New Zealand Part 1

Merry Christmas everyone! It is hard to believe another holiday season is upon us. It is Christmas Eve here in Wellington. Ryan and I are about halfway through our trip. We had made plans to talk to a bunch of you on the phone this week, but we just learned that it costs $4 a minute here to talk overseas. Who knew? Finally, something that is actually cheaper in Tonga :) So, we thought we would just share some pictures with you for now and talk once we get back home on the island. We started our trip in Auckland. We spent somet ime shopping, eating at restaurants (NO root crops or roast pig allowed) and sending ourselves a care package. I'd love to regale you with tales of original Auckland experiences, but mostly we just enjoyed hot showers in the hotel and anonymity in the city. So nice!



A little bit of Christmas!

After Auckland we went south to Waitomo. This was a very small, very rural town. It was cool to see some of the rural countryside. Here we toured the natural glow worm caves. It was one of the neatest things ever. We had to get all dressed up in caving gear with an inner tube and go for an underground hike/ tubing adventure. The water was FREEZING and the caves were spectacular. It was pretty unbelievable to see how high the caves were. It didn't seem possible to have such size under the ground. One part of the tour was something that I will forever have in my poetic memory. We had just finished jumping off our second waterfall with our tubes and entered a long stretch of cave. Our tour guide had us line up and hitch on to one another using our feet. They then told us to turn off our headlamps, klay back and relax. This part of the cave was so special, they would pull us through so we could just enjoy it as opposed to having to navigate our tubes. It was the most spectacular Christmas light display ever. So many glow worms... such unique patterns. It was extra special because our group of 12 all got silent. I just felt so... I guess in the moment is the best way to describe it. I could feel the cold, see my breath, hear the breathing of the people I was connected to. The dark made the blue shine so bright on the ceiling of the cave. It also gave off a hazy blue color that helped our eyes explore the shape and size of the walls of the cave we were floating through. When we emerged, our group literally shouted for joy. It was sunny because we emerged from the cave onto one of the hiking trails and we scared the hell out of some hikers. Then they kept taking pictures of us because they thought we were famous cavers or something with all our gear. Pretty cool experience. Sorry we don't have pictures to share. We were too cheap to pay the $30 for the picture cd.

We needed beer and sun to warm us up after the cold of the caves.

At this point you may be wondering, "Did Ryan even go on the trip?" The answer is yes. He is not in any pictures thus far because he was too embarrassed to be photographed. The reason for this is he got what can only be categorized as second degree burn our last night in Tonga. We spent our last Sunday in the village feasting with our church friends and playing at the beach with two families we are closest too. The next day, we stayed in a hotel in Tonga to wait for our connecting flight to NZ. This hotel had a pool. Ryan sat by it. For 3 hours. No sunscreen. Here is the result of said choices:



Nice stomach stache honey!

So, that is why he is absent from photos. Don't worry... he shows up soon :) Next we were on to the Tongariro Alpine Crossing. This is a 19 km day hike that is said to be one of the best, if not the top day hike in the world. It crosses the active Tongariro Volcano, which blew just 14 months ago causing a long shutdown of the track , and heads to three different volcanic lakes. This had been one of the things we were most excited for in New Zealand and it absolutely lived up to the hype. The sun was shining, the air was crisp and the hike was unbelieveable. It was some of the most beautiful scenery either of us have ever seen. The hike was a challenge but the day was fantastic. Simply can't say enough about it, so I will let the pictures do the talking:

The Happiest Moment of my Life...

The scene:

It’s a sweltering Friday evening here in the village. Villagers pass by our house, returning home from the bush, going to bathe in the ocean or en route to drink kava in the hall. I see Tuki’s brother, Toutai (toe-tie), walk by. Having spent all day in the bush, hand pollinating each vanilla plant so you westerners can use vanilla extract for your baking and lattes and whatnot, Toutai is going to a well-deserved night of kava drinking.

I smile at him and say hello as he passes by. I am sitting on our floor, dying of the heat and watching as my wife furiously type notes for whatever project she is on today. But from the corner of my eye I notice something. Something unbelievable. I feel my heart. It’s soaring. And then it comes into focus. What is Toutai wearing? It looks like a jersey. It’s black. But wait, is that gold trim? (If Pearl Jam’s ‘Garden’ is not playing in your mind right now then we are not on the same page) And what’s that on the shoulders? A logo.

