Good-bye 2009

Dear Readers who are still checking my blog even though I have not posted in two months,

Before I jump ahead to the future I feel as though I should revisit and wrap up the past few months of 2009.

FIJI
When last I posted I was heading to Fiji for a root canal, and I am very glad I went! The dental work went fine- I was so impressed with how clean and professional the dental office I went to was, and they did a fine job killing my tooth, avoiding infection, and filling it back up. The root canal should last the rest of my time in PC, and I am very happy to be able to drink tea and eat ice pops again! On a broader note, Fiji was an amazingly interesting place, and I am glad I was med-evac’d there. I flew from Tongatapu into the capital of Suva, on the main island, Viti Levu, which, after my time in Ha’apai seemed enormous and overwhelming. Suva is filled with people, almost as many as live in the whole country of Tonga, shopping malls, restaurants, and even a movie theater- yes, I went to the movie theater, yes, I saw New Moon (to be fair, it was either that or a Hindi movie without subtitles), yes, it was wonderful, especially when surrounded by Fijians laughing and commenting on each scene while passing around food. The diversity of the country was really nice, particularly the Indian food that could be found cheaply everywhere thanks to the large Indo-Fijian population.

The PC Fiji staff and volunteers were all so kind and helpful, and despite an initial lapse in communication between Tonga and Fiji, everything from the administrative end went smoothly. Since it was Thanksgiving week, most of the PCVs happened to be in town, and they were all very kind. They showed me around, gave me suggestions of where to eat, let me come on a trip to Fijian cost-co, invited me to join them for Thanksgiving, let me tag along to happy hours and nights out, braved community rumors and allowed me to come and see their village, and even invited me to play ultimate. I am very grateful for all the help, advice, and companionship, and they made my week in Fiji much more enjoyable!

Aside from spending time in the movie theater and at restaurants, I was able to explore a bit of Suva during my time there. I went to a wonderful museum devoted to Fijian and South Pacific Island history, and was very impressed. It was so interesting reading about the history of the various islands and seeing artifacts- it really made me wish Tonga was able to sustain something similar, particularly since Tonga was featured very prominently in the Fijian museum since they had controlled large portions of Fiji and all of Samoa, and a lot of skills and handicrafts were influenced by all three cultures. I also took a day trip out to Colo-i-Suva national rainforest park, which was gorgeous and humid, and secluded enough that I was able to take a quick dip in one of the waterfall pool, sans clothing, to cool off!

And finally, my week in Suva was made even more exciting by the fact that the Miss South Pacific beauty pageant was going on! The best part was that each competing island had its own booth inside a cultural heritage tent to showcase their islands specific handicrafts, distinct forms of waving and tapa-making, and dancing. Unsurprisingly, Miss Fiji won the pageant, but Miss Tonga did put in a strong showing, and won the lava-lava wear portion- the South Pacific equivalent of the bikini contest. Miss Tonga was even on my flight back to Tonga, and it was great fun watching all the airport staff and flight attendants in each country run to take photos with her on their cell phones and ask for autographs.

SIVI
While class 6 sat their high school entrance exam in October, the results were announced the first week of December on the radio and through Ministry of Ed handouts. And the students at my school did so amazingly well! Out of 17 students, 10 passed into government high schools, and the other 7 all scored high enough to attend church-run schools. Of the 10 that passed into government schools, four qualified for Tonga High, the best secondary school in the country, and two others missed the cut-off by less than five points. We had the most students qualify for Tonga High out of all the schools in Ha’apai, and one student, an amazingly bright and innovative girl, scored the second highest mark in all of Ha’apai. I am so proud of all the students and of how hard they worked last year! The village was equally as proud, and most of the week was taken up with feasts, barbeques, and lots and lots of kava drinking.