It has been 18 months since I left Tonga and I doubt there has been a single day when I haven’t thought about my 27 months in Peace Corps and all of the wonderful people I met.

When I left Tonga, I wrote “Steve’s Adventure Ends Today.” I could not have been more wrong. Returning to the United States I now realize that the adventure never ends. Peace Corps is a part of me. Since returning, I’ve been able to meet up with more than a dozen of my former Tonga volunteers and I’ve been in contact with many more. I’m also still in contact with some of my Tongan friends. I even occasionally get a question from some of my former clients and I’m of course happy to still help.

I’ve even collaborated on a travel guide about Tonga with three of my former volunteers, Kate Ashelon, Jason Schneider and Shawn Quast.

That book is being published by Other Places Publishing, a company founded by Returned Peace Corps Volunteers and will be available in bookstores and online this summer.

But the real surprise since returning to the USA has been to meet so many other returned Peace Corps volunteers (RPCV’s). And I’ve learned that no matter where they have served and when they served, we have a lot of similar stories and shared experiences. It’s also refreshing to see how many of these returned volunteers are still active in helping others.

I now work for Peace Corps as the South Florida based recruiter. I spend most of my time talking with people who are thinking about applying to Peace Corps. It gives me a chance to help continue the 50 year legacy of Peace Corps, but also allows me to talk about my own experiences in Tonga.

It’s also inspired me to compile all of my own experiences into a book. Many of the entries in the book are taken from the blog I kept during my service, but I’ve also included some private journal entries that were never published on this site.

In putting together the book, it was fascinating for me to read many of the early entries about my frustration with the application process. As a recruiter, I know have a little more insight into that process and I know that some of the assumptions I made when I was an applicant were not always correct. However, I hope that is makes me a better recruiter because I do remember what it is like to hear nothing for such a long period of time.

I also like to tell people that I have “a one country perspective.” As I have learned since returning, that while there are many similarities in all the Peace Corps experiences worldwide, they are also all different. These are my stories and my experiences.

The book is available in both printed and electronic form from Amazon.com.

The electronic version can be read on Kindle, Nook, PC's, Mac's, IPhones, IPads, Androids, Blackberries, Sony Reader and Palm devices.

Get the printed book from Amazon ($16.99)Get the Kindle e-book from Amazon ($4.99)Get the Nook e-book from Barnes and Noble ($4.99)Publish PostGet the e-book for Sony and Palm Devices ($4.99)

SPECIAL OFFER: For a limited time, save $3.00 off the printed version. Click this link and enter coupon code BCSUHUM4 when you check out.

My book is dedicated to Peace Corps volunteers, past, present and future and 100% of any profit from the book will be donated to support the work of current and returned volunteers.

Steve's Adventure Home Page

UPDATE: TV Interview added

It’s been more than three years since I first applied to join the Peace Corps and what an adventure it has been. I filled out my application on September 26, 2006, I arrived in Tonga on October 4, 2007 and today, November 23, 2009, I am leaving Tonga, no longer a Peace Corps volunteer.

Officially, I’m now called an RPCV, or a Returned Peace Corps Volunteer, but since I haven’t actually returned yet, it seems a bit strange to use that acronym just yet.

A Video JournalAs of today, I’ve written 160 blog entries about my Peace Corps experience with the vast majority written during my two years of service and my 10 weeks of training. But written words and still photos only allow me to share a portion of my journey. Therefore, I decided for my last entry from Tonga, I would share with you a video journal about some of the things I’ve found most interesting and some of the things I’ve done. The video is little long…almost 16 minutes but I just couldn’t cut anything else out. I have more than 20 hours of footage, so it was quite an accomplishment to get this down to 16 minutes. I hope you enjoy it.

Steve's Adventure with the Peace Corps from Steve Hunsicker on Vimeo.

I shot almost all of the footage in the video except for the interviews. Those were shot by my friend Chad and I sincerely appreciate his help.

My Future PlansWhen I left my job more than two years ago, I knew that once my Peace Corps service was over, I would be coming back to the USA with no job. That day has now arrived and I can happily say that I am now searching for my next opportunity. I don’t know what that will be and I don’t have anything lined up. The good news is that I’m very open to just about anything. My hope is to find something that I will enjoy as much as I have enjoyed my time in Tonga. I’m open to all suggestions and would love to hear from you. All of my contact information and my resume are posted on my personal website at http://www.stephenhunsicker.com/.

I’m also asked regularly if I intend to keep writing this blog. The answer is no. As much as I have enjoyed writing about my experiences, this is my final post. I plan to keep the site active for a while to assist any future Peace Corps volunteers who have questions about the application process or about serving in Tonga, but at some point, I’ll stop paying for the domain name and everything I’ve written will go away.

I do have plans to write a new blog. I’m not sure exactly what I’m going to do with it yet. For starters I will write about my trip to New Zealand and Australia, my next two stops after I leave here later this morning. If you are interested, you can check out “The Blog of Steve” And if you want to sign up to get notified when I start posting, just click on this link and enter your e-mail address. (Current subscribers to this blog will NOT be carried over, so if you want to get the new blog, you will have to subscribe again.)

Saying Good-bye

Much of what I've been doing for the past two weeks has involved saying good-bye to all the people I have met in the past two years. My last three Sundays were spent at different Tongan homes eating umu, which is the traditional Sunday feast. I have been humbled by the many thanks and gifts that I have received...too many to even begin to mention here. And I was honored to have not one, not two, but three going away events....two in Vava'u and one at the head office of the Tonga Development Bank.

The folks at the Vava'u branch of the Bank went "all out" to say good-bye last Thursday, my last day working there. We had a a lavish morning tea ceremony and some really wonderful gifts. After everyone said their good-byes, we invited customers to come and join us and they helped us eat all the food the staff had prepared.

At our head office on the main island of Tongatapu, the bank put on another tea for me Friday with the managers and staff saying goodbye. In this photo, the Managing Director presents me with a whale carving made of sandalwood.

And on Thursday night, I spent my last few hours in Vava'u hanging out with my fellow volunteers and other friends at the Aquarium Cafe..

A Final Thought

Many years ago, I heard President Ronald Reagan give a speech and in it, he said something like this: “We are not here to congratulate ourselves on what we have accomplished, but instead to challenge ourselves to accomplish more tomorrow”. I’ve probably butchered the quote but the sentiment is sound. As I think about my service in Peace Corps, I hope that this has just been the beginning. I hope to challenge myself and others to accomplish more in the future.

‘Ofa lahi atu! (With much love to you)Steve

UPDATE: February 17,2010I worked at WTVC, NewsChannel 9 in Chattanooga for 11 years. After returning back to the USA, I stopped by the station to say hello. They interviewed me about my Peace Corps experience in Tonga. The station aired the interview over three days on its public affairs program: "This and That with Don Welch".

You can watch all three segments below.

NewsChannel 9 interviews Steve Hunsicker about the Peace Corps from Steve Hunsicker on Vimeo.

Have a comment about this post or about Steve’s Peace Corps Adventure? Click to share your thoughts with Steve.Steve's Adventure Home Page

With just over a week remaining for me in Vava’u there isn’t much left for me to do at work. Today was my final business development workshop, the 20th workshop we’ve done since I’ve been a Peace Corps volunteer in Tonga.

The workshops are designed to help Tongans better understand how to run a business and how to keep records. I estimate that more than 500 Tongans have participated in those 20 workshops. Some of them, like the woman featured in a video I produced for the bank, have made big improvements because of what they have learned at the workshops. Hopefully some of them will continue to improve in the coming years. Wouldn’t it be great to come back to Tonga one day and see that one of the past participants has done great things?

Meet my Co-WorkersFor the past two years, I’ve worked with the same group of people at the Vava’u office of the Tonga Development Bank. All of them have been great to me and many of them already know about my family and friends, but very few of you know much about them except perhaps for the photo I shared in my last post. I asked my friend Chad to videotape me so that I could introduce you to the people with whom I have shared an office. It’s about five minutes long.

TDB Vava'u Office Tour from Steve Hunsicker on Vimeo.

Direct Link to Video

The Week AheadMy final day at the Vava'u bank is next Thursday. I fly to the main island of Tongatapu on Friday to say good-bye to the folks at our head office and to do my exit interviews with Peace Corps.

I leave Tonga for good on Monday the 23rd when I’ll fly to New Zealand for about 30 hours before heading to Australia for a couple of weeks. I’ve got a lot planned for Australia including a five day dive trip on the Great Barrier Reef. On Thanksgiving Day,I’ve arranged to have a traditional American dinner with Turkey and all the trimmings. While in Australia I will also be going to a place called Cape Tribulation before wrapping up the trip with five days in Sydney. It’s my 3rd trip to Australia. I went to Brisbane in September, 2008 and to Melbourne and Adelaide/Kangaroo Island in September of this year.

I fly back into West Palm Beach late on December 8th.Steve's Adventure Home Page

I believe we are all influenced by the people with whom we associate.  If you hang around negative people, it tends to make you more negative.  If you find yourself around someone who is cynical, eventually, you may start to question everything. I’m very fortunate that for the past two years I’ve been surrounded by a lot of friendly and positive folks.  And I hope that their influence on me continues long after I leave Tonga. Just like in the USA, I have several groups of friends here ranging from my work friends to my personal friends to my fellow volunteers.  These are the folks who I work with at the Tonga Development Bank in Vava’u.  I’ve seen each of these people almost every working day since I moved here. They are a great group of folks and they love to laugh at me almost as much as I like to laugh with them.  (Okay, sometimes I laugh at them too!) The man in the middle on the first row is my great friend Fuka, who is the manager of the branch.  He’s been such a great help to me during my service that I can’t imagine being a volunteer in Tonga without him around.  We are the same age, have a lot in common and we shared a memorable fishing trip last year. My fellow volunteers have also been an important part of my life, especially those who arrived at the same time as I did.  Our training group, Tonga Group 73, initially started with 33 volunteers.  There are now just 18 of us left and next week the remaining group members will start to leave for good.  (November 12th is the first day we are allowed to leave and we have until December 12th to depart unless we request an extension). However, the volunteers to whom I’ve been the closest are the ones with whom I’ve shared an island. Group 71 and Group 72 were both here in Vava’u when I arrived.  They are now gone, replaced for the past year by the members of Group 74. Two weekends ago we had a final camping trip with the the eight Vava’u volunteers  (and some other friends.) It was a last chance for us to hang out together for an extended period of time.   We spent two nights camping on an uninhabited island.    There were originally eight people from my group in Vava’u.  James, Shannon and I are the only three who remain. (Shannon is in the white top and that’s James in the red shirt.) The members of Group 75, who are all now in training, will arrive after we have all departed. Six of them have been assigned to Vava’u but none will be replacing James, Shannon or myself. Some Random Notes I obtained by Advanced Open Water SCUBA certification last week.  This follows my basic Open Water certification in March.  My final dive was a night dive and it is such a difference experience than diving in the day.  We also encountered a three foot shark who seemed a lot less interested in us than we were in him. My last day at work is November 19th.  I fly to the main island on November 20th and then I leave Tonga for good on November 23rd.  I will be traveling to New Zealand and Australia before arriving home to West Palm Beach on December 8th. I’ve been sick for the past six days and have rarely left the house.  It’s frustrating because there are so many things I want to do before I leave Vava’u and losing six days when you only have three weeks left sucks.   However, I’ve been pretty healthy during my service so I guess it was my time. Good-bye Shannon I have another video to add to my Peace Corps Tonga videos.   This is a good-bye video I put together for my friend Shannon.  Shannon has lived in the village of Tefisi in Vava’u for the past two years.   I am in this video as is my dog,  Solitia. Shannon Gentry's Life in Peace Corps Tonga from Steve Hunsicker on Vimeo. I am now working to complete my own video about my service.  I hope I can get it done before I leave Tonga. Steve's Adventure Home Page

Here are some videos about Peace Corps volunteers in Tonga.  I hope you enjoy watching them. Tonga Development Bank Video For the past several months, I’ve been working on a video for the Tonga Development Bank.  This video will air on television throughout the Kingdom and will also be shown at future bank workshops.  It is designed to promote the bank’s “Business Advisory Service”, which is the area where I work.  On Wednesday of this week, it was shown publicly for the first time at a bank workshop in Neiafu.  The project turned out to be a lot harder than I expected.  I produced the entire 10 minute video in Tongan.  In order to make the video work, I wrote down the questions in English and those were translated to Tongan.  Once the interviews were finished, I had someone translate the transcript of the interviews into English and from that I wrote the script.  The bank approved the final script in English, then it was translated for me back into Tongan. Even though I worked in TV News for 23 years, video editing was never one of the things I did.  Since I’ve been in Tonga, I’ve taught myself the basics of editing on a computer.  But this project was even more complicated because I had to make sure the video matched the Tongan script.  Thankfully, I had a Tongan-English dictionary to help. Once the video was finished, I then cut an English version of the video so that I could share it here online.   In every case, the Tongan script was longer than the English translation so the English version is not as tight as the Tongan version.  The English version will only be seen here so a lot more effort when into the Tongan version.  (The Tongan version can be seen at http://vimeo.com/7289389 for those of you who are curious or for the very few of you reading this who might actually understand it.) Here’s the English version.  Tonga Development Bank from Steve Hunsicker on Vimeo. Direct Link: http://vimeo.com/7304192 Farewell Janis This video I produced for my friend Janis, who has completed her Peace Corps service.  She took the video back to the USA to show her family and friends what she has been doing for the last two years.  Hopefully it will also provide an insight into our lives as volunteers here in Vava’u. Janis Martin's Life in Peace Corps Tonga from Steve Hunsicker on Vimeo. Direct Link: http://vimeo.com/6771940  Team Teaching My friend Saskia put together this video for Peace Corps.  It will be used to show the concept of team teaching to the future volunteers in Tonga who are currently in training.  (I shot some of the video, but not all of it). Direct Link: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1X3kOBwHh0o Science Fair At the end of September, I shot and edited a science fair competition that was held between the five high schools here in Vava’u.  This program aired on the local Vava’u TV station.  I didn’t do much except cut it down to 30 minutes, but it might give you an idea of students and their studies here in Tonga.  It is all in English but the audio can be hard to understand at times. Vava'u Tonga Science Fair from Steve Hunsicker on Vimeo. Direct Link: http://vimeo.com/6986806 I’m also working on a video about my own service and one for my friend Shannon.  I will post those when they are finished.  And in case you are a newer reader of this blog, you might be interested in a video my friend Scot and I put together last year for Peace Corps.  That video was sent by Peace Corps Washington to the people who are now training to become future volunteers in Tonga. Steve's Adventure Home Page

The Kingdom of Tonga is often described as a conservative and Christian country,  rich in tradition and culture.  That’s very true.  But some people who consider themselves conservative, Christian and traditional in the USA might be very surprised at one of the traditions in this island nation. Traditionally in old Tongan culture, when a family did not have any young girls to do “women’s work”, they would raise a young boy to do that work.  This boy is called a “fakaleiti”, which literally translates as “Like a Lady”.  While this probably still happens, the fakaleiti of today are more often than not gay men who dress like women and often perform jobs that are traditionally done by women. I should make it clear that not all fakaleiti are gay.  And not all gay Tongans are fakaleiti.  Some fakaleiti are married to women and have children of their own.  If you go to a restaurant or store in Tonga, it is not uncommon to be helped by a man who is wearing women’s attire.   You will also see these men walking around town just like anyone else except for the way they dress.   It is an accepted part of the culture here . Every Wednesday night during the winter tourist season, some of the fakaleiti ham it up for the  tourists at a local Vava’u bar called Tonga Bob’s.  The “Fakaleiti Show” is a must see for many visitors to Vava’u and while the show is not a traditional Tongan event, it still brings out plenty of locals to watch. The way the men dress during the show is NOT the same way they dress in town.  This show is for the audience and the guys go out of their way to entertain. The tourist season is winding down and this week marked the final fakaleiti show of the year.  It was my second time to attend.  I went to the first show of the season last year and the last show this year.  It was a fun night and because many of the tourists are gone, a lot of Tongans squeezed into the bar to watch. Tongans love to laugh and yes, they laugh at the fakaleiti.  But that’s the point to have a good time and not take it too seriously. Also in the audience for the final show of the year were some members of the French navy who have a small boat docked here this week.   You will see some of them in this selection of video clips from the show.   Vava'u, Tonga Drag Show (Fakaleiti's) from Steve Hunsicker on Vimeo. Direct Link: http://vimeo.com/7197049 One other note.  Every year there is a fakaleiti festival on the main island of Tonga called the Miss Galaxy Festival.   It’s a huge mainstream event that features fakaleiti from all over Tonga and attracts major International sponsors like Air New Zealand and WestPac Bank. Steve's Adventure Home Page

How do you describe the experience of being just feet away from one of the largest mammals on the planet? How do you describe the experience of watching a baby whale calf play under the watchful eye of its mother? And how do you describe the feeling of being pushed by gentle turbulence as a giant humpback softly swings its tale creating a mini wave? Words can’t describe it.  Swimming with whales is one of those rare things in life that must be experienced first hand to fully understand it, to appreciate it. After a day swimming with whales, something that very few people ever get a chance to do, I feel truly humbled by these gentle giants and at a loss to find the appropriate adjectives to describe the experience. The Humpback Whale Experience I spent the day with Dolphin Pacific Diving.  The day started a bit slow and I started to wonder if we would actual encounter any whales.  It’s late in the season and many of the whales who have been here all winter have left. I have been close to whales before but this was the first time that I had planned to dive with them. We stopped for an early lunch break when one of the guys on the boat asked “is that a whale”?  I didn’t see it at first but it was.  We quickly made our way toward the whale and as we approached we saw a baby calf jump completely out of the water, spinning as it landed back in the water.  It was a terrific start to a great experience. When we got in the water, we swam out.  The water was dark and then I noticed what at first I thought was a reef on the ocean bottom.  But as we got closer, I realized I was looking down at a giant humpback whale, directly below me.  This was NOT the baby we had seen jump out of the water, it was the mother, taking a rest.  And she wasn’t on the ocean floor, she was floating. The first stop was short as the whales swam away, but on the next stop, the whales were in a playful mood especially the baby who seems to almost be chasing us.  At one point I felt like the calf was putting on a show just for the five of us who were in the water. “Mama” had her eye on us and on her baby.  I looked her straight in the eye and wandered what I must look like to her. On the last stop of the day, we probably spent 45 minutes in the water just watching the whales play.   I had been taking a lot of photos, but finally just shut off the camera and floated there, watching these two go about their lives.   It was peaceful, tranquil and they seemed to exert a calm in us like nothing I’ve experienced before.  Whale Photos and Whale Videos I’ve uploaded 11 still images to the online gallery and with the exception of some cropping, none of the photos have been retouched or altered in anyway. I also have two videos.  This first video was taken with my Canon A710 still camera in video mode.  That camera doesn’t have the resolution as my other camera, but it is much easier to use underwater. Swimming with Whales in Tonga from Steve Hunsicker on Vimeo. Direct Link:http://vimeo.com/7079352 This second video was shot on my Sony SR-11 video camera.  The camera quality is much better but it is almost impossible to see anything through the viewfinder underwater so I just point the camera in the general direction and hope it comes out. Swimming with Whales from Steve Hunsicker on Vimeo. Direct Link:http://vimeo.com/7092922 More Information about Swimming with Whales If you want to read more about Vava’u and swimming with whales, the Fiji Island Business Magazine just published an article about the experience.  You can also contact Dolphin Pacific Diving.  I highly recommend them. Steve's Adventure Home Page

The future Peace Corps volunteers who will replace the members of my group in Tonga are now here.   Tonga Group 75 arrived Thursday morning on the main island of Tongatapu to begin three months of training. Within hours of landing at the airport, a tsunami warning was issued and all volunteers and the trainees were told by Peace Corps to stay away from coastal areas and to remain at their sites.   In the case of the trainees, they were all secured in a guest house until the warning passed.  What a welcome to Tonga. As you might imagine, the warning on Thursday was taken a lot more seriously after a tsunami devastated Niuatoputapu 10 days ago. In Vava’u, the schools immediately closed, most businesses closed and the streets were eerily empty.  The response from Peace Corps was also much swifter this time.  When the tsunami warning was issued 10 days ago, I never received a phone call from anyone at Peace Corps.  This time, I had multiple phone calls from both Peace Corps staff and fellow volunteers. Of course, last time, I also felt the earthquake, something we didn’t feel in Vava’u this time. Job Training My friend Emily, who is a volunteer in Tongatapu has been visiting us here in Vava’u this week.  Emily works for the Ministry of Training, Employment, Youth and Sports.  (Yes, one ministry does all of those four things.)  Emily is here to teach Tongan youth how to apply for jobs and how to interview.    On Wednesday, she conducted a workshop for those interested in getting a job. Emily also went around to many of the businesses here interviewing them to find out what opportunities they have for Tongan Youth. Fun Friday in Vava’u Friday, my friend Scott and I went diving around a small island called Lotuma, which is located near the entrance to the main harbor in Vava’u.  Lotuma is the same island where we had a very fun July 4th celebration two years ago. This dive, while not spectacular, was still pretty interesting because there are many giant clams along the reef.   I started playing a game to see how close I could get to the clams before they would close.  I was never able to get close enough to touch one before it closed. After the dive, I joined my fellow volunteers for our monthly meeting and then we went out to a new restaurant that just opened here.  This place, called Laredo's, had just started advertising an “all you can eat ribs” dinner for TOP$30.00.  That’s more than we get in an entire day for food but is only about US$15.00.  However, we couldn’t pass up the chance to splurge.   When we got there, we found that after just two days of offering the special, they had increased the price to TOP$35.00.  We still decided to “pig out” and we did…joking that after the Peace Corps volunteers left, the restaurant would have to increase the price to TOP$40.00.   Three times the waitress came to take away my plate and each time I stopped her and told her I wanted more ribs.   They were really good and were grilled right in front of us on an open fire. After that we headed out to a couple of nightspots before calling it a night.   It was a fun Friday and a nice break to have some time with my fellow Americans here in Vava’u.  I have just 40 days left here. Steve's Adventure Home Page

As I mentioned in my last post, the only person I know in the part of Tonga hit by the tsunami is Mafi, the manager of the Tonga Development Bank office in Niuatoputapu.

