Historically, my birthdays have always been spent in a pretty interesting way. As a kid a few were spent at McDonalds with burgers, fries, and cake, another was spent at an art museum (I was a well-rounded kid, okay?), and so on. As I got older the birthdays turned into huge parties and guarenteed fun for all involved. Last year I spent my first birthday in Tonga. It was magical. I watched a beautiful sunset on the sandiest beach in Tonga while laying in a hammock and drinking a fresh coconut thrown down to me from a little boy in a tree. Then I left to go back to my host family where there was a beautiful cake and my favorite meal prepared and on the table, it was perfect. This year though. I wasn't too jazzed about my birthday. I mean lets be honest, 24 really isn't that exciting of a year, and Tongans really don't make too big of a deal out of birthdays. Boy was I wrong.

The night before my birthday my dog was going crazy and I didn't get the best night's sleep. The morning of my birthday the electricity was out and I couldn't get my usualy caffine kick as soon as I needed it, not a great start. My kids were absolutely wild and super excited about eating cake for my birthday (note: exicited about eating cake). Then they proceeded to tell me that it was going to be a happy day and that I wasn't going to be angry with them at all that day (I guess they haven't been too happy with me actually teaching lately, I mean it is the end of the year and why should they do work?). In fact, they decided to tell me how much they liked the old volunteer compared to me and that they actually liked her better, of course they told me they were kidding but for some reason it struck a nerve and I just haad to get up and walk away. Happy Birthday, Doms! It turned into this hot mess where my principal got involved and needed to speak with all of my class and explain to them how important the work is that i've been doing at the school...Embaraasing much? My class felt super bad afterward but, I of course smoothed everything over with some delicious birthday cake that I made for the school.

Finally it was time for the first recess of the day. As I walked to my house to finally try and make myself some coffee I ran into a Palangi (a white person) and a Tongan woman who were strolling about the school compound. I knew they had to either work for the government or be in the process of proselytizing...When they started talking about preparing for the end I had figured it out and politely told them that as a US Government employee I was not at liberty to discuss such matters. Having been distracted I turned to walk back to the school when one of my kids handed me cake me that he had just washed. When I got to my house I heard what sounded like yelping coming from inside. Sure enough, my dog had gone in labor and on the floor of my house she proceeded to have seven puppies, what a good dog I have, remembering my birthday and giving me seven little presents on the floor of my house.

After a few visitors popping in to see the new additions to the house with the blue tin roof, a few phone calls, my kids showed up again to finish hanging up their Halloween decorations that we made earlier in the day. I thought it was pretty werid that they wanted to come back and finish because they're usually in a rush to go out and play and stay out of school as much as possible. As I approached the classroom to see what was up I knew that something was up because they were all hiding...I was so delightfully surprised when I opened the door to the sound of 'Happy Birthday' and an immaculately clean library. Pretty much the best birthday present ever. We spent the rest of the evening playing and acting in little dramas.

If the events that occured on my birthday are in any way reflective of the the shenanigans that will happen over the course of my 24th year, then I cannot wait.

Term 4 has most certainly been the best term, aside from the silly little exam that pretty much traumatized my class 6 kids. I have had the class 6 students to myself for almost the entire term while class 5 has been catching up on whatever they missed while class 6 was studying for the said exam...Side note....There are only 3 teachers at my school for 6 classes so we have class 1+2, 3+4, 5+6- one teacher for two classes.

Since I've had them I decided to pretty much throw caution and the syllabus to the wind and engage them in fun but also meaningful activities that they otherwise wouldn't have the chance to do in the 2 hours they usually spend with me each day. Currently I have them creating a community guide for our village. At first it was pretty wild to see how my kids reacted and attempted to write about their own backyard...They nearly couldn't do it...But after teaching them how to create a mind web their little heads exploded as did their pens and they couldn't stop writing....And of course, what would a community guide be without pictures?? So I took the kids on my and their first field trip for a walk through the village.

Lucky enough for me my class is super small and easy to manage. It was such an awesome day for them and I was so proud to see my previous little explorerers truly discover the awesomeness of where they live.

I've been back for about 3 weeks now and it already seems like years ago that I was visiting in America. Although I returned to my home island group of Vava'u during our September break it was anything but. My island group was hosting during that week the last and final Camp GLOW Tonga 2010. Camp GLOW (Girls Leading Our World) was a Peace Corps project that was begun in Romania 15 years ago and has since exploded in Peace Corps countries all over the world. Camp GLOW's mission is firmly rooted in expanding the leadership capacity of girls and young women of the developing world. I was SO lucky to have been a part of this year's camp and I am so looking forward to participating in next year's. It was truly amazing to see growth of the girls in just one week!

After Camp GLOW was finished I finally returned to my village of 'Utungake and was so relieved to find that they welcomed me back with open arms. I was really concerned that many would be upset with me for having disappeared for so long but really they were just thrilled to have me back.

I was honestly most excited but also most apprehensve about returning to school. I was working closely with class 6 for the entire school year and was also helping to prepare them for their secondary school entrance exam. As I feared, their English skills had regressed dramatically in the nearly two months that I was gone and I was absolutely devasted. I will also think what if...But, instead of dwelling on their less than stellar English I focused on making the most out of the two weeks that I did have with them before the test and made English and studying fun for them again. I also was able to work more closely with the rising class six as they were essentially left in the dust while class six was busy preparing for their exam (there are combined classes and 1 teacher for every 2 classes). The exam is this Tuesday and Wednesday so I and hopefully you will keep your fingers crossed for them!

As a pre-celebratory night out for myself I decided to let myself escape the village and attend Vava'u's Full Moon Party. The party is an annual charity event and conincides with the height of Vava'u's tourist season. Its held on an island about an hour's ride outside of the main island and is HELLA fun. So, with my life jacket in tow I boarded the boat with a few other volunteers and had a blast...I already have next year's party booked.

XOXO

~Tonga Girl

So hopefully this isn't completely redundant but, I just wanted to extend a welcome to the new group that should be arriving to the Kingdom in about a month!

Currently, I am sitting in the Air New Zealand hanger at LAX waiting for my flight to come and bring me back to what I now have, in the past year, made my home. It was just 11 months ago that I was sitting in about the same spot and wondering what the hell I had gotten myself into. In just about a month the new group will probably be sitting exactly where I am sitting (and hopefully their beer won't be flat and their pizza will actually have been cooked and not microwaved!) and probably also be wondering what the hell they have gotten themselves into.

Some words of wisdom then, to mull over during your last few weeks in the good ol' US of A...

*You have a couple of weeks left at home...MAKE THE MOST OF IT...Go out with your friends, spend a ton of time with your family and your dog, don't sleep (you will sleep PLENTY in Tonga), and eat and drink as much as you can (especially the boys, because you'll probably end up losing like 75 pounds each, sorry girls).

*Whilst packing...Think really hard about what you want to bring and leave at home, don't second guess that favorite shirt just because you think it won't be appropriate (it probably isn't appropriate but, you might find an occasion to make it work!), and don't over-do it with the clothes...I brought WAY too many...Save the space for extra underwear, chocolate, coffee, tea, and whatever other goodies you might think you'll want to burrow away for a rainy day or, share with your host family. **Disclaimer** If you share candy with your host family be warned...if you don't lock your door they will find and eat the rest of your candy stash while they clean your room...LOCK YOUR DOOR!

*Okay this is cheesy but, for real, don't forget to pack your sense of humor. I have found this to have been my best asset while working in Tonga. Don't be afraid to laugh at yourself. You will be going through a wild rollercoaster of emotions (I didn't think I would and guess what, I was wrong) and if you don't laugh 99% of the time, you will cry. The Tongans are huge on laughing too, even if its for absolutely no reason, or if only you know the reason, laughter is universal and a lot can be done with a smile on your face, trust.

*Some legit stuff that you shouldn't forget to pack (mostly to the girls...sorry boys)...A fun bathing suit and Tonga appropriate bathing attire (i.e. shorts and a quick-dry shirt), skirts that easily convert into beach cover-ups/dresses, a headlamp, sharp knives, a french press (I didn't pack one and severely regretted it and later had one sent, camping equipment (nothing intense, just a sleeping bag and a tent), make-up (if you you wear it, it just feels really nice to get all prettied up once and a while), your favorite perfume-**DISCLAIMER**- Tongans also love perfume...Be careful who you use your perfume in front of, it could literally get used up in like one day, not a joke.

*One last word of wisdom...When you get to Tonga you will first have a few days to hang in the capital city...Beware of the manholes...Sometimes they have covers and sometimes they don't and if you're busy taking in the scenary you just might walk in to one...I mean, its happened (see a blog entry from October of 09').

If you have any questions please don't hesitate to ask. We're all stoked to meet you guys and hope you have a great last couple of weeks in the States!

'Ofa lahi atu!