A Tigerhawk logo. Toutai, brother of our Tongan mentor Tuki, is wearing a HAWKEYE JERSEY.  A HAWKEYE JERSEY. Think I’m done? Not by a long shot. The number on this beautiful garment? 6. That’s right. 6. My favorite number, worn by my favorite Hawkeye player of all time, Mr. Tim Dwight. Toutai is wearing a Tim Dwight Iowa Hawkeye jersey, just like I used to have in 6^th grade. The first Hawkeye apparel I have ever seen in the Kingdom, and its here in our tiny little corner of the island.

Tears.

I want to give him a ‘Can I get a Go Hawks!’ but Toutai doesn’t speak English. Instead I give him a ‘Saipe’ia fiema’u lea Go Hawks’ It’s okay if you want to talk Go Hawks in my pathetic Tongan. He doesn’t respond and upon noticing the zeal in my eyes, walks a little bit faster past our house. So I consult with my wife and then yell ‘tika taha ho falani’ your shirt is the bomb, which combined with my wielding a camera pretty much gets him to a full sprint away from me. But have no fear Hawk fans, I think he knew exactly how special this moment was. For all of us.

So there you have it. Just when I thought there were no surprises left in this little cowtown of ours, Timmy D, the Hawkeyes and the slightly underachieving 1996 Iowa football team walks into my life and changes everything.

Say hello to the bronze medal day I spent swimming with the whales. And stuff it in a sack, wedding day. You’ve been dethroned. Long live the new Happiest Moment of my Life. A Hawkeye jersey in the Kingdom.

Wait, hold the phone, I forgot about witnessing the ‘Hail Holloway’ in the 2005 Capital One Bowl live and in-person.  That changes things. No worries dear reader, a full recap of that moment and updated rankings to come….    

You can't stop him, you can only hope to contain him.

The List (so far)

Sometimes as a Peace Corps volunteer, it is easy to focus on the things you DON’T have versus the things you do have. As Ryan and I get closer and closer to our NZ trip, many of our conversations are dominated by the things we are so excited to have access to that we have gone without for so long. In an effort to think about something else, we decided to make a list of all the things we have here in Tonga that we are so thankful for.

The List:

1.      So much time together. While this often is one of the hardest parts of service for us, it has also been such a blessing for our marriage. The last few years in Denver, Ryan and I spent very little time together as I maintained a breakneck work schedule. Here, we have lots of time to talk and connect. The other night we spent sundown trying to play a game of uno dice but couldn’t finish because Scamp and Lucky kept crawling all over us competing for attention. I haven’t laughed like that in a long time.

P.S.- Scamp is a super cute, malnourished puppy I am trying to adopt. Neither Ryan nor Lucky likes this. But he’s sooo cute!

2.      Time to cook and try new things.  We never really took the time to explore in the kitchen or cook for ourselves. But, living here we really do use the time to try to make new dishes just so we can taste something different every once in awhile. We eat so natural and healthy here because often times it is the only option. Ryan can whip up homemade tortillas now at the drop of a hat. They are awesome.

3.      A connection with our neighbors/ community members. It is so uplifting to walk through a village and be able to greet everyone by name and see what they are up to. It is even more fun to be the ones to share new gossip! We have never really taken the time to get to know the people we live around. But, that is something we have come to really love here.

4.      Getting up before the sun. Yes… EVEN RYAN! The mornings here are amazing! The village is so still and quiet, the air is so fresh. Both Ryan and I love to watch the sun come up over the bush and the ocean as we finish our morning run. Lately, we have been going straight to the ocean for a quick dip right after our run to try to conserve water. The sharp blast of cold is so refreshing after the heat of the run. Pretty great way to start every day.

5.      The physicality of daily living. While often this feels like a nuisance, both of us really like that just taking care of our home everyday works up a great sweat. It is so cool to lose ourselves in the process of hauling water, sweeping, scrubbing, and cutting various plants in the yard. All of it is like a mini-cardio workout and gives us such a satisfaction at the end of the day.

