Stayin' Busy

Ryan and I have actually been a bit busy these last few weeks. Here are some of the things we have been doing:

Making a Hawkeyes Video- A while back, some of Ryan’s closest friends and family (who are all die hard Hawk fans) sent us a bunch of Hawkeye t-shirts for our students. We had our students learn the Iowa fight song so we could prepare a short video to send to the university to play during the game. Our friend Mandy, who is an incredibly talented photographer / videographer, came to our village to tape our video. It was such a fun experience. The highlight of the day was our principal, Tevita. Watching him psych the kids up and demonstrate how to “look mean, cheer loud, and fist pump aggressively” was hilarious.  Mandy showed us some of the first cuts of the video this weekend and they look awesome. We are so excited to share it with you all! Go Hawks!

King’s Birthday- King Tupou VI will be coming to Vava’u in the beginning of July. The elementary kids have been askedd to perform the “ta fuka” for the king. The kids will stand in formation to create the Tongan flag. They will then perform a zumba dance followed by some very intricate marching to make different patterns. Getting over 1,000 kids lined up perfectly and teaching them to make marching passes is no small feat. Their zumba dance looks good, but everything else still needs a lot of work. We spend 4 hours every Friday morning rehearsing for the big day. With only weeks to go, it will be interesting to see if it all comes together in time. This is going to be an amazing event, and Ryan and I feel so lucky to be here to participate in it.

The best part of the t-shirts, we wore them to Tafuka practice, so every student and teacher on the island could see Hawkeye pride in action. Look at our Principal Tevita get down!

As if Hawkeye pride wouldn't be coming to Tonga. My husband wouldn't have it any other way.

A line of Gold amongst a sea of Red

Day Sail- One of our good Peace Corps friends on the island, Harrison, had an aunt visiting from New York. He invited us to join them on a day sail around the various islands of Vava’u.  We sailed on a beautiful boat and Mandy came too. We had such a special day sailing. Good food, great conversation, beautiful weather, breathtaking islands. Not a bad way to spend a Saturday. We sailed to the island of Euakafa, which is one of the uninhabited islands in the Vava’u group.  This island is well known for it’s amazing beach, wild pigs and it houses the tomb of a Samoan king from hundreds of years ago. (When Vava’u was not part of the Kingdom of Tonga back them) It was an awesome experience.

Mandy and me!

With views like these we really can't complain...

Finally, we had our Peace Corps team over to stay for a night. We took them on a tour of the village, fed them burgers and ice cream, and took them to the lake. We lucked out with wonderful weather! It was sunny, breezy, and cool. People in our village were so pleased to see so many Peace Corps stay with us. Fine and Mele, two mothers, came over to see if I had properly prepared for our guests. Minutes after leaving, an army of girls showed up and told me Mele told them they needed to come clean the kindy better. I guess my cleaning did not pass inspection as the edges of the kindy freak me out. I cleaned the middle… but guess that was not okay. Fine was brave enough to come over and meet the Peace Corps. She sat and visited with all them for awhile, which was cool. Her kids had so much fun playing with Harrison. One kid, Le’o, kept bringing new groups of kids by to try and show off that he had a new friend. It was cute and soooo funny.  It made me realize how close we are to this group and how special it has been going through this experience with them.

The guys taking in our view from school, naturally Ryan hasn't taken off his Iowa shirt since he got it. And of course he made Jeff wear the flag. 

Coopriders—we talked about you guys all weekend. You are still such a presence here when we all come together. We heard a little about the situation happening in Thailand. We are praying that everyone there is okay and that things settle down. Keep us posted if you hear any news. Love you guys!

Fakame

May is a very special month here in the Kingdom. May is the month dedicated to celebrating the family. The first weekend is dedicated to the children, the second to mothers, and the last to fathers.

Everything kicks off with a bang the first Saturday of the month.  Every Tongan and their mother leave the village, head into Neiafu and shop ‘til they drop. It is tradition that on this weekend, every Tongan child gets a new outfit. Each family brings in clothes to sell the others. Known as ‘fairs’ these aren’t a laughing matter as lookin’ good is the name of the game.

‘Sapate Fanau’ (Children’s Sunday) is the first celebration. At Church…wait, did I tell you this was about church? I just kind of assumed you would know that by now, but just in case, let me repeat…EVERYTHING here is about Church.

Okay, moving on. Morning Church is an occasion to wear white, as all the children are bedecked in Tongan dress to read and lead songs during the service. Hold on to your butts folks…. running time for this service with acted out Bible stories, thank you speeches, crying, AND communion….about 3 ½ hours. Man, it was a doozy. But the kids did a wonderful job and really enjoyed being the ones who lead service.

Lookin' good Tu'anuku!