XOXO

~Tonga Girl

Before I left for the Peace Corps I was adament about not coming back to the US for a vacation. I mean, I was going to the South Pacific! If anything, I should be visiting Fiji, Samoa, New Zealand and places where I would otherwise not have the chance to visit. But, life happens and my best friend from college was getting married in August and I couldn't not be there for her. Plus, as my family pointed out, I'm not exactly the most coordinated individual in the world and a trip to New Zealand to learn how to ski probably wasn't the best idea in the world and I would probably hurt myself in some way shape or form (see an earlier blog entry about a manhole from October). So, my family generously let me borrow $2,000 dollars for the many domestic and international flights I would have to take to finally get my butt back to the East Coast. I left for the States in late July and ended up flying down to the main island of Tongatapu a few days earlier than when my flight was taking off. Tongan domestic flights are outrageously unpredictable so, if you live in an outer island group and want to travel internationally, its probably your best bet to fly down at least 2 or 3 days earlier than when your flight is taking off.

All of a sudden it was time to take off for my big adventure back to the States. And, after a 12 hour layover in Fiji (where I lounged by the pool at a local hotel and took a bus to a local city to find some delicious curry), a 10 hour layover in LA (spent drinking Bud Light, eating a burrito, and people watching of course-I probably saw Justin Bieber and didn't even know it), a 2 hour layover in Chicago, and about 20 hours of actual airtime I reached my first stop, New Haven, CT.

Another good friend of mine from college picked me up from the airport and we took off for apartment- chatting wildly and of course, listening to the radio and catching up on the new jams that i've been missing out on- Bieber Fever is most certainly running high in the States. One of the first things we did was go to the mall for a much need haircut (I tried and failed miserably at cutting my own hair), after that was settled I essentially geared up for taking the GRE the next morning (like, who does that on vacation??). The GRE passed, and after a bachellerette party, a small reunion with a friend of ours from a program I attended in DC, many bottles of Bud Light and many slices of pizze, being 'iced', and lots of episodes of Friends later it was time for me to go home and see my family.

The week home with the family was amazing. After being there for a few days I was really happy that I had made the decision to visit. Not only was I spoiled rotten with supplies and gifts to bring back to Tonga, but it was just nice to be physically present with them.

Before I knew it, I was bound for New York for the wedding. Time in the States absolutely flew by and it was crazy to think that I was already planning my return to Tonga...Or so I thought.

While in New Haven, I had a small mass that developed on my foot back in April evaluated. It was decided that the mass should be removed and biopsied. Because of insurance related issues I had to eventually make my way back to my friend's apartment in New Haven and I've been crashing here for the past two weeks sorting all of this foot business out. So, my party in the USA was a little bit extended. As of now, everything looks good and I am well on the road to recovery and hope to be flying out to Tonga in a little less than two weeks. In the meantime, I will continue to take advantage of life in the states: fast food delivery, American beer, and the Jersey Shore.

June and July brought on lots of fun adventures.

Mid-June brought on two weeks of well deserved vacation time from school. We finally reached the half-way mark and the kids, as well as the teachers, were all jonesin' for a little time away.

For the first week of school I had huge plans of organizing the school library and the four (relatively new, i.e. circa 1996) computers, planning for term 3, and also straightening out the slew of new books and resources that had been donated by generous Kiwis that often come to stay at the motels in my village. However, as is such with most of my grandiose plans in Tonga, my big agenda for the week was slashed when my counterpary conveinently 'lost' the ket to the already locked library, that held all of my resources. And, in true Tongan fashion, I adjusted quickly and decided to spend that time organizing my house, fixing up holes that had been dug up by the ever-annoying pigs, and hanging and makign connections with many of the young, single women in my village.

About 10 pounds, many shared meals and impromptu feasts later, it was the second week of vacation and I was off in a puddle-jumped back to the first island group I stayed in- Ha'apai. I was stoked to return. I have many close fellow PCVs on the island of Ha'apai, and I had my original host familmy y to go and visit. One of my first stops while there was my oasis, Sandy beach. There, I could finally be as Western as I wanted to be- i.e. rocking a sweet tankani, and working on a not-so-existent tan. But, before I made my return to Sandy beach I stopped off at my host familiy's home in the village just before the beach. It was wonderful to be able to reconnect with them- they noticed my very-much-so developed language ability and definitely appreciated my new willingness to eat root crop beyond regular white and sweet potato. What I was most thrilled about was my younger host sisters vastly improved confidence in trying to converse in English, a credit that I give to the very gifted Peace Corps volunteer at her Catholic school in Ha'apai.

The other PCVs and I finally decided to make our move and embark on a big camping adventure. As you might have already read, my first camping experience had been spoiled by a tsunami threat so I was pumped that I was getting a second chance.

Our site was on a nearly deserted(despite two camping site owned and run by Tongans) island, only a half an hour walk away..Yes, a completely different island, a walk away. The walk, being a path made out by Tongan horseback riders over dead coral at low tide, not a huge deal but, still not your average hike to a camping site, with hundreds of pounds of camping equipment, food, and adult beverages on our backs.

However, the trek over the dead coral, and devastatingly soft sand that was murder on your knees was well worth it for the faka-awesome campsite that we finally arrived at Diana's. Beautifully colored huts, a full kitchen, a shower, and a working toilet paled in comparison to the setting that we were afforded by staying at the campsite. We were lucky enough to be surrounded by fields of awesome live coral, clean and soft sand, beautiful sunsets, and awesome company and celebrated appropriate by diving into the crystal clear water for a sunset swim. After seeing a lion fish, hearing the story of a friend having a close encounter with a sea turtle, and being gifted a huge tuna(?...still not sure what kind of fish it was..) steak (like 15 pounds of fish), I decided that I was truly the luckiest girl in the world, like who else gets to do this on a pretty regular basis??

I was pretty bummed about leaving Ha'apai, but I was comforted in knowing that I would be returning to a pretty awesome village. Upon my return I found that my dog had grown significantly in a week's time, I had and lost running water once again, and preparations were in full swing for the government high school's 25th birthday- a four day feast, for which of course, school was cancelled. At this point we were about a week into July and I was preparing for a big, month-long trip back to the United States. I was pretty bummed that more school-work/planning couldn't have been done but, I knew that certain circumstances were beyond my control and that I had to make-do with what little time I had.

And it goes on and on...

XOXO

~Tonga Girl

The whole concept of marriage in general is wild in Tonga.

Weddings and marriages are a pretty big deal in almost every culture. In America prepartion for the actul ceremony take years sometimes. And actually becoming engaged? For some could last decades, literally. In Tonga however courting isn't that involved. Some are more traditional and find their 'mali' at a kava circle (where single, young (for the most part), and virgin women serve the peppery and intoxicating drink to both single and married men), or they find their mali while they are hanging out at the local pirated-DVD shop on Friday night. Courting doesn't last very long and usually involved lots of texting back in forth (at this stage you both are considered to be 'moas' with eachother...'moa' also happens to be the word for chicken and rooster). Then when things get truly serious via texting the guy will ask permission from the girl's parents to marry (unless of course the girl is pregnant which sometimes happens...courting happens A LOT faster, much like the states...).

The wedding ceremony doesn't take too long to plan and can only happen on a Tuesday or a Thursday. The bride or groom's home (whatever village the two will be marrying in) gets decorated within a day with beautiful woven mats and tapa cloth (cloth made by hand from the bark of a tree and one of Tonga's most precious gifts), and the particular church that they are marring in also gets decorated beautifully. And prepartions for the feast (the part that everyone actually looks forwad to) that will take place begin almost immediately. Large pigs, cows, chicken all are brought and prepared, tons (literally tons, I **** you not) are brought as well as loads of candy and canned soda. Before the feast begins there is a special kava ceremony where the bride is allowed to drink kava (usually women aren't unless they are tourists or royalty), and kava plants are presented to the bride and groom along with a nearly slaughtered pig. Then the feast begins, along with banging music from the hired DJ (awesome Tongans remixes of beats that are years old in the states). And the feast is HUGE, I swear every single person from both the bride and the groom's village comes out for the party. During the feast people from both party present more gifts of tapa and woven mats, and make about 50 bajillion thank-you speeches, otherwise known as 'faka-malos' (I have yet to have given a faka-malo because I am WAY too nervous that I would screw it up becasue it is extrememly involved and intense and my Tongan is just not that good...yet).

At the end the bride and grooms party clean up the mess that is left behind and the bride and groom are left to start their lives together, probably living on either of their parent's land in order to help their respective families.

And as I was reminded of about 300 million times, all of those woven mats, tapa cloth, and roasted pigs could be for me if I find a Tongan mali...If.

XOXO

~Tonga Girl

In the states I exercised on a pretty regular basis. For the better part of the past nearly 5 years I lived in Cambridge, MA and was totally spoiled by the beautiful running trail just next to the Charles River. I would leave campus whenever I wanted early morning, late night, mid day and hit the river or the gym without thinking twice. This is not the case in Tonga.

