Fefine, Kuitangata, Hina, mo e Valevale

(Women, Grandpa, Spiders, and Babies)

In Tonga the Month of September is the Month of Women. It was a fabulous month. During this month there are different activities that take place throughout the churches to honor the women. One activity that my church does for the women is the youth make a drama for the all the mothers. They give thanks, sing, dance, etc. for all the mothers of the church during a drama. Mother's Day was this past week on Wednesday, which is the day that the drama is performed. All the mothers dress in all white and watch the performance, at the end of the performance all the people involved in the drama come and kiss and hug all the mothers. Throughout the performance both the people involved in the drama, as well as the people watching the drama became emotional. I understood maybe every 10 words or so throughout the drama and it was by far one of the most emotional experiences of my life. I sat next to my host mom and tears ran down my face because there was an overwhelming amount of love happening around me. In Tonga your mother is considered to be the most important person in your life because they gave you life. This experience that I got to be a part of just really taught me that love is truly blind. Love does not see race, gender, ethnicity, etc. Love is powerful and can be shown and felt in a lot more ways than with words. This experience is my favorite part of Tonga thus far.

Here is a picture with my two host moms and my sister after the drama. 

(Nia, me, 'Asinate, Kalo)

Not to take away the focus of the women, but here are three of the most current events that have happened to me in the last three days. 

1. Today I was watching after my kuitangata (grandpa), while my mom was making tapa. Let's remember that he knows zero English. He was sitting on the front porch singing. I noticed that the singing had stopped. I go to check on him and he was half way down the road. I go running after him (the running was maybe dramatic because the man is slow, but I seriously I had one job and I was failing) and yell Kuitangata to him. He turns around and gives me a big smile. I then say to him, "ha'u 'api, ha'u 'api" which means "come home, come home". He laughs and says, "sai pe" (okay)  and starst to go back home! That was a relief :)

2. I walked into my bathroom the other day and there was a huge hina (spider) on my wall. I died a little on the inside. I took a picture of it for evidence and then went to get my brother to get it. When we went back in my bathroom it was gone. I did not sleep well that night to say the least. 

3. Tongan babies. These cute little humans do not need an explanation. They are just cute. 

Much love, friends! 

ps. I am healthy :) 

Strep Tonga

Wednesday night I went to bed happy and healthy. Thursday morning I woke up not so happy and definitely not so healthy. I woke up with a very sore throat. I went to school and my leaders could tell that I was not up to par considering I was being quiet. They called the doctor. We have a fabulous doctor, Dr. Anareta. I had a high fever, but she didn't think it was strep just a virus. She sent me home. As the day proceeded I continued to get worse. My fever wouldn't break and the pain reliever was doing nothing for me. Dr. Ana made a house call and gave me a better pain reliever, but still thought it was just a virus.

Wednesday night after Dr. Ana left my host family insisted that since I am a Tongan now that I also see a Tongan doctor. So my family bundled me up and walked me next door where a Tongan doctor rubbed a mint grass on my neck and gave my shoulders and head a massage. It felt wonderful and the minty smell was very refreshing. I felt special that my family thought I was worthy of Tongan medical care and who would of thought that a Tongan doctor lived right next door :) I am not sure this treatment was medical, but it was very relaxing!

Thursday morning I wake up and I could not swallow. I tried to take some medicine and thought I was going to throw up from the pain. I hadn't had any water because it hurt so bad to swallow (I was feeling the effects of dehydration). Then I started to drool because I couldn't even swallow my own saliva. It was at this point that I started to have a mental breakdown. I called Dr. Ana and could barely get any words out. She comes straight over and looks at my throat again and my throat is now swollen, inflamed, and showing signs of infection. She draws my blood and starts me on penicillin.

Today I have no fever, haven't drooled, drank water, ate food, went on a short walk outside, and showered. God bless, antibiotics! Hopefully this case of strep 27 days into my 27 months of service isn't foreshadowing the rest of my journey.

Love y'all!

Church Bells, Chickens, and Children

At any given time on any given day in Tonga you can hear one if not all of the three Cs listed above. On Sundays you can hear them all starting at 4am. The church bells have a beautiful and calming sound to them. Who doesn’t find the laughter and play of children sweet? But these chickens. I am done with them. In a perfect world chickens would not make sounds, more specifically, roosters would not exist.

I am ready and prepared to go chicken hunting. These creatures make noise at all hours of the day. The roosters in Tonga missed the memo that their services are only required once a day when the sun is rising. The roosters also sound like someone is being killed. So when the roosters are screeching at 3am while I am in my prime sleep it does not end well. Many of my dreams have included chickens, one in which I was speaking to the chickens. Having actual conversation with them. The moral of this rant is the chickens are ruining my life and potentially making me psychotic.