She and the rest of the bank staff up there are all fine.

Below is her account of what happened when the tsunami struck Tonga. Part of this was originally written in Tongan and I’ve translated it as best I could.

Here is her story:Some one called out that fateful morning the ocean is coming ashore.

So the first thing I thought of was to get to the Bank which is 2 minutes from my house in order to check on our things. I got my elderly mother-in-law and daughter into the van and we drove towards the Bank.

Half way down I saw the big wave coming towards us,It was moving across the bank and I saw it being destroyed. All I could do was to go into reverse gear flooring the gas.

I picked up all the people running on the road and headed towards the high ground. The wave was about 10 meters (30 feet) behind us. I just kept praying and asked God to live and I am thinking I just have to to keep the van in control.

I left the people in a safe high place and came down again to see if I could help some people in the lower ground, but the wave had gone back and all I could see was ruin.

We kept the people on the mountain all night in case another wave will come back. People were so frightened and scared and we tried to calm them.

We picked up all the food and staff from the store and that's what the people ate that day and night.

Hika (woman’s name) was able to survive because she managed to swim with the wave without hitting anything.

All the Bank's building are all gone including the strong room with everything in it. 'There is no equipment remaining from the Bank. Everything is destroyed.

The Bank has an emergency plan and they have already sent supplies and people up to Niuatoputapu to assist with the recovery.

We have had several more earthquakes since this one, but none have been major. I thought I felt one yesterday, but it wasn't very strong and I thought perhaps I was imagining it. But when I checked the USGS Earthquake website, it turns out, it really was another one. They also list some other Tonga earthquakes that I didn't feel.

It will take a long time for Niuatoputapu to recover, but for the rest of the country it is pretty much business as normal. There is no impact at all here in Vava’u (or the other parts of Tonga) and everything is open and running.Steve's Adventure Home Page

The islands of Niuatoputapu and Niuafo’oa in Tonga have been devastated by a tsunami that hit  the region Wednesday morning just before 8am local time following an earthquake. This is the same tsunami that did so much damage in Samoa and American Samoa.   (Samoa is on the other side of the dateline so it hit there on Tuesday.)  Unlike Samoa, these Tongan islands, which are commonly known as the “Niua’s” are pretty remote.  A boat takes supplies to those islands just once a month and there is not regular plane service. The Tongan Development Bank, where I work,  has an office on each of the islands.  Its office in Niuatoputapu was one of many buildings destroyed. This is a photo of the damage.  You will have to click on it to read the captions.  You will see where Mafi’s house was located.  Mafi is the branch manager in the Niua’s and the only person I know up there. This is a wider view of Hihifo showing the damage. This map shows the epicenter of the quake.   You can see how close Hihifo is to the epicenter and you can also see Apia, Samoa, where most of the damage occurred.  (I’m in Neiafu, which is in the lower left corner.) And this is a photo of the staff and office in Niuatoputapu, taken on September 21st, just 10 days ago.  Mafi, who I mentioned above, is the woman in the middle. Earthquakes are not uncommon in Tonga.  There are active volcanoes throughout the South Pacific including here in the Island Kingdom.   However, they are rare enough that you still notice when they happen.  That was the case Wednesday morning, just before 7am.  I was awake, but still in bed when the shaking started.  It lasted a long time and I knew immediately it was the strongest earthquake I had felt since moving to Tonga two years ago.   I also didn’t think the quake was strong enough to do any damage here.   At no point was anyone in Neiafu really worried.  Vava’u is very hilly and the harbor is one of the most protected harbors in the South Pacific.  Yacht owners will often leave their boats here during cyclone season because it is so well protected and after the warning was issued many of the boats that were out on the water returned to dock. My friend Scott, who is a Peace Corps volunteer on Ovaka, one of the outer islands of Vava’u is the only person I know in the Vava’u region who actually saw any impact from the Tsunami.  I spoke with him on the phone and he says the water went over the wharf on his island, something he had never seen before, and then went down to sea level.  He said this lasted for about 30 minutes.  He described it to me as “More interesting than scary.” This is the second major disaster to hit Tonga in the past 60 days.  The ferry Ashika sank in August killing more than 70 people. Steve's Adventure Home Page

For the second September in a row, I ventured south from Tonga to Australia.  Last year it was Brisbane.  This year, I explored the southern coast of the only country that is also a continent visiting Melbourne, Adelaide and Kangaroo Island. Kangaroo Island Without a doubt, the highlight of my trip was a two day tour to the very appropriately named Kangaroo Island.  Kangaroo island is located east of Adelaide and is actually quite large.  At 4400 square kilometers, It is five times larger than the total land mass of every island in Tonga combined. And yes, there are Kangaroos everywhere. It was so amazing to see animals in the wild that I had either never seen before or had only seen in a zoo.  This Koala bear was high in a tree  and almost looks like a stuffed animal, but he was very real, munching away on Eucalyptus trees. This is an Australian Seal.   It is one of two types of seals on the island.  The other is the New Zealand fur sea which we also saw.  The fur seals actually swim from New Zealand to Australia and can live in the water for months at a time. I spent two days on the island as part of a tour with a company called Surf and Sun.  I was very impressed with this company and would highly recommend them to anyone planning a trip to Kangaroo Island.    I was joined on the trip by a couple from Germany, five woman from Europe and a woman from Korea.   They were all in their 20’s except for the German guy who was 30.   At dinner the first night, I found myself surrounded by six single woman.  One of them said:  “So Steve, I guess you are not used to having dinner with so many girls”.  I responded by saying, “Well actually I am used to that.  Where I live I’m surrounded by woman all the time”.  And another said: “But I’m sure they are much older”.  To which I said, “Actually not, I spend a lot of of my time with single women in their 20’s”.   I then went on to explain that I was one of just three male Peace Corps volunteers on my island and that the rest are all woman.   (They thought that was interesting, but when I told my female friends in Vava’u that story, they all laughed). I suspect that when I first got on tour bus, this group wasn’t sure what to make of me, this older guy who was on their trip.  But that quickly changed and I know the exact moment that it happened. As part of the tour, we went to a place called “Little Sahara”.  It’s a huge sand dune that is not on the water, but inland.   We came there to sand board, something I had never done before.   I was the second one down the hill and it was fascinating to see how the attitudes of my group changed once they saw me get on that board. One other comment about the stay on Kangaroo Island.  We ate really well.  The Surf and Sun tour provided all the food and we took turns cooking and cleaning. Wine Tasting I’ve never been to a vineyard before.  When I went to New Zealand in April, I had planned to go, but never made it.  This time, I was determined not to let that happen and signed up for a tour of the Barossa Valley, outside Adelaide. We visited five wineries and I sampled 30 different wines all in one day.   South Australia, where the region I visited is located, is the top producer of Australian wines. We didn’t get to taste it, but I did get to smell a 100 year old port wine.   A taste of that would have cost me something like $50.00 Australian dollars (About $40.00 US).  And that wasn’t for a glass, that was just for a taste. In addition to the wines, I ate kangaroo for lunch along with other assorted meats and salad.   I thought the kangaroo was delicious.  It had obviously been marinated and was quite tender, with a consistency closer to beef.  (I had expected it to taste more like deer.) One stop that was pretty interesting was at what is called the Whispering Wall.   It’s actually not a wall, but a dam for a reservoir.  However, the acoustics are amazing.  I stood on one side of this dam and in a very low whisper was able to carry on a conversation with someone on the other side, who was also whispering.   It was pretty cool to see that sound could travel that far.   I enjoyed the wine tasting and the visit to the Whispering Wall, but I can’t recommend the tour company that I used.  The firm, called Groovy Grape was an hour late picking us up.   At two of our stops, we were told that because we were so late, they had to cut short our time there.   And then the kicker was that we ended up getting back 20 minutes early.  Melbourne I spent five days and four nights in Melbourne.  It’s a really cool and culturally diverse city.   But what is really fascinating about the place is the location of some of its coolest spots. If you’ve ever worked in any business that depends on customers coming to your location, then you know how important it is to have the right location.  If customers can’t find you, you won’t survive very long. Apparently someone forgot to tell the folks in Melbourne that.  Because there are tons of bars and restaurants that are located in places where most Americans wouldn’t venture….mainly down dead-end alleys.  This is a photo of one alley in Melbourne during the day.  However, the scene changes dramatically at night when it turns into an alley of thriving nightspots.   These alleys are all over Melbourne and the city is known for having successful businesses in spots that are not so easy to find.   The door on the left is the main entrance to a bar.   But there is not even a sign to tell you the name of the place. At first glance, you might wander why I would post a photo of a crane next to a building under construction.  But this is one of my favorite photos from the trip.  If you look a little closer, you’ll see the name on the crane is “Tonga Excavations”. So even 1500 miles away from Tonga, I had a reminder of where I had come from and where I would soon be returning.   Cumulatively, I’ve now spent almost a month in Australia and I’m not done yet.  Once I complete my Peace Corps service, I’m heading to Cairns, to go diving on the Great Barrier Reef and then down to Sydney before heading back to the USA. Steve's Adventure Home Page

Almost two years ago, on October 2, 2007, I first met the people who would become known as “Peace Corps Tonga Group 73”.  These 33 strangers would soon become friends sharing the experience of serving as a Peace Corps volunteer in Tonga. We spent a grueling three months together during training before becoming volunteers and heading out to our job assignments.   We reunited twice for Peace Corps conferences and along the way, many of our friends left Tonga, each having his or her own reason for leaving early. Last week, for the last time, the members of my group got together on the main island for what in Peace Corps speak is called our “Close of Service Conference”.  Unlike past conferences which focused on our service, this one was really all about the volunteers and was designed to prepare us for our life after Peace Corps.  For the 19 of us who have remained in Tonga, it was also our last time together. While we all arrived in Tonga on the same date, (See our arrival photo) most of us will be leaving on different dates. I’m officially leaving Tonga on November 23rd, exactly two months from today.  Many of our group will leave before then.  For those of us who don’t live on the main island, that means we will not see the volunteers who leave before us.  We spent our last few days together as a group reminiscing about our service, talking about those who had left early and discussing our plans for the future.   There was also talk about a reunion once we all get back to the USA. On our last night, Peace Corps provided us with a delicious feast and Tongan entertainment.  Direct link to video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bI5WAUuNC0w It was a fun night.  At the end of the evening, we did a group dance, everyone coming up on the stage for one last dance together. And then one last group hug. It’s certainly not the end of my Peace Corps experience, but a major milestone in my Peace Corps service.   I’m now back home in Vava’u and realize how many things I still want to do in my remaining two months.   Steve's Adventure Home Page

I like most Tongan traditions. One of the really cool things about Tonga is how well its culture and traditions have been preserved. But there is one tradition I don’t like and that’s the way Tongans say their final goodbyes. It’s not that I don’t appreciate the importance of a funeral, either in Tonga or in the USA. I know how important it is for the friends and family to say good-bye to those they love but I also think it isn’t necessary for a family to spend one’s life savings to pay its final respects. In Tonga, there is nothing modest or inexpensive about a funeral, which in Tongan is called a “putu”. A Tongan family feels enormous cultural pressure to throw a huge expensive funeral every time someone dies. A Tongan funeral is not just a funeral ceremony. The family is expected to throw a big feast and feed everyone who shows up. While it is also customary for people to bring a gift to a funeral, the family responds by giving gifts to everyone who comes. The family of a loved one never comes out ahead. A typical putu can cost more than most Tongans make in a year. At the bank where I work, we have people come in immediately after a loved one has died seeking to take out a loan to pay for the funeral. In some cases, a family will go in debt for years just to pay for the funeral. Many turn to their relatives overseas to cough up the money so they can have a “great” funeral for their loved one. Some families even hire bands to play at the funeral and to march with the body from the house to the cemetery. This funeral procession passed in front of my house on a Saturday at 9am and then returned five hours later. (Video Clip) I was out visiting bank clients one day when we happened to drive by a funeral. One of the bank’s employees asked me if I was hungry. I knew he meant that he wanted to stop and eat at the funeral. I asked him if he knew the person who died or the family. He said no, but it was okay, because at a funeral, you feed everyone who shows up. I told him I wasn’t hungry and suggested we go back to the bank. I didn’t feel right about sitting down and taking free food from someone who just had a relative die. It seems to me the money spent on a funeral would be much better spent paying for the education of a family member than on a lavish feast and gifts. A Tongan putu is not a quick event and can last for more than 24 hours. People will take an entire day off of from work to attend the putu. This means you might go to the grocery store and find it closed because the staff is attending a funeral that day. There are many other ways that the family responds when someone dies. Depending on how close you are to the deceased it will determine how long you will wear black and the huge funeral mats you see everyone wearing. It’s also traditional for a woman’s hair to be cut in memory of their loved one. A higher ranking woman in the house will tell a less ranking woman to cut her hair. The hair is usually woven into a belt that can be worn to hold up one of the large funeral mats. Now in all fairness, putting on a putu is a work of art. There are no funeral homes here so all of the work from preparing and dressing the body to the digging of the grave is done by friends and family. The preparations are lavish with many people helping to cook the food and set up tables so everyone has a place to eat. During the day, the men sit and drink kava while the women will sing. The kava drinking and singing will often last for days from the time the person dies until they are finally put into a grave decorated with quilts, flowers and plants. When you attend a funeral it all goes like clockwork and it’s truly amazing to see the end result of so much work. One more interesting topic about death in Tonga. If you ask a Tongan why someone died, they will usually say they were sick or they were old. There are no autopsies and the cause of death is rarely known. Steve's Adventure Home Page

It’s no secret that Tonga survives on the generosity of others. The country’s main source of income is from overseas remittances and foreign aid. But times are tough and people aren’t as generous. For the first six months of this year, the amount of money sent by Tongans overseas to their relatives in Tonga dropped by 14% and tourism is down 6%. Foreign aid is also drying up. One of my fellow Peace Corps volunteers was just turned down by New Zealand Aid for a project because New Zealand has put all of its aid to Tonga on hold for the rest of the year. Other countries are doing the same. This is a big adjustment for Tongans, many of who are very used to asking “Will you buy this for me? You can go almost anywhere in Tonga and you’ll see signs like this one that on a rainwater collection tank saying who provided the money for the project. For years, the money has flowed freely and all kinds of projects have been funded. For example, early last year I heard about a school that had a shortage of textbooks and no computers, but instead of asking for money to get books, school supplies or computers to help the kids, they instead got the European Union to buy them a very expensive riding lawn mower. And the school doesn’t have a very big yard. The island of Hunga just finished building a very expensive road from the waterfront up to their village. There is just one vehicle on the entire island, a truck that was also paid for with grant money. The road was built so that the truck could go down this road to pick up supplies from boats. The road is all poured concrete with a sidewalk on each side, but if you look closely, you’ll notice some obvious problems. There is no drainage, so all the water pours down the road into the harbor below. You can see where the mud has already started to collect. It’s also not straight and it is much more difficult to walk up the hill to the village than if they had build a set of stairs. I was initially told the project was funded by New Zealand, than was told it was paid for by India. You have to wonder if the money wouldn’t have been better spent installing electricity or running water on the island, of which it has neither. And then there are the grants which go for great projects but they end up being a waste of time. The village of Falevai has a beautiful medical center. It’s the only place outside of the main island where people in Vava’u can go for medical issues.The center was paid for with grant money. There is just one problem. There is no money to pay doctors and nurses to work there. So the building, which is actually nicer than the Vava’u hospital, sits empty. Villagers now use the fence around it as a clothes line to dry their laundry. On the surface, all three of these projects probably sounded good on paper: a lawn mower to help a poor school, a road to improve the infrastructure of a village and who could argue with a modern medical center to help people who live on small outer islands. It just didn’t work out that way. And in fairness to the countries that provided the grant money, they did so out of a desire to help the people of Tonga. It can be hard to say “no” when a friendly Tongan with a a big smile on his or her face comes up and says “Will you buy this for me?”. Steve's Adventure Home Page

