Sunday in Ta'anea - Church Anyone?

I start writing about my Sunday and I quickly get to several pages... No one wants to sweat though a blog entry that long, so here is the abbreviated version of my last Sunday in Ta'Anea Vava'u.

Up at 6 - Breakfast on my private table of eggs fried in oil, papaya, and fried bread. I bath with a water glass, shave my face and head amongst the banana trees out back, and put on my best tupenu (skirt) and tauvala (mat that men wear over their skirt when they want to be formal.) Tufui provides a red-feather adorned tauvala and a huge necklace covered in red plastic jewels. I feel like a fakaleti (Tongan transvestite - common and accepted here).

My host dad marches out at 07:20. We arrive at the church hall at 07:30 and join the Kava party already in progress. The FieFekau (minister) shows up pretty late... after 09:00 and I give my formal Kava speech in Tongan. (Speech 1 for today.)

We drink Kava until 9:45, then I run to the back of the church. I join a couple of other brave volunteers. We sit in the front of the church by the alter. Everyone in the village stares at us proudly.

During the service we each stand to read our part. I read two hymn verses - in Tongan. My verses have the phrase "Sesu pe, Sesu pe" many times. This means "Jesus does, Jesus does". As I come to these key lines I look up from the book and speak directly to the crowd. They go wild. they really love it. Little kids come up to me every day unitl I leave. They smile and say "Sesu pe, Sesu pe". Speech 2 for today.

We finish the service after 11 without making fools of ourselves or having heart attacks. Home for a quick lunch of fried fish, fried chicken (unbreaded), raw fish and a bunch of Tongan roots. We killed the baby pig last night - this time I helps rip off clumps of it's hair with my bare hands - but I digress.

A quick mohe (nap) and its back to Kava. We drink until 16:00 when the next service starts. This is communion and takes 90 minutes. Back for more Kava. Many of the men are totally wasted. Then back for ANOTHER service at 19:00. This one is in our honor. Everyone from the village is here. Even the members of the competing churches.

We each climb to the microphone and give a speech. I start in Tongan giving respect to the important attendees, then give a ten minute speech in English thanking everyone. Speech 3 for today.

After a few of our speeches the church Kava group sings. I am instructed by the minister to join them. Then more speeches.

Another Kava group song (in addition to a bunch of hymns throughout the service). Again I run over to join them, then return to my pew. The other trainees are a bit baffled by all the attention I am getting. They have no idea how much time I put in with the village elders during my 6 weeks here.

Then the Tongans begin their speeches. My Tongan is weak. I am one of the weakest in the group, but I keep hearing my name. Most try to do some of their speech in English for us. They all start with Sione (John) and remember most of the other names. Every speaker refers to the Peace Corps as Sione's Peace Corps group. I am not expecting this, but I really appreciate the emotional feelings of the villagers.

We finish after 90 minutes. Many of the guys don't speak so we can end. They apologize to me after.

Whew... Can I go home? No way...

Back to the Kava hall! More Kava. More singing. No other volunteer comes. I give another speech - #4 for the day.

The local IFAW (International Fund for Animal Welfare) rep come by to thank me for all the time I have spent with him while in Va'vau. He is the most amazing guy (perhaps I'll do an entry about him someday.) He is the biggest Humpback Whale advocate here.

He gives me a great IFAW shirt. All the volunteers will ask me about it when they see me wear it on Tonga'tapu.

I get home after 11. Tufui stays at Kava. We are both pretty toasted. I will have language class at 08:00 in the morning.

I really miss those guys. As an older volunteer they are the best friends I have in Tonga. The younger volunteers spend their time together, so they have a more resilient support structure as we move back to Tonga'Tapu. I am pretty much back to being on my own.

Weight... How can that be????

I eat a lot here and most of it is carbs and fat.

I've lost over 15 lbs since I arrived. My hypothesis is it is the lack of weight training. I figure I've lost 20lbs of muscle and gained 5 of fat.

Male volunteers almost always lose weight here, but women mostly gain.

Who'da thunk?

You've Got Mail!

Today I received my first letter from the states.

Many of the other volunteers receive a couple of parcels each time we get mail and it awful depressing when the mail runs out and you still don't have anything.

Thanks for the letter Terri!

Lean on me

A brief guide to Tongan meats:

Puaka (Pig) - Mainly for celebrations or special occasions. A local piglet consists of a set of bones covered with a thin film of meat, an inch or so of pure fat, and skin. We tear into it with our hands. I am usually asked to start, and rip off a lard covered leg praying that somehow this one will be different and actually have some meat on it.

Crisco anyone?

Sipi (Mutton) - From New Zealand, this import consists of inch-long rib bones covered with a thick sludge of sheep fat. Banned in most Pacific islands for it health effects, it is a favorite here. The Tongans use the few teeth they possess to crush and eat the rib bones. Slurp, crunch, slurp crack crunch... Yes it as gross as it sounds.

Moa (chicken) - Also imported from New Zealand, only the leg quarters and backs arrive here. White meat is not considered edible. A typical preparation is to hack the chicken into small pieces with a short knife (short here means under 18 inches). A leg may become four pieces of meat embedded with shattered bone fragments. The bones are usually eaten.