In Tonga planning to go for a run or to work out at home is definitely strategic. Since people in my village don't really like me to go about (along the one road in my village. one road) by myself I escape during mid-day when most people are taking their afternoon nap. Then there is my puppy, who I absolutely adore, but who follows me absolutely EVERYWHERE. And since the dogs are legit viscious in my village (and all over Tonga, really) and attack whenever they see my cute little pooch, I have to escape her as well, or keep her locked in the house. The dogs don't only attack my pup, but they also go after people too. So on my jog I also bring two heffy sized rocks to chuck at any approaching canine.

Then there is trying to work out in the home, with my trusty stetcy band and two 1.5 liter water bottles that I use for weights.

Since people come all day everyday, at all hours of the day to use my rainwater tank for drinking water I have deduced that the only time that is actually appropriate to exercize is at 5:00 in the morning, crazy, yes. But, when people come to gather water they not only gather water but stay and chat, and just kind of hang out, which I love! But, its a killer for a work out routine. At 5:00 I have a few hours of peace, aside from the rando crowing rooster and the few dogs still barking over who is the king of the road...

XOXO

~Tonga Girl

PS. Tonga girl was missing from the last few posts, I sincerely apologize.

Fashion in Tonga is a pretty funny concept. When one thinks of a South Pacfic nation grass skirts, flowered headbands, bare chests, and coconut bras might come to mind. Though in reality in this small and very conservative (in comparison to othr Pacfic nations) archipelago, pretty much anything goes...As long as your knees are covered and your shoulders are hidden (that means your armpits too, as to show your armpits is offensive- its even illegal for men to be seen without a shirt on! Though in the outer village I see it more than I should...). A few of my favorite t-shirts that i've seen around include:

-A "Deep Purple" band shirt circa 1979

-One of those Spencer Gift Shop tees that were cool in like 6th grade with the saying "I can see that your pretty gangster, I'm pretty gangster myself"

-A "Wonder Woman" t-shirt, worn by the cutest little boy.

-Old Navy clothes galore.

-Jumpsuits...Mechanics jumpsuits (I live in a tropical, humid, climate, mind you.)

You get the picture.

So last weekend when my counterpart and I were heading out for a quick recess from village and school life and I asked her how my outfit was and she told me that, "Its great, Domi. Thats the style to wear the leggings just below your knees, its good!". I kind of laughed to myself and thought yeah, Nipa, and so isn't sparkly eyeshadow and bright pink lipgloss.

In America we usually think of May as the month that truly brings spring, Memorial Day fesitivities, and of course Mother's Day. In Tonga we not only have Mother's Day, but we also have Father's Day and Children's Sunday. Mother's Day and Father's Day in Tonga are important and celebrated, but not nearly to the extent that Children's Sunday is celebrated. To Tongan's, their children are their everything. In my village at least every project that has been started has been to mostly benefit the children and their future and meetings that i've attended and held have also had the theme. So Children's Sunday or, "Faka-me", was an all out celebration to say the least. Children prepare (based on which church denomination they belong to)for almost a month before hand to, to perform different skits reinacting passages from the Bible. After the church service (with the kids wearing their brand new clothes from the flea market and brand new shoes)everyone attends a 'tea' or another word for a Tongan feast dedicated to the kids.

Here in 'Utungake we have started the second term of school off with a bang if I do say so myself. I spent the vacation week prior to starting the second term on the main island of Tongatapu with my fellow Group 75 volunteers for an in-service training with Peace Corps and for a much needed break from village life. After the week that I spent in Tongatapu I felt refreshed, super-motivated, and most of all ready to go back to my village.

This term so far has been absolutely flying by. With regular school hours, night school classes, and several side projects to keep me busy I find it hard to keep track of one day to the next. And then of course there are my kids who have the unique gift of making me smile no matter what they are doing. I have never felt so absolutely happy in what I was doing until I came to my village of 'Utungake.

I was speaking with my principal's wife recently and we were discussing my experience in the village so far and I was talking about a few of the children at the school and she turned to me and said, 'I know Tominika, you are really going to miss them when you leave.' I know that she was referencing a trip that I will soon be making back to the states but, it struck me then and there that time is short or, taimi vave, and although I have 18 months left I have already extinguished nearly 9 months in Tonga. She made me realize that not only do I need to work hard on the projects that I have going now but, I also have to make the most of every single minute that I have in my community and appreciate it for all that it is...crazy crowing roosters at 5 am, marathon church events on Sundays, and the smiles on each and every one of my kids faces when they greet me in the morning with 'Good morning, Tominika!"

So I'm going back to my original mailing address...The mail system here is pretty insane and annoying and therefore it will be best for mail to be sent to the capital island group rather than my island group...

Dominica Donovan, PCV

Peace Corps

PO Box 147

Nuku'alofa, Tongatapu

The Kingdom of Tonga

South Pacfic

After receiving a letter from one of my good friends from home I realized that I've been really bad on this whole blog business about what an actual day looks like for me...So here it is...

5:00 AM- Church bells/Church drums usually begin at this time. Mondays and Wednesdays the Wesleyan bells go off and Tuesdays and Thursdays the Church of Tonga drums begin to beat.

6:00 AM-I manage to drag myself and get out of bed to go on walks with a girl from my village, most days.

7:00 AM-Shower and get dressed-and by shower I mean bucket bath as there is no running water..., make some breakfast and coffee (on my shiny new french press that another volunteer brought back for me from the states!), play with my new and adorable puppy that I've had for about a month now (her name is Eva- which in Tongan means to wander without purpose, I go for many 'Evas'), and gather my first round of drinking/washing water for the day from my rainwater tank (a few steps away from my house)into two large plastic buckets, boil a pitcher or two of water for drinking for the day, and now since I currently have no running water I keep a bucket especially for toilet use (as I now have to pour water down my toilet in order to 'flush').

8:30 AM- School starts with an opening prayer and I being class immediately after prayer- 2 hours with class 3 and 4, and 2 hours with class 5 and 6.

12:30 PM- School is over for me and I usually make a small lunch and use the rest of the afternoon to plan/tidy up the house. Tidying up involves washing clothes (by hand!), washing dishes, sweeping the consistently accumulating dust and dirt, and organizing paperwork/lesson plans from school.

3:30 PM- School gets out and as I live on the school's compound I try to hang with my kids and go swimming in the beach just below my house (literally about a 30 second walk and take rides on the makeshift boats that they make out of tree trunks or walking through my village and gossip with the women in town, get tutored in Tongan twice a week, and just hang.

6:00 PM- I sometimes go for more walks through my village to say hi to everyone in town, or I'll walk to the next village over to say hello to the Peace Corps volunteers who live there. I'll then make dinners which I must say, I've become a really great cook- dumplings, spaghetti sauce, stir-frys, soups...whatever vegetables are available pretty much determines what I make for dinner, and usually I don't cook meat, only fish when someone in my village catches it and gives it to me.

7:00 PM- I usually try to give homework help to the secondary school students in my village for two hours. I didn't think I'd like to work with that population but they're actually turning out to be my favorite population to work with.

10:00 PM- I am exhuasted at this point and its definitely time for bed, a bucket bath, and one more round of filling up buckets and boiling drinking water for the next morning.

XOXO

~Tonga Girl

Let me preface this blog entry by saying that I love theme parties- an affection that I give credit to my good friend Emily for instilling in me. So when I found out that I was coming to Vava’u with a few of my good friends from training I immediately began fantasizing about all of the great theme parties that we’d be able to have when we needed to take a break from village life- and most importantly my host family had made me a bunch of sweet Tongan church-going outfits that would make me the best center piece for many of the said theme parties (including an awesome two piece shirt and skirt combo that was red satin-like material with pink hearts all over it). One of the ideas for a theme party was Jimmy Buffet- cliché yes, but when you are actually living island life, why not.

Well, upon arriving to Vava’u one thing led to another and our grand theme party ideas never actually happened- except our Jimmy Buffet party.

It was a volunteer’s birthday (side note- I make an awesome chocolate cake with peanut butter frosting, just sayin’) and in order to celebrate it we all decided to go on a camping trip to one of the most beautiful lookout points here in Vava’u- and with me being a big city girl and all, it was going to be my first time camping- ever. One thing led to another and a little bit further along into the night Jimmy Buffet was blasting out of someone’s travel speakers- finally here it was, my sweet Jimmy Buffet party had arrived. And the other volunteers didn’t fail to mention that I do in fact throw the best Jimmy Buffet parties.