Next comes the main event, the Sapate Fanau performance. For this year’s festivities, our church prepared several different programs that all in all took another three hours to perform. Who is running this show? None other than our Tongan mother, Tuki.

The hardest working woman in show business, Tuki, with her daughter Ane.

Holy handsome! 

Finally, the performance goes off without a hitch. After this is the traditional tea, where cake, cookies, and bread are served in portions that literally inject the diabetes straight into the bloodstream. While Abby and I are polishing off the last of the cake, and Tuki is giving the thank you speech (still haven’t seen her sit down yet) we are brought out a tub of ice cream as thanks for helping with the show. Which we consume at the 10 o clock hour before sleepy time. It was the happiest and fullest moment of our lives.

My kind of dinner!

Of course we could barely peel ourselves out of bed the next morning and who do we see, leading the 5:30 am Church service, then heading to her job in Neiafu, where she runs a kindergarten? You guessed it, Tuki.

On the next Sunday of Fakame comes Mother’s Day, which we celebrate in Tonga along with the rest of the world. Here is where things get a bit dicey. The good people of our village want us to have a baby. Very badly. Some are convinced we have children back in America but most just go on the full court press for us to have a baby in Tonga. Not gonna happen. But that didn't stop them from bringing us a multitude of traditional Mother's Day cakes and a feast on Sunday. All just to up the ante. Let me repeat Tonga, Not Gonna Happen!

One of the cakes brought to us. 

Our Mother's Day haul. We're still full.

The rest of Mother's Day was great. We made Tuki her favorite dish and when it came time for each family to present a family prayer to the village, we stood with Tuki and Lolohea as part of their family. We are very blessed to have three amazing mothers, Nanners, Lisa and now Tuki!

That is all for now. Have a great week everyone! 

Very sensible choice at the fair, Ine. It works at home and school. Plus, ya know, its a cape. So that's good too.

Iron Chef America

Not much is new here this week. A tropical storm moved in and we got a ton if rain. It was nice to get water in our tank. All the farmers in our village were so happy as watering their crops was getting to be tiring.

Currently, our students are working on reading and understanding instructions. One of our colleagues, Taniella, had the kids cook a traditional Tongan dish called veihalo. Veihalo is a soup-like dish made with coconut water, chunks of fresh coconut meat and an amazing herb that tastes like lemongrass. Such a delicious dish.

Taniella asked us to try to have the kids read and cook something in English. We decided to try cooking cinnamon rolls with them.  It was a really fun day with our class 5 and 6 kids. It was one of those days I am actually thankful I work with my spouse. (Trust me, those are rare.)

Ryan and I split our class into two teams. Class 5 vs. Class 6. Ryan was team lead for class 5 and I was team lead for class 6. Ryan had the ingenious idea to turn this activity into a sort of cooking competition.

(I spend hours planning the details, he pulls something out of his ass on the spot and his contribution makes the activity. Go figure.)

Ryan's Team

My Team, we had quite a  few kids absent for a funeral that day which made the numbers more manageable!

The kids rose to this challenge brilliantly. They read their directions carefully together. They consulted their vocabulary chart to make sure they understood the directions. They looked on with bated breath as things were added to the mixing bowl.  Looking over from my station at my husband made me glow with love. (God, cheesiest line ever!) It was so special to look over at him with a group of wide-eyed class 5 kids huddled around him while he whispered ways to cheat and add more sugar and cinnamon to their rolls to make them better. I got to watch my husband be a true hero. The kids now worship him and think he is pretty much the shit.

Moments like this help me remember how lucky Ry and I are to be able to have this experience. Being in a room radiating with pure joy and happiness is so moving. Being a married couple in the Peace Corps is never easy, but having the chance to see your spouse dipping his finger in butter, sugar and cinnamon, just to lick it off to the squealing delight of a bunch of kids (who quickly followed suit…real sanitary Klob) is a memory I will forever treasure.

The best for last, check out Taiana's guns! That's what you get climbing coconut trees and swinging a bush knife for your first 11 years of life!

Easter Weekend

For a culture whose way of life, social interaction, community hierarchy, money and time all revolve around Church, Tonga does NOT mess around when it comes to Easter Weekend. The entire island of Vava’u was essentially shutdown from Good Friday until Tuesday morning. Feasts, children’s camps, Bible performances and a whole helluva lot of Church services were the entertainment for our village. We also hosted kids over for Easter-themed card games courtesy of Aunt Nina. But we did manage to sneak away to the lake with our friend Haeyoon, who is the Peace Corps Volunteers in the next village over. After a long walk, a good day’s swim and another long walk back home, the three of us feasted on her inordinately delicious homemade Korean BBQ featuring spices sent directly from Seoul, homemade apple pie and Easter cupcakes. Now that’s our type of feast!

