Apparently, there is more than one word for vagina in Tongan.
Since admitting my earlier pronunciation mistake and experiencing the classic
embarrassing language moment in another county, I thought I would experience smooth
sailing from here on out. It is also important to note that no one else has had a similar
experience in Tonga, so I assumed that if it happened again at least someone else was
due. I was wrong.
I have made friends with several of the Tongan children in my village since I have been
here. My closest friends (the spelling is wrong, but this is my best guess) are Seli, age 6,
Hausia, age 8, Hanitele, age 10, and Esita, age 12. I talk to them in a smattering of
Tonglish, and play cards with them, touch rugby, and handball.
Today, since they have the week off of school, they were taking part in one of our
classes. Like all kids, they are curious and wanted to know the names of the volunteers
living in the other villages, who come to my village in the afternoon for class. They
would point to one of the volunteers, and I would try to remember their Tongan names
and relay them to my young friends. I was doing fine until they pointed to Mandy, and I
told them her name was Amene, making it up on the spot.
They immediately started laughing, and I knew right away that I had said a bad word. My
first thought was “Crap, I did it again,” and turned to my language instructor, who was
listening to the conversation, to assess the damage. Giggling, she told me that “mene”
means the same thing as pali – vagina (I clearly have a problem not saying the word
“vagina,” in Tongan).
For the rest of the afternoon, the kids would point to Mandy and laugh. Since there so
young, I knew they would not easily forget my mistake and would want to tell everyone
in the village, so whenever an adult walked by I would put my finger to my mouth and
say, “SSSHHHHHH,” hoping that they would not tell everyone the palangi said vagina to
them during school. It worked for a little but I have no doubt the whole village will soon
know that I now know 25 Tongan words, yet somehow I know every way to say vagina
in Tongan (I really hope there are no other words or I will undoubtedly say it to a 4 year
old next week).
I told my host mom the story when I came home after school, and she thought it was
hilarious. She told me it was good that I am speaking Tongan and that I shouldn’t be
afraid to make mistakes, which – in the passive aggressive Tongan way of speaking -
means please keep speaking Tongan because you are a source of great amusement to the
entire village. Thus, I have to admit, I am doing particularly well in integrating myself in
Tongan culture because I provide much of the gossip for Ha’asini.
I sincerely hope that this is my last vagina story in this blog. If I do mess up again and
say a bad word, my new goal is to at least improve my vocabulary of swear words, or
kapekape, because I am getting tired of only knowing how to say “vagina.”
Birthday Feast on Sunay
A Pig from the Feast
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