I was recently asked by the Peace Corps Press office to answer 10 questions about my Peace Corps service. This is the information they will use to put together a news release to different news organizations about my service. A couple of the questions prompted me to talk about some things that I’ve not mentioned on this blog before, while a couple of other answers may sound familiar to regular readers. Here are the 10 questions and then the answers. 1) What one particular experience/moment highlights your Peace Corps service? 2) How have your values shifted, if at all? 3) What have you accomplished for the Tongan people? 4) Have you made local friends? Share a ‘friendship’ moment. 5) What local customs drive you crazy? 6) How does technology fit into your experience? 7) Why should more Americans apply for PC service? 8) Describe your village site….in detail: what is attractive/difficult about it? 9) When were you most frightened? 10) How will you move your service forward upon your return to the US? 1) What one particular experience/moment highlights your Peace Corps service? I’ve helped more than 300 Tongans in both workshops and one-on-one learn new skills to help their business be more successful. In some cases, it was helping them learn how to start a business. In one case it was both. I worked with a Tongan business owner who had run up a TOP$20,000 (About $10,000 US) overdraft at a local bank and was on the verge of having to close his business. He kept no records and was giving away too much stuff from his store to friends and family and also for his own consumption. I went in, examined his records and made suggestions on ways to turn his business around. He immediately did everything I suggested including tracking what he was giving away. Once he realized how much he was giving, he was able to reduce that. He started paying down his overdraft and started keeping records for the first time. He even started writing down all of the cigarettes that he was taking and smoking. He told me that once he saw on paper how many cigarettes he was smoking each day, it forced him to cut back on his smoking. He has now paid his overdraft down, his business is doing much better and he has now started a new business…running a taxi cab service. His mother is sick and he has been able to afford to hire an employee to run the store so he can be with his sick mother. That employee continues to keep good business records for him. When I think about success stories, this is the one that jumps out at me. All he needed was a little push and he did the rest on his own. 2) How have your values shifted, if at all? I think that by putting yourself into a culture that is so completely different you can’t help but get a better understanding of the world. As a person, who spent most of his life in the news media and living in a multi-cultural place like South Florida, I always thought I had a pretty good “world view” of things, but coming to Tonga, I realize that I didn’t really have a clue. It’s not so much that I understand the world better, but I think I understand people better. Living in a foreign culture you really do learn that people are much more alike than they are different. I’m not sure that any of my “core” values have changed, but hopefully I understand the world a little better now because of my Peace Corps experiences. 3) What have you accomplished for the Tongan people? See answer #1 above…Hopefully some of the business people with whom I work now have the skills to do better and perhaps be successful. 4) Have you made local friends? Share a ‘friendship’ moment. I went fishing one Saturday with two Tongan friends. Both have a lot more experience fishing than I have and I was keen to get out and enjoy the day. As it turns out, I caught the only fish of the day, a small grouper which I landed shortly after we threw our lines in the water. However the trip was a great Tongan experience. My two friends, like most Tongans don't have rods and reels. They have fishing line, some fish hooks and some weights. My weight was a small piece of rebar with the hook tied about 12 inches above it. We used pieces of smaller fish as bait. I felt a tug on my line, but didn't really think I had a fish, but when I pulled it up, there was a fish. Six hours later and it was still the only fish we had caught but we did do a great job of feeding the fish underneath us because they kept eating the bait. The fish weren't the only ones eating. When we first got out on the water, my friends pulled out a big container of sandwiches, probably 20 sandwiches for the three of us. Then once we got to the spot where we dropped anchor, out came more food. A big can of fatty meat and a huge bowl of root crops. Tongans love to eat and even when fishing, we had more food than the three of us could eat. As we headed back to shore, we ran out of gas. We were near the shore, but still a good distance from where the car was parked. We ended up spending more than an hour swimming the boat back. 5) What local customs drive you crazy? Probably funerals. The Tongan word is putu. When someone dies, the family is expected to throw a big feast and feed everyone who shows up. While it is also customary for people to bring a gift to a funeral, the family responds by giving gifts to everyone who comes. The family of a loved one never comes out ahead. At the bank where I work, we have people come in immediately after a loved one has died seeking to take out a loan to pay for the funeral. In some cases, a family will go in debt for years just to pay for the funeral. This all seems crazy to me. It is certainly important to pay your respects to your loved ones, but not to this extent. I was out visiting bank clients one day when we happened to drive by a funeral. One of the bank’s employees asked me if I was hungry. I knew he meant that he wanted to stop and eat at the funeral. I asked him if he knew the person who died or the family. He said no, but it was okay, because at a funeral, you feed everyone who shows up. I told him I wasn’t hungry and suggested we go back to the bank. I didn’t feel right about sitting down and taking free food from someone who just had a relative die. It seems to me the money spent on a funeral would be much better spent paying for the school fees of a family member than on a lavish feast and gifts. Because there is often free food, when someone dies, people will take an entire day off of from work to attend the putu. Certainly that is fine for family members but is it necessary for an entire village. This means you might go to the grocery store and find it closed because the staff is all attending a funeral that day. 6) How does technology fit into your experience? On my second day as a volunteer in Vava’u, I introduced myself to the manager of ANZ bank here. As we were talking, she asked me if I knew how to program a cash register. I had never done that before, but I figured I would be able to do it, so I told her that I could. Within a week, I was programming a cash register for that business and training the staff how to use it. Next I did the same for a bar. A month later, another business called and wanted me to help with their cash register and train their staff and then a month later, a restaurant that was under new ownership called asking for the same assistance. In all four cases, these were businesses that had a cash register, but didn't know how to use it. Not only are the businesses now using the cash register, but it is helping them improve their record keeping. The same thing has happened with computers. Once I was able to help one person with their computer, then another would call. Then I helped a computer lab, and then I built a website and then another website. Once the word got around that I could help, I started getting lots of calls. When possible I try to show people how they can do some of the things themselves, but often the people I help barely know how to use a computer so it’s hard to teach them how to repair one. In the case of the websites I’ve built, I’ve tried to design them so that the Tongan staff can easily update them without the help of a web person. All of the sites are for tourism related businesses. Hopefully that will help them attract more customers from overseas. The funny part of technology has been helping Tongans with their digital cameras. Many now have either cell phones that take photos or digital camera but they have no idea how to use them. It’s amazing to see their faces when they take a picture for the first time and then get to see it right away. 7) Why should more Americans apply for PC service? I think all Americans should have a chance to live in a foreign culture. Whether it is Peace Corps or some other program If more Americans had the chance to be exposed to different cultures, I think we would be a much more accepting society. When you remove yourself from all the things we consider normal, your realize what an “American centric” view we have of the world. Joining Peace Corps is also a chance to do something rewarding. I don’t think many volunteers get to “save the world” or do huge major projects, but I think most, if not all, make at least a small difference in the lives of the people in their host country. I will say the Peace Corps is NOT for everyone. If someone is thinking about joining, they should research it thoroughly and make sure it really is right for them. It’s pretty easy to find the contact information for many volunteers online. Find some volunteers who seem to be similar to you and start up an e-mail exchange with them. Ask questions and get a lot of different opinions. I think most volunteers will be happy to tell you about their experiences and some have had bad experiences while others, like me, have had a great experience. 8) Describe your village site….in detail: what is attractive/difficult about it? I actually live in the town of Neiafu and it’s not really what you would imagine as a typical village. I live on the property of my landlord, Kepu Tupou and his family. In addition to Kepu’s house, there is the house where I live and right next to it, is another house where James Barbour, an education volunteer lives. James and I live 10 feet from each other, but each has our own house. Our situation is unique in Peace Corps Tonga because no other volunteer lives that close to another anywhere in the country. For some volunteers they have to take a boat to see another volunteer. I like my living situation a lot. Kepu and his family are great and they feed me Tongan food almost every Sunday. That’s a big part of the culture here, not only sharing food, but having a big meal on Sunday after Church. It’s also nice to have another American so close and I’m thankful to have a person like James right next door. I’m also very close to work. It’s a 10 minute walk down the hill to my job at the Tonga Development Bank. That walk home isn’t quite as nice as I have to climb back up the hill and it is a steep walk. However, the road offers a great view of the harbor so the view helps make up for the steep climb. 9) When were you most frightened? Only once was I really frightened. The story is a bit long and it happened just one month after becoming a volunteer. One Thursday, my friend and fellow volunteer Craig and I had lunch together at the Catholic Basilica in Nuku’alofa. They have a small restaurant in the basement of the Church and I had eaten there a few times previously. I usually order the special and on this day it was fried tuna. I would have preferred to have it lightly seared, but was just happy to get tuna, as it is one of my favorite meals. Craig did not order the fish and ate something else which I don’t remember. When I got back to work, I wasn’t feeling great and told my supervisor at the bank I was going home. I told Craig that lunch didn’t sit well with me. He was surprised that I was feeling bad so quickly after we ate, even mentioning that normally food poisoning takes a while to be noticed after you eat. I went home and stayed in bed the rest of the day and called in sick on Friday. I did not eat anything at all either Thursday night or all day Friday. I never vomited but just felt bad. Not really nauseous. I think queasy would be the best way to describe it. I woke up early Saturday morning, reached for my water bottle and discovered I did not have the strength to pick it up. My first thought was that I was weak from not eating, but I quickly realized this was much more serious. I couldn’t lift anything with my left hand and I couldn’t even raise my arm and hand over my head. For all practical purposes, I had lost use of my left arm and hand. This terrified me as you can imagine. Clearly this was not the result of something I ate. It was a much more serious problem. I called the Peace Corps medical office and the Assistant Peace Corps Medical Director came over. She checked my blood pressure and pulse, which were both normal. She asked if I was in pain to which I replied no. I had numbness in the fingers on both hands and also had numbness on my tongue but I wasn’t uncomfortable. She told me that she would get me to a doctor first thing on Monday, but there wasn’t much she could do for me on a Saturday unless things got worse. On Monday when we got to the doctors office, I was unable to write or sign my name. (I write left-handed). Jacinta Tonga, the nurse who is the Peace Corps Medical Officer had to fill it out for me. Once I got into the exam room, the doctor diagnosed that I had just 1/5 of my normal strength in my arm. In other words, I had lost 80% use of my hand and arm. The doctor thought I might have had a stroke but thought it could also be something muscular. She even checked me for diabetes. I really didn’t believe I had suffered a stroke. The doctor was an Australian Doctor, probably in her late 50’s. After examining me, she suggested acupuncture to see if that would help my arm. While Jacinta, the Peace Corps Medical Officer who accompanied me to the doctor was skeptical and wasn’t sure I should have it, I agreed to give it a try. I figured it certainly wouldn’t do any harm. At the clinic, there is only one exam room, so the doctor moved me into the clinic pharmacy which opens onto the waiting room and has a big open window between the rooms. She stuck six needles in me, one in my head, the rest in my hand, arm and shoulder. I asked for a glass of water and was left alone in the pharmacy. After about five minutes, I started to feel faint. I screamed for help and a stampede of people came rushing in, including other patients who were waiting to see the doctor. They grabbed me before I fell and put me on the floor. I spent the next 20 minutes lying on the floor of the pharmacy with these needles sticking out of me. I can only imagine what would have happened if I had fallen on top of one and jammed it into my body. Afterwards the doctor told me that about 1 out of every 50 people get faint when they get acupuncture. It’s hard for me to imagine that those little needles could cause that. Peace Corps was now making plans to send me to Brisbane, Australia for a full exam and an MRI. Jacinta told me: “Steve, I know you really love Peace Corps, but if you have to be sent home, it’s because you need to take care of your arm. That is what is really important.” Of course she was right, but just hearing someone say out loud that I could be sent home and medically discharged from the Peace Corps was pretty scary. I went home and spent the rest of that day and night wondering what I would do back in the US, especially with no use of my left arm and hand. I couldn’t even type or use the computer easily. However, the practical side soon kicked in and I decided I would go back to the US and find to the very best doctor and hospital for treatment of problems like I had. It didn’t matter to me where it was in the United States, just that I would go to the best place possible. Peace Corps would be paying for my treatment and I figured I could easily absorb the costs of living somewhere until I got better. And there was always the chance that the hospital was near my home in Florida or near my family in Virginia. On Tuesday, my arm was better. Not normal, but I had more use of it and could almost bend my elbow into a right angle. I called Jacinta who told me she still did not have an appointment for me in Australia, but that she was happy to hear I was doing better. She told me I was to stay home for the rest of the week and didn’t even want me to go out of my house. Two days later, my arm and hand were doing much better and Jacinta called and said “You were poisoned”. That was the official verdict from the Peace Corps Medical office in Washington, DC after reviewing my case. I was skeptical at first. I couldn’t believe that everything that had happened was the result of eating fish. But after reading the Peace Corps medical handbook and looking online, I came to believe that it probably was a proper diagnosis. I was probably suffering from Ciguatera Fish poisoning, Paralytic Shellfish poisoning or Scombroid Fish Poisoning. And it probably was not anyone’s fault that I got sick. All three of the poisons mentioned above are impossible to detect and the fish comes out of the water that way. Because I was getting better everyday, I no longer had to take a trip to Brisbane, Australia and I had no need for any further medical attention. I went back to work the following week and two weeks after I had first eaten the poisoned fish, I decided my arm was 100%. However, it does still scare me to think how much poison I had ingested to have that kind of impact on me. It also changed my perspective and made me appreciate the fact that I was still in Peace Corps. 10) How will you move your service forward upon your return to the US? As I mentioned early, I think I have a better view of the World, or at least people because of my Peace Corps experience. Ideally, I would like to continue with Peace Corps in some capacity. I’m pretty passionate about helping small businesses and would love to find an opportunity where I could so that within the Peace Corps organization. I’m also fully prepared to talk about my Peace Corps service with anyone who is interested. I’ve been writing a weekly blog about my experiences since I applied to join the Peace Corps and I’ve been amazed by how many people read it each week. Since I’ve started the blog and through July 8, 2009, I’ve had 32,621 page views and 18,152 visits from all 50 US States and 132 Countries and Territories. While I plan to stop writing my blog once I return to the USA, I intend to leave it online for anyone who is interested in learning more about Peace Corps and Tonga. (The blog is at http://blog.stevesadventure.com)Steve's Adventure Home Page

One of the first things you learn as a Peace Corps Volunteer is that no matter how hard you try, your eating habits are going to be very different. Some volunteers who have been vegetarians for years soon find themselves eating meat. Others, who may have been picky eaters in the USA now find themselves eating things they never imagined while others try to come up with creative ways to add some variety to the diet. There are really two problems with food in Vava’u. The first is that Tongans pretty much eat the same foods every day without a lot of variety. There are a number of root crops that are grown here and those are part of the Tongan diet daily combined with some kind of very fatty meat. On Sundays and for special occasions, Tongans eat the same root crops but instead the fatty meat is wrapped in Taro leaves and cooked in an outdoor oven in a dish called lu. (The photo is a typical Sunday dinner.) The second problem is that you live on an island and if it doesn’t grow here, it has to be imported. If there are no tomatoes at the market, you are not going to get a tomato even at the best restaurants. “If it ain’t here, it ain’t here”. For the first year or so of my Peace Corps service I either shared meals with other volunteers who knew how to cook or I ate stuff that I was comfortable cooking. In the past year, I’ve gotten a little more ambitious, trying to actually learn to cook with what is available. The good news is that in Peace Corps you have lots of free time so you have the time to cook. I thought I would tell you about two things that I’ve made recently. I would never have attempted either of these meals in the USA. It was too easy to go Publix or Polo Tropical and pick up chicken . Want a pizza? I would have ordered from one of the many places that deliver to your door and if I was desperate, I might have even popped a frozen pizza into my oven. So when I show you this picture, you have to understand this is a big accomplishment for me. This is pepper chicken…meaning, it is cooked with pepper and a few other spices. The key to the chicken in Tonga is to remove all the fat and skin before you cook it. Often you end up cutting away about almost half of what is in the package. The biscuits were made completely from scratch. (I was really proud of myself when I discovered I could make biscuits). The stuff that looks like mashed potatoes is actually mashed ufi, which is a Tonga root crop. I boiled the ufi, which was given to me, mashed it up and added milk, hot peppers and salt. Pizza from Scratch My love for pizza hasn’t diminished since I began my service but it has taken me a while to learn how to make it. The place that has the best pizza in Vava’u has been closed since December even though they are scheduled to re-open soon. This pizza was also made from scratch. It’s all veggies with green peppers, canned tomatoes, canned tomato sauce, onions and garlic. There is also some fresh basil which my neighbor James planted right outside my door. I decided to make this pizza after I discovered two cans of black olives in one of the stores. A rare find and I bought both of them and came home and made the pizza. The cheese is the most expensive part. It all comes here frozen but you can usually get it without a problem. Vava’u Shopping Tip A shopping habit you quickly learn in Vava’u is that when you see something you want in a store, you buy it…because you may never seen it again. We once has fresh broccoli. It lasted about a week and I haven’t seen it again. That was more than a year ago. Another time a stalk of celery showed up…yes there was just one when I went into the store. I didn’t buy it as it was expensive and didn’t look very good. It’s not just fresh food that’s random, we occasionally will run out of staples like rice, flour and boxed milk. (There is no fresh milk in the stores). This creates even bigger challenges when you are in the mood for something because it might not be there. I now wonder if I’ll still take the time to cook when I return to the USA or if you’ll be bumping into me at the deli counter of Publix. Changes in Peace Corps Tonga The Peace Corps Tonga Country Director is leaving. The Country Director is the top position in each country and in the case of Tonga, he is also the top-ranking American here since there is no Embassy. Jeff Cornish is moving to a new Country Director Post in The Gambia, West Africa. In his e-mail announcement to the volunteers he said: It has been my honor to serve with you here in the Kingdom. Together we have done much to improve Post operations, programming and Volunteer support. I am proud of the role each of you has played in supporting each other, as well as those you serve in your respective communities. I am also proud of the fact that you have remained committed to your service and to the fulfillment of both Peace Corps and local community goals for development. No word on a replacement. He begins his new job on October 25th. Best of luck Jeff!! The Wreck of the Clan McWilliams More than 80 years ago, a steam powered tanker came into the harbor at Neiafu, Vava’u. The 300 foot long boat was on fire and sank before the captain could run it aground. The wreck now sits in about 100 feet of water at the bottom of the harbor. Last week, I had a chance to dive on the wreck. Because of its depth, I was limited to just 20 minutes on it, but it was amazing to see how intact this boat is after all these years. You can still see the portholes and where the doors used to be. The ladders are still there as are the railing along the side of the ship. We only explored the first half of the ship, as the remainder is in even deeper water. I did not take my camera with me, but I found this photo online of the wreck. I plan to dive on the wreck again next week.Steve's Adventure Home Page

By definition, a fact is something that is proven and true.  Ideally it would be nice to think that the information Tongans receive about the sinking of Ashika Ferry last week would all be factual.   But in a place like Tonga, where the media is controlled by the government, getting the “facts” can be difficult.  While there are some independent media voices, you still need a “newspaper publishing license” from the government.  If you upset the wrong person, your license to publish will be terminated.   For the most part, the government can decide what it will release to the public and what it will keep secret.   Neither the public nor the media have any formal right to gain access to official documents and reports in Tonga. The “coconut wireless” or word of mouth is still very much alive in Tonga, but that system has its faults because you often hear so many conflicting stories, it is hard to know what is true and what is speculation.  But times are changing. Tonga may be a remote island country but it is no longer an island of information.   Media from other parts of the world are covering the ferry sinking and unlike the Tongan based news organizations who may be fearful of criticizing the government and the King, these foreign news organizations can ask the tough questions and what they write is available in Tonga via the Internet. I wrote a post last week called “Grief turns to Anger in Tonga” in which I talked about the anger that some Tongans have directed toward the Tongan King, who left on a four month holiday the day after the Ashika Ferry went down.   After that post, I exchanged emails with another volunteer who lives in Tongatapu, who says he hasn’t heard any criticism of the King , instead saying people are mad at the Prime Minister..   And one of the independent Tongan newspapers, Matangi Online has not made a big deal out of the King’s departure.  The editor of that paper was quoted in the New Zealand Herald last week. Matangi Tonga newspaper editor Pesi Fonua yesterday said that Tongans living at home appeared untroubled by King George's rapid departure for Edinburgh. "There's no uproar by the people who lost loved ones. There doesn't seem to be any feeling about that." In Scotland, where the King is beginning his four month vacation, a news organization has a very different story. Playboy king's Scottish holiday sparks anger Heilala Delasau, a Tongan human rights activist, said: "The king is partly to blame and should be held liable. He should have stayed to help. He is a leader and should be helping his people at this time."

