So, we have a mouse in our house!! We kept seeing it flash by, then yesterday it was out in the open and we tried to get it with a broom with no luck. So today we'll set traps. I think all the rain drove it inside maybe, it's raining again today after a mostly clear day yesterday.
Last night Alicia was over and we made really good pizza from scratch, and it was pretty easy too! I've just been going over online tutorials for word and typing skills to start getting classes ready for the training center. I won't be really starting at MAFF until the beginning of Feb. but I've been over there quite a bit helping with computer problems or questions already.
Thursday, January 15, 2009
Tuesday, January 13, 2009
Kovi Tahi
(aka bad ocean!)... so the waves got so big the last couple of days they made it pretty close to the base of our house! And a couple of buildings by us that are closer to the sea- the Fisheries buildings, had some damage. The waves and ocean came up all around them, and boats had to be pulled out that were getting tossed around in the big waves. Our neighbor said he's never seen the waves come up this far before. They were even splashing up over the wharf, and pools of seaweed and garbage were floating all around. Sand has gotten piled up way higher than it's been before. But we stayed fine and dry at our place (except the living room which leaks a little). The wind was so strong that the rain on our windows looked like when you're driving a car down a freeway in the rain, it was just flying across the windows!
Our neighbors told us they'd have lunch for us again on Sunday! So we went to their church service, they even gave us a ride since it was raining so much. Then we found out it wasn't just a plate of food like the other Sunday, it was a feast they were referring to! So we went to a big feast for lunch yesterday, with a lot of meat, root crops, and speeches like any feast here. And we're starting to know more and more people now I realized after seeing how many people I knew at the feast.
And since it's been so rainy and windy, and I haven't worked much yet, I've actually been doing a lot of cooking! Anyone who knows me knows this is a pretty big deal, I rarely cook back home. So far I've made brownies, banana bread, mac 'n cheese, different pastas, and different kinds of root crops baked or fried, all from scratch. Still no eggs in sight at stores, the boats haven't been coming in with the weather lately, but it seems like it's clearing up now today. Brett's been doing more cleaning, he cleaned out all the gutters today and the opening to our sima vie (where we get our drinking rain water).
Our neighbors told us they'd have lunch for us again on Sunday! So we went to their church service, they even gave us a ride since it was raining so much. Then we found out it wasn't just a plate of food like the other Sunday, it was a feast they were referring to! So we went to a big feast for lunch yesterday, with a lot of meat, root crops, and speeches like any feast here. And we're starting to know more and more people now I realized after seeing how many people I knew at the feast.
And since it's been so rainy and windy, and I haven't worked much yet, I've actually been doing a lot of cooking! Anyone who knows me knows this is a pretty big deal, I rarely cook back home. So far I've made brownies, banana bread, mac 'n cheese, different pastas, and different kinds of root crops baked or fried, all from scratch. Still no eggs in sight at stores, the boats haven't been coming in with the weather lately, but it seems like it's clearing up now today. Brett's been doing more cleaning, he cleaned out all the gutters today and the opening to our sima vie (where we get our drinking rain water).
Friday, January 9, 2009
Lazy, rainy days
The last two days have been really rainy and windy. The puppies all moved to the side of our house where there's a little more shelter from the wind off the ocean. We lost one more of the littlest ones, so down to 10 puppies now.
And shopping lately has been hit or miss. We got bread, which isn't always available, and amazingly got pinneapples at the little market (a couple of long tables that sometimes have root crops or fruit on them). At the market they sell the root crops and fruit in piles. But we ran out of eggs, and heard there won't be more until next week. And it's funny the way you buy some things here. They get bulk shipments in, then divide them up into smaller portions to sell - like flour and sugar you buy in little plastic baggies that aren't marked at all. And once in awhile we can find ice cream. There's usually a bigger selection right after the boat comes in once a week or so. The Internet isn't always working here either, it's up most of the time but sometimes it will be down for half a day or so.
