It's Official

On Friday, I officially swore in as part of the 77^th Peace Corps Group in the Kingdom of Tonga. I took the oath of office from the US Ambassador to Fiji and accepted my Peace Corps Tonga pin from the Prime Minister of Tonga. In attendance were the Tongan Minister of Health, the Japanese Ambassador, diplomatic representatives from China, New Zealand, and Australia, and the President of the Tongan Free Wesleyan Church.

It was a humbling experience. The US Ambassador, Frankie Reed, a former Peace Corps volunteer herself, spoke to us of the importance of our mission. The Tongan Prime Minister relayed a discussion he had with his grandson the night before when he was asked, “Are the Peace Corps armed?” to which the Prime Minister replied, “Yes, they are armed with wisdom and that is how they can best help us.” Cliché, maybe, yet when spoken by the Prime Minister it lent credence to my decision to join the Peace Corps.

The ceremony itself was very nice and reminded me of graduating from college. Everyone got all dressed up and had to wear ridiculous outfits – in college it was the gowns and caps, while in Tonga I had to wear a special ta’ovala made by Faiana that was covered with leaves and flowers. As I told another volunteer, and as you will see in the pictures below, I felt like a walking rainforest.

My official training is now over, but I still have much to learn. I am excited and anxious, scared and confident, but most of all ready to integrate into my new community and to start teaching in my school. That is later, however, as of now I am proud to say that I am officially a Peace Corps Volunteer in the Kingdom of Tonga.

Enjoy the photos below

 The Ha'asini crew - (from left) Jeff, Wren, Taua, and Peter



With my favorite Tongans - Noa (left) is the head of our overall training and Lose is the head of our language training

The Prime Minister of Tonga and U.S. Ambassador Frankie Reed on the right

Faiana and I

My ceremonially attire made by Faiana

With Mike (middle) and Peter

The Ha'asini group with our families

Accepting my Peace Corps Tonga pin from the Prime Minister

Group 77

The Tongan Economy

I have no idea how people pay for the things they buy in Tonga. This is not me being facetious or using hyperbole. After living in Tonga for 2 months, I still have literally no idea where peoples’ money comes from. It is almost like magic. I never see money, yet somehow items like food and clothing that cost money just magically appear. 

Yes, you may all be wondering how this is possible when I already explained how the Tongan economy works – foreign aid and family members sending back money to Tonga from overseas. And yes, agriculture and construction exist in Tonga and provide people with jobs and money. In theory and practice this is how it works, however, the money still does not add up. Further, before I came to Tonga I assumed that farming and fishing would play a large role in the economy, but most Tongans I know just fish and farm to provide some of their food and do not receive any money from it.

Take my host mom Faiana, for example. I have been trying for weeks to understand how she pays for everything and I still cannot figure it out. Over time, I have noticed several ways she receives income, but every time I think I am close to a solution I realize that I am wrong.

First, I thought Fusi, the woman who lives with us, paid for all the expenses. Fusi works at the hospitable nearby cleaning the labs, and I know Fusi gives Faiana some of the money she makes to pay for the food. This is, however, a small amount of money that may possibly cover the food Fusi eats, but since Fusi eats a ton I doubt if it even covers that.

Then I thought about the Peace Corps. The Peace Corps pays Faiana 35 pa’anga a day (about $22) to pay for my expenses. This is more than enough to cover my bill and I am sure it helps defray some of Faiana’s costs, but this is also only a two-month source of income.

Next, I know Faiana receives some money from the store she, along with many families in the village, owns a small part of, but it is not nearly enough to cover all of her costs.

Finally, I noticed Faiana spends most of her days making tapa, which is a type of weave used as blankets and mats at weddings and funerals. At this point I thought, “Yes!” I have finally discovered the source of her income – she makes tapa and sells them. Basking in my intellectual triumph, I asked Faiana where she sold her tapas, so that I could confirm my theory. Deflating my triumph in a single sentence, Faiana assured me that she does not sell her tapas but just keeps them for when her children will get married or when her parents pass away.