But that’s not the end of the story, not only do I throw awesome Jimmy Buffet parties with good eats and delicious drink- I also throw in a little extra excitement in the form of potential natural disasters. At about 1:00 AM after the excitement and the sun among other things had hit all of us and we were sound asleep we received a call from the main Peace Corps office warning us of a potential tsunami that was supposed to hit Tonga directly and its cause was the earthquake in Chile (Chile is also apparently in the ring of fire in terms of earthquake activity etc.).

So off we went- we quickly packed up all of our belongings, managed to get a cab, and made the hike to one of the highest points in Vava’u, which also happens to be a volunteer’s home, and waited, and waited, and waited for the tsunami to come. Fortunately, we lucked out again and the tsunami that hit Tonga was about foot high. After all of that excitement one of the other volunteers made the comment again about how I throw the best Jimmy Buffet parties, and indeed, I do.

About a week or so after school started I began asking my principal when and if our materials for planning would ever arrive. We had already been waiting for about two weeks at this point for not only the school syllabus but also for a few supplies that the school needed that was coming via the inter-island ferry. I thought it was really strange that the supplies hadn’t yet arrived especially because I knew for a fact that the boat usually came into my island group about once or twice a week.

A few days after asking my principal about the supplies and actually giving up hope that they would ever come, I received a courtesy call from Peace Corps informing me that the inter-island ferry, the Pulepaki, was no longer in service and that if one is to replace it that we are not allowed to take it. The Pulepaki is extremely old and overused, and when it is used it is usually full beyond its capacity. And this past summer was a perfect example of this can go horribly wrong as the Princess Ashika ship sunk in Tongan waters during a routine voyage to one of the island groups, killing many of its passengers.

Unfortunately for some of the outer island volunteers this meant that their sites needed to be changed as the Pulepaki was their only way in and out of their island- an example of how you need to be flexible in the Peace Corps I guess, but also an excellent example of how safety is the Peace Corps' priority for us volunteers.

Its also unfortunate that the ferry is no longer in service it is the way in which supplies are brought to the many different islands in Tonga. Although there is a New Zealand vessel that makes routine trips to Tonga about once a month, it is not nearly enough- especially for the way in which Tongans consume sugar, flour, eggs, and onions- some of the products delivered between the island groups.

Not only are supplies and people brought on the ferry, but mail was also carried upon the vessel...Now, we have to wait much longer than a month to receive mail and packages that are sent directly to my island group...huge sigh...

A couple weeks before Valentine’s Day I decided to steal a previous volunteer’s idea for a community event and planned a slammin’ (yes, I did in fact use the word ‘slammin’’) Valentine’s Day party for all of the single ladies in my village. My Tongan language tutor and I had everything ready: menu, playlist- complete with both pop jams from the states and traditional Tongan jamz- we even had a CD made!, the V.I.P. guestlist, and of course I was busy learning a traditional Tongan standing dance to welcome my company.

As I was just about to finish cleaning my house- and I mean cleaning the whole 9-scrubbing, mopping, sweeping, washing my clothes etc- and hop in the shower to get ready for the party, my supervisor rolled into my school compound and shouted “Are you ready to go?”.

During the week prior to that Saturday there had been many warnings of a cyclone that could potentially affect the islands of Tonga. In such an emergency Peace Corps Volunteers must gather together in a safe place or ‘consolidation point’ as Peace Corps likes to call it. So, I showered as quickly as I could, gathered up a few supplies (the essentials obviously- plenty of water, peanut butter, crackers, an avocado, black pepper, and Chesdale cheese) and took off with my supervisor to prepare for ‘consolidation’.

All eleven of us, plus eight puppies, plus two grown dogs gathered at our said consolidation point which happened to be a hall in a Mormon church just outside of the capital city. The volunteers who had already been here for a year had never experienced consolidation before so it was a new and slightly stressful situation for everyone involved.

We ended up staying put in the hall for four days and three nights living off of peanut butter, crackers, canned beans and canned corn mixed with green pepper and cheese (a genius concoction and I highly recommend it for a camping meal), and of course the avocado and black pepper that I managed to think of bringing last minutes. And lucky for us, some remembered to bring a few toiletries and we were able to shower in the men’s bathroom of the Mormon Church with a fire hose...Yeah.

Lucky for Tonga the cyclone Rene didn’t inflict too much damage- lots of banana, breadfruit, and coconut trees came down and knocked the power out for a lot of villages- mine included for about a week. Currently, my once running water is no longer running because salt water managed to get into the supply. I have since been taking bucket baths and pouring buckets down my toilet in order to ‘flush’- glamorous huh? And, in true Tongan fashion, since the water supply was gifted to my village and the few surrounding villages, there must be many meetings before the water supply can be fixed...I have a feeling that bucket baths and pouring buckets of water down my toilet will be in my distant future. Many crops were also severely damaged in the storm and as Tonga is currently experiencing drought (it is technically the rainy season and it really hasn’t rained significantly for the past two months or so) I do not expect that the crops will be coming back. The lack of rain and running water also causes some concern because the rainwater tanks that currently supply my village’s drinking, washing, and bathing water will soon be dry, and who knows what the dry season will look like...Fakaofa as Tongan’s would say or, to feel sorrowful for.

Imagine your typical first week of school back in the elementary days...You're so excited to get back into the classroom and see your friends, you have a new school bag and clothes for the school year, you sharpened your cool new pencils the night before, and you made sure that your oversized 3-ring binder was completely organized with all of your color coordinated folders and notebook paper.

Then you get to school and your teacher is so excited to see and meet you. Maybe you make a name tag for your desk, you check out who your neighbor is and hope that they don't pick their nose, and you jump right into the curriculum- reading stories, reviewing math topics from the year before, get introduced to science or social studies topics, and of course you absolutely can't wait for your 'special' classes- like gym, art, or music.

Tonga is almost nothing like that.

The first day went something like this...

The kids lined up in front of the Tongan flag with a lead teacher to sing the anthem and started the day with an opening prayer. The new students in class one registered with the principal with their parents for the new year, the teachers listened to the radio programme that was supposed to be giving them an idea of what the curriculum, the rest of the students were busy cleaning the school, and mowing the lawn with the rusty and almost completely dead lawn mower- barefoot.

The next day was much of the same, the students were busy reorganizing the classroom papers/lesson plans that had accumulated from the year before, and continued to mow the lawn- barefoot. Wednesday yielded a little bit of classtime. For the most part students listened to the English radio programme while the teachers arranged their notebooks. Thursday included a lot more school work (maybe an hour or two) and a lot more tidying up of the school yard. Most of my class 5 and 6 male students attacked the overgrown yard with their machetes in hand and complete demolished the huge pile of trash that had a nice home in my backyard, meanwhile all of the girls and younger boys picked out all of the weeds and picked up all of the dead leaves that had gathered along the fence.

This would only happen in Tonga. Hopefully next week will be more productive...

XOXO

~Tonga Girl

Planning week in Tonga is kind of an oxymoran. Tongans live in a society that highly values the present and has little concern for the future- so to say that I was shocked to find out that the school teachers had a planning week is an understatement. If you're curious- here is how the week went:

Monday:

All government primary school teachers from all of Vava'u (about 40 or so

and government high school teachers gather together for introductions and orientation-included of course is the obligatory opening and closing prayer

and thank-you speeches galore.

Tuesday:

The government primary school teachers meet and discuss planning for the year for about and hour, discuss where teachers will be sent (teachers get moved around a lot, mostly based on performance, each year, if you are a teacher on an outer outer island it is most likely that your performance wasn't great and if you are a teacher near/in the capital then your performance has been and continues to be excellent), take a 15 minute break, and then come back together for a closing prayer and a thank you speech.

Wednesday:

The government primary school teachers gather again to plan for the year-however the hitch today is that the materials that we are to be planning with are still on the ferry that is docked in Tongatapu (the capital island) and will not be arriving for another week. The conversation moves to discussing grouping techniques for teaching English and Tongan (which I will later find out has been used over and over again for many many many years),and then we will group ourselves by the level we teach in order to plan objectives for the year- which actually means sit for an hour and a half and gossip about who is getting sent to an outer island.

My principal said that it was fakahela (tiresome) for me to go to the meeting

on Thursday and I politely accepted his offer to play hooky.

Nevertheless, planning week was a much needed reminder that I am indeed in a third

world country and that there is plenty of work to go around here in terms of development...

XOXO

~Tonga Girl

After Uike Lotu things mellowed out a ton. Though, a few of the more exciting occurences include me absolutely tearing the box spring of my bed apart in order to get rid of the multiple rat nests that were occupying it (and it looked like they were reallllllllly comfortable in my boxspring), waking up frequently to fight off the rats with machete in hand at 3:00 in the morning,and going on a few more trips with the girls' netball team to 'play' with them (and by play, I mean watch and play in the pre-game with the little ones- who are super fiesty and gave me a run for my money). For the most part January way a month solely dedicated to nofo pe (just hanging out) and getting to know my community.