Sitiveni Lilo, a retired Tongan journalist living in Wellington, New Zealand, said: "Tonga is not a full democracy and people are afraid to speak out.  "People are concentrating on their loss, but there is also deep anger that the king left instead of staying to command the rescue operation and attend memorial services." Protesters say they are exasperated by the wealthy playboy king, who earned the nickname "Oddball" because of his habit of riding around his Pacific island nation in a London taxi. With his penchant for elaborate uniforms and remote-controlled boats and toys, (King) Tupou has a reputation as an eccentric out of touch with reality. Closer to Tonga, the New Zealand Herald has the following in their Sunday edition this morning. Tongan king's critics hit out Mateni Tapueluelu, editor of the independent Taimi o Tonga newspaper, said yesterday he was infuriated by the reports from Scotland and expected the Tongan public to feel the same way. "It's just going to make people angry, they're going to see the monarchy as useless and an expensive irrelevance. At best he's a waste of money," said Tapueluelu. "When the going gets tough, he gets going: Leaving his people to swim or sink."Tapueluelu said there was growing dissatisfaction with the Tongan, royal-dominated Government as well over its handling of the Ashika tragedy. "I'm beginning to hear talk that we should have an interim government," he said, adding that he hoped a "peaceful transition of power is ensured". The Latest “Facts” Now to the “facts”, or what I think are the latest “facts”. Officially there are still 93 people missing and presumed dead.   The ship was located last week in 330 feet of water, making it too deep for divers to recover the bodies of those who perished.  One report says it would cost $25 million New Zealand dollars (About US$17 million) to do a full recovery of the ship, money that Tonga does not have.   Right now, Tongans have accepted that their loved ones are not going to be coming back, but they are still waiting until they learn if they will get the bodies back before they do any funerals.  The Tongan Transportation Minister has resigned from his job and Tongans are doing their best to support each other in this time of tragedy and yes, the King is on vacation in Europe. Steve's Adventure Home Page

There is often a strained relationship between Tongan business owners and the Chinese business owners who operate here.   The Tongans like the cheap prices and the regular hours of the Chinese stores but there is resentment because they have put many Tongan shops out of business. By law, only Tongans can operate grocery stores in the Kingdom.  But a few years ago, the former King sold Tongan passports which effectively allowed many Chinese to become Tongan residents and business owners.  Even though the practice of selling passports was quickly stopped, the Chinese continue to take market share away from the Tongans. Today, the owners of all the Chinese stores in Tonga announced they were going to donate TOP$50,000 to help pay for the funerals of the 93 people who are still missing and presumed dead after the sinking of the Ashika ferry last week.   In addition, a local money transfer company is kicking in an additional TOP$10,000 and a local Tongan Kava group has raised TOP$300.00 to assist.  (TOP$2.00 is about  US$1.00) Here in Vava’u, a fund has been created by many of the local tourism related business owners.  So far, thanks to contributions from tourists who are here and from those businesses, that fund has about TOP$800 in it. There is also talk that the Tongan government may help with some of the funeral expenses and the boat was insured by Lloyds of London, which could provide additional funds. A funeral is very expensive in Tonga.   A family will easily spend TOP$3000 to TOP$5000 to bury a loved one and sometimes even more.    It is expected that the government will declare the missing “officially dead” later today or tomorrow.   The funerals will start all over Tonga immediately afterwards with a photo of the deceased substituting for their final remains. The Washington Post has a comprehensive story about the Tonga Ferry disaster today.   And all around Vava’u, many people, myself included, continue to wear black in memory of those lost. For additional information about the ferry sinking, I’ve updated my post from yesterday with new information. Steve's Adventure Home Page

For the most part, Tongans are a happy people who love to laugh and they take most things in stride. “Sai pe” may be the most uttered phrase in the Kingdom and it simply means “It’s Okay”. But things are not “sai pe” in Tonga today. The grief that first hit the country when the MV Princess Ashika ferry sank last week is now turning to anger. All over Vava’u, the destination point for the Ashika, people are asking how could this happen and why did our Government take this boat and put it into service when it was so old? The Ashika was older than the boat it replaced. Another story being reported here says the Government was urged NOT to put this boat into service because it did not pass safety checks. There is also a lot of anger directed toward the King. In Tonga, it is illegal to criticize the King in public or to print anything negative about him. A few years ago, the owner of one of the Independent newspapers was jailed for making negative comments about the Government. But that’s not stopping Tongans now. The anger today is because just after the ferry sank, the King left the country for a vacation in Scotland. It seems abhorrent to the Tongans that their King would abandon them like this in a time of crisis. When the survivors of the ferry disaster arrived back to the main island of Tongatapu, they were not consoled by the King but instead met by his sister, the Princess. The King has not issued any statements about the disaster and has done nothing to show support for the victims and their families. Complicating things ever more, the Prime Minister of Tonga was out of the country at a meeting in Australia when the boat sank, but instead of returning to Tonga immediately, he stayed at the Pacific Forum meeting saying he had important agreements to work out that would benefit Tonga in the future. Even in peaceful Vava’u, some Tongans are talking about protests and an Australian news organization reported that an angry crowd gathered in Nuku’alofa outside the offices of the shipping company that operated the ferry. That should make people nervous as Nuku’alofa is just now being re-built following riots in 2006 by people unhappy with the King and his government. As is typical in Tonga, a lot of the information is passed through word of mouth, in what is often called the “coconut wireless”. That means you hear many different stories about what is actually happening. The Matangi Tonga online newspaper is now reporting that 93 people are missing and presumed dead. Others say the number is lower and others claim it is higher. In villages around Vava’u, the impact is particularly hard. In one village of just over 100 people, six people are presumed dead…meaning the ferry disaster has wiped out 6% of the entire village’s population. There are similar stories in other places. Most news organizations are saying that just two bodies have been recovered so far but that number could rise later today as divers from New Zealand search the sunken vessel, parts of which are in water as deep as 300 feet below the ocean surface. There is also worry about how a small place like Vava’u is going to handle so many funerals. There is talk of having one large funeral for everyone instead of many smaller services. And Tongans want to know who is going to pay for the services. Funerals are very expensive and Tongan families are expected to feed everyone who shows up and to give gifts to those who attend. This could be a major financial hit in an already struggling economy. While it is extremely unlikely that there are any survivors, some families are hoping that perhaps their relatives never got on the ferry. In addition to being the primary way that Tongans travel between the islands, the ferry is also the way that most food and freight get to the outer islands. On board the ferry when it sank was an ambulance and medical supplies donated by a US organization to provide emergency transportation for the hospital here in Vava’u. Some speculate the ferry disaster will serve as a “wake-up” call for Tonga and could help the pro-democracy movement gain momentum, especially if it is determined the King’s government allowed this ship to sail knowing it was unsafe. If that’s the case, it certainly was not “sai pe”. Steve's Adventure Home Page

Early this morning, one of the ferries that operates between the Tongan Islands sank with 79 people on board, almost all of them Tongans. The boat left the main city of Nuku’alofa yesterday in route to Vava’u.Fifty three people have been rescued and the remaining 26 are believed to have drown. It appears that no women or children survived, just men.The boat, the MV Princess Ashika was put in service just a few months ago to temporarily replace another boat that was determined to be unsafe. The Ashika, which was actually older than the boat it replaced, was to remain in service until late next year when a new boat, paid for by the Japanese government is to begin connecting the islands.It may seem odd that only the men survived, but as is normal in Tongan culture, it is very likely that the men were in a different part of the boat or outside. Men and Women do not normally socialize together in public or even sit together. The woman and children normally sit inside the boat and the men will stay outside and drink kava and smoke.All over Vava’u today, the accident was all everyone was talking about. At the market, one of the women selling vegetables was in tears after just learning that her son may be one of the victims. There are similar stories all over the area as it is likely that the majority of the people on board were either from Vava’u or are related to someone who lives here. One of the missing men is a JICA volunteer. JICA is the Japanese version of Peace Corps.The area where the boat went down is not far from Nomuka, which is part of the Ha’apai Island group, but is actually closer to the main island of Tongatapu.The survivors have been picked up by the other ferry that serves Tonga and taken to the main island in Ha’apai.No word on what caused the boat to sink but one rumor claims that the boat was having troubles even before it left Nuku'alofa and that the crew was told not to make the trip. Steve's Adventure Home Page

I woke up last Tuesday morning in a Tonga Police station.   In fact, I ended up spending 15 hours with the Police at the Police Station and it was NOT my decision to be there.   There were no handcuffs, no Miranda rights (those don’t exist here) and no free phone call to an attorney or even the Peace Corps. It all worked out fine but the story of how I got there and why will take a little explaining. Last Monday, I began a visit to many of the outer island villages here in Vava’u.  I was joined on the trip by two Tongans, a loan officer and a boat driver.   These two make the trip every month to see clients on the outer islands, but I came along because we were planning a workshop on Hunga, which is one of the outer islands. We left the old harbor of Neiafu and soon arrived at Olo’ua..   This village is pretty close to the main island but is a world apart.   As we made our way from the dock up to the village, there were no sounds, no people, not even the chirps of any birds. We found our client and then headed back to the boat and on to Taunga.  This was my second trip to this village and it is a really pretty spot with a beautiful sandy beach and friendly villagers. Our next stop was Ovaka.   This island is one of the furthest from the main island and it is also home to my fellow Peace Corps Volunteer Scott.  We found him helping the woman of the village. In Ovaka, we started inviting people to the workshop we had planned for two days later.   Since this was my first visit to Ovaka, I went to check out Scott’s house. By outer island standards, Scott has a pretty big house.  It’s two bedrooms and a large open living area.  There is no electricity or running water and the only furniture is a single twin bed.  Not even any chairs.   I didn’t know it at the time, but a comment I made here was the first step in my eventual stay with the Tongan Police. From Ovaka, we got back in the boat and went to Hunga.  There is a huge Lagoon in the middle of Hunga that connects to the outer ocean in just two places.  The entrance closest to Ovaka can only be used at high tide.  It was low tide, so we ventured out into open ocean and around to the other side. The first thing you notice when you arrive in Hunga is the new road.  New Zealand Aid has paid for a road to be built from the water up the hill to the village.  This might seem like a pretty good deal until you discover that there is just one tractor and one truck in all of Hunga.   That’s it!  Two motorized vehicles. While making our client visits and handing out more invitations to our workshop, I saw something I’ve not seen before.  That is an octopus hanging on a pole to dry.   They do this to preserve it.   By the time we were finished in Hunga, it was late in the afternoon and we had completed our work for the day.  At this point, Oholei, the loan officer with whom I traveling suggested we make a stop at the near-by Blue Lagoon Resort. A number of years ago, the bank helped the owner build this resort and he seemed glad to see us, buying us both a beer and telling me to look around.  It’s a nice place. It’s powered by windmills and solar power and looks like a perfect place to spend a relaxing vacation or even a honeymoon. So what does all this have to do with my overnight stay with Tongan Police? When we first left the main island, both the driver and Oholei had asked me if I was planning to spend the night in the islands.  I said sure and told them I was prepared with a sleeping bag and other gear.  I told them I could sleep anywhere.   Since I’ve been in Tonga I’ve slept on floors, in a kava hall, on sofas and I’ve camped plenty of times.   I assured both of them I could stay wherever they were staying.  Now remember I mentioned the comment I made at Scott’s house?  I pointed out he only had one bed.   Oholei apparently took this to mean that it was not acceptable for me to stay with Scott.   There is only one other Peace Corps in the islands, and that is Amy and because she is a single woman, it would not be culturally appropriate for me to stay with her.  They were worried that I might not have an acceptable place to stay. Finally, the two Tongans tell me that we are going to stay in Falevai.  Falevai is the only outer island village with both a medical center and a police station.   We get there as the sun is setting and they go inside and quickly arrange for me to spend the night at the police station.  When I ask why I’m staying at the police station I’m told that it’s the only place they knew of that had a bed.   I told them again that I would be fine sleeping anywhere, but there was no arguing with them and so for the first time in my life, I spent the night at a police station with the one police officer who works in the outer islands. My room was a small room with a single bed but it was not behind bars.  I was just a few steps away from the jail so I can say I slept AT the jail, but I did not spend the night IN jail.  There is a big difference.   A Cool Camping Spot The Friday before my night AT the jail, I went camping for the first time in almost two months. I joined five of my fellow volunteers for an overnight camping trip and beach bonfire. One of the great things about Vava’u is that you can find a beautiful beach and have it all to yourself.    This beach is a bit of a hike, but well worth it.  It’s below the village of Holonga and its rare to see anyone there.   I camped last year at Utula'aina point which is just above this beach, but this was the first time I had camped on this beach. Peace Corps Tonga Group 75 The Peace Corps office in Tonga is expecting 27 future volunteers to in a few months.  That’s a slight increase over the 24 who started with Group 74 and down from the 33 who started with my group, Group 73.   Of the 27 new trainees who are coming in October, the staff is expecting 1 teacher trainer volunteer, 6 primary school volunteers, 10 secondary and tertiary institute volunteers and 1 Community Development volunteer.  Steve's Adventure Home Page

This morning, I was calling on bank clients in the small outer island village of Matamaka.   I was with Oholei, one of the loan officers at the Tonga Development Bank where I work.  We had arrived by boat and he and I were making our way through the village while the boat’s driver, Ha’ukau stayed with the boat. We had been in the village for less than 15 minutes when I see Ha’ukau walking quickly toward us.   This is pretty unusual as he always stays with the boat when we are visiting clients. As he gets closer, he yells: “Ha’u Steve!  ha’u veve”.  That means “Steve come here quickly”.   He motioned me to follow him to the beach and when we got there he said in English just one word:  “Whales” I kept looking but couldn’t see them but we headed back toward the boat while Oholei finished up with our client.   We waited at the dock my eyes peeled for any sign of a whale.  Finally, way off in the distance, I saw a little black hump appear.  If I hadn’t been looking, I would have missed it. That was the last we saw of the whales until Oholei made his way back to the boat.   We got in the boat and started heading to our next stop when we saw not one, not two, but three whales dead ahead. We moved closer than turned off the boat’s motor and waited.   A few minutes later we see a giant whale swim directly under our boat.  If it had surfaced it would have capsized the boat, but clearly the whale was just as curious about us as we were about it. We didn’t want to disturb the whales so Ha’ukau started the engine and put the boat in reserve.  Almost immediately, a large whale breeched directly in front of the boat.  All you could see ahead was black…no water, no shoreline, just the side of whale. It was THAT big.   If the boat had been going forward, we would have hit it, it was that close. We stayed in the area for a while longer and the whales continued to play.  We think it may have been a mother, father and baby as two of the whales were very large and the third looked smaller. I’ve seen whales before but never this close.  There are about a dozen companies in Vava’u that offer whale-watching trips or swimming with the whales experience, but we were the only ones around to share this experience and we didn’t pay for it. The whales soon swam away and we continued on to another village and more visits with clients but it was our visit with the whales that the three of us will remember most. Steve's Adventure Home Page

When you walk around Vava’u today, the island is immaculate.  It hasn’t been this clean since the King’s Coronation last August.  There is no litter in site, all the yards are mowed, junk has been taken out of the yards and the sidewalks in the main town of Neiafu are spotless. My landlord and his family have been spending hours every day working in the yard, planting flowers and scrubs, weeding and even putting Tongan flags on ribbons across the front of my home. As this photo of my house shows, both the house and the yard look great and I had nothing to do with it.  Last week was National Environmental Awareness Week and all across Tonga, students were encouraged to learn about the environment, pollution and renewable energy.  Here in Vava’u, the Tonga Development Bank, where I work, awarded a TOP $250.00 prize to the winner of a contest among all the high schools .   Each team had to answer questions and the team that got the most correct answers got the check. Vava’u High School won the competition and walked away with the money. So it might be a natural conclusion to assume that the reason the island looks so great is because of National Environment Awareness Week.  Unfortunately, that is not the case. The Tongan Princess, the sister of the King, is visiting Vava’u this week and the reason that everything  is spotless has everything to do with her visit and little to do with Environment Week..   She is visiting both outer villages and the main city.  In the case of my neighborhood, I live just a block from the Vava’u Royal Palace so my Tongan neighbors want to make sure everything is clean as she comes and goes during her stay. It would be nice if the island could stay this clean and I’m sure the focus on the environment in the schools last week will help, but unfortunately there are no easy solutions.   In my opinion, the biggest problem is that nothing that is imported to Vava’u ever leaves here.  All of the cans, bottles, cars, oil, tires, etc that are brought here in the name of progress stay here forever.  All this stuff is either burned or put in junk piles.   Until there is a viable recycling program and until there is island-wide garbage collection and garbage bins, the problem will remain. Leave me a Voice Mail I’ve been playing around with a new service called Google Voice.   With this service it is now possible for me to send and receive free text messages to and from the USA.   I can also receive voice mail in Tonga that you leave for me on my Florida phone number. If you want to send me a voice greeting, and it’s always great to hear a friendly voice, just click on the icon below and  enter your phone number.   Your phone will ring and you’ll be connected to my voice mail which I will get in Tonga.  There is no charge for you to do this as long as you live in the USA. Unfortunately, it still costs money to place a live International phone call to Tonga but it’s nice for me to be able to able to listen to any messages you want to leave. And my Vava’u mobile phone number is also changing.  All the phones are being converted from five digit numbers to seven digit numbers.   That means my number is now 676-75-12566.  You can still dial it without the 75 but am not sure when that will stop. Peter’s Photo Here’s a photo of my landlord’s grandson Peter.   He is a great kid and has really warmed up to me.  When I first moved here, I think he was a little intimidated by me.  Now, he comes over and jokes around. When I took the photo of the house that is pictured above, Peter spotted me and immediately ran over and posed for this photo.   It’s also interesting to see how much he has grown in the past 15 months since I last posted a photo of him. Steve's Adventure Home Page Steve's Adventure Home Page

Monday night, just after 10pm, I’m laying in bed. The doors are closed and the lights are out. I’ve just finished watching a movie and I am going to sleep. The phone rings. I look at the caller-ID and I don’t recognize the number. However, I quickly think it might be a friend who just got a new phone number, so I answer it. “Hi Steve, I’m a teacher at the side school and I need your help” (The side school is the all-English speaking school where my neighbor James works) “What kind of help?” “I have to write an essay and I want you to help me. I’m outside your house right now” I quickly have several thoughts before I answer. Why is this woman outside my house at 10pm, why is she calling me instead of James, how did she get my number and why does a teacher need help to write an essay? I tell her that I’ve gone to bed and ask if we can meet in the morning. I suggest she come to the bank at 9:30am and I’ll try to help. She says okay and we hang up. I then hear the sound of a car engine starting, I see headlights come on and hear a car drive away. Yep, she really was outside my house. Now, before I go further with this story, let me explain that when a Tongan wants something, they usually just show up at your door. That’s more common than a phone call. Someone showing up, even complete strangers, has happened often and if my doors are open, I’m usually glad to help but not after I’m in bed unless it’s an emergency. This was not! The next morning, just after walking out the door of my house at 8:30am , a car pulls up with a woman inside. She tells me she is the woman who called last night. In the USA, I might feel like I’m being stalked, but in Tonga I actually don’t think much about it. The woman, who doesn’t tell me her name, gives me a little more details about the essay she has to write. She says her cousin is a student at Vava’u High School and he has an assignment to write an essay about the over-population of Tonga. He wants her to write the essay and now she wants me to write it. I politely tell her that I can’t do someone’s homework for them, but that I’ll be glad to help him write it. I suggest he come by the bank or by my house this evening and I’ll work with him to get it done. “Oh no” she says. “I told him I would write it and I need you to help me”. I then tell her that I’m not going to write the essay for her, but that I will help her write it. I don’t see any point in me writing a high school assignment for someone when they are not going to learn from it. “OK but how about if I give you the information and you can just write down the important points and then I’ll write it from that”. She hands me a notebook. Clearly she is not going to give up so I take the notebook and tell her I’ll make some notes for her and that she can pick it up later at the bank. I walk to work and then open the notebook. It’s filled with questionnaires that have been filled out by other Tongans concerning over-population. Clearly this is not just a simple essay, it is an exercise in analyzing data and writing about it. (By the way, one of the people who answered the survey said the solution to over-population was sterilization for everyone.) So what did I do? I did as I said I would do and wrote some notes. But the notes are about how to analyze the data and compare people’s opinions to the facts. She will still have work to do to complete the assignment. I doubt her cousin, the student, will learn anything from this assignment. I also assume she will take the notes I’ve written and give them to someone else to write the essay. As it turns out, that is exactly what happened. I left my notes and her notebook at the bank for her to pick up. When I got home, I went over to James' house and guess what? The notebook and my notes had now been given to James. That's just the way things tend to happen in Tonga. A Big Bank Robbery in Tonga On Friday someone left the door to the vault open at the head office of the Tonga Development Bank in Nuku’alofa. That by itself isn’t actually that unusual. I worked there for two months when I first became a Peace Corps volunteer and I remember noticing the door was often open. However, on Friday someone walked in and helped themselves to a half million Tonga Pa’anga, which is about US$250,000. That’s pretty much everything that was inside the vault. On Monday the staff here at the bank branch in Vava’u were all buzzing about this and most believe it was probably someone at the bank who took the money. From TV to Tonga I was surprised and humbled this weekend by a story called “From TV to Tonga” on the website of WCPO-TV in Cincinnati. It was written by Larry Handley who is a meteorologist at the station. As he mentions in the story, which I’ve pasted below, he and I used to work together. I didn’t even know Larry was reading this blog which made it even more of a surprise. Thursday, July 2, 2009

From TV To Tonga...

It was a beautiful March day in 1989 when I arrived at TV20 in Gainesville, Florida (at my own expense) to interview for a weather anchor position that I heard was open at that station. Steve Hunsicker, the station's News Director, greeted me warmly and proceeded to politely listen to me blather on about why someone with no credentials or real weather experience should be given a chance. For reasons I still can't explain he hired me and the rest, as they say, is history. Despite his apparent lack of sound judgment some 20 years ago his recent decisions are much more impressive.

About a year and a half ago Steve resigned his position as a big-time television group executive to join the Peace Corps. He left his nice home in South Florida, his powerful and high-paying job and all the comforts of America to help businesses in the Kingdom of Tonga succeed. His blog is a favorite bookmark on my computer and I always look forward to his newest entry. I must admit that I'm living vicariously through his adventures on the other side of the world. He tells tales of beautiful geography, people and traditions. He shares adventures that could only be experienced in that setting. He had to learn a new language in just a few months and he lives on nearly nothing. He chose to do all of this in his upper 40s and he seems genuinely happy and content.