Therefore, I still have no idea how Faiana pays for anything. I know that she does not receive aid, and I do not believe she has money sent to her from family overseas, as only one of her sons lives abroad in New Zealand.

I do, however, know her costs. She pays for Sione’s college tuition and his food. Her daughter, Kalo, is now a resident at the nearby hospital and I do not know if she receives money from this, but I do know Faiana paid for her to go to medical school in Fiji for the past 6 years. Faiana’s parents also live across the street and are retired, so I am pretty sure she pays for them as well.

Somehow all of these costs are covered and, from my point of view, covered seamlessly. I still have no idea how the money comes in, but I do know it goes out. This is one of the great mysteries of Tonga. It is a very poor country, yet it really does not seem poor. No one ever has money, but people do not seem to ever be living without the major necessities of life – food, water, clothing, and shelter.

I will have to continue my investigative work to figure out how people pay for their purchases in Tonga. It is a mystery, however, that I feel I may never fully understand.

The cliffs in Vaini in Tongatapu

Taua and I in the cave

Vava'u at sunset from Mt. Talau

Vava'u - The island in the distance is Ofu where a volunteer from our group will live

Bittersweet

Leaving my home stay was certainly bittersweet. Before we left for our home stays, the staff told us that many volunteers become very close with their families and maintain relationships with them throughout their service and for many years afterwards. To be perfectly honest, I was extremely dubious of this. I figured that since I would only be living with my family for two months (of a 27 month commitment) and would not be able to speak English with them, there was no way we were going to get close. I was excited about the home stay experience as I studied abroad in London and never had the chance to live with another family, but I did not foresee a profound experience by any means.

I was wrong. In two months, aided by my family’s fluent English and their incredibly generous hospitality, I have become extremely close with them and am truly considered a member of the family. Faina is like another mother to me and I think of Sione and Kalo as a brother and sister respectively. I could not have been more fortunate by being assigned to my family and I plan on maintaining a strong relationship with them for the next two years.

To give you an idea of how generous my family is and how close we have become I wanted to give some specific examples below:

1)    My grandma cried on Sunday that I was leaving while we were eating lunch.

2)    Faiana wanted Sione to travel to Vava’u with me to make sure that I was ok, but since I am leaving during his school year he is planning on staying with me in December.

3)    They offered to pick my parents up at the airport when they visit, and Faiana wants them to stay at her house as guests.

4)    The family was sad that I could not come for Christmas, but I promised to visit when I return to Tongatapu in April for training.

5)    The morning I left their house Faiana was crying and told me she loved me.

These are just a few examples of their generosity. I have had an amazing time getting to know my family, and saying good-bye was tougher than I ever expected. I feel very fortunate that I was so welcomed into such an incredible family.

It is not all bitter, however, as the title of this post alludes too. Yes, I am sad to say goodbye to my family (though hopefully it’s more of a see you later), but I am also incredibly excited to start my service and begin actually making a difference.

This past week, I spent a few days living in Vava’u at the house of volunteer who has been in Tonga for the last two years. The week was incredible. I finally got to see Vava’u after hearing from all the Tongans how faka’ofa’ofa (beautiful) it was, and I was not disappointed.  I saw the school I will be teaching at, met my fellow teachers (all 2 of them), and entered my future home of two years.

Since there is so much to tell, I will try to just mention the highlights and post some pictures of my house and my school below. First, I want to mention how beautiful Vava’u is. When you think South Pacific, it is exactly that – hilly, covered in rainforests, and little islands everywhere. When we flew in I had a bird’s eye view of the island group and I could not believe how lucky I am to live here.

Second, my school and house are great. My school is literally in the middle of the bush and there are 3 towns about a km away. The kids walk to the school every day from their homes from their 3 respective villages. It is really cool and it is an easy walk from my house. My house is very small and cozy, but has more than enough space to live and now I just have to learn how to cook.

