Fist Days in Tonga

Today Ryan and I awoke to the raucous crowing of roosters. These wonderful birds begin to call to the sun around 4 a.m.... hours before the sun actually graces us with our presence.  Our first few days in Tonga have been surreal and amazing. We are here in Tonga with 13 other amazing people. Already we feel so connected to them.

Our first day here, we were greeted by many current Volunteers serving here in Nuku 'alofa. They are a wonderful and inspiring group of people. Many of them complete their service here in December, and I know the island will feel empty when they go.  We were also greeted by the Tongan Peace Corps Staff. They are such a generous, intelligent, and supportive group of people. They have made us feel so safe and welcome here.

Ryan and I in the Peace Corps headquarters volunteer lounge.

Our day schedule right now is wake up around 6 a.m.... take a cold shower and get dressed for the day. We eat breakfast at our guest house and all walk to the Peace Corps office for our day of training. We have 2 tea breaks, which are a wonderful way to talk, refresh, and connect. For lunch, we walk to local places to grab food.

On Saturday, Ryan and I will be moving to the village of Lavengatonga with two other people from our group and our language trainer.  We will move into our host families home and continue our training. We learned today that our host family is a mother and her 19 year old son and 17 year old daughter. We are soooo excited to meet them and have an opportunity to experience and learn more about life here in Tonga.

At Sela's guest house for welcome refreshments. 

In town for lunch.

Ryan and I officially received our translated names. Ryan will be called Laieni (Lie-en-ee) and I will be called 'Epi (ep-ee). We are so excited to continue to work on the language and prepare to live with our new family soon.