I kinda started working a little, at the ha'apai training center, not yet at MAFF (ministry of food, forestry and agriculture), the new officer in charge hasn't started there yet so I have to wait for him to be here. At the training center I just went in and checked on all the computers and did a few updates. The owner sent his nephews to help me, because his daughter - my counterpart for working there, has been sick. I'll probably be setting up and teaching some basic computer classes to adults/youth in the evenings, and maybe bringing in some classes from schools during the day for English programs on the computers. Brett won't start working until the end of the month, he's just been hanging out, watching movies.
This weekend we might bike up to Foa to check out the beaches by the resorts there. And next week the couple from one of the outer islands is coming in to Pangai and hanging out for a week.
And shopping lately has been hit or miss. We got bread, which isn't always available, and amazingly got pinneapples at the little market (a couple of long tables that sometimes have root crops or fruit on them). At the market they sell the root crops and fruit in piles. But we ran out of eggs, and heard there won't be more until next week. And it's funny the way you buy some things here. They get bulk shipments in, then divide them up into smaller portions to sell - like flour and sugar you buy in little plastic baggies that aren't marked at all. And once in awhile we can find ice cream. There's usually a bigger selection right after the boat comes in once a week or so. The Internet isn't always working here either, it's up most of the time but sometimes it will be down for half a day or so.
I kinda started working a little, at the ha'apai training center, not yet at MAFF (ministry of food, forestry and agriculture), the new officer in charge hasn't started there yet so I have to wait for him to be here. At the training center I just went in and checked on all the computers and did a few updates. The owner sent his nephews to help me, because his daughter - my counterpart for working there, has been sick. I'll probably be setting up and teaching some basic computer classes to adults/youth in the evenings, and maybe bringing in some classes from schools during the day for English programs on the computers. Brett won't start working until the end of the month, he's just been hanging out, watching movies.
This weekend we might bike up to Foa to check out the beaches by the resorts there. And next week the couple from one of the outer islands is coming in to Pangai and hanging out for a week.
Monday, January 5, 2009
Church, lu and ufi
We went to the church of tonga today, it was pretty good, really loud singing. Then our neighbor came over with a plate of lu sipi and ufi for us, which was really nice of them! Lu sipi is mutton cooked in a big taro leaf underground in an umu oven. And ufi is a big hunk of yam. We mashed up the ufi and added butter and garlic salt and it wasn't bad. The tongans just eat the huge hunks of root crops with no seasoning or anything. All the stores are closed today since it's Sunday, except for the bakery so we'll go buy bread later today.
Yesterday we did more cleaning and sewed four new curtains for our living room area with fabric we had from Nuku'alofa. A couple of the little neighbor boys were playing in the yard area with the puppies, the youngest neighbor boy is almost always naked! They don't speak much if any English, and come right up to our stairs just watching us, or they bring the puppies to us. We also watched new episodes of The Office from back home, thanks mom and dad for sending that DVD! On Monday I think I'm meeting with my two workplaces to figure out my schedule, I'm confused on what I'm supposed to be doing so hopefully it will be clearer tomorrow.
Yesterday we did more cleaning and sewed four new curtains for our living room area with fabric we had from Nuku'alofa. A couple of the little neighbor boys were playing in the yard area with the puppies, the youngest neighbor boy is almost always naked! They don't speak much if any English, and come right up to our stairs just watching us, or they bring the puppies to us. We also watched new episodes of The Office from back home, thanks mom and dad for sending that DVD! On Monday I think I'm meeting with my two workplaces to figure out my schedule, I'm confused on what I'm supposed to be doing so hopefully it will be clearer tomorrow.
Friday, January 2, 2009
The first to welcome the New Year
In Tonga, we’re the very first country to welcome the New Year. The International Dateline curves around Tonga to include it in the first time zone, along with Fiji, New Zealand and some others. But Tonga is the closest to the dateline, so we're the first to celebrate, and the first to see the first sunrise of 2009. Possibly the very first people to see the sunrise of 2009, because Ha'apai is the farthest islands to the east and there aren't many people here who would get up to see the sunrise.