Now that I have gotten that off my chest, I have been thinking a lot this week about how I can properly put Tonga in perspective. It is so hard to explain the Tongan Way because it is so different than anything I have ever experienced before. As I was walking to class tonight I think I finally figured out how to put my new Tonga life into perspective in one sentence: This morning our house was out of water, I walked past three cows on my way to school, and my mom packed me four peanut butter and butter sandwiches for lunch and a coconut. To better explain this sentence I will break it down for you. Number one: you never know if water will or will not come out of the faucet. Sometimes the water supply just runs out and you can only hope that it will return within the next few hours. I have learned that if I have a spare moment and the water is working to take a shower and brush my teeth because when you ideally would want to do these tasks there may be no water. Number two: When you all read “I walked past three cows on my way to school” you maybe thought “cool story, Bailey, I drive past fields of cows everyday”. My response to that would be good for you. When I say that I walked past three cows I mean there was no fence, there was no rope tied to a tree, and there was no cow farmer supervision. There were three cows just standing on the side of the road roaming around and mooing at me. Had my first experience of petting cows been more successful last week I could have pet the cows. Number three: The Tongan people pride themselves in feeding people, they love butter, and there are coconuts everywhere! My mom would feed me ten times a day if I would let her. In fact, yesterday, she told me that she was going to make me fat before I left her house. My mom literally has a goal entitled Make the Palangi Sino (Make the white person fat). Continuing on with the point is, butter. The Tongan people have been watching a little too much Paula Dean if you ask me. Butter is a staple. If the food doesn’t have butter on it then it is not worthy. Finally, the coconuts are no joke in Tonga. Coconuts are used for everything here. When my mom packs me a coconut in my lunch it is intended to be a drink first and then a food. As it turns out if you eat a whole coconut it is 2,000 calories. NBD.

I have had a lot of new experiences since I have been here in Tonga. Two of which happened this week. My first new experienced is I scraped the scaled, pulled it’s guts out (with my bare hands), chopped it’s head and tail off, and then took a bite off of it. It is was definitely fish in its rawest form. Another new experience I had was I got to watch my mom make tapa. Tapa is used in Tonga for many reasons, but the most common use of it is to cover the body of a family member after they pass away. The process to make tapa is very long and very tedious. The end product looks like a paper tarp that has been water stained and with designs painted on with clay from the ground. It is a very cool activity to partake in and it is also considered to be a women only activity in Tonga. There are women who spend hours a day working on tapa. 

To finish this blog post I will leave you with a story. We all know that I have a fear of butterflies. Seeing how butterflies and moths are similar creatures the fear carries over to the moths. Tonight at language class I was standing up in front my of language class speaking some Tongan when Sammy points to my shirt and asks what’s going on with my huhu’s (In Tonga huhu means breast and also fork. We had happened to learn of the dual meaning of the word earlier that day) because there appeared to be something in my shirt. I proceeded to look down my shirt when I discover that there is a moth sitting on my right breast caught in between my shirt and my bra. All control was lost. Clearly my only option was to take my shirt off. So I am in the middle of my language teacher’s house: ripping my shirt off, spinning in circles with my eyes squeezed shut (avoiding reality), and yelling…lots of yelling. 

I love and miss you all!

Here are some pictures from the last week!

 My 'Amelika Family Tree

 My Tonga Family Tree

 My language teacher Tulu

Faka'ofa'ofa Tonga (Beautiful Tonga)

I want to start this post with a quote from my country director, Eddie, "Be quick to listen and slow to speak. Be humble. Live well." I have decided that this is the key to succeeding in the Peace Corps. Being a part of the Peace Corps is all about service and through genuine service you will better the life of others, while also bettering yours. 

The beauty of Tonga constantly amazes me. I was walking through my village the other night and I looked up at the sky and it straight up looked like the scene from Lion King when Mufasa is showing Simba the stars. They are incredible and probably my favorite part about Tonga thus far.

On top of loving the stars, I cannot get enough of the 'oseni (ocean). On Saturday we went into the capital, Nuku'alofa for water safety training. We jumped off of a Navy boat into the 'oseni, learned some water survival tips, and had to swim to shore. It was so fun!

We got to also explore around the market and I got a traditional Tongan outfit. It's the best (picture to be posted later)!

I can now officially introduce myself in Tongan and talk in some complete sentences :) Here are the lovely girls that I share a language teacher with! We are three peas in a pod!

(left to right: Sammy, Me, Kayla)

Here are just a few more pictures of my Tongan adventures!

Outside the Tongan Peace Corps Office

 I cannot get enough of these pigs!