In a very concerned way, my aunt had asked me before I left what I was going to do with myself on rainy days...January felt like one long rainy day- I read A TON, and since it was so hot and miserably humid there wasn't much else to do but sit and sweat. Even though it was only my first month at site I learned a ton about myself-

mostly that I absolutely hate sitting around and doing nothing- even if I have a plethora of good books to keep myself occupied and a gorgeous beach literally a stone's throw away- which I'm guessing will be a good quality for when school actually starts and I can find work for myself to do.

~XOXO

Tonga Girl

Uike Lotu (pronounced weekay low-two) is a really special week for both the Wesleyan Church and the Church of Tonga. It is the first week of the year and involves going to service at 5:00 AM and 5:00 PM every day of the week to celebrate the beginning of the new year. Usually, after the service which is usually an hour long, a feast follows- even for the morning service. So, being the good Peace Corps volunteer that I am I managed to make it to the 5:00 AM service everyday and also went to the 5:00 PM service everyday. It was especially hard for me only because I had to split my time evenly between the two churches (and the decision was usually made by someone else telling me where the better feast would be). Morning feasts are also an interesting concept...Afternoon feasts consisted of the traditional foods of roasted pig, root crops, and differ salads, fried chicken, and fish. But...for the most part morning feasts also consisted of roasted pig, root crops, and differ salads, fried chicken, and fish- a little hard to stomach at 6:00 AM in the morning but, I was a champ and was pretty used to it by the end of the week.

XOXO

~Tonga Girl

Christmas in Tonga was most certainly not the Christmas that I am used to experiencing back in Boston. Unfortunately I didn't get to experience much of the pre-Christmas activities that were taking place because I had gotten pretty sick with fakaleile (which literally means 'like running' and you can gather from there what I was sick with). But luckily I was better just in time for Christmas day. Christmas activities here were pretty similar to activities that occur on Sundays: Church, feiumu (cooking a large meal in an underground oven), resting, eating some more, and then going to Church. I got up for church and put on my fancy red dress that was given to me by my host family back in Ha'apai and spent the afternoon with my principal and his family. They've pretty much taken me under their wing and consider me a 6th daughter for which I am so grateful and so lucky. We went back to church later in the day and then rested up some more.

Because of the time change the 26th in Tonga was actually Christmas day back in the states. On the 26th all of the Peace Corps volunteers in Vava'u got together and cooked a huge Christmas meal and spent the day together (which I make an awesome mudpie and a homemade crust...just sayin'). It was really, really nice to be together because I think a lot of us were starting to get homesick with the holidays being here and what not.

New Years here though was really exciting, especially since Tonga is the first country in the world to kick off the New Year! New Years Eve consisted of a feast earlier in the day with the whole nine yards (roasted pig and lots of root crops!) and then a midnight service (that lasted 3 hours long) with fireworks afterward and the men in my village stayed up all night long drinking kava and didn't stop until about 10:00 AM the next morning.

New Years day was pretty much a recovery day for everyone in my village. For the most part I thought it would be pretty uneventful until one of the teenage girls in town came by my house and asked me to go with her to play netball and as I was dying for any kind of something to do I totally jumped on the offer. After quickly hopping into the back of the truck and off we went to our netball game. It was pretty cool because it wasn't just any netball game being played down the road, but it was being played on an outer island just outside of the capital city. And PS- if you don't know what netball is- or netball in Tonga I should say...Netball is played on a dirt playing court with sand acting as the bordering lines, and old logs with recycled single wire hoops, they also usually play with near flattened basketballs, which doesn't matter too much because the ball never touches the ground and is whipped from player to player in an attempt to reach the goal post, once the said ball and player reach the goal post defense ceases and the player is allowed to take her shot. It was really really cool experience mostly because it was all girls and I felt like I was a part of a secret Tongan girl's club. It was also pretty fun/totally scary because the captains of our little boat of about 20 Tongan girls were 12 and 14 year old boys...Fun yet scary.

An even bigger deal than New Years was the first Sunday of the new year. The Church of Tonga in particular makes a huge deal out of the first Sunday of the new year in that all of the members wear white and put on their fanciest woven mat. I approached my principal's family about this as I was so concerned that I lacked anything white to wear and my principal's wife told me that I need not worry that she would take care of it and boy did she take care of it. I went over to her house to get ready for church my principal's wife was super excited for us to get ready. She quickly went into her bedroom to get my outfit and when I saw what she had ready for me I completely died...It was a straight up traditional Tongan wedding gown (usually a puletaha- which is a two-piece outfit of a wrap skirt and longer top) and this was one was hooked up with all the bells and whistles- beading, heavy fabric, and lace. The top was long and big enough on me that I was able to wear that as a dress and had the woven mat or taovala wrapped around me as well. And of course my beat up black reef flip flops weren't good enough for me to wear- so the kids next store were sent to look for appropriate shoes that would fit my tiny size 6 feet (a large task seeing as how Tongan feet are in general HUGE- even the kids)so we settled on me wearing size 8 platform white shoes and off we went to the service where I was clearly a huge hit.

XOXO

~Tonga Girl

Send me mail or call me from skype!

Mail

Dominica Donovan, PCV

PO Box 136

Neiafu, Vava'u

The Kingdom of Tonga

South Pacfic

Cell

011-676-889-7959

Happy holidays and Merry Early Christmas!

It has definitely been a whirlwind couple of weeks. After leaving attahment and arriving back on the main island of Tongatapu all of the other trainees and myself were definitely in a huge race not only to buy all of the stuff that we needed to settle in to our new homes, but to also finish language training, and to finish culture training. In the midst of all of that there was definitely a somber feeling in the guest house that we were all staying in, knowing that we all only had about a week or so to hang out with eachother before departing for our communities. But, we were able to pull it together and managed to make it to our swear in ceremony without anyone early terminating or medically separating-woooooooooo!

Swear-in ceremony was defintiely exciting. On top of the fact that we were all about to become official PCVs we also had a cyclone to worry about! When we heard news of the cyclone about to hit Tonga it was originally predicted to hit directly on top of Nuku'alofa which is the capital and where we were staying. But, luckily it moved away just in time. Everything went really smoothly- including the ma'ulu'ulu dance that I was in charge of organizing (still not sure how I got to be in charge of it since everyone known that I can't dance to save my life, but it still came out really well!). We also were graced with the presence of the ambassador of Japan, and New Zealand, as well as the Minister of Education. In fact, in true Dominica awkwark fashion, as I walked up to receive my pin and my official status as a volunteer the Minister of Education personally thanked me for choosing to work in Vava'u as a teacher, and did this to no one else, of course I would sit on top of the stage and hold a conversation with the Minister of Education during the swearing in ceremony.

That night we all shared a pretty awesome dinner at an Italian restaurant in the capital and relished in being official volunteers. We tried to spend as much time together as possible before departing for our sites the next day.

Leaving everyone was super hard, we all had gotten really close during training, but I think we're all really comforted by the fact that we worked so hard to get to this point and are happy to finally be in our communities.

Speaking of which, my community is absolutely GORGEOUS. Vava'u's slogan is "Simply the Best" and I can definitely see why. The cliffs, the bays, and views here are stunning. My principal and his family picked me up from the airport and I can honestly say that I am pretty much in love with him and his family. The oldest daughter first took me to a resort located in my village called the Tongan Beach Resort. There, a woman who works there who is also a part of the Utungake PTA (The PTA is very. very, influnetial in getting things done for schools in Tonga, as it is in the US). The resort was BEAUTIFUL, not something you'd expect to see, nevermind hang out at while in the Peace Corps. After having breakfast there we moved on to my welcoming feast that was held at my school. Before eating, a small Kava ceremony was held where I was a to'a for some of the more influential men in the community. It was a great time to network with them and by being a to'a it showed them that I am willing to learn more about the culture and am willing to participate in the cultural events which is crucial for integration. The feast itself was also pretty awesome. The food was absolutely delicious and I felt a really really warm welcome from the community. During feasts, it is common if not expected, that the those attending give a short speach during the feasts. During mine, the members of the community talked mostly about their understanding that I have given up two years of my life for the community and how the first priority of the community would be my safety- that was really really comforting and touching that they understood that I am here for two years have made a huge sacrifice in being there. Meanwhile, I sat next to two of the more imporant older members of the community and I heard women talking about how I needed some eating utensils, but while in Tonga do as the Tongans do, and I told them I didn't need any and that like them I'd eat with my bare hands, the man across from me proceeded to tell me "sai aupito, you're Tongan now".

My house is also pretty freaking cool. Its pretty big, but I feel like I'll definitely use the space. And of course, it didn't come without a few new friends...Dominica 14-Cockaroaches 0. Also had my first encounter with the molokau which is the most feared insect in Tonga and has the worst sting ever- but I did win my first battle with it...we'll see how the tally goes from here on out.