Thirdly, the main city of Neiafu has a large expat community of Americans, New Zealanders, and Australians. Some of the expats live in Neiafu (the capital) or the nearby town of Toula, but most live on their private yachts that are docked in the harbor. I think this will provide an interesting dichotomy for me as when I am in my village I will very much live a Tongan lifestyle, but when I bike to town I will hear English and be able to order a diet coke at a restaurant, eat a burrito, and watch an NFL game which is certainly not what I expected when I joined the Peace Corps.

 Some other highlights from my week:

·      I hiked up a mountain and was rewarded with an awesome view of Vava’u (picture below)

·      We went to a fakaleiti (men who dress like women) show at Tongan Bob’s, so I basically saw a drag show in the extremely conservative and Christian Tonga, which was definitely a unique experience. (For those of you who have seen Priscilla Queen of the Desert imagine that but scaled down 100 times).

·      I played – and won – trivia night at Tongan Bobs the next night with some volunteers and expats while eating my first, and very much needed, hamburger that was pretty delicious.

·      To welcome me at my school, the kids gave me a bag of 50 mangos and were surprised when I did not ferociously eat 10 of them right away.

·      I met my first noble, the governor of Vava’u. He was of course no different than other Tongans I have met, but at least now I can say I met a noble.

That was my last week in a nutshell. It was an amazing time and very different from my home stay experience of the past two months. I am incredibly excited to finish my last week of training in Nuku’alofa and then head back to Vava’u and start being a real volunteer.

This next week I will be in Nuku’alofa buying everything I need for site, meeting the new director of Peace Corps Tonga, taking my final language exam, and officially swearing in as a Peace Corps volunteer.

As always, thank you for reading!

The view from Mt. Talau

At the fakaleiti show

My school - GPS Houma

Class 1 and 2 at my school

My house

My bedroom

My common area and kitchen (the man with his back to me is the town officer and the other man is my Tongan counterpart who teaches Class 3 and 4 at my school)

My kitchen

Sharing is Caring

The concept of private property is interesting in Tonga. Tongans own their own land, and many Tongans possess enough acreage to have farms and have all the members of their family live in one compound. The concept of private property is well understood. That is his land. That is her pig. That is their house, etc.

Yet, at the same time, private property is flexible in Tonga. My neighbors have chickens but they are always in my yard. No problem in Tonga, as I still know they’re my neighbor’s chickens and I won’t touch them. My cousin borrowed my bowl and never gave it back. That’s ok, I never gave back the plate I took from my friend two months ago, and on it goes. One’s personal property in Tonga is also communal.

The different values of private property, I believe, stem from the traditional role and use of the land in regards to the king, the nobles, and the peasants. Though I do not know everything concerning this matter, the Tongan people, while controlling the land, understand that they are more in fact stewards of the nobles’ and the king’s land rather than owners in their own right. Tongans are in fact leasing the land from the nobles, and the taxes they pay on the land are more like rent than property taxes. Further, Tongans are not allowed to sell their land since they are leasing it, and land is passed down through the oldest son. Tongans therefore operate the land under the structure of tenant famers, though in reality their private property seems and exists like any property in the US.

I do not know if this is why Tongans’ view personal property as communal, but I think it has something to do with it. Before going into further detail, I want to mention an allegory that one of the volunteers who has served in Tonga for the past two years shared with me regarding Tongans’ view of property that I think explains it well.

I have a water bottle sitting on the table. I am not thirsty, so my water bottle is just sitting on the table, slowly evaporating away. In America, no one would think of touching that bottle. People know that that is my bottle and that even if they are thirsty, they would not touch it without my consent.