His two year commitment to the Peace Corps ends later this year and he has no idea what he will do when it's over. However, he seems totally unconcerned and relaxed. I believe that's the way it works. The more you give of yourself - freely and honestly - the less you worry. Maybe helping to solve other people's problems and making their lives better increases your own faith that things will work out. Thanks to Steve things worked out for me 20 years ago when I was desperate for a job like they are working out now for the people of Tonga. And there's no doubt in my mind that things will work out for Steve as he transitions back to life in America.

Follow the last several months of Steve's Peace Corps adventure at http://blog.stevesadventure.com/. Thanks Larry for such kind words. Independence Day in Tonga On Saturday July 4th I celebrated the USA’s independence by eating hotdogs, hamburgers and drinking beer while sitting on the ocean. While it was a lot different than the way I spent last July 4th, it probably wasn’t that different than the way many Americans spent the day. But there were a couple of differences…I was eating hot dogs from China, beef from New Zealand and drinking beer from Germany. I wasn’t in the USA, I was in Tonga. And the ocean? It was the beautiful blue South Pacific. Steve's Adventure Home Page

It’s been more than two years since I received my invitation to become a Peace Corps volunteer in Tonga.  That invitation had the date I would begin.   Another big date was the day I announced  I was leaving my company after 15 years, Having specific dates made those decisions seem final.. Now, with less than  five months left to go,  I have another date.  That’s the date when I’ll be leaving Tonga and wrapping up my volunteer service in the Peace Corps.   That will happen on Thursday, November 26, 2009,.  It now seems very final. Officially, my group wraps up our service on December 12, 2009, exactly two years after our swearing in ceremony.  This means I am leaving 16 days early.  However under Peace Corps rules, volunteers can leave anytime during our last 30 days with the permission of the Country Director.  I have now received that permission.  Others in my group will start leaving November 13th In my case, leaving a little early will allow me to meet a friend in South Africa.   I’ll be flying out the morning of November 26th to Sydney and then on to Hoedspruit, South Africa and the Kruger National Park.  From South Africa, I’ll head home to West Palm Beach.   When I get back, I will have flown all the way around the globe. At various times during my Peace Corps experience I’ve thought about extending my service or even signing up for another stint in a different country.  However, as much as I’ve enjoyed my experience here I’ve realized that the best thing for me right now is to get some “USA Time”.  I would like to continue with Peace Corps in some capacity and will be exploring that option as the time for my COS or “close of service” get nearer. So while I’ve got a final date, I’ve also got a lot of things left to do.   I just started work this week on a video project for the Tonga Development Bank.   The bank plans to air the video on local TV and also use it to promote the bank at workshops in the future. I’ve also got several new clients with whom I’m working and it happens to be tax time in Tonga, which means I’ll be helping a bunch of people with their taxes.  I never would have guessed I would be giving tax advice in Tonga. I’ve still got some vacation time left and am hoping to make one more big trip before I leave even though I haven’t decided yet where to go.   And in September, I’ll be flying to the main island of Tongatapu for my COS conference, which will be the last time that the members of my training group will all be together.  (There will soon just be 19 of us remaining out of  the 33 who started. Two more volunteers from Tongatapu are leaving on Tuesday). So the adventure isn’t over, but the end is near.   I’m very thankful  for the experiences I’ve had and  while I didn’t plan it this way, it seems appropriate that  my last day in Tonga, Thursday November 26th, is Thanksgiving Day. Steve's Adventure Home Page

When I first arrived in Vava’u in October, 2007, I met an American tourist who had also just arrived.  He was surprised to find out that there are Peace Corps volunteers serving in Tonga.  As he put it, “This place is pretty first world”. At the time, I didn’t think much about it, but over the past two years, I’ve thought a lot about his comment and also about whether Peace Corps should still be in Tonga after more than 40 years. At first glance, Tonga has many of the qualities you would expect to find in a first world country.   Most of the country has electricity, running water, cell phones, television and Internet.  There is no hunger or homelessness in Tonga and the literacy rate is almost 100%, much higher than the USA and other developed countries.   Many Tongans are bi-lingual speaking Tongan and English and on average, Tongan men have a life expectancy of 73 years old and woman can expect to live until they are 69 years old. Those statistics don’t seem like a place where you would expect to find the Peace Corps which only works in developing countries.   But as is often the case, there is a different story once you look a little closer. The economy here is completely supported by foreign aid and by remittances from Tongans living abroad.  Almost everything is imported except for the crops that are grown to provide food for the families here.   There are very few exports and those items that are exported, like kava and Tongan handicrafts are often sold to other Tongans living overseas. I believe there are products which could be sold overseas and which could help Tonga reduce its reliance on handouts.   However, two very big things have to happen before that can happen.  First, Tongans have to decide that they want that financial independence.   The people here are so used to being able to ask for things and have it given to them that there is little incentive for them to have to work really hard.   Currently the flow of remittances from overseas has slowed due to the economic problems in the USA and to a lesser extent, Australia and New Zealand.  This means that some Tongans are not getting the support from overseas to which they have become accustomed.   If that trend were to continue, would that be enough to convince Tongans to try and live more independently? The second major thing that has to happen before Tongans can export products is a major improvement in the country’s infrastructure.   During the pineapple season this year, many farmers who wanted to sell their crops outside of Vava’u, were unable to do so because the two boats that run weekly between the islands were not operating.  For more than a month, there was no boat limiting the ability of anyone to send anything out of here and also causing many items to disappear from store shelves.    There are planes, but that is expensive and the shipping costs can increase the price to a level where it is no longer competitive. And there are issues with planes.   In March, Air New Zealand cancelled several flights to Tonga causing a back-up of fish that was scheduled for export.  Finally the airline got its flights back late on a Saturday, but because everything in Tonga is closed on Sunday, they couldn’t land at the airport until Monday.   The fish was no longer fresh by then.  And the prices for Inter-island flights are very high.  It is cheaper to fly from Tongatapu to New Zealand than it is to fly from Tongatapu to Vava’u. It’s not just the transportation infrastructure that has challenges.  At different time in the past week, I have been without water, without electricity, without cell phone service and without Internet service.   I don’t know the reason for any of the outages except that they happen pretty often. I believe that until Tonga can come up with a way to fix its infrastructure and especially the transportation infrastructure, it will be very difficult for it to reduce its reliance on outside money. There are certainly other challenges besides infrastructure here.   Right now, there is no foreign investment in the country because of strict laws concerning land ownership and ownership of businesses.   I am not sure those laws are bad.  They keep foreigners from taking advantage of the Tongans and those laws are probably why the wonderful Tongan culture is so well preserved after so many years.    Unfortunately, I think you will see that change.   If foreign investors were allowed to come to Tonga today, even in a limited capacity, I believe the good-natured Tongans will lose out.  It has become such a part of the Tongan culture to accept “free money” that I fear the Tongans would take the “quick cash” instead of thinking about the long term consequences of giving up their land and their businesses. This is why I think it is important for Peace Corps to stay in Tonga.   With the right volunteers, we can help educate the Tongans about business and try to teach them to think longer term.   Hopefully we can convince Tongan entrepreneurs to cultivate crops and products that can be exported and encourage them to lobby the government to provide a reliable infrastructure to insure their success. However, the change won’t happen quickly.  Peace Corps has decided to focus its efforts on educating the next generation of Tongans about business instead of working with the current business owners.   Beginning this fall, Peace Corps is eliminating the business advising program where I work and replacing it with a business education program for students at the secondary and tertiary levels.  There is no curriculum yet for this new program and it will be up to the volunteers who arrive here later this year to help develop it.   Let’s hope that the process of developing and implementing this curriculum doesn’t take too long because I do think there are some significant changes coming to Tonga soon.   Probably the most significant will be allowing Tongans to have more say in their laws.   The current King, George Tupou V has signed away some of his powers and beginning next year, there should be more representation of average Tongans in Parliament.   (You can read more about this on the Prime Minister’s website). While there are still many questions to be answered about how much influence Tongans will have into their government, there is little doubt that there will be changes.  And hopefully part of those changes will be programs to focus on business and make Tonga more independent of foreign money. **** Comments are always welcome.  Just click on this link to let everyone know what you think. Steve's Adventure Home Page

The Winter Season has arrived in Vava’u.   This is the time of year when tourists start to visit, the harbor fills up with yachts and all the businesses that were closed during the off-season are reopened. For those of us who are volunteers, it gives us a chance to enjoy some of the things that the tourists do when they come for a visit.   That was certainly the case on Friday when I got to spend a pretty amazing day. The timing couldn’t have been better.  I had a long but busy week at work and Friday turned out to be the perfect ending to the week. The Shark Encounter For the first time since getting my dive certification, I headed out to a couple of the really cool dive spots in Vava’u.    The conditions were perfect…even at more than sixty feet below the surface, the water was crystal clear. We dived at two places…one called Split Rock and the other called Fingers.   Split Rock is exactly what it sounds like…a huge rock that fell to the ocean floor and split allowing you to dive around and through it.    The rock sits on a beautiful colorful coral reef with many species of fish swimming around. There is also a cave near here…it’s actually more of a large cavern but it is pitch black inside unless you use a light. Inside we had hoped to see a couple of reef sharks which are known to hang out in the cave and that is exactly what we saw. It was my first encounter with sharks in the water and it was really amazing to see these Whitetip reef sharks swimming just a few feet in front of us.  Since I’m not that experienced at diving I would never have entered the cave on my own, but my friend Lori was with us for the dive.  She works for PADI, the organization that does scuba certification and she is an instructor of PADI instructors..  That’s the highest level of diving certification that you can achieve.  Having her along was great and really made me relax.  I figured if I got into any trouble there couldn’t be a better person to have with me.   We dove to almost 70 feet below the surface.   We took this photo at about 45 feet down.   From left to right are me, Emma, Amanda, Lori, Jason and James.   Al, who owns Dolphin Pacific Diving took the photo for us.   The second dive spot, Fingers, is named because of the five small tunnels or crevices that you swim though to get around, similar to human fingers.    As you are diving through, you realize that you can’t go straight up and surface even if you wanted to do that.  Some of the openings are pretty tight and you have to remember that you are a lot wider than normal because of the air tank on your back. Without a doubt it was the best day I’ve had diving and I can’t wait to get back out again.  Be sure to check out all the diving photos in the online gallery.  (And if you are coming to Vava’u, be sure to look up Al and the staff at Dolphin Pacific Diving). Watching the NBA and a Yacht Race (Kind of) Every Friday during the winter season, there is a yacht race when both local boat owners and those who are visiting race their boats around the harbor.   This past Friday was the second race of the season.   After getting back from diving, I joined my friends Chad and Katie at Mango Cafe, which is right on the water.  It’s one of the few places with Satellite TV and we planned to watch the end of the NBA Finals Game 4 and also the yacht race. While we got to do both, the real entertainment came from the staff at Mango.   They were all rehearing some traditional dances that they will be performing for the tourists later this season.  We were the only people in the place so it was like having our own private dance show. We did try to pay attention to the race and the game but ended up paying the most attention to the dancers. Volunteer Night There are 14 volunteers in Vava’u from three different countries…10 Peace Corps volunteers, 3 Japanese Volunteers and 1 Australian Volunteer.  We all know each other and hang out when we can but it’s rare when we all get together.   Friday night, the Aquarium Cafe invited all of us to  a special “Volunteer Night”.   The Aquarium Cafe has expanded and is under new ownership.  The new owners invited us to help train their new staff.   We got a big discount on food and drinks and the Tongans got some experience which hopefully will help them do a better job during the season.. We stayed until they closed.    As volunteers we have to watch our expenses pretty closely so it was great to have a night where we could all get together at a restaurant and not have to worry as much about the bill at the end of the night. It was a pretty amazing day!   And just in case you are wondering…I also did a lot of work last week including a workshop for 26 Tongan business owners. Correction I made a mistake in my last post on the number of volunteers from my group who have left Peace Corps since we arrived in October 2007.   We have had 12 volunteers leave not the 11 that I mentioned.  Eight married people have left and four single people.   Sorry for the mistake. Steve's Adventure Home Page

Exactly six months from today I will officially finish my Peace Corps service in Tonga.   For my group,Tonga Group 73,  it means the end of our time together as volunteers.   We became volunteers on December 12, 2007 after completing 2 1/2 months of training.   Our official end date is December 12, 2009.   However, many of us may actually start leaving in November.   According to the Peace Corps rules, any volunteer can leave 30 days early with the permission of the Country Director.   That permission is almost always given and especially in the case of our group since we close out our service so close to the holidays. My group started with 33 people.   As of today, we have lost exactly 1/3 of the volunteers who started with me through either early terminations (ET in Peace Corps speak) or medical separations.   This week, my friends Scot and Karen decided to leave.   They were one of five married couples in my group and they are the 4th to leave early.    In raw numbers, 8 married people and 3 single people have left early for a total of 11 departures. Scot and Karen will certainly be missed.   I spent a week staying with them last June when they lived in Ha’apai.   Scot and I produced a video together that Peace Corps Washington is sending out to all the Tonga Group 75 trainees who will be arriving in October.  (Watch it here)  I also lived next door to them during my training.  Three months from now, in mid September, the remaining volunteers in my group will get together for the last time at what is called our “COS” or Close of Service Conference.   While we will certainly still see the people who live in our island groups, it will be the last time we see some of our fellow volunteers.  It will be held on the main island of Tongatapu. I’m looking forward to my last six months here.  The time has really gone by quickly and I’m happy that I am still happy being here.   It’s been a great experience and I expect the last six months will be as well.. The 3rd Annual Lu Cook-off One of the most traditional foods in Tonga is called Lu. The leaves of taro plants are filled with meat, coconut cream and onions then roasted in an outdoor oven.    I eat Lu almost every Sunday and the types of meat range from canned beef to chicken to sipi, which is also known as mutton chops.  For the past three years, the volunteers in Vava’u have hosted a Lu Cook-off to see who can make the best and most creative Lu.   This year the event was held at my house and I won….but not without a bit of controversy. The rules for the cook-off state that you must use either coconut cream or onions or both in your Lu.   I decided to make a dish called “Apple Lu-icious” as in delicious.  I planned to take apples, cinnamon, sugar, butter and coconut cream and wrap them in taro leaves.   The key word here is planned.  I asked my landlord if he would husk a coconut for me and make the coconut cream.   He said he would. Friday afternoon as we were getting ready for our feast, I saw my landlord get in his car and leave never to return that night.   He forgot to make the coconut cream so instead of following the rules, I left it out.  The judge (a local restaurant owner) decided I still had the best tasting Lu and I got the trophy.  It was a pretty fun night.  We drank wine and pigged out on each other’s creations.   We had Thai Lu, Stuffed Pepper Lu, Lu Dolmades and Lemon Custard Lu.   They were all delicious and here are a few photos of us hanging out at my house while the Lu was cooking. In case you are wondering why there are no pictures of the Lu…no one took any.  We were all too hungry and forgot about it until it was all gone. Steve's Adventure Home Page

A big part of my job at the Tonga Development Bank has been assisting with workshops for Tongans who either want to start or expand their business.   We average about 25 people per workshop and we conduct the workshops in all parts of Tonga.   To date, I’ve been at 14 workshops. This year, I  designed a completely new curriculum for the workshops including new PowerPoint presentations and training exercises.   I did the work in English and then a bank employee at our head office in Nuku'alofa translated  everything into Tongan. We conducted our first workshop using all the new materials in the village of Tefisi.   We got a wonderful response.  Of the 23 people who attended, 22 of them requested that we come back for a follow up visit at their business.  That will take a lot of time for me to accomplish but it is the best response we've ever gotten at a workshop. I've also proposed putting together a video that can be shown at workshops after I complete my service.  I am waiting on approval from the head office before I start on that project. I am very happy to have so many new people to go visit.  My work load at the bank has been very slow since I returned from New Zealand so it is great to be busy again.  We have another workshop next Wednesday. Radio Days I made a brief return to US radio last weekend.  My former station, WVAQ had a “Class Reunion Weekend” bringing back on-air staffers from previous years.   I was able to listen to part of the weekend as it was streamed live online.   I was interviewed on the morning show about what I’ve been doing since i left the station in 1984 and they had a lot of questions about Peace Corps and my experiences in Tonga.  My first full time job was doing news for WVAQ and its sister station WAJR.  I had lost touch with everyone I worked with in those days but thanks to Facebook and the reunion weekend I've gotten to reconnect with many of my former colleagues. Tongan Scholarships I accompanied my boss Fuka last week to the local Wesleyan (Methodist) school where he presented scholarships from the Tonga Development Bank to three Tongan boys. The money will be used to pay for their school frees.   The bank gives out scholarships every year all over Tonga as part of its effort to help the country.   If you look closely at the photo above, you will notice that the students are all sitting on the floor and you will only see girls in the photo.  That’s because the girls sit on one side of the hall and the boys sit on the other.   (And if you look at the first photo in this post, the one from the workshop, you will notice that even as adults the Tongan men and women don’t sit together). Chad isn’t so “Rad” after all! I have no real reason to post this next photo, other than to make fun of my friend Chad who is wearing a Mickey Mouse  fanny pack. In the interest of full disclosure….the fanny pack actually belongs to me. A few weeks ago, Chad made some comment about he wouldn’t be caught dead wearing one…so when he tried it on at my house one day, I couldn’t help but take a photo.  Sorry Chad!! Steve's Adventure Home Page

My friend Sarah, who completed her service here in Vava’u in December has put together a list of the 25 reasons “You know you volunteered in Tonga” I think it is a great list and my personal favorite is: 7. You have friends named Loketi (Rocket), Telefoni (Telephone), Vai (Liquid), Feiloaki (Introduce yourself), Venitaleita (Ventilator), Puke (Sick), Makoni (Telegram) and Vaka Puna (Airplane) The list is growing as other volunteers make suggestions.. I hope you enjoy them as much as I did. New Baby My friend’s “Ofa and Hangale just had a new baby daughter. These photos were taken at the hospital just two days after she was born. “Ofa’s mother died two months ago and the baby is named after her. Religious Recruiting? The Church of Scientology has come to Tonga. The picture below is from downtown Neiafu. Officially the church says it is here to target drug and alcohol abuse in the South Pacific. Of course, I’m guessing they are also hoping to educate Tongans about their church and perhaps even do a little recruiting. Religious Recruiting is a big business in Tonga and the Mormons have pumped lots of money into the Kingdom to bolster its ranks in this region. It’s Diving Friday! I got a chance to get back in the water on Friday. This photo was taken at about 30 feet when I decided to take my mask off to pose for a picture. We dove in the harbor, which was a bit murky but still great to gain more experience underwater. It’s the second dive I’ve done since getting my Open Water Certification. Peace Corps Tonga Group 75 From my perspective, the most important thing that Peace Corps does each year is to develop sites for new volunteers. That process started this week for the members of Peace Corps Tonga Group 75 who will arrive here in October. The first step is to meeting with schools who are interested in hosting a volunteer. (Only schools will be hosting beginning this year since the Business Program where I work has been eliminated). Volunteers will either teach English or Business as their primary volunteer project. Here in Vava’u, I was asked by Peace Corps to attend the meeting and do part of the presentation for new potential sites. The program was put together by Puke Esau, our Peace Corps staff member here in Vava’u. I thought he did a great job outlining what is required of potential site locations and also the benefits. I’m sharing the PowerPoint that he put together below. It will primarily be of interest to those who are coming to Peace Corps Tonga in October, but it may also provide some insights into what Peace Corps hopes to accomplish with Group 75. Group 75 will start its training in October and will become volunteers in December replacing all the members of my group (Group 73) when we complete our Peace Corps Service.Steve's Adventure Home Page