The Tongan Way

Malo e lelei, 

I have finally made it to Tonga and it is everything and more than what I imagined. I'm living in the village Nukunuku with a host family who have been treating me just wonderfully and feeding me lots and lots of food! On my first night with them my host mother, Nata served me four hot dogs, a plate of potatoes, and watermelon :) It was hilarious. I have been eating a lot of peanut butter, bread, sweet potatoes, papaya, coconut, and cookies because my mom thinks Tongan food will make me sick. I usually get about one traditional Tongan food a day. And Tongan food is blessed.

 Group 79 is in Tonga, y'all

On Sundays it is safe to say that the majority of Tongans go to church at least once that day. My family goes to the Church of Tonga. It was a very beautiful service though I didn't understand a single word of it. After church many Tongans eat a traditional meal called Lu. Lu is meat, onions, and coconut milk wrapped in talo leaves and then cooked in an oven in the ground called an omu. My first Lu experience was lamb and it was so so so good! Talo leaves with coconut milk is a similar taste to creamed spinach (yumm).

After church my host brother and sister, Tevita and Nia took me to the ocean and to this place called the blow holes. It was first of many times this past week that I have had tears from just the overwhelming beauty surrounding me.

 

Faka'ofa'ofa Matatahi 

(Beautiful Beach)

                                                 

At the blow holes with Tevita and Nia! 

I also have a host grandpa. He is 92 years old, the oldest man in Nukunuku. He wakes up around 3am every night and sings. It's pretty awesome!

I have already learned so much of the Tongan language. It is so fun and exciting to learn a new language. It has also been quite entertaining because well I say the wrong words a lot. I have a fabulous language teacher, Tulukava, but we call her Tulu. My family also owns a lot of animals. There are baby pigs everywhere and I love it! And another pig of ours is getting ready to have babies. I asked Tevita if I could help the pig deliver the babies and he just laughed (but I was being serious). I will let you know how my pig delivery goes! I also touched a cow today, which was a bit overwhelming, but awesome.

 Puaka

  Pulu

Yesterday, Nia told me to give her my laundry because Nata was going to wash it today. I got really stressed out about my underwear hanging in the front yard. I ask Nia about it and she just said, "It's the Tongan way". So to say the least my underwear was hanging on the line in the front yard for all to see today! 

There have been multiple times this week where I have just stopped and thought "What is my life?" It is so incredible that I am living in this beautiful place with these wonderful people. I am absolutely in love with Tonga. 

Faka'au a

Posh Corps

I am currently in the phase of Peace Corps that people like to refer to as Posh Corps because it's three days of pure spoiledness. 

We took off from La at 1:15am on September 3 and landed in Fiji at 7am on September 4. On the 11 hour flight I slept close to 9 hours. It was blessed. 

As soon as we got off the plane a man was chopping coconuts and we got to enjoy some fresh coconut water. 

We then headed to a small local hotel in Nadi, Fiji where we were able to shower and have a very delicious and fresh breakfast. After breakfast we got to experience a traditional Fijian welcoming ceremony. It was quite possibly the most beautiful thing I have ever experienced. During this ceremony we become a part of the Fiji family. They make a drink called Kava where they soak and beat a kava root into water. Then everyone has a glass of the kava. Also during this a chief was named for our Peace Corps group and Fijian songs are sang. I will get to experience a similar ceremony once arriving in Tonga. 

To say the least day one in Fiji was incredible. 

Today was day two in Fiji and it was just as wonderful. We started in on training again and really started to learn some Tongan language. Our language instructer's name is Noa (pronounced as Noah). She is wonderful. We taught her to say, "bye, y'all" and it is the best. 

After morning lessons we got to meet the  Ambassador from the US Embassy for Tonga and Fiji. She was an incredible woman! 

After dinner we had a talent show and I did the Pledge of Alligence in sign language. There was definitely a lot of laughter during this portion of the evening. 

It is my last night in Fiji. Tomorrow afternoon I will take a two hour flight to Tonga. Once arriving in Tonga I will move into a host family and begin my Tongan training for the next two months. 

Here are some other fun pictures of my trip this far! 

Much love, friends! 

Ps. The letter B doesn't exist in Tonga so I'm going to get a new name :) 

Hopped off the plane at LAX...

and a bus almost hit me. I'm not cut out for the LA lifestyle. It's just a little to much for my midwest up bringing. 

Today has been crazy. Thanks to everyone who made my last weekend so fun and traveled to see me and spend time with me. There were so many wonderful people hugging and kissing me goodbye at the airport it was overwhelming! 

Y'all are the best. 

My roommate in LA and I have already become besties. We are the same kind of weird. And when she told me she went ham on something and had commitment issues I knew we were the same person. 

After registration Kayla and I took a cab and went to some part of LA and met up with my pal Al and we had some real good noms. 

I would say that I am off to a swell start! 

Much love!