Since arriving to Vava'u I've been really busy with events in town, there have been sports competitions, dancing competitions, and other cultural festivities. Christmas is fast approaching too. A lot of us are homesick, including me which is to be expected. But I will be going to church with my principals family the day of Christmas and getting together with all of the other PCVs in Vava'u. The current volunteers have been really great in welcoming us and helping us out too which has been stellar.

Anyways, a very very Merry Christmas to everyone and happy holidays to everyone at home! I'm missing you all terribly but I'm with a bunch of great people here which makes things easier for sure, :).

XOXO

~Tonga Girl

Well training is officially over and the race is on to get to our swearing in ceremony! During training there were definitely ups and downs but it was super awesome working with a great group of other trainees, current volunteers, and language trainers. Saying goodbye to my host family was defintiely bittersweet. I've been itching to get to my site but I also became really close with my host family and definitely consider them to be family now and I know that they consider me to be a part of their family too, but I'm planning on coming back next Christmas to visit and stay with them so its totally sai pe (okay).

As for now me and two other trainees are staying with a current volunteer in Haapai for what is called attachment. During this time we are supposed to get a good, hands on perspective of how a current volunteer lives and works within their community. So far, we've really done nothing but nofo pe (hang out) and cook and eat, pretty much amazing. We did take an adventure trip on Saturday to Uoleva which is a Palangi (white tourist) island just outside of the main city of Haapai. The beach there was absolutely gorgeous and we had an incredible day swimming and snorkeling. Snorkeling in the Pacific ocean was absolutey mindblowing, its pretty much like having an aquarium in your backyard and I'm definitely planning on getting scuba certified so that I can check out the deep waters too!

Anyways, tomorrow we go back to the main island group of Tongatapu and get ready to shop until we drop for our houses and do some last minute language studying. I've had a great time in Haapai but I'm definitely anxious to get out to my village and house. I'm totally ready for the next step and to really get my hands dirty as a volunteer.

XOXO

~Tonga Girl

Hi friends!

This Thanksgiving message is coming a day late but nonetheless Happy day of thanks!

Thanksgving in Tonga far exceeded my expectations and turned out so well! The trainees, trainers, and a few other PCVs has a potluck dinner- turkeys and all! The food was amazing and someone even made pumpkin pie! I made some greenbean casserole (my favorite dish!) and some glazed carrots, I was rather proud of myself.

It was also cool to share the day and cooking time with our host families- though some of us had a lot more freedom in their homestay kitchens than others did! We also got to play a little American football too which was GREAT.

Anyways next time I check-in I will be done with training and an official volunteer- wooooooo!

Keep it real yo.

XOXO~Tonga girl

There's so much to catch up on! The internet availability has been really sparse in the past few months and I haven't had long enough access to post. But I'll try as best as I can to catch you all up on whats been going on the past month and a half or so!

Training is pretty much everything they said it would be, entirely exhuasting but also exciting. I wouldn't say that I'm fluent in Tongan yet or anything but its amazing to think of how much I've already learned. I can have a pretty long conversation and talking about where I'll be working, what I'll be doing, basic introduction, food etc, etc. Pretty cool stuff.

Speaking of where I'll be working...Unlike other groups that have come to Tonga, they announced to Peace Corps Group 75 their placement sites about 3 weeks into training! This is super exciting for us because it gives us an idea of where we'll be working and in what kind of a school we'll be working in. When we were waiting to be placed a lot of us were anxious as Tonga is made up of 4 island groups, each of which has a main capital island with most amenities and loads of outer islands with not so many amenities. As for me, I originally was placed on an outer island in the Vava'u group which would have been pretty baller...BUT since my medical officer thought that I was accident prone because of my inital fall into a manhole...I was placed closer to the capital Neiafu, Vava'u in an outer village. Pretty hysterical, but I think it worked out for the best :). I'll be in a primary school and am still waiting to hear more information about my house and how many teachers etc. will be in my school. But as far as I know right now I will be living on the school's campus and my house does not have a sink...Welcome to Peace Corps. Woo!

Meanwhile, my 23rd birthday has also long since passed and was celebrated absolutely perfectly. Peace Corps provided a cake and we celebrated in my language class with the other trainees in my village whic was pretty awesome. After that the other trainees and I walked up to the resort and hung out on the beach to watch the sunset. In order to walk to the beach we have to walk past the 'uta' or the bush, where all of the root crops and vegetables are harvested and also where a lot of the local kids 'nofo pe' or just hang around. The kids we met happened to be climbing coconut trees with their very large machetes and cracked open coconuts for me and my friends to drink on the beach. My friend also set up his hammock on the beach so I literally sat in the hammock, while drinking my coconut, and watched the sunset for my birthday on an abosolutely gorgeous beach, I couldn't have asked for more. BUT- There was more, when I came 'home' my host family had cooked my favorite meal of curried fish and vegetables and had also made me a chocolate cake. We celebrated with everyone it really felt like I was home.

Anyways, aside from site announcement and training, the only other update is that right now we're in the middle of 'model school'. Last week we had technical training where a lot of us were learning how to be teachers in Tonga, and I can honestly say that I've never been so absolutely exhausted- and keep in mind I'm already a teacher...Anyways now we're in 'model school' for two weeks, which is comparable to student teaching. Its been super fun and really great to actually be in a primary school seeing how things work and to get to know the kids in the school. I'm currently teaching "The Very Hungry Caterpillar" and will hopefully be able to have the kids make their own versions of it.

I know there's a ton more that I'm leaving out but I gotta run! Hopefully I'll be able to post next week too and be able to catch you all up on the rest of the goings on...But in case I don't...Swearing in is less than a month away which also means that I get to site in less than a month, holler!

XOXO

~Tonga Girl

So I really like to underestimate how much contact I'll be having with everyone back home since I'm never really sure of the reliability of internet connections etc etc. But anyways, we arrived in Ha'apai last Monday and were greeted at the airport by some of the current volunteers here on the island and waited a bit before our rides to our different villages showed up. We were split into 4 different villages that are all about a 10 minutes walk or so away from each other. About nine of us are staying in the village of Faleloa which, which of course I am super biased but, I think its the best village :). I am staying on a larger piece of land right on the water's edge and set back a bit from the main road. My room is beautiful and quite big and I feel like a princess sleeping in my mosquito net at night. My host mom is absolutely wonderful. She speaks a few words of english but h er older daughter who also lives with us speaks enough to compensate for my lack of Tongan. I have a little host sister, and plenty of other house regulars that have been really welcoming as well. I definitely think that I lucked out with my homestay and I don't have any complaints so far; I have running water, a flush toilet, a standing in-door shower, good food, and I really feel like i'm a part of the family and not just a guest. I think it also helps that the family really reminds me of my own family except, Tongan.

A few other notes on Tonga & training...

Tongans love to feed you! Every aspect of the day is scheduled around food whether its meals or tea time or snack, everything revolves around food, and in large portions. I've pretty much abandoned all aspects of being the typical respectful peace corps and politely decline the large portions of bread offered to me at every meal. I think my family has caught on though and honestly if too much bread is my one complaint then so be it.

Dogs and pigs run Tonga. I have never seen so many "kuli" or "puaka" in my life. But I must say that they are a lot nicer here than in Nuko'alofa. I'm also pretty convinced that the rooster knows exactly where I sleep and comes to my window every morning just to wake me up.

Tongans are the best singers- period. My sister brought me to youth group last night which turned out to be a good-bye party for a man in the village. A song was sung for the man by all of the Tongans sitting in the hall and I was literally brought to tears.

Speaking of tears, crying is also socially acceptable and encouraged. A lot of the men got up to say good bye to their friend last night and cried throughout their entire speech, you definitely would not see that in the states.

This past week definitely felt more like a month with all of t he different activities that we had going on and the adjustments that we all had to make with settling in to our host homes and villages. But overall things are going well. :)

OH and if you're reading this, check out sustainablecoastlines.com they're an awesome non-profit that just organized a huge coastal clean-up in Ha'apai that was also a service learning project for all of the schoolchildren on the island. I really want to work with them in the future because it seems like waste-management is a very serious problem on the islands.

Anyways, hopefully my next post will be a bit more organized, and I'm getting pretty tired with typing with one-hand (my hand is a bit better btw...its fractured AND sprained but, it'll be okay...).

Nofo'a!

XOXO Tonga girl

PS!

Here is my contact since my email didn't reach a lot of you AND I lost all of my phone numbers,,,

011-889-7959

Dominica Donovan, PCT

Peace Corps

PO Box 147

Nukualofa

The Kingdom of Tonga

South Pacific

So Saturday started out as a pretty great day. It was ‘casual day’ and the girls were allowed to wear pants, which was such a great treat! Then on lunch I finally got a cell phone, wooooo for being a connected to the outside world!, and got some sweet ice cream for lunch.