I’ve never been much of a cook.  I know how to do the basics and back in the USA I could do a pretty “mean” steak on the grill and I make decent gravy.  However, the whole idea of baking is a pretty foreign concept unless you count “microwaving” as baking. In Tonga, there are very few “pre-made” food items available.  It’s pretty much the basics like sugar, flour, salt,  etc.   And even the basics can disappear at times.  A few weeks ago, there was no flour in most of the stores for a few days until the boat came with a new supply. The bottom line is that if you want a cake or pizza dough, you make it from scratch.   Sunday morning I woke up with a craving for one of my favorite breakfast meals: Biscuits and Gravy!   I knew I could make the gravy, but wasn’t sure about the biscuits.   I found the recipe book that Peace Corps gives to each volunteer.  I have to confess, it was the first time I had opened it.  Inside was a recipe for biscuits.  I didn’t have all the ingredients, but I figured I would substitute and leave out some things.   Amazingly, the biscuits came out great.  They weren’t anywhere as good as Bojangles’ biscuits but were pretty tasty.    Climbing Mt. Talau I live on Mt. Talau, which at 430 feet, is the highest point on the main island of Vava’u.   I live a lot closer to the bottom than I do to the top and while I may say I climb Mt. Talau every day, I don’t climb all the way to the top. Twice in the past two weeks, I’ve ventured all the way to the top.  First last week with my friend Chat and then again on Friday with Chad and Katie. Near the top is also a place where you can do some rock climbing.  It’s actually pretty easy and not very challenging, but that didn’t stop me from posing for a photo! Legend has it that Mt. Talau used to be the tallest mountain in Tonga, but many years ago some evil spirits from Samoa tried to steal the top of the mountain but only got a short distance away when they top was dropped into the Pacific, forming what is now the island of Lotuma.   Lotuma later served as a Tongan military base and was the site of our American July 4th celebration last year. Funeral Photo Two months ago I attended a funeral for the mother of my friend ‘Ofa.   On Thursday, ‘Ofa brought me this photo which was taken at the funeral. As I mentioned in my previous post about the funeral, it is tradition for everyone to kiss the forehead of the deceased person. Solar Power coming to Vava’u High School The University of Canterbury in New Zealand is spearheading a project to put solar panels on the roof of Vava’u High School.   The school hopes the new system, scheduled to be installed in July  will provide the school with 10 to 15% of its total electrical needs.Steve's Adventure Home Page

My workload  at the Tonga Development Bank has slowed down and there have been a few days recently when I have not had much to do.  Last week, I was walking to work thinking that I only had one appointment that day at 9:30am and I had a feeling that my client might cancel leaving me with nothing on the agenda for the day.    I had been at work for less than a minute, when the phone rang and it was my client saying she couldn’t make 9:30am and wanted to reschedule for 2pm.   I agreed and sat down to read my mail.  A few minutes later, the phone rang again and it was the same client telling me she was going to go look at a boat she was thinking about purchasing and asked if I wanted to go with her.  Since I had nothing else to do, I said sure and we agreed to meet a little later. I got to the dock and saw my friend Riki, who owns a dive shop.  Turns out we are going in his boat and while we are out, he is going to replace the chain on two boat moorings.  I tell him I’ll be glad to help, so he tells me to go grab dive gear and an air tank out of his shop and before long, we are on the water heading out.    After a nice 45 minute boat ride, we get to the moorings, I suit up and go diving for 45 minutes.  It  is my first dive since getting my certification.   I helped Riki a little but mostly just dove around on the ocean floor.    After surfacing, we go and check out the boat with my client and then ride back to the dock.   We get back late, but I still am happy to spend some time helping my client with her books.   What I thought was going to be a boring day ended up being great.   How often do you go to a bank to work and end up diving in the Pacific.   Just a “Day at the Office” in Peace Corps Tonga. Goodbye Stan Wednesday afternoon.  3pm.   Most of the Vava’u Peace Corps volunteers are gathered at The Aquarium Cafe.   There are tears and hugs as we start to say good-bye to our friend and fellow volunteer Stan.    On the radio, an old Beatles song is playing. There are places I remember all my life,

Though some have changed

Some forever, not for better

Some have gone and some remain.

All these places have their moments

Of lovers and friends I still can recall

Some are dead and some are living

In my life I loved them all. The song, while random, seems appropriate to the occasion because for all of us, The Aquarium Cafe and Vava’u will always be places we remember.   And those memories will include Stan, who has been part of our Peace Corps adventure for the past 20 months. Stan is on his way back to the USA and he’ll certainly be missed here in Vava’u.   Even though his Peace Corps service is over, I’m confident the friendships he has developed will be long lasting.  I’m going to miss having him around but look forward to seeing him once I return to the States Steve's Adventure Home Page

Here are some brief things that have happened  in Vava’u recently I thought were worth sharing Murder in Vava’u Tonga may be the “Friendly Isles” and guns may be illegal, but that doesn’t mean violent crimes don’t happen.  While I was in New Zealand, a 47 year old man was killed here in Vava’u.  According to the local scuttlebutt, a 22 year old man started harassing the victim at a local bar asking him to pay for beers.  A fight started and the 22 year old hit the victim in the head with a car jack.  He is now in jail.  A similar murder happened last year in Vava’u.  While it is uncommon to have a murder in Vava’u, it is extremely rare to have a murder on the small outer islands.  Earlier this month, a 22 year old woman was killed on the small island of Uiha, in the Ha’apai island group.  “Uiha, which I visited last December, has about 750 residents.  The suspect, a 30 year old man is now in jail.   There have been two other murders in the Kingdom this year.  Both of those took place on the main island of Tongatapu, where the majority of the Tongan population lives. Sailing, Camping and Snorkeling I joined a group of Australians, Japanese and Americans this weekend for a sailing and camping trip aboard Manuoku.    Our first stop was Swallow’s Cave where we climbed the walls and jumped into the very deep water below. - -   (Clockwise from upper left: Katie prepares to jump, Katie Jumps, Chad gets ready to jump, Saskia gets ready to jump) After leaving Swallow’s Cave we sailed around before setting up camp at a place called Port Maurelle, which is pronounced MORE-el.   One of the Aussies had a guitar and as we were sitting around the campfire we tried to write a song.  We only got four lines done before we gave up.   Here we are at Post Maurelle Watching the Sea Swell Sipping on our tasty drinks Sharing our cross cultural links It’s not exactly a great song, but it was great to get together with people from different cultures and realize how much you have in common.  Cruise Ship Visitors A large number of the tourists who come to Tonga each year arrive on cruise ships.   They generally arrive in the morning and depart in the late afternoon.   Both the main island of Tongatapu and the Vava’u islands were I live are regular cruise stops.  On Friday, a ship with 1900 passengers stopped in  Vava’u.   To say that the visitors change the town is an understatement.  Instead of Tongans, everywhere you looked you saw white people carrying cameras.  While I realize the ships help the local economy, I had to wonder how many of these people, if any, would leave here with even a small understanding that Tonga is such a wonderful place. During the middle of the tourist invasion, II was walking down the street with my friends Chad and Katie when two of the tourists spotted the West Virginia  University shirt I was wearing and wanted to know if we were Americans.  They were surprised to learn that there were Peace Corps volunteers in Tonga and then mentioned that their daughter has served in the Peace Corps and now works for the Peace Corps in Atlanta. They asked if they could take our picture and repeatedly thanked us for our service.  Facts About Tonga I found a web page with some updated information about Tonga.  If you are interested in learning some quick information about where I live, check out this web site. Here are a few quick facts I picked from the site: Location: 170 islands in the south-western Pacific Ocean Population: 101,991 (189th) Density: 352.9 people per square mile Capital city: Nuku'alofa (population 23,438) Foreign tourist visitors per year: 39,451 Adult literacy rate: 99.2% (m 99.1%/f 99.3%) Average number of children per mother: 3.8 Average life expectancy (m/f): 73/69 *The number of foreign visitors shown above includes those that arrive on cruise ships. The Missing Link For those of you subscribe to this blog via e-mail, the link to the video of me skydiving in New Zealand was omitted from the post about my trip to New Zealand.   You can watch the video by clicking on this link: A Final Note I grew up in Lexington, Virginia where our local newspaper was The News Gazette.  Each week, the paper carried a column called “This and That”.  I have no idea if the column still exists, but the column would run stories like “The parents of Joe Smith of Lexington are visiting this week from North Carolina”. or “Mike Jones and his family just returned from a vacation in Virginia Beach.” As I was writing this post, I somehow remembered that column and decided to do a “This and That” style post this week and hope it is at least a little more interesting that the column I used to read in the paper.  One other note about the News Gazette, I used to sell that newspaper when I was around 13 or 14.  I would buy the papers for 10 cents and sell them for 15 cents.  My profit was the nickel I made on each paper.   Most people would give me a quarter for the paper, so I actually made 15 cents on most papers.   I sold about 50 papers a week.  Steve's Adventure Home Page

One of the perks of being in Peace Corps is being able to travel to other places near your area of service.   For those of us in Tonga, it is often other South Pacific Islands or Australia and New Zealand. I’ve just completed an almost three week stay in Kiwi Country with my friend and fellow volunteer Stan.  Early in the trip I remarked to Stan that I never figured I would go on vacation with someone half my age.  He answered by saying he never thought he would go on vacation with someone twice his age.  Touché’ Stan!  He turned out to be a great travel companion. The trip was a first for both of us.  While I had spent a few hours at the Auckland Airport on my way back from Australia last year, this was the first time I got to see this remarkable country. North Island New Zealand We had decided before we left that we would spend most of our time in New Zealand on the South Island.  We spent a night in Auckland, a night in Rotorua and two nights in Wellington before taking a three hour ferry ride to the South Island. We both thoroughly enjoyed Wellington which is a vibrant city reminiscent of a Greek Island with houses built into the hills along the coast.   The city is active and has a very positive energy.  Before arriving in Wellington, we visited Waiotapu, which is a geothermal site on the North Island. It was fascinating to see boiling hot water bubble from the ground and to see the steam rising from mud pools as we hiked around the area.    There is also a small geyser that is “started” every morning when they dump soap into it.   The best meal I had during my entire vacation was on the North Island and happened quite by chance.   We had decided to take the back roads from Auckland to see more of the countryside.   Not far outside of Auckland we stopped at a small market to get some sandwiches.   The market did not make sandwiches but she suggested we try a place just down a small side road called Margaret’s Garden.   I ordered Mussels in a cream sauce with pasta and a nice glass of wine.My food was simply spectacular while Stan judged his good.   South Island New Zealand It is fall in New Zealand and the further south we traveled, the more brilliant the colors.    Our first stop was Nelson, which is near many of the regions wineries.  We visited on a Monday through Wednesday and there was not much going on in the town. We did meet up with our Peace Corps friends Scot and Karen who were visiting from Tonga as well. The highlight of our stay there was a hike along the Coast Track at  the Abel Tasman National Park.  The water levels between high tide and low tide are dramatic and a boat that floats at high tide will be completely aground at low tide. Venturing further south, we stopped in Kaikoura where we ate some fresh crayfish from a roadside stand and where we were unable to see any seals at the seal colony south of town.    It snowed in the mountains while we were sleeping and we awoke the next morning to snow capped mountains all around us.   We spend four nights in Christchurch with our friend and former Peace Corps volunteer Justin.  He moved to New Zealand after completing his service and now works there.  We caught a movie there and did some rock climbing.   We also had a fun night on the town with him showing us many of the hot spots.    We went to a place called Boogie Nights, which was an 80’s themed disco complete with lighted dance floor.   I may have been the only person in the place who actually remembered going to places like this in the 80’s. At Mt. Cook, the views were spectacular on the day we arrived but we left early because the next day it rained…really the only day that the weather didn’t cooperate with us during the trip. Queenstown is great.  One of the best places we visited on the trip and also where we decided to jump out of a perfectly good airplane from 15,000 feet above the ground below.   It was a spectacular adventure which included a 60 second free fall.     The night before the jump we met probably the most “colorful” character of the trip.   We went into a small place called The Minibar .  Inside were just the bartender and one customer.  The customer looked like a homeless person and was mumbling his words together.   As we proceeded to talk with him, he went to a corner of the bar to get his chainsaw and fishing pole!  What?  That’s right, this guy was in a bar in Queenstown with a chainsaw and a fishing pole.   We later saw him walking down the street carrying his chainsaw and his fishing pole.   We don’t remember his name, but for the rest of the trip we laughed about our Queenstown encounter with “Chainsaw Man” and wondered why we didn’t take a photo.

There are a number of fiords on the South Island, the best known of which is probably Milford Sound.  We skipped Milford and opted to go further south to a lesser know place called Doubtful Sound.    They only get sunshine here one out of every three days and getting to the sound is an adventure all by itself.  We first took a one hour boat ride across a lake.  From there, we took a 45 minute bus ride to the sound and then a three hour boat tour of the fiord.  While we didn’t see much rain, it was still overcast.   We did get to see some seals where the Sound empties into the Tasman sea. Doubtful Sound got its name from James Cook, the famous explorer who was the first European to visit both New Zealand and Tonga.   While mapping the area he wrote on his charts that the area was a “Doubtful Harbor” and the name stuck. One of the best places we stayed during our trip was at a small backpackers accommodation in Manapouri which is where you catch the first boat to get to Doubtful Sound.  The place is called Freestone Backpackers.  We shard a cabin with some German tourists.  We all had our own bedrooms but the common area has nice leather couches, a pot belly stove with plenty of firewood and a very nice shared kitchen.  You could look out and see the Lake from the front of our cabin.   Probably the highlight of the entire trip was our last Saturday in New Zealand.  We debated whether we wanted to stay in Queenstown for a 4th night, go back to Mt. Cook and hope the weather would be better or go visit the glaciers.  The glaciers were a long drive but we eventually decided to head that way. Franz Josef Glacier is on the West Coast of New Zealand and a long way from anywhere.  As we were driving north toward the glacier, we saw a sign that said “Last Gas for 120KM” and promptly filled up, not wanting to run out of gas in the middle of nowhere.   To get close to the glacier, you have to wade across “glacier cold” water but the chill on your feet is worth it.   We walked as far as we could past several great waterfalls until we reached a rope that said only experienced and guided tours should proceed.  We decided to go forward and what an adventure it was.  We used ropes to pull us up steep slopes and we waded through creek beds just to get to the glacier.     But that was nothing compared to the hike back.   We accidently stumbled upon the end of an adventure trail and took it back.  Here we pulled ourselves up on rocks using chains that we anchored into the rocks.  We found ladders for the really steep climbs and lots of scary terrain.   However, it was all worth it.  We got some great views of the glaciers and had a hike that normally you would have to pay to enjoy.     Recommendations if you are coming to New Zealand Until my trip to New Zealand, I had never stayed at a hostel or backpackers kind of accommodation.   I was surprised to find that you could get a pretty nice private room at these places.  In addition to the Freestone Backpackers mentioned above, another of our favorite places was at the YHA Wellington, where our twin room even had a French press with free ground coffee.   We would also highly recommend Freeman’s Bed and Breakfast in Auckland.  We spent out last night there and left for the airport at 5am so we didn’t get to sample the Breakfast. There are a lot of New Zealand beers.  We tried many different kinds often sampling different beers every night.   My favorites were the Mac’s Brewjolais and the Montiefs Celtic. We had several good meals and would recommend Margaret’s Garden, mentioned above plus Harborside Seafood in Auckland.  There is an Indian Restaurant in Queenstown at the top of the street across from the McCafe that was quite good and also the Mexican Restaurant on the second floor in an alleyway was good.  (I don’t remember the names of either of these.)   We had a good experience with our rental car company, EZi Rentals and would use them again.   We made several changes during our trip and they were very accommodating and all of the staff we met were friendly.  Our first car was a Nissan March and it didn’t have a lot of power on the mountains.  But our other two cars were both Hyundai Getz and we liked both of them. We used the Lonely Planet guidebook for New Zealand extensively.  It was published in September and most of the information was up to date.   We found it much better than the Fodor’s guide which we also had.   Places to Avoid in New Zealand Two places to avoid staying if you are heading to New Zealand.  The first is Cactus Jack’s in Rotorua, which is a Western themed hostel.  The room was clean, but very small and the atmosphere was very weird.  We were also disappointed with our stay at the YHA Hostel in Franz Josef   The facility was not very clean and there was no water pressure in the  showers and the hot water ran out quickly.   Our worst meal of the trip was in Queenstown at The Fishbone Grill.  This place is a top pick in the Lonely Planet Guidebook, but we thought it was really bad.  We decided to  give it a try because there was a sign out front that said “Bluff Oysters”.  We had eaten raw Bluff Oysters earlier in the trip so we decided to go there.   When we sat down, the waitress told us they were out of Bluff Oysters.  We suggested they take down the sign out front.  A while later we heard a table near us also asking for the Bluff Oysters.  The sign was still outside.    Stan’s food was tasteless…he has a fish special.  I tried the local Salmon.  It was extremely greasy…so much so that I couldn’t eat it.  We never saw our waitress again after she took our order…some other people delivered the food.  We finally got tired of waiting and went up to the front counter to get our bill.  I would not go back here. Other Notes from the Trip We both were impressed with New Zealand’s commitment to self sufficiency.  They use geothermal, solar and hydroelectric to generate most of their power.   Everywhere we stayed there were signs asking us to turn off the lights when we left to save power and the heaters were generally on a timer.   Prices were pretty good as the dollar is strong right now.  We never paid more than US$60 dollars a night for a room and we paid just $US13 each to stay at the Freestone Backpackers mentioned above.  The price of a beer in a bar ranged from about $US2.00 to $US4.00. We would often travel for many kilometers with no radio especially in the mountains.  When a station clicked in, no matter the format, we would listen to it.  We didn’t have a FM Modulator for an I-Pod and no CD’s.   While memorable, the worst song we heard, and thankfully we only heard it once,  was a song that sang the same sentences over and over again.  It went : We're just ordinary people

We don't know which way to go

Because we're ordinary people

Maybe we should take it slow You can see more photos from the trip, including photos of skydiving at my New Zealand Photo Gallery.  You can also click on any photo on this page to see an enlarged view. Steve's Adventure Home Page

When I signed up for the Peace Corps I thought I had a pretty good idea of what I could expect from my experience.   I did lots of research, asked lots of questions and got a lot of good information reading the blogs of current and past volunteers. But no matter how prepared you think you may be, it is unlikely that your Peace Corps service will be anything like you expect.   For some volunteers, that is a bad thing and they end up going home early, others do the best they can with the unexpected and others find that their experience is very different, but perhaps better than they ever expected. As I wrap up 18 months in Tonga, I find that I’m in that latter category.   I came here with very few expectations and have found joining Peace Corps to be one of the best decisions I’ve ever made. When I signed up I was prepared to live on a small island, perhaps with no electricity and certainly didn’t expect to have access to the Internet daily.  I imagined I would be working with just one or probably just a couple of businesses helping them in my role as a business advisor.   When I thought about the friends I would make, I always thought in terms of the host country nationals in the country where I would be serving and never really thought much about getting to know my fellow volunteers.   I figured I would be living in a small village and would know everyone by name and they would probably know me.  I also thought I would be alone most of the time and that I would probably read more books than I ever imagined.   I thought I might read those books by candlelight or a small kerosene lantern.  My friends had a different idea of what my Peace Corps experience would be like.  One told me of his experience living in a Peace Corps house with armed guards and another friend wanted to know if I would be digging ditches, which is kind of the Peace Corps cliché.   Others joked that I would be living like Tom Hanks in the movie “Castaway” and another thought my work would be like that of a missionary. In reality, none of my expectations nor the predictions of my friends turned out to be reality. My “surprises” have for the most part been positive.  I’ve made many friends but it hasn’t just been with the Tongans.  It has been with my fellow volunteers and also with many of the people who live here…the so called “ex-pats”  from the US, New Zealand and Australia that run many of the tourism related businesses. Instead of working with just one or two businesses, I’ve worked with many businesses through my job at the Tonga Development Bank.   The bank’s goal for me has been to help any business that needs help and that includes businesses that don’t do business with the bank.  I live in a pretty nice house by Peace Corps standards and I have electricity and running water almost all the time.  Tonga is still a developing country so those services are not always reliable. I have slow, but daily access to the Internet and through that have been able to keep in contact with my friends and family.  Clearly my standard of living is no where close to what I was accustomed to in the USA but I’m doing just fine. I live in a town.  It’s not large, but it’s certainly not a village.   I know a lot of people and certainly a lot more people know me.   I’m still surprised with strangers come up to me and call me “Steve”.   The nice thing about the town is that it’s big enough that I still meet new people on a regular basis. I never imagined I would be taking “business trips” in Tonga, but I’ve been to most of the outer islands in Vava’u and have been to the Ha’apai Island group and some of its islands as well.  I’ve made three trips to ‘Eua and am scheduled to do a lot more traveling this year before the end of my service. But to be fair, not all of the surprises have been pleasant. I’ve been really sick just once and had a bizarre case of fish poisoning that caused me to temporarily lose 80% use of my left arm and hand.   I have learned which Tongan foods will “give me the runs” and which ones won’t.  I’ve also eaten many things I never thought I would eat and I’ve had cravings for “Real” American food more times than I can count. I was robbed while staying at the Friendly Islander Motel and I have had to say goodbye to friends who have either completed their service or who left early. When I look back at the past 18 months I can’t believe how quickly the time has passed.  My good days have far outweighed the bad days and as I write this, there has never been a day when I felt like quitting. Very soon a new group of Americans will begin getting invitations to come serve their country in Tonga.  These will be the people who will replace my group once we come home in December.  Tonga is not for everyone.   There are times when you will wonder why you are here and even why Peace Corps is here.   Some volunteers have had really unfortunate things happen during their service…things a lot worse than anything that has happened to me.   And some people come here with very unrealistic expectations either about Peace Corps or about what they think they can accomplish.  However, I can’t imagine that for me, I would have been as happy serving anywhere other than Tonga. I look forward to my remaining months of service but I also look forward to coming home.  I know that while my real home is in the USA,  I know that Tonga will always be a part of me. Steve's Adventure Home Page