In Tonga, that doesn’t make any sense. Tongans think to themselves, “Why let that water go to waste?” So, if no one is drinking the water, they will take the bottle of water for themselves, regardless of who actually owns it. The person who took the bottle had his thirst quenched, and the person who owns the bottle doesn’t care because he would have done the same thing in the other person’s shoes and is happy his friend is satiated.  In America, the person whose bottle it was would be very upset, but that is not the case in Tonga.

This may sounds noble and very communal, which in some ways it is, but in practice and having grown up in and liking our system of private property, it can be very annoying as well. In Tonga there is no such thing as borrowing, yet if someone asks for something it is rude to say no. If someone asks to use your plate, there is a chance you may get it back. Or, they may also lend that plate to someone else or just keep it forever, and you will never see it again.

In a more personal example, when I drink Kava I leave my sandals by the door so as not to bring in mud and be culturally respective. However, when I looked back one time my sandals were missing. After fretting for 20 minutes, a man brought back my sandals, as he just needed to walk to the store and his sandals were farther away than mine. He knew they were not his sandals but that doesn’t matter in Tonga. They were there and, in that moment, he needed them more than me. I have since learned to keep everything as close to me as possible to ensure nothing is permanently “borrowed.”

Overall, the concept of private property and borrowing is not black and white in Tonga. Tongans are an extremely generous people, and they are willing to give you anything you ask for. At training, they warned us not to tell someone you like their shirt because they will then literally take off their shirt and give it to you. They know you like it, so why not? It is incredibly rewarding to work in a community and culture that is so generous and values friendship, family, and community above everything else.

On the other hand, I like my stuff. I do not want to lose my ipod or my sandals, and it is tough to say no without being rude. Yet, at the same time, this is the beauty of working for the Peace Corps in any country. Your job is to integrate – in my life that means wearing a tupenu, a ta’ovala at work, doing nothing on Sundays, and much more – but you are also supposed to share American culture as well.

Thus, the process of giving, sharing, and private property is a blend of cultures for me in Tonga, and one that I am still trying to learn my way through. It is awesome and annoying, cool and surprising at times, but these are the idiosyncrasies that make my life interesting here in Tonga.

The Tongans protecting themselves from the sun (From Left - my host mom Faiana, Peter's sister Baby, Jeff's sister/mom Vika on the bottom right, and Peter's mom Mehi on the top right)

Me and Baby (real name Margaret) at the beach and enjoying a coconut

at the blowholes in Houma (it is hard to tell but the ocean water hits the rock walls and shoots into the air out of wholes like geysers - it is awesome)

me and Lose (the head of our language training)

Vava'u!

I am very happy to announce that I will be spending the next two years of my life in the beautiful island of Vava’u. Unfortunately due to Peace Corps regulations, I cannot tell you the name of my site in this blog at this time, but I am very excited and I can tell you a little about my site (if you want to know the name of the site email me or ask my parents).

I will live in a small town of about 60 people, and commute about a km to my school every day. The school is in a town of about 100 people, and consists of students in the town I’m living in and another town that is roughly the same size. Since the town is so small, I am really hoping to integrate into the community quickly and actually learn everyone’s name.

The school has three teachers and 54 students. The description of my assignment, as written by the principle at my school, is as follows:

* Co‐teach English lessons for classes 3 ‐ 6 for 4 days a week and Fridays will be used for teachers development
* Lead teacher training workshops for teachers at school based on expressed needs
* Help establish library

* Help conduct sports activities.

I am incredibly excited about the description, as it covers everything I hope to accomplish in Tonga. I feel very strongly about organizing athletic events and establishing a library, and I particularly wanted to teach every class level. Further, I am looking forward to having an entire day each weak to focus on teacher training so that I can make my project sustainable by working with my fellow teachers to develop new teaching strategies. I also hope to establish some secondary community projects, but that will mostly likely remain separate from my teaching assignment.