6.      The lack of internet access. While we bemoan this all the time, it is also a blessing. Ryan used to spend a good majority of his time online, always hyper connected. But now, we look forward to our two hours every Friday and have found that we can really get most of what we need. Now, Ryan still bugs his guy friends to keep him updated on football scores, but it is still a drastic difference. We have found ourselves turning to our dictionary and Encarta encyclopedia to search information as opposed to endless googling. Without endless access to the internet we engage so much more with each other and the people and environment around us.  This is something we want to work hard to maintain once back in the States.

7.      Lucky- Ryan and I had often talked about getting a dog in America, but when push came to shove, it always seemed like too much work. Lucky has been an unexpected joy here in Tonga. He is wonderful company and often is our sole source of entertainment on a slow day. Tonga is the perfect place to have a dog because he eats all your leftovers and doesn’t require walking. Lucky roams at will and only returns when he needs something. The perfect relationship.

8.      Our Peace Corps Friends. Even though our best friends are on a different island, they are always willing to listen on the phone to us (I mean me) yammer for hours. It still amazes me how quickly time passes when we are with them. We have had the pleasure of forming such a deep bond with Mark and Alissa and it is the one thing that singlehandedly brings us the most joy here in Tonga.

Here are some pictures I stole from my friend Mandy’s blog. She takes really great pictures! Thanks Mandy J

Tanakitu'unga 2013

Well, Ryan and I had our final day of school with our students this year. Our ‘tanaki-tu‘unga’ (graduation celebration) was fun and emotional all at the same time. Tevita worked hard to organize the graduation. Parents were really touched that he took the time to plan a formal ceremony. He even asked if Ryan and I would make certificates for the students. Students sang a variety of Christmas songs in English and also performed their Tongan ‘lakalaka’ dance. It was truly a day of celebration.

Tevita’s speech made me cry. He just talked so passionately about how proud he was of our school this year. He pointed out how strong our team was with all teachers, parents, and students working together. The PTA chair echoed this. Many people talked about how they feel like this is the new approach in our village focused on education and opportunity for students. Ry and I are just so grateful to have been placed here. Teaching these kids in this community is a pure joy. I wouldn’t give this experience for anything. Not even hot showers J Well, not today anyway.

Here are some pics from the week:

Before the ceremony, I had the idea to make the Tongan candy necklaces to give to our class 6 students at the ceremony.  My “happy” helper went to town to get me the stuff, and then helped me clean up the mess I made trying to figure out how to wrangle candy into plastic wrap and still have it look pretty. It took awhile, but we got ‘em done.

Malaysian twix bars, Indonesian snickers, toffees from Thailand, are we worldly or what?! 

Using the flour to weigh down the cling wrap. Whoops! Luckily my husband was HAPPY to clean it up.

Notice the change from day to night in the sequence of these pictures? This was NOT a fast process...

Tongan graduations are a little different from American graduations. First, students’ final grades are read out loud to the audience. Then, each grade level is ‘sorted’. The teacher ranks the students from worst to first according to their scores. This is very hard for the students at the bottom and many of them cried when they saw they were last. But the students on top are joyful as they are mightily rewarded with cash and gifts. After students are ranked, family and teachers are given the opportunity to bring gifts up to reward the students. Some kids get a ton of cash, others get a ton of candy necklaces. Ryan and I gave every student in class 6 a candy necklace. This was so fun to do, especially since the kids who didn’t do well didn’t get anything. Different, huh?

Getting ready for the program to start.

Our PTA chairperson, Maliu. He is so passionate about education and really inspires our whole village to  embrace innovation at school. He is such a joy to work with. He has asked to be in charge of the library and computer lab when we leave. So cool.

Make money, money. Make money money. 

When I went to give candy necklaces I came away with twice as many as I gave. Let's just say after that every kid wanted to sit by me.

Happy Thanksgiving

Holy crap, have we really missed two Thanksgivings in America? Happy Turkey Day to all of you. We hope you are enjoying that good American food for us. J We miss it sooo much!

What did we do for Thanksgiving? Well, let’s see.