It’s been said that when America sneezes, the rest of the world gets a cold.   That may not be as true today as it was 25 years ago, but the current economic crisis in the United States is having an impact in places as far away as the Kingdom of Tonga. There are three commercial banks in Tonga plus one development bank.   Last year, Westpac Bank of Tonga lost six million pa’anga or about 3 million US dollars.    ANZ, another  commercial bank lost about one million US dollars.   The third commercial bank, which is Malaysian based MBF has not reported its year end numbers as of the end of March.  The Tonga Development Bank, where I work is owned 100% by the government.   It was able to make a small profit of about 450 thousand US dollars last year, but that was down from previous years. (The Tonga Development Bank is one of just three enterprises owned by the Tongan government that turns a profit.   The majority of government owned enterprises in Tonga are in the red.) Some of the reasons for the bad turn in the Tongan banking industry are the same as in the USA, especially bad loans.  But another problem that is just starting to show up is a reduction in the amount of remittances that Tongans receive from families overseas. The number one source of income for Tonga is overseas remittances followed by foreign aid.   As Tongans in the US, Australia and New Zealand suffer financial hardships, it is having a trickle down effect on the Tongans here.   That means that many Tongans who were paying back loans with remittances from families overseas are now unable to fulfill their obligations. The Development Bank recently asked me to help it put on a workshop to address the problems being faced by the banks in Tonga and to help come up with new ways doing business.   For three days, we huddled in a room on the third floor of the bank with all of the banks employees participating.  The goal was to be able to “Manage at a Higher Level”. We even worked on a Saturday.  In the photo above are all of the people I work with on a daily basis except for ‘Ofa and Hangale, who were absent because ‘Ofa’s mother just died. The bank organized similar workshops at each branch and in each department at the head office in Nuku’alofa.   I give the bank a lot of credit for having the foresight to realize that it can’t continue to operate the way it always has.   And unlike American banks, the Tonga banks have many additional culture barriers to overcome as well. The workshop was not always easy and it was tough on many of the Tongan staff to learn that more is going to be expected of them in the coming year. At the end of the workshop, everyone got a Snickers bar.   (OK I know that doesn’t sound very Tongan and actually the Snickers bars were my idea.).  It’s very rare for us to have American chocolate here and I thought it would be a nice treat.   The bank employees were also given a little over US$7.00 for working on a Saturday.    Hopefully some of what we did over the three day workshop will help the bank have a better year next year. Steve's Adventure Home Page

It was a sad week at the Vava’u Branch of the Tongan Development Bank where I work.   Last week, two of the men I worked with each lost their mother.  The first woman was buried on Saturday and the other on Monday. Monday’s funeral was for the mother of ‘Ofa.  “Ofa and his wife Hangale  have always been great to me.   On my first day at the bank, ‘Ofa was one of the first to come in just to talk and to introduce himself.  He always seems to have a smile on his face and enjoys a great laugh. The other funeral was for Fakava’s real mother.  He was raised by adopted parents, which is very common in Tonga.   I was not able to attend the funeral on Saturday, but I did go to the funeral on Monday.  It was the first Tongan funeral I’ve attended, which is surprising since I’ve been here for 18 months.   In Tonga, there are no funeral parlors.  When someone dies, they are loaded into a vehicle and put in a freezer  at the hospital where the body is kept frozen until it is time for the funeral.  There are no embalming facilities in Vava’u and the families are responsible for preparing their loved one’s body for the public viewing. Because there are many Tongans overseas and on other islands, it is not uncommon for a funeral to be a week or longer after a person dies.  That was the case with ‘Ofa’s mother.  She passed away last Tuesday and the funeral was six days later on Monday. On the day of the funeral, the body is taken to the family house and hundreds of people gather to mourn with the family.   When there is a putu (funeral), the bakeries will often sell out of bread and the stores will end up with empty shelves because it is the job of the family to feed all of the people who gather to spend the day with them. As we arrived at ‘Ofa and Hangale’s home on Monday, the first thing I noticed were all the people sitting around.  As is tradition, the men were sitting together drinking kava while the woman sang and congregated on mats in the shade around the house. When you arrive at the house, it is traditional to present a gift to the family in honor of the deceased.  The bank presented ‘Ofa and Hangale with cash, a mat, a Tongan tapa and numerous other gifts.   Before entering the house, we lined up in a fashion similar to the women in the photo below. One we had our gifts in hand, we paraded single file into the house. Once inside we laid down our gifts then walked forward to see the body of ‘Of'a’s mother.  Kissing the Dead It is tradition that each person kiss the deceased on the forehead to pay their respects.  I knew about this tradition and had lots of time to think about it before the funeral.  I knew it would be expected for me to kiss the corpse and I was prepared for it.  Or at least I thought I was.  As I gently pressed my lips to her forehead, I was not appalled or even bothered by it.    What I hadn’t been prepared for was how cold she would be.  It made sense that she would be cold since she had been on ice for almost a full week, but the cold was a surprise. As I was leaving the house, I was then presented with a beautiful piece of silk.   This is another Tongan tradition.  When you come to pay your respects, a family member gives you a gift from the many gifts that have been accumulated.   Unfortunately, the grieving family never comes out ahead because they end up giving away more than they receive. I tried to give the silk back to ‘Ofa but he refused saying it was the Tongan way.  It was sad to see ‘Ofa so clearly upset by the loss of his mother.  He is a really wonderful man. The good news is that he and Hangale are about to have a baby which I’m sure will bring a smile back to his face.Steve's Adventure Home Page

  The following is a portion of a speech made on the Senate Floor this week by Senator Johnny Isakson of Georgia.  He was speaking in support of the National Service Act. I thought his speech was worth sharing. This past Saturday, I attended one of the most moving ceremonies of my life--moving in a sad way but also in an uplifting way. Unfortunately, a wonderful young lady, 24 years old, from Cumming, GA, Kate Puzey, was killed in Benin, Africa, on March 11. She was a Peace Corps worker who graduated first in her class in high school, was an honors graduate from William and Mary, and she studied French in Paris to learn the language that led her to be able to go to this part of the world and teach this poor African nation about agriculture and other skills. She served since July of 2007 and was in the last 2 months of her service in Benin. I went to this service because I felt moved. I am ranking member of the African Subcommittee on Foreign Relations. Paul Coverdell, who served in the seat I now hold, was a director of the Peace Corps . I felt moved that morning when I got to go to the service and sit in the back of the room and pay my respects to a great American. I left having listened to 12 eulogies by young people whose lives were changed by Kate. The acting director of the Peace Corps , Ms. Jody Olsen, delivered a beautiful eulogy. I realized how much voluntarism means to the United States, not just on our shores but in Africa and on continents around the world. I commend people such as Senator Dodd who have given time in the Peace Corps . I ask the Senate to give its unanimous support to this legislation. I dedicate this speech in honor of Kate Puzey, to her life, and what she did as a Georgian and as a volunteer. She joined the Peace Corps and changed the plight, the lives, the hopes, and in fact the future of children in that small country on the west coast of Africa. God bless the Peace Corps and the life of Kate Puzey. And thanks to those who have volunteered and to the committee that has brought this National Service Act reauthorization to the floor of the Senate. I have found volunteering in the Peace Corps to be a wonderful experience for me. I hope that many more Americans in the future have the opportunity to serve both at home and abroad. Steve's Adventure Home Page

If you pay attention to news about Tonga, you probably know by now that an Volcano has erupted not far from the main island of Tongatapu and we have felt a number of earthquakes because of the eruption. The volcano is on Hunga Tonga which is located about 150 miles or so away from me in Vava’u.  Some of the first photos of the eruption were taken by Leta Havea Kami, who is the Deputy Managing Director of the Tonga Development Bank where I work.  She was on her way here to Vava’;u when she snapped these photos from the plane. There are a number of stories online about what is happening here.  These sites have photos and some video. Underwater volcano erupts off Tonga – BBC Inspectors Head to Undersea Volcano – New York Times Inspectors head to undersea volcano in Tonga – MSNBC (AP) I felt the earthquake early this morning.  It lasted for a while, but didn’t rattle the dishes and didn’t have any noticeable impact other than the normal shaking. A Tsunami warning was issued for all of Tonga after the quake.   Peace Corps put us under a “Code White” which is the lowest level of emergency activation that they issue.  It simply means to pay attention to the radio and be alert.   Once the warning was cancelled, so was our “Code White”. My friend Scot traveled by boat to the volcano yesterday.  You can read about his experience on his blog. For those of us in Vava’u, it has pretty much been business as normal. Steve's Adventure Home Page

There are more dive shops in Vava’u than there are gas stations or bakeries.  It’s not hard to figure out why since divers from all over the world come here to enjoy the warm crystal blue Pacific and the colorful coral and marine life that live beneath the surface. And because not a lot of divers make it here, the coral is pretty much undamaged from human contact and the different species of fish are amazing. Since I have been in Tonga, I’ve been snorkeling a number of times and have immensely enjoyed the view from the surface, but I finally decided I wanted to go a bit deeper so I’ve been taking classes to get my PADI Open Water Scuba Certification. Saturday, I took my last class and walked away with my certificate, but also a lot of great memories of life underwater. For all of our classes, the ocean has been incredibly clear, but that was not the case for the last class.  We’ve had lots of rain here in the past week and the water was murky limiting the visibility underwater and the quality of our photos and video. Stan and Steve diving in Vava'u   I look the class with my fellow volunteer Stan and an Australian friend named Emma.   Our instruction, Riki, who runs the Riki Tiki dive shop snapped these photos of us underwater.  (You can reach Riki at 70975.)   I have to confess I was nervous about taking diving lessons.   There are no recompression chambers in Tonga and it can be scary to think about being so far underwater and running out of air. However, Riki is a great teacher and always made us feel at ease.    As part of our training, he had to turn off our air underwater, make us share air with a buddy and we had to take off our masks and air supplies while underwater.   At every step, Riki first explained at the surface what was going to happen and then once underwater, he demonstrated what we were supposed to do before he asked us to do the exercise.  It was a great confidence builder and none of us ever felt uncomfortable doing anything we were asked. That doesn’t mean there weren’t some problems. (Perhaps challenges would be a better word).  I had trouble getting equalized to the underwater pressure a couple of times and learned that I needed to dive down a bit slower than my friends.    I also struggled a bit learning to take off my weight belt on the ocean floor and then putting it back on the correct way.  For the record, I always got it back on, but it took me a while to be as graceful doing it as Riki wanted. I feel very fortunate to have found an instructor as skilled as Riki here in Vava’u.  I had to miss our very first class because I was sick and Riki was great about giving me a private make-up lesson so that I could catch back up. Now that I’m certified, I am already looking forward to my next dive.   There are so many great places to go here, the hardest part will be figuring out which one to explore first. In case you were wondering, there are four dives shops in Vava’u, three bakeries and two gas stations. Steve's Adventure Home Page

By definition, the word volunteer implies that you are doing something for free and are not paid for the work you provide.  Dictionary.com defines a volunteer as: a person who performs a service willingly and without pay. As a Peace Corps volunteer, I am prohibited from accepting money for any services that I provide, but it would not be true to say that I work for free.   While I don’t receive a salary, my basic needs are met.  I am provided with a house and enough money to buy food and other necessities.  The stipend I receive is supposed to allow me to live at approximately the same level as a typical Host Country National and I live comfortably, though certainly not at the level to which most Americans are accustomed. Since I just finished doing my taxes and since I’m often asked “How much money to you get?”, I thought I would detail exactly what I do get.   I’ve converted all amounts to US Dollars. Housing Arrangements In Tonga, each organization that hosts a Peace Corps volunteer is responsible for providing a house for that volunteer.  The house must have locking doors and windows, a bed, a table with at least two chairs and fresh water must be available within a reasonable distance of the house. Sometimes, this means the volunteer will live on a school campus or in a house owned by the organization or by someone who works for the organization.  In my case, my organization, The Tonga Development Bank, pays to rent a house for me.   (And by Peace Corps standards, I have a really nice house).   The bank pays my landlord $177 per month for my house.  Since December, the bank also is paying $97.00 a month for my utilities.  Previously, I was paying those bills myself.   That means the bank pays about $3200 dollars a year to have me work for them.   Living Stipend In addition to having my housing provided, Peace Corps pays me a monthly stipend of $310 to cover all of my expenses.  That works out to just over $10 a day for all my food and expenses.  If you are counting, that means I get about $3700 dollars a year from the US Government for my volunteer service.   That total also includes $24.00 a month that is classified as a vacation leave allowance.  We get $12.00 a day for each of the 24 days of vacation we are allowed each year.      That amount is fixed by Peace Corps headquarters for all volunteers worldwide.  The amount of the stipend varies in each Peace Corps country. The vacation leave allowance and a portion of our stipend are considered taxable income.  For all of 2008, my taxable income for my work as a volunteer was about  $800. Readjustment Allowance For each month you serve as a volunteer, you also earn $225.00 that is held by Peace Corps and then paid to you in a lump sum when you complete your service.  This amount is 100% taxable.  In 2008, just like every other Peace Corps volunteer in the World, I earned a readjustment allowance of $2700..   The Bottom Line I had earned taxable income of approximately $3500 from Peace Corps in 2008.  And this year it came with an extra surprise.  Since I was not eligible for the Stimulus Program last year when I was still working for a good portion of the year, I found out I can get it this year.  That means I’ll be getting a tax credit of $300.00. Since I’ve been in Tonga, I’ve been able to live on my stipend.   I have not tapped into any money from home to use in Tonga, even though I have ordered a few things and had them shipped to me.   And certainly my stipend didn’t pay for my trip to the USA at Christmas. Vava’u, the island where I live in the most expensive in all of Tonga.  We pay more for everything here than anywhere else in Tonga.  To be fair, we also don’t have the same choices or temptations as the volunteers on the main island.  But part of being a volunteer is living with and like the Tongans.  That means if you don’t have something or you can’t afford something, you just do without it. Peace Corps Volunteers meet the King Six Peace Corps volunteers who live on the main island of Tongatapu had a chance to meet and talk with the King of Tonga this week.   You might think that in a country the size of Tonga, that would not be uncommon.  However, the King is well “King” and he can pretty much pick and choose with whom he wants to visit. The occasion was a visit by the new US Ambassador to Fiji, who is also responsible for Tonga.  My friend Scot was one of the volunteers who got invited to meet the King and I encourage you to read the description of the visit that he has posted on his blog:  The King, George Tupou V, is wearing the light colored gray pants and black vest.  Scot is pictured on the far left in the red tie. The other volunteers in the photo are Carol, who is next to Scot,  Bethany is to the right of the King and Emily is over the King’s left shoulder.   Heather and Blake are on the far right of the photo. Steve's Adventure Home Page

Last November I went snorkeling in Shallow’s Cave with a group of volunteers who were still in training here in Vava’u.  While we were in the cave, I let a friend borrow my mask and snorkel.    Unfortunately, the snorkel came loose and ended up at the bottom of the cave, some 60-80 feet below.   That was the last I saw of the snorkel but my mask survived. Since the loss of my snorkel, I’m been using one that was left my a former Peace Corps volunteer.  I don’t like it as much as the one I had, but it works. Several weeks ago, I was talking with my friend Riki, who owns Riki Tiki Tours, a dive shop here in Vava’u.  I briefly mentioned to him that I had lost my snorkel in Swallow’s Cave.   Monday, I was sitting at Aquarium Cafe when Riki comes walking up with my snorkel in hand.   He had taken some people diving in the cave and found it on the bottom.   I was amazed…not just that Riki had remembered that I had lost my snorkel, but that he found it four months after I lost it and that it was still there.  It’s in great shape and I look forward to using it again.  Thank you Riki! A Great Week in ‘Eua I just got back from spending a great week on the island of ‘Eua.   The bank sent me there to assist with a workshop and to train the staff at the branch.  I also met with some clients during my visit.  But the real fun started Thursday night when my friends Shawn and Peter arrived from Tongatapu.   We started our long weekend together by meeting up with the ‘Eua Peace Corps volunteers at the only place in ‘Eua that sells beer…the Hideaway Resort. On Friday, Shawn and I, along with my bank counterpart, Folau,  got to see a lot of the island thanks to a guy from the bank who offered to show us around.   One of our first stops was at the edge of a giant cliff.  We drove right up to the edge of the cliff…too close for comfort, before we stopped. But the real scare came when it was time to leave.   The driver popped the clutch and we lurched forward slightly before going into reverse.  Shawn and I just looked at each other briefly, both with a look of panic when the car went forward.  Thankfully, we had a good driver and we didn’t end up at the bottom of the cliff. Next stop was the natural land bridge.   It’s a giant bridge carved out by the ocean. We saw a lot of other great sites before we met up with Peter and Jason, who lives on ‘Eua.  From there we headed to the north end of the island for a beautiful hike. Saturday, the four guys were joined by Ashley, Heather and Jenny for a hike to a place called Smoker’s Cave, which is a giant waterfall.  You can not see the bottom. We also made it to the two lookouts on the east side of the island. From there we went to a place called Rat’s cave.   This was my second visit to Rat’s cave.  I came a year ago with my friend Craig, who has now completed his service.  To get inside the cave, you crawl on your belly through a cave to a small opening.  You then have to drop down inside the chamber below.  But because you are at the edge of a cliff, it looks like if you slip, you will go down the side of the cliff.  It can be a bit intimidating, but once you have done it once, it is pretty easy the second time. The guys all camped Saturday night while the women went back to town.   Peter and Jason put hammocks up on the lookout and slept under the stars while Shawn and I stayed in a tent nearby. It was a great trip and I highly recommend 'Eua for anyone who really wants to get away.  There are only two places to stay and both are pretty modest, but the scenery and seclusion are well worth it.    From the time we started our hike on Saturday until we returned to the main road on Sunday, we did not see another person. There are numerous caves, some which have never been explored.  It is the only Tongan island to have parrots and it has species of plants found no where else in Tonga. I have uploaded lots of photos from our trip and they are worth checking out.  ‘Eua is a beautiful place and I think you will enjoy the photographs.   Steve's Adventure Home Page