Then after classes finished me and a few others went for what we anticipated was going to be a nice stroll along the beach. And, keeping true to my airy self, I guess wasn’t paying close enough attention to where I was walking and wound up in a man hole! Now when I say man hole, I mean like a 40 foot deep hole in the middle of the road, typical Dominica. So, lucky enough for me my I, A) have hips, and B) caught myself with my knee and ultimately my wrist. Classic. So, after a few laughs and minor tears and of course panic, I found myself at the Peace Corps clinic and then proceeded to find myself at the local doctor’s home. Both the Peace Corps nurse (who was absolutely wonderful and took such great care of me) and the doctor thought it was a pretty bad sprain but, then when I went to the local hospital the next day (a blog entry in and of itself), the X-Ray technician thought it was a hairline fracture, cool beans. I guess someone had to be ‘that girl’. I’m glad I’m keeping to my true colors.

XOXO Tonga Girl

So after me and my nurse and wrapped up arm went to the local hospital we went to church to a Catholic mass service. It was pretty interesting to go to a Catholic mass since I was raised Catholic and attended Catholic school as a child. The mass was the same only it was held in Tongan, with the exception of the very large brass band. It was also pretty interesting to find out that the Catholics on the island are the ‘radical liberals’ on the island and really push the limits of the conservative Tongan culture. Needless to say I totally felt like I was in the twilight zone. After mass we went to the country director’s house for an ‘umu’ (oomoo). Basically it’s a super special feast where a pig is roasted over an underground fire.

After that most of us hung out at Sela’s for a while and just kind of chilled out…Until our cockroach friend came out to play in my room…Good times…And let me tell you, you know you are in the Peace Corps when a cockroach crawls across you when you are sleeping and you don’t feel a thing- solid.

Anyways, today I’m off to Haapai for my 10 week homestay/cultural/language classes. We’re all really excited and can’t wait to get there. And side note…my homestay mom is probably the head of the household so that should be pretty cool seeing as it’s a male dominated society…But I shouldn’t be posting for another 10 weeks or so if you’re keeping tabs definitely check in then!

XOXO Tonga Girl

So day two came sooner than any of us realized and I hit the ground running early with a few others to get to the clinic early and finish up my shots. Luckily I only needed to get my typhoid shot, woo! Shortly after that my semester of Tonga started with a song and a short prayer. I guess the tsunami warning really shook the island up, and understandably so, so the prayer was dedicated to our safety while here on the island. We then jumped right in to the Tongan alphabet song, which was definitely a godsend because without it I’m not sure if I would have learned it so quickly. It was kind of fun too when a little girl walked with us back to Sela’s house after classes and sang the alphabet song with another volunteer and me. Not too much else happened today that I can remember, but then again the days are pretty much a blur when I sit down at the end of a day...

XOXO Tonga Girl

So to continue...after all of those hours of training and flying we finally arrived to the island of Nuku’alofa, and I have to admit things didn’t get real to me until we were greeted by a huge welcoming party that consisted of our trainers and some current volunteers. We each received beautiful necklaces made from local flowers and had a chance to actually use our limited to non-existent language skills (which FYI I was told I was a ‘very smart girl’ for using a Tongan greeting- little did my future trainer know that that was the only word I memorized, haha). We then boarded a bus that looked like it was straight up imported from the 60’s with seats that were lined with island upholstery and handles made of something that looked similar to bone. Our ride home really gave us a chance to check out our new home and chat with our trainers and future bosses. We also found out that were going to find out our final placements a lot sooner than we all expected- score!

Soon enough we reached Sela’s House, sort of comparable to a hostel. We were then formally introduced to many of our trainers, all of whom had an extremely gentle, genuine, and jovial nature. And before gorging ourselves on a sweet brunch spread, we were blessed with a prayer from our trainers. FYI Tongans are devoutly religious and most if not all events and meals are preceded by a small prayer.

After eating we went for a short trip to the market where fruits, vegetables, and many tapa (woven straw) products are sold. But, our trip to the market was cut short when we were told that there was a tsunami warning for the island- welcome to Tonga. Apparently there had been a slew of earthquakes in the Solomon Islands and Vanuato, scary stuff. Luckily it quickly reduced to a watch and eventually subsided all together.

We then pulled ourselves together and got ready for our introductions ceremony at headquarters where we would be introduced to the country director and to a few of the more traditional Tongan traditions. On the way to the office we were greeted by all of the children along the roads who seemed either genuinely excited to see us or, were looking at us and looked like they were wondering who these palangis (white people) were.

At the office we all partook in a traditional Kava ceremony complete with toa girls and all. Kava ceremonies are traditionally reserved for men but since we’re palangis we were able to participate. And official consensus of the Kava, its okay...kind of tastes like dirt water and is definitely consumed for the effects and not the taste.

After the welcoming events at headquarters a few us split up to explore Nuku’alofa a little bit. And I learned a few fun facts about my group and the island...Boston is well represented, woo!, and the local bar- complete with a Red Sox and Patriots banner, is owned by people from Southie (you can never can be far enough away from home).

And PS...the local internet café called ‘Friends café’...amazing. Never did I think that I would be sitting at a café sipping on a café au lait out of beautiful china and eating a delicious pastry and shooting off emails on day 1...I think things are going to get real soon so for the time being I will take advantage of as many of these western amenities available to me while I can.

XOXO Tonga Girl

To just give you a brief overview of what the past few days has looked like...

Monday:

Fly out to LA from Boston

Meet and greet with all of the other Peace Corps trainees going to Tonga and Samoa

Late dinner/settling in/adjusting to time difference/a great night's sleep on my super duper sleep number bed (by the way- my sleep number is 40)

Tuesday:

Fancy breakfast to start the day @ 8:00 AM

Orientation activities/repacking/more orientation activities/checking out/more orientation activities/repacking until we left for the airport at 6:00 PM

Fly out from LA to Samoa @ 11:15 PM

Wednesday:

Arrive in Samoa @ 5:00 AM

Leave for Tonga @ 6:00 AM

Thursday:

Arrive in Tonga @ 8:30 AM (The international date line was bent specifically for Tonga, SO Tonga is the first country in the world to greet each new day where as Samoa is the last country in the world to greet the new day- even though they are an hour flight apart! See map.)

Anyways, after all of that we finally arrived to the land of the rising sun and we were greeting by a plethora of current volunteers and our language and culture trainers and it finally hit me- I am in the peace corps.

I have to run- its getting late and we're all pretty tired. But rest assured that more posts are to come and a better description/pictures of the island are on the way!

XOXO Tonga girl

So if you're a future peace corps volunteer and anything like me, you've probably found my blog among the thousands of other blogs written by peace corps volunteers and are looking for any and all information that you soak up about the application process/timelines/essays etc. Well, ...here it all is. Hopefully you find this information helpful and I wish you all the best in your efforts to join the peace corps, and maybe i'll see you soon!

XOXO Tonga girl

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TIMELINE

*An application timeline for the peace corps is definitely unique to every volunteer. It totally depends on what the peace corps needs from it volunteers in terms of experience at the time, as well as how timely you are in getting requested materials back to the peace corps. I'm not going to lie, the huge waiting period between turning in your medical forms and getting your clearance is not fun and will definitely test you and make you question how badly you want to do this, but don't freak out- what will be will be and will fall in to place as it should! :)

March 23, 2009: Submitted completed application

March 24, 2009: Contacted by my recruiter about sending in a health status report

March 25, 2009: Received packet detailing what job I would be qualified to volunteer for (primary teacher trainer!), and what geographic regions I qualified for, and a skills addendum sheet to complete before my interview

March 31, 2009: Completed and mailed in additional requested information

April 2, 2009: Interview and nomination for primary teacher training in North Africa/Middle East

Mid May 2009: Turned in requested medical information

Mid June 2009: Turned in copy of teaching certificate and final official transcript

Early August 2009: Medically cleared!

Mid-August 2009: INVITATION! Original nomination to North Africa/Middle East fell through- off to the Pacific Islands instead!

And the rest is history.

ESSAYS

Okay so, as you're reading these please don't judge me. I am giving you a disclaimer now and warning you that they are super corny but, hey they helped get me in, so maybe they weren't tooooo bad...I'll let you be the judge!

Cross-cultural Experience

Having grown up in a very culturally diverse area just outside of Boston, I was taught from an early age to learn from and respect those who were different from me. In just walking around my neighborhood I would hear people speaking English, Spanish, Creole, and Italian all on one street. And, attesting to the naiveté of children, I can’t even remember entertaining that thought that my friends who were black or Hispanic were that much different from me. I just knew that we were kids trying to play and have fun, and that was all that really mattered at the time.

As I got a little bit older I did however begin to realize that not everyone shared the same feelings that I did about cultures that were different from their own. These observations occurred mostly in middle and high school when I moved to a smaller town just south of Boston. The town’s population was mostly white, and good Mexican food was miles away. I was no longer able to walk down the street and hear the medley of languages that I was so used to and comforted by.

