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!!!
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