We went to school to lead singing practice for the kids’ end of the year program. By we, I mean me. The kids are singing five Christmas songs in English and a rendition of “Goodbye to You” (not sure if that is the real title or not) from The Sound of Music. It is so fun to watch them work so hard at singing the English songs. Every night, gaggles of kids sit on our fence with us practicing memorizing the words. They are so nervous and excited to have their parents see them sing in English. We are really looking forward to the performance next Wednesday.

Afterwards the kids do a Tongan version of double dutch with Tongan songs and old jump ropes tied together. Then we had contests to see who could set the high mark for jumps in a row. Afterwards the winner, our favorite kid Laea, challenged Ryan to get up there. I was delighted (and very, very surprised) to watch my husband, barefoot and wearing his skirt, smash the kids’ record all the while singing his own double dutch anthem…My bologna has a first name, its O-S-C-A-R…Another proud moment for me. Ryan later revealed his beloved swim coach Wags used to make him do jump rope until his calves bled (his words, not mine) before he even got in the water, revealing the secret to his one coordinated athletic endeavor.

Some of our favorite girls intensely studying for the big XMas sing-off.

For our big Thanksgiving dinner, we ate with our principal Tevita and the other teachers. They whipped up a delicious lunch of otai (juice.) This juice was fresh crushed pineapples—harvested that morning from our patch, sugar, and the pièce de résistance cold water. Our mouths were watering as we couldn’t wait to dig in. But before we could drink they told us to wait,  it wasn’t finished and they needed to add the secret ingredient—crushed soda crackers. Yep. Crush those things right up and then it’s a meal! With a bit less enthusiasm we still asked for a drink, but they couldn’t find cups, so Tevita had the kids go scavenge for old soda bottles, then cut the top off and used the bottoms for cups instead. I tried not to think about where the kids found these bottles as we ate. Honestly, it was pretty good even though it was weird as hell.

After some more singing, we returned home to prep our own Thanksgiving feast. I made steak, green bean casserole, and pumpkin pie muffins.  I am jealous of any of you who got to just open a can to make your pumpkin pie J I ran out of butter, so I asked Ry to run to our village store to get more. He returned laughing. The guy working the store told Ryan he thought he had some butter. He ran into the house and brought this out:

Yep, that is the butter straight from his own fridge since the store was out. Thanksgiving spirit is always alive and well in Tonga J While I slaved in the boiling hot kitchen, Ryan relaxed outside with Lucky. He gave the dog a very strange haircut. (He thinks it looks awesome, I think it looks like the dog gnawed off huge chunks of fur.) The food was such a treat, even if we had to eat it dripping in sweat J

A Tongan pumpkin, that's right, everything from scratch out here!

We planned to go in and eat dinner with all the other PCV’s, but we had already committed to helping the people at the Wesleyan Church prepare for a huge fundraiser.  But we had a great holiday in the village. We talked about how thankful we are for all of you…. our wonderful friends and family. Your love and support has gotten us through some pretty low days here in ‘ol Tonga. Thank you all for everything you have done to help us! Love you all. Happy Thanksgiving!!!!!

Homemade pumpkin pie muffin, in all its glory!

The kids collecting flowers for the big fundraiser.

The worst sweet tooth in the world strikes again...

End of year BBQ!

Our principal has been feeling a little under the weather lately. So, he needed to stay home from school for a few days. After the first day of wild chaos, the other two teachers decided to have a “kai tunu” (picnic/BBQ) at school to occupy the kids.  It was a WONDERFUL idea.

Here are some pics:

Step 1: Chop up 20 kilos of frozen chicken, put in big ‘ole pot.

Step 2: Who wants hot dogs?

Step 3: Put pot on top of large fire built under the mango tree. Fire hazard? Probably.

Step 4: Have a kick butt dance party in a classroom while the food cooks.

Step 5: Put the food into small individual tinfoil packets.

Step 6: Wait patiently for everyone to get food and…..

Step 7: Dig in!!!

This is the other married couple we teach with. They are both so creative and work hard to give the kids different experiences. The whole day was so well organized….. they made cooking and feeding 50 screaming children look effortless J