It has been a sad week in Tonga as four volunteers, all who live on the main island of Tongatapu have ended their service.  Alexis, Cassie, Trent and Lara are all now gone.  With the departure of Enrique last week, this is five volunteers from the main island to leave in less than two weeks. Each has their own reason for leaving, but I am particularly saddened by the loss of Trent and Lara,  a married couple from Hawaii.  I've been good friends with the two of them almost since my first day in Tonga.   I've stayed with them during my visits to Nuku'alofa and they have been here to Vava'u and stayed with me.  Trent and Lara were model volunteers, taking time to not only respect the Tongan culture but to make strong ties with the local people.  Both were dedicated to their jobs and Lara, who worked with GIS, was doing some really great things. The really sad part is that neither wanted to leave Tonga or the Peace Corps, but circumstances at home required them to return.   I completely agree with and understand their decision, but will miss them a lot.  I was fortunate to be able to briefly say good-bye to them in person on Monday when I was passing through Nuku'alofa, the capital city on the main island where they lived. More Changes Coming Soon Right now in Tonga, Peace Corps has two programs for volunteers.  One is education and the other is business.   For the most part, the education volunteers teach English to Tongan children while the business volunteers do a wide range of projects dealing not just with business, but also government agencies and NGO’s. (Non Government Organizations). As a business volunteer, I might be a bit biased, but I really think there is tremendous potential for volunteers in the business program to have a big impact on Tonga.    There are not a lot of Tongans with business experience. I have yet to walk into a Tongan business, and I've been in a lot of them, where they didn't need help with basic business principals. In an ideal world, Tonga would continue to have both programs but if given a choice of only having one program, I would pick the business program. Unfortunately, Peace Corps has decided to eliminate the business program in Tonga.  The current business volunteers will be the last to serve in  a separate business. program  Beginning this fall, Peace Corps will only be sending education volunteers to Tonga.  The current plan, though not final yet, will have all volunteers working under the Tongan Ministry of Education.   The good part of the plan, is that instead of just teaching English, they will be looking for volunteers to teach Science, Math and Industrial Arts as well.  There will also be five volunteers in each group who will be classified as business, but will work in the schools teaching computer skills or teaching business skills.   They are no plans to attach any volunteers to other ministries or organizations except the Ministry of Education. The change is happening because of a survey that Peace Corps did to review its current programs.   It will also give Peace Corps one point of contact, the Ministry of Education, to deal with volunteer site selections. I get that this change will be easier for Peace Corps, but am disappointed to see the business program go away. Last September, I wrote about the many opportunities that could exist here for business volunteers.   Those opportunities are still here. The change won’t impact any of the current volunteers as we will be allowed to finish our projects.   Steve's Adventure Home Page

I've often thought that the unexpected experiences are often life's best.  The things you never anticipate but which turn into unforgettable adventures.   I never anticipated I would swim with jellyfish this past weekend and even if I had, I probably would have imagined a painful experience involving getting stung by this misunderstood sea creature. Friday afternoon, we set sail aboard Manuoku, one of our favorite sailboats in Vava'u.  Less than an hour after leaving the harbor, we spotted thousands of jellyfish swimming beside the boat, more than I've ever seen anywhere.  The jellyfish, in all shapes and sizes seemed oblivious to our presence as we passed.  Steve, our captain tell us that these jellyfish don't sting and that some Tongans eat them. As we near our camping spot, we see another school of jellyfish.   These look a bit different, but Steve assures us that we won't get stung if we jump in the water and swim with them. That's exactly what we did.   I can't even begin to describe the feeling of plunging off the side off the boat wearing my mask and snorkel and descending in the crystal clear Pacific surrounded in all directions by these translucent creatures.    It almost felt like a science fiction movie. Not long after being in the water, my hand brushed against one of the jellyfish.  I immediately recoiled, my mind still remembering my last encounter with a jellyfish in the Florida Keys.   That time I got stung, but not this time.   Then another brushed against my leg and this time I still flinched a bit,, but was growing more accustomed to the touch of the "jelly" on my skin. Before long, I was holding the jellyfish in my hands and playing with them as if I belonged in their underwater realm.  Swimming with Jellyfish in Tonga I took a lot of video while in the water, but none of it comes close to capturing this experience.  Everywhere I looked, I was surrounded.   It's an adventure I won't soon forget. Camping (kind of) on an uninhabited island I have a friend whose idea of camping is to pull up in his RV, plug in and camp.   There weren't any RV's on the island we visited this weekend, but the style of camping was a lot closer to that of my friend in the RV than to the style of primitive camping I usually enjoy here in Tonga. The 11 Peace Corps volunteers who live here in Vava'u, two of the Japanese volunteers, an Australian volunteer and a few other folks were all the guests of our friends Ben, Lisa and Jason.  They own the island and while it is uninhabited, it had more luxuries than some of my fellow volunteers have in their Peace Corps houses.    Our amenities included a gas grill, chairs, tarps and even a generator to power lights at night.   Even when the rain started falling, we stayed dry, under the tarps and didn't need to retreat to our tents. Their island is really amazing.  It's a beautiful spot not far from the old harbor of Neiafu.  (We left from the new harbor, which is about a three hour boat trip since you have to sail around the main island to get to the other side). Sailing the South Pacific After a night of camping, it was time for a day of sailing.   Some of the volunteers decided to stay on the island a while longer, but most of us climbed back aboard Manuoku and spent the rest of the day sailing and snorkeling.    While we did see a few jellyfish during our sail, it was nothing like the experience of the day before.   Random Notes Fire Follow-up The area of Neiafu that was destroyed by fire in December is finally being cleaned up.  Last week, a group of Mormons removed most of the debris from the fire area. There is now also a fence along the sidewalk so that someone doesn't accidentally fall off the edge. Good-bye Enrique Another member of my training group left the Peace Corps last week.   Enrique is now back in the USA.   Enrique is the first person from our group to leave since last April.  Out of our original group of 33, there are now 28 of us left.   There are 21 volunteers from the group that swore in as volunteers in December and we have three volunteers who extended from earlier groups.  That gives us a volunteer population of 52 throughout the Kingdom. Steve's Adventure Home Page

It’s the rainy summer season in Tonga and that means not only lots of heat and rain, but also lots of mosquitoes.   Recently the Peace Corps advised all of the volunteers to be especially careful because of an increase in the number of cases of Dengue Fever in Tonga. In case you don’t know, Dengue is a tropical illness that causes a high fever and a rash.  It is transmitted by mosquitoes and is nicknamed “Bone Break Fever” because when you have it, you feel like every bone in your body is breaking.  (See Wikipedia for more information) I also heard that if you think you have Dengue, you probably don’t.  If you think you are going to die, then you probably have Dengue.  There is no treatment for Dengue, other than to treat the symptoms.  It will usually run its course in a week to 10 days. A week ago today, I started to feel sick.  At first, I thought I might just be tired from staying out too late on Monday night saying good-bye to Jessica.   I left work early on Tuesday and slept from 1pm until 7am the next morning.  I had no energy and ate only a few things.   By Wednesday, I knew something was wrong.   I had a fever, my joints were killing me and I had no appetite.  I also was constantly thirsty and was drinking lots of water.    I contacted our Peace Corps Medical staff on the main island who advised that I had the early symptoms of Dengue Fever. By Thursday, my fever was at 100.2 degrees and my joint aches only got worse.   In addition to the fever, I was having chills.  I did not eat at all on Thursday.   Thursday night I spent alternating between taking cold showers to cool down to dressing up in a warm-up suit and burying myself under layers of blankets to stay warm.   On Friday, I felt better and Friday afternoon, I actually got out of bed and sat on the sofa to watch a movie.   I was feeling better and thought the worst was over.   Apparently this is one of the “tricks” of Dengue.  It makes you think you are better, then it kicks you down again.  That’s exactly what happened. I went to bed Friday night and was shaking so badly that I felt like I was having convulsions.  I was barely able to stand and debated whether I should go to the hospital or not.  However, knowing Tongan medical care, I decided that all they would do is give me some Panadol (Tylenol) and send me home, so I opted not to go.    Probably less than an hour later, I was sweating so badly, I had to go take another cold shower. By Saturday afternoon, my fever broke and I started to feel better.    On Sunday I started eating again and Sunday afternoon, I walked out the door of my house for the first time in more than four days feeling like my old self. So did I have Dengue?  I actually don’t think so.   I never got a rash, which is a classic sign of Dengue and the duration of my sickness was a lot shorter than most people experience.   If I did have Dengue, there is a positive sign…it means I can’t get it again, or at least not the same strain.  I think it is more likely that I caught some other kind of tropical fever.   There is a blood test you can take to see if you have been exposed to dengue, but that seems like a moot point. And a special thanks to James, who stayed with me and took care of me while I was sick.  It’s great to have good friends like him and my other volunteers who called to check on me. Steve's Adventure Home Page

It should came as no surprise that Tonga is a conservative country.  For the most part, men hang out with men and women with women.   Even in church, you will rarely see a married couple sitting together.   Friday night, all 11 volunteers here in Vava’u gathered for a meeting.  After the meeting in true Tonga fashion, the “boys” went to Mermaid, a local bar, while the “girls” stayed at the office.   Eventually the women joined us at Mermaid. On any Friday night, Mermaid is really “the” place to go in Vava’u.   (Even more so now that two of the bars burned down in December.) The place was packed mostly with Tongans.   It’s a good place to people watch and even Tongans who don’t drink will show up and just hang out. As the night progressed, the dance floor started to get crowded and in typical Tonga tradition, the floor was primarily filled with women dancing with other women.   I was sitting with my back to the dance floor looking out into the harbor when one of my fellow volunteers said “Did you see that?”   I said what and didn’t get an answer.  The next thing I heard was another volunteer saying “I never thought I would see that in Tonga”.   That was enough for me to turn around but all I saw were the people on the dance floor. Then I heard that while dancing, one of the Tongans, a thin woman around 30, had suffered a wardrobe malfunction in Janet Jackson style.   And like with Janet, there was a question as to whether it was intentional or accidental.  Now, you are probably wondering why I’m telling this story right?   Well that wasn’t the last we saw of this women.  Not long after the wardrobe malfunction, I was sitting in my chair when this same woman comes over and grabs me and plants a kiss right on my lips.  To say I was shocked was an understatement.  I mean, this is Tonga.  I’ve never seen a Tongan kiss a member of the opposite sex in public and here I was getting kissed by some strange woman I’ve never seen before.  I wish someone had taken a picture, because I would love to have seen the look on my face. As you might imagine, my fellow volunteers were laughing like crazy.   Well apparently the woman noticed the laughter and my shock, so a few minutes later, she came back and kissed me again. That was the last I saw of her.   But it just goes to show that even in a place as conservative as Tonga, the unexpected can happen when you least expect it. Good-bye Jessica My friend Jessica is on her way to the United States as I write this.  Jessica is the last member of group 72 to leave Vava’u.   She is certainly going to be missed.  Jessica always had such positive energy and was always a pleasure to be around. We gathered at my house last night to say our good-byes and took our “mandatory” group photo which we take at just about every gathering. (And yes, that is my dog’s butt in the front of the photo). It was a Mexican themed dinner.   We made tortilla’s and added some meat, rice and fresh guacamole for a great meal.   The avocados are in season now and are delicious.    Vava’u Fire Update I mentioned the fire above and thought I would give you a quick update.   Nothing has been cleaned up.  The remains of all the buildings that were destroyed are still there.  The bookstore and the general store have both re-opened in new locations and one of the bars has set up a tent on the waterfront and is selling beer from there.   The fire was started by three young boys, around age eight.  They are being charged.   They were apparently trying to burn out some wasps and the fire spread. (If you haven’t seen the photos of the fire, you can see them here). Steve's Adventure Home Page

It’s hard for me to imagine that I have less than 11 months remaining as a Peace Corps volunteer. When I first got here on October 1, 2007, I didn’t expect the time would go by so quickly. Now 15 months later, I've completed three months of training and just over one year of service.My group just completed its Mid-Service Training or MST and the next time we all get together will be for our Close of Service conference or COS. I hadn’t thought a lot about reaching this point until I got an e-mail from a reporter for the South Florida Sun-Sentinel who was working on a story about the number of Floridians who were joining the Peace Corps. He asked me if I would share my thoughts about being in Peace Corps and explain why I joined. Here is how I replied to him:I’ve been here for 15 months now and joining the Peace Corps has been an amazing experience. As to why I joined, the easy answer is that is was something that I had always wanted to do, but kept putting off. But there is actually a bit more to it than that. It’s not easy to walk away from a well-paying 23 year career. I loved TV News for most of my career but I found that I was enjoying it less and less. What I always enjoyed the most was being involved in the stories that really impacted people's lives and really helped them. When all of the thank you notes started showing up in the WPEC newsroom after Hurricane Frances hit South Florida that was really rewarding because I knew we had done something that actually meant something and was appreciated.I think joining Peace Corps was a personal quest to find something that would help people in a positive way.It was not a quick decision. It took seven months from the time I first filled out my application to the Peace Corps until I finally got the invitation to serve in Tonga.I have no regrets at all about joining Peace Corps. Are there frustrating days? Of course, but the good days far outweigh the bad ones. I spend my time working with small business owners either helping them start or improve their business. I have one client who had run up a TOP$20,000 (About $10,000 US) overdraft at a local bank and was on the verge of having to close his business. He has now paid that down, his business is doing much better and he is now expanding by adding a taxi cab service. Not all of the people I work with have that much success but even seeing someone taking a small baby step forward is rewarding.The Tongans are a wonderful people and very friendly. Getting to know them and their culture has been an amazing experience. It has been a bit of a struggle for me to learn the Tongan language, but most people here speak English so I’m able to communicate easily. I also wear a skirt and short sleeve shirt to work every day. That’s the traditional Tongan business attire. Never did I think I would wear a skirt, much less enjoy it. However it is quite comfortable in the heat. And it’s quite different from the coat and tie I used to wear to work at WPEC every day.The climate here is similar to South Florida, except our seasons are reversed. We are in the middle of summer right now and there is a tropical depression over the Kingdom of Tonga right now. Last night I nailed all of my windows shut while my neighbor climbed the breadfruit tree next to my house so the winds didn’t send breadfruit through my windows. (Breadfruit is about the size of a coconut) It looks like my comments didn’t make his story headlined “Peace Corps says more Floridians joined in 2008”. However, it gave me a good chance to reflect on the past 15 months (and made it easy to write this blog post.).The tropical depression I mentioned above was basically a lot of rain and wind. It passed over us Tuesday night and by Wednesday morning was on its way south to the main island of Tongatapu. Steve's Adventure Home Page

There is a new volunteer here in Tonga named Peter.  He's a retired airline pilot and lives on the main island of Tongatapu.   When something happens that defies logic or that seems strange compared to the USA,  Peter simply explains it by saying "This is Tonga".  So in honor of Peter, I thought I would share a couple of "This is Tonga" moments that have happened to me during the past week. My first "This is Tonga" tale is set at a local Indian restaurant.  It's a new place and small.   I went there for dinner with about 12 other volunteers.  We were the only customers.  I think we all ordered curry, most of us asked for fish curry, but there were a few orders of vegetable curry and an order of chicken curry.   After about 20 minutes, the first two plates came out.   20 minutes later, another plate came out and then about 15 minutes later two more plates came out.  We realized that we were getting our dinners in the order that they were placed.   And it was pretty obvious that each plate was being cooked one at a time.  Now, since there were probably 7 or 8 orders just for fish curry you would think they would cook all of those together, but that didn't happen.   Just under three hours after we entered the restaurant, the last two volunteers go their food.    And we were still the only customers.  Why did each plate of food gets cooked individually instead of together?   "This is Tonga". The second "This is Tonga" story is from the same night.   The restaurant doesn't serve beer and after several  of us had finished our dinners and everyone else was still waiting, we went out to a corner store to buy a few beers.   It was raining really hard and the store is about a block away from the restaurant.   As we were walking back, we stopped under a small roof that was outside another restaurant and we started drinking our beers.   Yes, we were standing on the street with open containers in the middle of town drinking beer.   Not only that, we were loitering outside another restaurant that we weren't patronizing.  In the USA, several things would have happened.  The cops might have been called or the restaurant owners might have chased us away.   Neither of those things happened.  Instead, the women in the restaurant, grabbed chairs from inside and brought them outside to us so we had a place to sit.   "This is Tonga". Peace Corps requires that each volunteer have a physical at the mid-point of their service.  I arrived at the clinic and waited about 90 minutes before the nurse called me.   As I'm waiting in the exam room, I hear the doctor saying he wants to re-test the last two patients who had their blood sugar checked because he thinks the machine is bad and giving inaccurate readings.   Not long after that, the nurse comes into the room where I am waiting and takes my blood pressure using what looks like a home blood pressure machine.   The machine says my blood pressure is extremely high.   I've never had high blood pressure in my life so I asked the nurse if she could either re-check it again using a different machine or do it manually.   She takes it manually and guess what, she proclaims that my blood pressure is finel.  So clearly this clinic was using machines that need to either be repaired or replaced.   A couple of days later, some other volunteers went  to to the same clinic and also had  blood pressure tests.   The clinic was still using the same machine that had given me the bad reading.  Yes, "this is Tonga". Biking to the Beach Even though I lived on the main island of Tongatapu for several months, I never got a chance to explore it by bicycle.   On Sunday, I joined my friends, Peter, Shawn and Alicia on a ride to a remote beach located not far from the house where the King lives. (He doesn't live in the Palace). It was a really easy ride because unlike Vava'u, where I live, Tongatapu is very flat.   Once we got off the main road, we made our way through bush land, under some beautiful canopy trees, past horses and cows and down a dirt road to the ocean. I had expected to find an empty beach since technically swimming (and probably bicycling ) are illegal on Sunday.  Instead there were about 40 Tongans of all ages hanging out on the beach and in the water enjoying the big waves.   Some were Tongans from New Zealand but others were locals who live here all the time.    The four of us were the only palangi (white people) at the beach   There are additional photos of our beach trip in the online photo gallery. Do you know these people? When I arrived back in Tonga from the USA last week, I opened my checked bags and inside I found a digital camera that DID NOT belong to me.  I assume that in either West Palm Beach or in Los Angeles my bags were searched and the camera came from someone else's bag that was also being searched.   Of course, I looked at all of the photos and there was nothing that would identify who the people are or where they are from.  So I thought I would post two of the pictures here.  If you know these people, let me know and I'll try to figure out a way to get their pictures to them. Getting someone else's camera in my locked luggage?.  Perhaps I should say "This is America". Steve's Adventure Home Page

Just over 15 months ago, I was sitting in the Los Angeles Airport waiting to board my first flight to the Kingdom of Tonga.  Today, I'm in the same terminal getting ready to get on the same Air New Zealand flight after spending almost a month in the USA. Sitting here brings back lots of memories of that first trip and the excitement that I and my fellow volunteers all felt as we started our Tonga Peace Corps adventures.   That night, as we sat and waited to board our flight we all wondered what Tonga would be like, what would we learn, where would we be living and how long would it be before we talked again with our families and friends. Tonight I know the answers to those questions but I'm still excited.   I'm looking forward to seeing my friends and getting back to Vava'u.   I've missed being there. That doesn't mean I haven't enjoyed my trip to the USA.   In fact, it's been a great trip and it was a lot of fun to catch up with my families and friends.   I didn't experience the huge culture shock I was expecting.  I think part of that is because I went to Australia in September so it hadn't been that long since I was out of Tonga.    A couple of things did hit me.   I first flew to Virginia and when I arrived it was below freezing.  That's the coldest weather I've felt in two years.   At my sister's house, I walked into her kitchen and saw an open bag of chips on the counter.  My first thought was that I should close that immediately so the ants don't get in the bag.  Then I remembered, I was in Virginia, in the middle of winter and I didn't have to worry about the ants.  In Vava'u, you never leave food out because the ants will be all over it. Arriving at my home in West Palm Beach was also a bit strange.  I was vacationing in my own home.   The house was just as I left it ,but it still seemed a bit foreign after being gone for 15 months and much different than my house in Vava'u.   One night I met some friends at  the Gansevoort, a South Florida club.  I went to the bar and ordered two drinks...just two regular vodka drinks.  The price was $30.00!   Talk about culture shock.  $15 dollars per drink and that didn't count the tip!    I can live in Vava'u for a week on what those drinks cost.   Today on the plane, there was a write up about the Gansevort in the in-flight magazine.  It failed to mention the price of the drinks. My stay in Florida ended up being a week longer than expected.   I had to have a root canal done and after consulting with the Peace Corps Medical office, they agreed I should stay and have it done in the USA.   I was happy with that and got to enjoy an extra week of "sick leave" in South Florida during the best time of the year to be there. As you might expect, I got a lot of questions from my family and friends about my Peace Corps experience.   The most common questions were "What are you going to do when you get done with Peace Corps?" and "Are you going to extend your stay in Tonga?" Others wanted to know details of the Tongan culture and more about my work and personal life in Tonga.   It was great to answer the questions and more than a few people told me that given the economy in the USA, I picked a great time to be in Peace Corps. I couldn't agree more and as I get ready to get on my flight I know I'm ready to go back.   And unlike that first flight, I now know what to expect, I know where I'm living and I know I'm going to have an awesome second year. My second year will begin, like my first year with training on the main island.  Because my group is at the mid-point of our service, we will all be gathering in the main city of Nuku'alofa for our MST or mid service training conference.   That means I'll be staying in Nuku'alofa until the end of next week before I finally get to fly "Home to Vava'u!". Steve's Adventure Home Page