Here are some pictures below: 

What's that Ine? You enjoy playing cards? We couldn't tell...

A well-deserved swim after a walk in the heat.

The Lake!

That is Easter faka-Palangi!

Lucks and Haeyoon's dog decided to attack me with love.

I begged Ry to get them off, instead he got the camera.

It would be embarrassing to tell you how fast these went... 

Groundhog Day

Wake up at 5:30 a.m., to the imposing sound of ringing church bells, do 500 jumping jacks in a vain attempt at losing that Tongan flab.

Haul water.

Make coffee using our French press. Pray to God of small things that French Press lasts another day.

Eat unsweetened yogurt that tastes exactly like sour cream. Ask your spouse if that was, in fact, sour cream.

Walk to school as every child in the village waits for you to pass so we can all walk together.

Alternately think, its cool having a posse and get these smelly things away from me!

Come to school, eat the cake the teachers bring for breakfast. Immediately think, “Oh shit! I promised myself I wouldn’t eat that today.”

Plan for class. Grimace as children remove crackers and Tongan bread from their pockets and offer it to you as a sign of respect.

Teach the kiddos.

Eat “healthy” lunch you prepared for yourself during break.

Eat unhealthy lunch the teachers force down your throat in yet another, sign of respect.

Hope in vain some kid will bring you a coconut to drink.

Walk home, as all the kids walk in a parallel line next to you, blocking any pigs, horses, chickens, goats, sheep or dogs who are trying to cross the road.

Haul water.

Cook relatively healthy dinner.

Wait for the ‘kole’s’, a.k.a. ‘asks’, where each villager will come to the house and request help. Grant writing, tutoring, medicine-dispensing, cake cooking just to name a few.

Receive food from grateful villagers as they wait with bated breath for you to take each bite.

Feed leftover food to Lucky. Listen to your spouse berate Lucky for his weight, which tends to yo-yo.

Console Lucky.

Haul water.

Watch spouse squeeze the ooze out of infected sores that never seem to heal.

Take a bucket bath.

Collapse under the mosquito net to get away from the bugs.

Sneak a cookie, piece of chocolate or anything sweet in the fridge your spouse doesn’t know about.

Look at the moon, think of family and friends back home.

Watch a movie on the computer and pass out.

Wake-up to the sound of church bells (again), look at yourself in the mirror and think to yourself: “where did all this flab come from?!?!”

I've been there, Bill.

Time Marches On

Well, we are full swing back in action after our amazing trip to Australia. The day we got home, our neighbor kids came over to give us a detailed account of all the events and gossip we missed while we were away. The biggest news was that our principal, Tevita, had left for Australia only days after our departure! His aunt had died, and he needed to go to play his role in the traditional Tongan funeral. He has not yet returned. The last two weeks have been busy and interesting. Ry and I have been filling in teaching extra classes to try to help out the staff. We have also been working alongside various Ministry Officials who have been sent to help out covering classes and seeing to administrative duties while Tevita has been away. This has given us the opportunity to really dialogue with the Ministry. They have been very excited to watch us teach and ask us questions about how we have adapted the curriculum. This has lead to brainstorming about possible professional developments we could run to share best teaching practices with Tongan teachers. All in all, it has been a very positive experience for us working alongside the Ministry. 

Ryan and I are continually amazed by the generosity and thoughtfulness of our community. Our PTA organized people to prepare meals to bring to all of us teachers at school everyday to support us. This has been so wonderful as it gives us time to sit, eat, and build a stronger relationship with our school staff and the Ministry folk. Ryan and I have had so much food sent home with us and brought to us by people in the community as thanks for our hard work that we have easily gained about 3 pounds this last week. Just for the hell of it, I decided to make a list of what I all ate yesterday. This has got to be the most traumatizing thing I have ever read:

oatmeal (started the day off good)

bread dipped in peanut butter

peanut butter cookies

2 hot dogs 

a hock of pig

coconut cookies

root crop (let me count the ways): talo, kape, ufi, kumala, manioke…Good God there is a lot of root crop in this place! 

Chocolate squares (not my fault! Ryan brought them home)

2 BBQ pork sandwiches

fresh lobster Mac and Cheese

(Editor’s note: upon further review my wife failed to admit to eating three buns dipped in butter and some friend chicken, don’t worry, I’m keeping her honest folks)

Holy shit… and you think I am kidding about all the food? Ryan and I have a “just eat it and then it will disappear” mentality. Our fridge is so full, our dog is so fat…what are we to do?? Oh, third world problems.

Well, that pretty much sums up our week. I just want to say huge Congratulations to my sister Emily and her husband Cory. Her son, Atticus Wesley, has joined us in the world. He is a beautiful baby. He is on my ever-growing list of new family to meet upon return to the states. 