For New Years we went with a group to the island just south of us, Uoleva. It was us, Alicia, Sarah, Grant, and his brother that just got to Tonga visiting from the US. Uoleva’s close enough that you can walk between our island and it at low tide. So we looked it up online and at low tide, around 2:30 on New Year’s Eve we made the trek across on the reef, it’s about half an hour walk with rushing water and rip tides. It’s supposed to only be about waist deep, but at this time of the year they get higher tides called King Tides, so even at low-tide it’s a little higher than normal. There was a section that was about up to my chest, and I lost my grip on the reef and started to get pushed out just a little. Brett and Alicia got to me quick and we all made it across the reef and sections of water between sand bars. It was really pretty!
After the crossing between islands, we had about a 45 minute walk along a very pretty, natural sandy beach to where we camped at Diana’s place, a rustic little guest house area that also allows people to camp along the beach. It was really cheap, and gave us access to a gorgeous sandy swimming beach, a kersone lantern and chairs/table and campsite.
We swam after the long, hot walk, and had coconut rum. And by coconut rum I mean REAL coconut. We gathered a bunch of green coconuts and sliced the tops with a bush knife. Then to the natural coconut water/milk we added a little rum and drank right out of the coconuts. It’s a really heavy drink to hold onto, and next time we’ll bring straws. We were also swimming with them and trying to figure out an invention like a blown-up donut to get them to float next to us.
It was a great New Years hanging out with our Ha’apai group, talking around our kersone lantern with lots of stars above us and darkness. Around midnight there was lightning on the horizon, and we saw a couple fireworks displays far away on the horizon on different islands, which looked really cool seeing bursts of color in the otherwise blackness. Then we sat for awhile with the Tongan owner of the guesthouse resort on the beach, he had a bonfire going. He told us some Tongan legends (with Grant translating). One that I liked the best was about a devil shark who got a devil blowfish stuck inside him and was dying. He asked for help from a man from Mu’unga’ane island, and in return agreed that no sharks would ever attack people from that island. So to this day people from that island aren’t scared of sharks, they think they’re exempt from being attacked. People are very religious here, but also still superstitious.
On New Year's day we got up around 5:15 am to see the sunrise on the other side of the island at 6:20 am. We were quite possibly the very first people to see the new year 2009!! It was really pretty, worth getting up that early. Later in the day we swam more and hung out, then went on a bush walk with the Tongan guesthouse owner to see some ancient site where nobles used to play games catching and releasing pigeons from these big mounds.
We walked back to the crossing at low tide in the later afternoon, and this crossing was definately memorable. The first three people across the deeper area missed the shallow crossing by a few feet, and it was a lot deeper. They had to start swimming, and one of them got swept far out past the breakers by the rip tide and current. One tried to get to her but couldn't and got stuck herself, and another swam to the person stuck out farther at sea. The three of us left on the sandbar were getting worried about them all, and luckily two tongans were coming through the crossing on horses, so they helped us! They got the closer person back in, and the other two were too far out, struggling for awhile. Finally they also got back in and we were all safe! And our neighbor was going to pick us up, but we lost his number so had to start walking back to town down the bush road. But since we didn't call our neighbor and it was getting later he drove out looking for us so we got a ride back, it was really nice of him, I'm glad we have such nice neighbors that are looking out for us!
Also, the day we left we had another surprise - a new litter of puppies!!! So now there are a total of 12 puppies just outside our back door. They kept getting stuck under our foundation in the sand so we packed sand and rocks in so we don't have to keep rescuing them from under our house.
Below is a link to a satellite photo from google maps, our house is the one in the center, next to the four smaller houses with red roofs, ours has a silver roof, running parallel to the ocean, closest to the ocean. At the bottom of the image, the whiteness sticking out in the water is the main wharf.
http://maps.google.com/maps?hl=en&safe=off&client=firefox-a&q=pangai+tonga&ie=UTF8&ll=-19.80176,-174.350678&spn=0.002342,0.004828&t=h&z=18
New photos on the link to the left of new years!
