PST: Week 4

Ryan and I are in week 4 of our PST. This week has been wonderful for many reasons.

taha (1): Ryan is getting better at rugby. A boy who lives next to our school in the village of Ha' asini has really taken a liking to Ryan. He waits for him everyday after class and is teaching him to play rugby. The other day, after a few of Ryan's throws, the boy turned to me and gave me a huge thumbs up signaling those were worthy of praise. Go Laieni!!!

ua (2): We have come to be known in our village as palangi luelue (the walking white people.) Nobody here really likes to walk if they don't have to, and at first many people thought it odd that Ryan and I like to walk the 40 minutes everyday to the next village and back for school. But, this week it has been really neat to be greeted by everyone with shouts of "Alu ki ako!" (going to school) Villagers smile and greet us now, and this small gesture really means a lot to Ryan and I. (P.S.... the final leg of our walk coincides with about 30 six-year olds being released from school to go home for lunch. Let's just say the only adjective I can use to describe what is like to walk in the thick of them is TERRIFYING. Truly Nanners, we don't know how you do it!

tolu (3): At the end of everyday, Ryan and I play frisbee in our front yard. You think this can't be done in skirts... we beg to differ!  

 

 The first day we played, a boy named Villi bravely came inside the fence and Ryan coaxed him into playing. 20 minutes later, his face was aglow with pride for learning to play something new. 40 minutes later, a gaggle of neighborhood kids came to play. Tia and Nata came out to watch too. It was amazing to play and connect with kids who spoke no English in this way. When our host sister came out to tell us it was time to eat... all the kids yelled "Ikai!"(no) There could be no better way to spend the last hour of daylight.

fa (4): We found a Tongan root crop we like to eat. Thank God for you uffie!!!

nima (5): Our host mom has figured out some foods Ryan and I will eat with gusto: fried food, uffie, ice cream and biscetti (cookies) from Indonesia. These have now become the basis of our nutritional diet. Fun for now.... we will see about later.