To top it all off, the primary school I am teaching at has never had a pcv and the town has not had a volunteer since 2000 – he worked in agriculture which is very different from what I am doing - so I can really put my stamp on my site from day 1 and not be restrained by previous volunteers successes and mistakes. As far as site placement goes, I am extremely fortunate, as I could not have picked a better site to match both my skill set and desires.

Overall, I am very happy with my site location and I cannot wait to get there and get started. I still do not know a lot about the site, but I am heading up to Vava’u from October 31^st to November 3^rd, and I will then hopefully know more and relate it to my faithful readers.

Until then, however, I have posted a description about Vava’u (courtesy of Lonely Planet via the Peace Corps), a map, and some recent photos below.

Vava’u is a paradise not only for sailing but for year-round diving and snorkeling as well. The tranquil islands have a population of about 16,000 scattered throughout the 50-odd thickly wooded islands of the group.

To many Vava’u is Tonga’s most scenic region. It’s an uplifted limestone cluster that tilts to cliffs in the north and submerges in a myriad of small islands to the south; most of these are wholly or partially surrounded by coral reefs. In Vava’u one superb scenic vista succeeds another, all so varied you’re continually consulting your map to discover what you’re seeing.

Geography:

Where: 275km north of Tongatapu (the main island and where I live now)

Size: 21 km east to west, 25 km north to south

Islands: 34 elevated thickly forested islands/ 21 inhabited

Area: The main island is 90 sq. km

Group Photo

My family - my sister Kalo, my mom brother Sione, and my mom Faiana

The Good and The Bad

There are many good things about Tonga that I enjoy; unfortunately, the food is not one of them. Not all the food is terrible, though. I really like the lu and the clams I get on Sundays. The clams are cooked in the umu with a coconut curry sauce and they are as good and fresh as any clams I’ve had in the US. For the most part, my dinners are satisfactory and even occasionally enjoyable as I just eat meat (sheep, chicken, or beef) with rice or root crops. The sheep, especially, is pretty solid.

That being said, there is plenty of food that I have not been able to enjoy in Tonga and I have certainly experienced days where my diet consists of water, coke, cookies, and rice. Below, I have listed some of the most interesting meals (i.e. worst) I have eaten (i.e. tried one bite of) in Tonga so far.

1.     Spaghetti and Spam sandwich. Yes, there is a third incarnation of the spaghetti bread sandwich that I have recently discovered. In this rendition, a piece of spam is placed on top of the spaghetti bread sandwich, much to the delight of all the Tongans who I give away this lunch too.

2.     Corned Beef soup. Corned beef in Tonga is not like corned beef in America. It is canned beef. Imagine canned tuna fish, but with beef, and you kind of get the idea. When I first heard I was getting soup I was incredibly excited, as I have heard from several volunteers that Tongan soup is amazing and I have yet to try it. Sadly, I believe the soup component in corned beef soup is the liquid that comes from the can so this meal was not a winner.

3.     Spamburger. My host mother asked me what my favorite kind of food is and I naively answered hamburgers. Since then I have been greeted many morning by a boxed lunch of bread, lettuce, tomato, and spam.

There are many good things, not counting the food that I experience as well. During my home stay, the people of Ha’asini have been incredibly welcoming to me. I feel very lazy because everything is done for me. Faiana cooks my meals and does my laundry. The villagers welcome me into their homes, invite me to their kava circles, thank me for just being there in their churches, and greet me warmly whenever I see them. I am often overwhelmed by their kindness and generosity and I wanted to give back something in return for their hospitality.

Fortunately, two events came up this week that have allowed me to help in a small way. The first was that a man who belongs to the church I go to asked me if I could help his daughter prepare for the Form 5 exam – this is roughly the same as 10^th grade. I said of course, and the next day I helped teach her how to write a persuasive essay in English (a ridiculously hard assignment that I hope I helped explain a little bit).

For the second event, one of the men in the village who teaches high school in Nuku’alofa asked me if I could help him write his essay for his application to graduate school in New Zealand. I helped him brainstorm some ideas, and I told him to bring me his essays when he finishes them so we can review them together.