For New Years we went with a group to the island just south of us, Uoleva. It was us, Alicia, Sarah, Grant, and his brother that just got to Tonga visiting from the US. Uoleva’s close enough that you can walk between our island and it at low tide. So we looked it up online and at low tide, around 2:30 on New Year’s Eve we made the trek across on the reef, it’s about half an hour walk with rushing water and rip tides. It’s supposed to only be about waist deep, but at this time of the year they get higher tides called King Tides, so even at low-tide it’s a little higher than normal. There was a section that was about up to my chest, and I lost my grip on the reef and started to get pushed out just a little. Brett and Alicia got to me quick and we all made it across the reef and sections of water between sand bars. It was really pretty!
After the crossing between islands, we had about a 45 minute walk along a very pretty, natural sandy beach to where we camped at Diana’s place, a rustic little guest house area that also allows people to camp along the beach. It was really cheap, and gave us access to a gorgeous sandy swimming beach, a kersone lantern and chairs/table and campsite.
We swam after the long, hot walk, and had coconut rum. And by coconut rum I mean REAL coconut. We gathered a bunch of green coconuts and sliced the tops with a bush knife. Then to the natural coconut water/milk we added a little rum and drank right out of the coconuts. It’s a really heavy drink to hold onto, and next time we’ll bring straws. We were also swimming with them and trying to figure out an invention like a blown-up donut to get them to float next to us.
It was a great New Years hanging out with our Ha’apai group, talking around our kersone lantern with lots of stars above us and darkness. Around midnight there was lightning on the horizon, and we saw a couple fireworks displays far away on the horizon on different islands, which looked really cool seeing bursts of color in the otherwise blackness. Then we sat for awhile with the Tongan owner of the guesthouse resort on the beach, he had a bonfire going. He told us some Tongan legends (with Grant translating). One that I liked the best was about a devil shark who got a devil blowfish stuck inside him and was dying. He asked for help from a man from Mu’unga’ane island, and in return agreed that no sharks would ever attack people from that island. So to this day people from that island aren’t scared of sharks, they think they’re exempt from being attacked. People are very religious here, but also still superstitious.
On New Year's day we got up around 5:15 am to see the sunrise on the other side of the island at 6:20 am. We were quite possibly the very first people to see the new year 2009!! It was really pretty, worth getting up that early. Later in the day we swam more and hung out, then went on a bush walk with the Tongan guesthouse owner to see some ancient site where nobles used to play games catching and releasing pigeons from these big mounds.
We walked back to the crossing at low tide in the later afternoon, and this crossing was definately memorable. The first three people across the deeper area missed the shallow crossing by a few feet, and it was a lot deeper. They had to start swimming, and one of them got swept far out past the breakers by the rip tide and current. One tried to get to her but couldn't and got stuck herself, and another swam to the person stuck out farther at sea. The three of us left on the sandbar were getting worried about them all, and luckily two tongans were coming through the crossing on horses, so they helped us! They got the closer person back in, and the other two were too far out, struggling for awhile. Finally they also got back in and we were all safe! And our neighbor was going to pick us up, but we lost his number so had to start walking back to town down the bush road. But since we didn't call our neighbor and it was getting later he drove out looking for us so we got a ride back, it was really nice of him, I'm glad we have such nice neighbors that are looking out for us!
Also, the day we left we had another surprise - a new litter of puppies!!! So now there are a total of 12 puppies just outside our back door. They kept getting stuck under our foundation in the sand so we packed sand and rocks in so we don't have to keep rescuing them from under our house.
Below is a link to a satellite photo from google maps, our house is the one in the center, next to the four smaller houses with red roofs, ours has a silver roof, running parallel to the ocean, closest to the ocean. At the bottom of the image, the whiteness sticking out in the water is the main wharf.
http://maps.google.com/maps?hl=en&safe=off&client=firefox-a&q=pangai+tonga&ie=UTF8&ll=-19.80176,-174.350678&spn=0.002342,0.004828&t=h&z=18
New photos on the link to the left of new years!
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