In my school and in my community, derogatory comments about those who were not white were abundant. The most vivid experience that sticks out in my mind was during my 8th grade French class. My French teacher was black and English was her second language. Being new to the community she instantly took me under her wing and helped me in my transition. However, I noticed that the other children in my class were horrible to her. Offensive comments about her race were constantly made behind her back and respect for her was non-existent. It blew my mind at the time that this could be going on in a school- culture shock was in effect to say the least.

From that point forward I made a conscious effort to model for my peers a behavior that was more mature and socially conscious than what they were practicing. Looking back, I wish that I had been more pro-active in mediating the cultural disparity that existed at a level that went beyond the classroom and I regret it to this day. However, having that experience has been and continues to be one of my biggest motivators for promoting cross-cultural education and understanding.



Motivation Essay

For nearly 50 years the Peace Corps has served countless communities across the world in hopes of promoting peace and cross cultural understanding between Americans and the peoples being served. And, as today’s society is becoming more and more dependent on the formation of intercultural relationships, the need for peace and cross cultural education, understanding, and respect is essential . With that being said, it is also crucial that America’s youth are being prepared for this globally interdependent society. However, I do not feel that this is the case. In America’s schools there is such a focus on ‘teaching to the test’ that there is little time during the day to incorporate content where students may see themselves as part of a larger global community. If children are not taught to see themselves as part of a larger global community, they will inadvertently discourage the promotion of world peace. This is why I want to join the Peace Corps.

I have spent the past four years at Lesley University preparing to become an educator at the elementary school level. In that time, I have become extremely passionate in the promotion of multicultural education. It is crucial that educators promote not only a safe environment for diverse populations, but also should be able to instill a sense of global responsibility in their students. In being given the opportunity to participate in the Peace Corps, my experience would eventually be shared with hundreds of children- meaning hundreds of steps towards promoting a peaceful global community.

I am well aware of the mental and physical challenges that would await me if I were to be invited to join the Peace Corps and I can honestly say that I am ready to take them on. Having the fortuity to contribute and better the global community with the Peace Corps would most certainly be worth any sacrifice that I would have to make and I would be honored to be given that chance.

Aspiration Statement

A. The professional attributes that you plan to use, and what aspirations you hope

to fulfill, during your Peace Corps service.

As an undergraduate student at Lesley University in Cambridge, Massachusetts I pursued advanced coursework in elementary education and multicultural education. Major components of my coursework have included classes on curriculum development, child psychology, and exceptional learning; this coursework has prepared me to work with students of varying abilities and backgrounds, and to create curricula according to the principles of universal design and the multiple intelligences. Further, I have learned through my recent endeavor as a student teacher in an extremely homogenous classroom that creating an environment where students can meet and fulfill the needs of their own intellectual curiosities is crucial to their success and development as students. Having specialized in multicultural education, I have also learned to recognize the enormous benefits that a cross-cultural approach can have for the student, and the educator. As today’s society is becoming more and more dependent on the formation of intercultural relationships, the need for cross cultural education, understanding, and respect is essential. Upon arriving to the Kingdom of Tonga, I can only hope that I will be able to apply and share my learned theory and professional experiences to my site in a way that will best serve the community. And, I hope that I will be able to learn from the people of Tonga just as much as I am willing to share.

B. Your strategies for working effectively with host country partners to meet expressed needs.



To me, being an effective communicator means that you are not only able to converse but, you are also able to develop a trusting and respectful relationship with another individual- and in this case, community. In order to be the best volunteer that I can be and to maximize the use of my skills and beyond, it is integral that this kind of relationship be established. I am aware that in forming this relationship my own beliefs and cultural norms will be challenged and even inhibited, but it is during this time that I plan on exploiting my willingness to be flexible and patient as it will be necessary in being an effective and successful volunteer.

In order to also best meet the needs of my assigned community it will be of the utmost importance that I be an empathetic listener. Undoubtedly the people of my future community will have needs and wants, stresses, complaints, and experiences to which I cannot fathom, nor identify with. In listening to the people’s needs in Tonga empathetically, it will be important for me to be attentive and to be reflective of what being expressed to me. In doing so, I believe I will be able to objectively assess the needs of the community and develop a sustainable action plan that will lead to the meeting of those needs.

C. Your strategies for adapting to a new culture with respect to your own cultural background.

As a child, my mother often brought me to the children’s museum in Boston. There, I can remember my favorite exhibit being a real Japanese home that had been bought and put on display by the museum. I loved to take my shoes off and walk into the home and sit down for ‘teas’, ‘dinners’, and prepare for ‘naps’ on the bed that rested upon the floor. I was always in awe of how different a home on the other side of the world could be, and it was at this point that my overwhelming feeling of wanderlust first began. Having been raised in a smaller city just outside of Boston, I was lucky enough to have been exposed to a myriad of cultural experiences; the Children’s museum aside, the numerous international restaurants, museums, churches, and families that had immigrated to America that were literally at my doorstep forced me to often step outside of my own comfort zone and learn about that which was different than me. It is my belief that these early childhood cultural experiences have well prepared me for living in a culture that is completely different from my own. And, I am positive that an open-mind, willingness to learn and be flexible, loss of inhibition, and a good sense of humor will combine to best support me in my transition to living in Tonga.

D. The skills and knowledge you hope to gain during pre-service training to best serve your future community and project.

It is my understanding that during pre-service training I will be introduced to my country of service’s culture and language through intensive classes offered by the Peace Corps and through informal training with my host family and community. During this time I hope to first and foremost familiarize myself with the language of the culture. Language is something that clearly defines and unites cultures and I believe it will be at my best professional and personal interest to do so. Simultaneously, it will be of the utmost importance to learn the mores that exist in Tonga. In order to be a successful volunteer at my site, it will be crucial that I follow and attend to the cultural norms of the community.

During my pre-service training I would also hope to learn more about what my specific role in Tonga will be. I may be participating in Tonga Expanded Community Education project, and my job title may be teacher, however these are just words that attempt to describe an experience and role to which I will not be able to comprehend until I arrive on site. Therefore, I would like to learn more about what other volunteer experiences have been like, and how the people of Tonga have responded to their work. I believe that having the knowledge of and being able to reference other volunteer experiences will help me in better serving my assigned community.

E. How do you think Peace Corps service will influence your personal and professional aspirations after your service ends?

In being a citizen of the United States, I was granted the right to receive a high quality primary and secondary education. It is a right that I firmly believe all deserve and should be afforded. Unfortunately, in many developing countries as well as in areas of the United States, schools are under-funded, under-staffed, and cannot provide the excellent education that their students need and deserve. And, as I begin to see myself as a global citizen, I feel compelled to provide assistance in creating sustainable educational systems that will contribute to the global community. I believe that my service as an educator in the Peace Corps will put me one step closer towards achieving this goal. The experience that I will gain as a volunteer in Tonga will be immeasurable to any other experience teaching abroad. It will be something that I will refer to often in my future endeavors and will at the end of my service further shape my professional goals.

On a personal level, I cannot begin to imagine how my aspirations will be shaped and will change based on my experience in Tonga. I often speak with family and friends about what I believe my experience will be like and a conclusion can never be drawn. I may sit down at my computer for hours reading blogs about other volunteers, and researching what the Kingdom of Tonga is like, however these words and experiences will never be able to capture that which will be my own experience at the end of two years of service.

As of now however, I imagine that I will change immensely in many ways. My beliefs- political, religious, and social will be challenged and I am sure I will question them myself on a daily basis; my length of endurance both physically and emotionally will be tested and strengthened; and I believe that my knowledge and conception of what it truly means to be human will be further shaped and understood.

So tomorrow is the big day and I am leaving for my 27 month adventure to the Kingdom of Tonga in the South Pacific as a Peace Corps volunteer! And no, I am not packing heels- Lindsey. While in Tonga I will be a teacher volunteer, though I'm not sure yet as to what I will be teaching...It could range in anything from teaching English to children or adults, being a co-teacher in a primary school, or doing curriculum development. But, since the tsunami hit, my job could very well change. But, before I get my official assignment I will go through an 8 week "semester of Tongan" where I will engage in culture and language training with the other new trainees while staying with a host family. Its going to be a crazy ride and I can't even begin to fathom what my experience is going to be like. As for right now, I am as my cousin so appropriately described it, in cruise control. Although I leave tomorrow it doesn't feel real yet and it probably won't until I step foot on the island.

With all that being said, I'm hoping that I can use this blog as a way to share my experience in Tonga with not only my friends and family, but anyone else who happens to stumble upon it. I'm going to miss home terribly so for those of you who are reading this- keep in touch and start saving your money for your visit, the plane ticket isn't cheap!

Love and miss you all already!

XOXO- Tonga girl.