Both of these events are extremely minor, but it made me happy to contribute something to my village. It also helped show me that the affect I have on Tongans as a volunteer is very difficult to quantify as a teacher, but just helping one girl pass her exam and one teacher get accepted into his masters program offers the little successes that make my Peace Corps experience worthwhile for myself and the Tongans I live with.

On a different note, I have been on the lookout for funny signs that always seem to be prevalent in developing countries.  I have finally been able to capture one, as you can see below. The photo was taken at a school library (check out Commandment 10).

The next photo is a picture of a goody bag that the current volunteers made for us because they know that we have been stressing out about finding out our site attachments. Two more days! (but whose counting). It was a great surprise, and the bag was filled with much needed candy, an American flag, a photo of our arrival, a bracelet, a necklace, a shell, and a bunch of other things.

Kava

For this post I want to talk about the South Pacific phenomenon that is Kava.  Kava plays a huge role in South Pacific culture, and Tonga is no exception. There is alcohol in Tonga and Tongans do drink it, especially younger Tongans, but for most men kava is a social gathering and the drink of choice all in one. For those of you who don’t know, kava is made by mixing the powdered root of the kava plant with water. Kava looks uncannily similar to muddy water, and slightly numbs your tongue when you drink it.

Though some Tongans work and many don’t, all Tongans have plenty of free time, and that time is usually spent drinking kava. Whenever I walk around the villages, I can almost always see the men drinking kava in one of the halls, especially at night and on Sundays. They sit around in a circle, with one man mixing the kava in the kumete (a big bowl of kava) and pouring the kava into individual cups. The kava is then passed out to each of the men, who are sitting cross-legged on the floor.

The men spend several hours a day drinking kava, and consume a ridiculous amount of it. To give you an idea how much kava they drink, I drank 5 bowls in an hour sitting last week and that was with the men only giving me every other bowl to drink. Those who are wondering what happens during kava that makes it so awesome, the answer, I’m sorry to say, is nothing different from hanging out in America. All you do is drink, smoke, watch tv, snack, and gossip (Actually…now that I write it, it does sound pretty good). It is a great way to practice my Tongan and get to know the people in the community, however, so I try to go at least once a week.

If this post seems heavily male centric, that is because it is. Women, with few exceptions, are not allowed to drink kava. The only time a woman takes part in kava circle is when she serves as a tou’a and hands the cups of kava to the men without drinking it. Though I have not seen a tou’a yet while I have drank kava, I have heard that the women are often made fun of and flirted with, which is why they rarely agree to do it. Sometimes a woman will serve kava as part of a fundraiser, or a girl will serve kava for her boyfriend as a kind of date.

Further, kava is particularly different from alcohol in one interesting way. The more alcohol you drink, the more you build up a tolerance, and the less each individual drink affects you. Kava is the opposite. The more you drink kava, the more easily it affects you. When I mentioned earlier that I only drink 5 bowls in one sitting, it is not because I feel a buzz from the kava but because the water in the kava can make me sick if I drink too much.

Kava is definitely an interesting experience and I expect to take part in many more kava circles over the next two years. If any of you come to the South Pacific, I would highly advise joining a kava circle to experience it for yourself.

In other news, next Friday, October 19^th is a very big day for me. During our lunch break, they are going to tell us which village we are going to live in for the next two years. Though I will be happy wherever I go, I am both excited and nervous to get my placement, as this will encompass the core of Peace Corps experience. My village is my entire world for the next two years, and there are several sites on the island of Vava’u, due to what I would be doing in the specific school and community as well as the location, that I would definitely prefer to get. For now, however, it is out of my hands, so I am just going to sit back and anxiously wait for the 19th. I will do my best to post my placement here when I get it.

Language Class

The Ha'asini language crew

My Tongan teaching pose