Moa Tonga (Local Chicken) - I am confused. There are chickens everywhere here. Lots of them. roosters crow all night. Pigs snap up small chicks that get too close. Chicken everywhere.

So why are we paying a lot of scarce money for imported chicken? None of the trainees has seen a local chicken on a plate, and even eggs are purchased, not collected.

After much inquiry my host dad announces that tomorrow I will be blessed with Moa Tonga. I request that he select a rooster, then I will benefit from both a meal and additional sleep.

ASIDE - Did I mention that I will try any local food? Food defines local culture.

I am the only trainee who will, and it is a great source of pride for both my host families. There is much village discussion about the Peace Corps trainees and each family tries to outdo the others with stories about "my Palangi". I am the prize Palangi (foreigner) in my village. My host dad brags at Kava that I eat Kuli, Hosi and anything else he eats.

Back to my Moa Tonga. As I arrive from language class I step over its steaming guts. They are in front of the door to the house and have not yet been discovered by any of the local scavengers with the exception of a cloud of flies.

Moa Tonga is the skinniest and toughest chicken you can imagine. Even boiled I fear for my teeth as I struggle to tear the dry flesh from the bone. It is bad. I do not let on. MMMmmmmm Ifo! (Yummy) I say!

I get one Moa Tonga as special treat each week after that.


MMmmm Ifo Aupito!

Return to Civilization

Our final day in Vava'u. I wake at 05:30 and rush through a shower (YES! The water is working today!)

We are flying back. A big relief after out boat trip here. No one knows when the plane leaves or even how many planes will fly today, but our village gets to go first because we are the most squared away group. I briefly wake my host dad from his Kava induced slumber to wish him well and I am off in a crowded Peace Corps van.

Most of the village including my host mom follow us to the airport to see us off. By 07:00 Air Tonga has weighed both us and the little bit of luggage we are allowed to take on the flight. (Our real luggage will take the boat back and we hope to see it in a few days?)

The two man airport staff carefully records our weights and fills out a seating chart based on them. My handwritten ticket claims my flight leaves at 16:45. Others say 12:30.

About 07:50 a small (16ish seat) dual turboprop drops from the sky and disgorges it's few passengers. We immediately board and depart. Whew!

We fly at 7,000 feet for most of the trip. We see the many islands on Hapai below. In the distance the huge cinder cone of the volcano pokes above the scattered clouds.

It take just over an hour and we are back to the international airport in Fu'omotu. We land on the paved runway today. (Sometimes they land on the grass.)

It turns out that it will take four flights to get us all back. It takes all day. None of the flights really have a scheduled time or even capacity. Each flight originates in Fiji and they send whatever plane they have available. That is the way we understand it at least.

I write this from the Peace Corps office. Last night I ate half of a decent pizza. NO Tongan root crops! I even got a couple of local beers, served COLD, to wash it down.

When I returned to the guest house I analyzed the plumbing in my shared bathroom. Many rooms are hot water capable, but most residents can't actually get it to work.

I play with the system until I get the on-demand gas heater to activate. (There is a "light" switch downstairs that must be on to drive an electric water booster pump.) I can hear sparks, but no flame. I trace the lines and find an empty gas bottle. With the gas bottle replaced I crash despite the racket of 30 some slightly drunk PCVs partying all night.

This morning I am up at 05:30, plod down to activate the water pump. I shave with a SINK and MIRROR!! Then a real honest to God hot shower.

No coffee until 07:30. It is instant, but it is still heaven. Then we get BACON and french toast. We are ecstatic! We all comment on how it is great to have a lean meal. Bacon is so much leaner than the "meats" we've been eating. I pet the dog at my feet as I eat, careful not to get my fingers into any of the open sores that attract so may flys. Gosh it is good to be back in civilization!

Good Night... Sleep Tight... Don't let the...

I am already scratching when I wake. The mosquito coil from last night has burned out.

Gosh my leg itches and usually the mosquitoes go for my head, hands and feet?

I look and there is a group of red welts... perhaps 15. (The welts stay for about a week.)

After getting dressed and downing a Tongan breakfast I pull out the Peace Corps medical handbook. Yup, here it is - Bed Bugs.

I tell my host sister. She pretends not to understand. I explain that we need to clean everything from the sheets to the mats on the floor.

She empties the room, then flies in with the B52s and nukes the place with high powered bug spray (more on the spray in a subsequent blog).

The bedding smells of chemicals, but the bedbugs are gone. Hallelujah!

A week later I see her repeating the process with her (sort of) room. The bedbugs have claimed another victim.

FYI - I have learned the Tongan word for bedbug. It translates as Fiji Bug. All good stuff here prefixed with Tonga... Bad things are prefixed with Samoa or Fiji...

Just Do IT !!!!!

There is a big reddish colored dog that hangs around one of the lalanga huts. (That’s where the women weave mats.) His name is Nike. Unlike most of the tired-looking skinny mutts around the village, Nike looks healthy and well fed.

The women warn us not to get too close, as Nike bites.

I ate Nike Wednesday night.