Ta'u Fo'ou

A new year is upon us. My Peace Corps’ adventure began in 2014 and it is to be completed in 2016. And guess what…it’s 2016. This past year has been a year of growth, discovery, beauty, laughter, sorrow, and love. I wished some days away, and for even more to never end. Some days feel like I am doing nothing in my life, while all of you back home are doing everything. You are adulting and I am on what sometimes feels like a two-year spring break in the Pacific. I don’t have a big girl job or a salary. I am not in graduate school. My credit score is zero and my dad is still doing my taxes. But in other ways I feel like I am getting to experience life in a way that so many people never will. I am living a life that is completely foreign to everything I have ever known. I have jumped into a new culture. My whole being has been melted down to fit into a new mold. My language, my clothes, my fears, my insecurities, my relationships, and even the way that I style my hair have changed. Some of these have been changes for culture sensitivity, while others are simply for my own comfort or have come naturally in my adaptation to a new environment. 

In 2015 I did an abundance of things for the first time and hope to continue to discover new things this year. But I don’t want my curiosity for life to disappear as I reenter my life in America in 10 months. I want 2017 and 2018 and 2050 to be just as full of new as 2015 has been. This past year I discovered my thirst for adventure and life experience that I never knew I had. I think that in America we are a lot of talk and a little action. Americans are big dreamers, but we tend to lack the spontaneity that I have learned from Tongans.  I think that there should be and needs to be a balance between planning for the future and living in the moment. My American roots and my Tongan branches are working together, to guide me in how to love and appreciate life in a way that I didn’t understand before.  I am going to complete this thought with something that I know some of you will get and others of you won’t understand and maybe never will be able to, but that’s okay because we all have our own lives to live. But anyways, so many things in life will always be there, while so many won’t last forever, so it is up to you to decide which ones you will give priority to.

Highlights of 2015- 12 for 12

1.     I am finally going to be an aunt! Emily and Brett will be welcoming a bundle of joy into the world June 2016. It is going to be a long, and I mean long, 5 months of waiting to meet the sweet babe. But I could not be more excited for them or myself :)

2.     I got to spend time with my family and 2 best friends in Hawaii. It was a week of food indulgence with some of my favorite people. And in just 5 short days another reunion will be happening in Fiji. This time with my dad, sister, and Debbie! 

3.     I had strep throat SIX times. How one gets strep throat so many times in one year is still a mystery to me. I had strep not long after the beginning of 2015 and was just completing an antibiotic for strep as 2015 came to a close. 

4.     I ran 7 consecutive miles. Sami L has been training for a marathon so I have been trying to get some running in with her. At the end of October I got up to a 7 mile run. I cannot say that I really enjoy running for 7 miles at a time, but a 3 mile run I find to be very relaxing and suitable. 

5.     I pooped on my own foot during a bout of food poisoning. It was 3 o’clock in the morning and it had been coming out both ends for a few hours already. I had been consistently switching from sitting on the toilet and bending over it and well before I knew it I needed to be both sitting and bending. The demand was high and the supply was low. I chose to bend. Probably should have sat. But bending made for the better story.

6.     I have reached advance low in my Tongan language. When I first went to site I scored an intermediate low on my language exam. Back in May I had moved up 2 levels to intermediate high. And a few weeks ago I secured myself to the next level of advanced low. It has stressful and confusing learning a new language, but it's fun!

7.     I skinny dipped in the Pacific Ocean…a few times. The Sams and I recently decided we should be skinny dipping more because there are so many deserted beaches on our island. The first time it was a great success. Fun was had all around. The most recent time we had been having a secret kava circle on the beach and in our kava induced states thought it was the perfect time to go again. We got our clothes off and went running into the water and well, the water did not even reach our anklebones. It was low tide. Like the lowest.

8.     I have gained another circle of people in my life. Between my Peace Corps friends and the Tongans who have befriended me, these people have enriched my life in so many ways. I have created a bond and memories with them that will last a lifetime. It is going to be really hard when they are no longer a part of my daily life.

9.     I recently learned and preformed some Tongan dances with the church in my village. I learned a tau’olunga which is a traditional dance done by unmarried women. It is supposed to be very graceful and requires soft hand movements. I also learned a hula. The hula was definitely more on my level, but I had so much fun learning both!

10. I have been able to sleep in a cave and on the beach a couple of times this past year. Sleeping outside with no tent is fun. It can be cold and a little wet, but it is adventurous and you get to open your eyes to the sunrise in the morning! 

11. I got the opportunity to swim with whales. I have already mentioned this on my blog a couple times, but it was definitely high on the list of best life experiences so it had to go on the highlight list. 

12.  The final highlight is something that I never thought was going to happen while being in Tonga, but sometimes life is full of the unexpected. I have fallen in love with a Tongan guy from my village. My life is even happier with him in it!

New Year’s Resolutions for 2016

1.     To blog once a month.

2.     To run at least 12 miles a week.

3.     To be a better human.

4.     To journal more.

5.     To say ‘sorry’ less and ‘thank you’ more.

2015 Photo Review

Fakamonu’ia atu ‘i he ta’u fo’ou! Hope your 2015 was great and that your 2016 is even better! And just remember my return is upon  you :) plan accordingly! Thank you to everyone who helped make this year so great!

"Drink from the well of yourself and begin again."