it’s just nice to smell good after a bucket bath)
- contact solution (if you wear contacts)
- tampons (available in Nuku’alofa, but not outside the capital)
- medications: pain killers (Tylenol/Aleeve), cold/flu pills, cough drops
- towel and camping towel

Bedroom
- one set of sheets (tough to find here)
- sleeping bag (for cold nights)
- sleep sack (or something light and compact for summer)

Clothing
- as a general rule, attire is less strict than your welcome packet makes it sound- girls, bring t-shirts and short sleeved button downs, especially in light-weight materials- it doesn’t matter if your arms show. Bring things a bit baggy, because most women here gain weight (yay simple carbs). Conversely, most men lose weight. Also, any clothes you bring here, you will not be bring back home- this country destroys clothing- so don’t pack super nice things!
- more underwear than you think you need (it disintegrates quickly)
- comfortable bras (avoid underwire- it rusts)
- tank tops, especially with wider straps- I wear these around my house
- summer dresses (I wear them over my long Tongan skirt and t-shirts)
- a few sweatshirts/ sweaters (it gets pretty chilly in the winter)
- a pair of sweatpants (again, cold nights)
- a pair or two of linen/ lightweight pants/capris
- swimming shorts
- bathing suits (you will get to wear these sometimes!)
- sewing kit
- rain coat
- I don’t find that I need much jewelry, make-up, or hair dryers, etc., but it’s personal preference
- sneakers (if you run)
- flip flops/ crocs
- sturdy hiking/walking sandal (don’t bring much footwear- you’re only really going to need 3 pairs of shoes/sandals)

Misc.
- watch
- tent (if you plan on doing some camping)
- duct tape (a must have)
- gifts for homestay family (calendar of your home, small toys, books, scented soaps/candles)
- i-pod or music device with external speakers (yes, you will be singing out loud while alone in your house, and it will be wonderful)
- external hard drive (great for photo and movie storage, plus computers die in Tonga)
- rechargeable batteries (Tonga has no battery disposal or recycling)
- flashlight and headlamp
- Leatherman/ utility tool
- snorkel gear (although there is some floating around the PC offices)
- photos of family and friends

Best of luck wrapping up everything back home, and enjoy the whirlwind of the last month in the US. Take as many hot showers as possible and eat at all your favorite restaurants. If you have any questions, please feel free to email me. I’m looking forward to meeting you all in a month or so!