I also included some pictures of our aboriginal walkabout in Australia. This was such an incredible experience. We only had picture duty for this day so we can’t share the rest of our trip, but I hope these pictures do justice to just how beautiful this experience was. I am so glad Cass organized this for us. 

 

 

Group Photo Take 1 (At least J and I  were ready!)

And Take 2 (the original Klobs get their shit together)

We hope you all have a wonderful week!!!

Workin' For the Weekend

For a long time, the words ‘busy’ and ‘Tonga’ never seemed to go together. This is no longer the case as our life in 2014 has been a constant barrage of activity, obligations, and new experiences. Many past volunteers told us year 2 of service is where everything just clicks. Funny how true this is. Since we have returned from New Zealand, things have felt different. Different in a good way. For lack of a better way to describe it, Tu‘anuku has truly become our home. We are excited to be a part of big events in small ways.

For example, the Wesleyan Church (called the Methodist Church in America) is currently preparing for it’s annual conference, which for the first time in decades will be held here on the island of Vava’u. This is a huge deal for everyone on the island. The conference is at the end of June. It will be a week of singing, church meetings, and food. Each village congregation will be responsible for feeding the entire conference (est. at thousands including the King and Nobility) for a meal. Ryan and I have been so touched to see our entire village support the small, 10 family Wesleyan congregation in their efforts to prepare. Every night, most of the village comes to choir practice. They will help perform to make the choir stronger. Since we live across the church, our home has become the unofficial meeting place for women waiting for practice to begin. Every night we sit and chat with groups of women while their kids play cards and color. Of course, we have been invited to join them in singing, but the stakes are so high, we chose not to burden them with our lack of skill in this area. But, we still get to be a part of it with our nightly entertaining. Ryan and I are on a high right now, just able to enjoy the balance and stability of our life here in Tonga.

Time seems to be passing so quickly. It hits me sometimes just how sad it will be to no longer have Tonga be a part of our life. Once we re-enter America, everything will change in an instant. But, for now, we are just trying to take it all in until we have to say goodbye to all we have come to know and appreciate.

Highlights from the last few weeks:

·          Mandy and I were invited to teach at the monthly principal’s meeting. This was a wonderful step forward for our project here in Tonga. We were able to do a short lesson on English grammar for all principals on the island to help them with their classes at their own schools. Our lesson was well received and principals told us the information was incredibly helpful. (Mark Cooprider, your grammar skills and sequence handout is like gold. They LOVED it.)

      The Ministry of Education came to my school to ask me to take over the benchmark testing program on our island. I will now be developing monthly benchmarks and term exams to help principals better identify what their students struggle with. This is a big project, but one I think will have a lasting impact.

·          I had brought a cookbook back from New Zealand as a gift for one of our former students, Ane. She came over to try “sausage bread bowls” from the book. Our good friend Tuki stopped by and wanted to participate. This turned into one of the most special Saturday mornings I have ever had. At one moment I looked up to see Ryan and Tuki practicing singing Mark’s English/ Tongan songs for kids and giggling like 5 year olds, Ane and Villiami  intently focusing on their uno cards as they were determined to beat each other with the smell of cooking sausage warming the house. Truly a moment in time I will carry with me forever.

Ane, Tuki, Villiami and I doing some cooking!

·         I lead an activity at the local library in the capital Neiafu as part of the Saturday literacy program. Really neat to see Tongans leading kids in literacy activities. We really just provided the stuff, read a book, and let the librarian and her volunteer take over!

The kids working on their project. We read the book "The Rainbow fish" and then created our own beautiful, glittery fish.

This is the public library in the capitol. It is so great the kids have a space to come and enjoy books and literacy projects regularly.

Wil with all the finished projects. Wil is an amazing young man. 

·         Our school participated in the annual Sports Day event. I would not have thought this year could have topped last year, but it did. Our school has dropped significantly in numbers, which puts us at an athletic disadvantage. After the first few events, many of our kids were in tears because they had lost so bad. This lead to not many kids wanting to even participate anymore. One mom stood up and took charge. She told the kids they were here to work hard and do their best and it was about the exercise, not winning. She taught them a few cheers and lead yells for any kids participating in an event. Even if they lost, they returned to a tent of people yelling their name and thanking them for their work. After that, stamina was at an all time high from the tent. Small but mighty was once again the battle cry of Team Tu’anuku!

 

Team Blue: Small but Mighty.

Our official team cheerleader, Fine.

·        We are anxiously waiting to hear news of my new nephew being born. Emily’s due date in March 14.

·         We are currently in Australia with the Klobs right now. Everyone looks great and we are excited to continue to explore all the sights of Sydney. Have a good weekend everyone!