For more island adventures see Tonga Time Archive

January 21, 2007

We are having our first quiet Sunday in the Kingdom of Tonga after months and months of preparation. Last week, we finished making adjustments to various accounts such as phones, credit cards and insurance. We prepared the house and lined up friends and family to assist us in taking care of whatever affairs we couldn’t attend to via the Internet. Thank goodness for the World Wide Web. I don’t know how people made ventures like this before the Internet. Although technology is a little behind here on this little island, we can still stay connected for business and pleasure.

A freak snowstorm 4 days before our departure tried to confound our departure preparations, but we all kept our cool, took a few moments to enjoy the rare joy of building a snowman in Western Oregon, then adjusted our schedule and continued on. Despite the weather, our friends, Diana and Jay took our dog, Annie, to their home, and our former neighbor, Dan, bought our truck and drove it away in the snow.

The weather continued to be unusually cold, staying in the teens and twenties until after we left on Monday. But thanks to wonderful friends, we were able to take care of virtually everything before we left. Cliff even cleaned his office and workshop!

Early Monday morning, our friend, Sandy B., drove us to the airport. She also spent her whole weekend helping us pack and clean our house. The flight was short to LA where we spent a wonderful 36 hours with Cliff’s Uncle, Aunt and cousins, Jeff and JoAnne. Uncle Arnold was celebrating his 88^th birthday. He is spryer than ever despite the fact that he just completed treatment for throat cancer. Even though we had to complete some last minute business to leave the country, we had a wonderful visit full of laughs, stories and good food.

Tuesday evening, we arrived at the airport in plenty of time – time enough to ponder the reality that we were really going to Tonga! Still unable to fathom what we were embarking on, we hopped on the plane and pretended to sleep in the cattle car - I mean plane - over the next 10 hours with a SCREAMING baby in the seat ahead of us. (This is not the best example of Jen’s infinite compassion for children. The editor.)

A short stopover in Apia, Western Samoa then back on the plane for a quick hour flight to our final destination! Air traffic control cleared us right into the airport with no holding. This is mainly due to the fact that there are only two or so flights a week in the Kingdom, so traffic is generally light. The King has his own Beech 18, which he flies for pleasure around the island.

Landing in the South Pacific reminded Jennifer so much of St. Croix, Virgin Islands. The heat was sticky but welcome after freezing our tails off in Oregon. After an eventless pass through customs, Tahila, a school board member, emerged out of the crowd to meet us. She was so happy to see us. She loaded our luggage in her minivan and whisked us away from the open-air airport PACKED with people. A long leisurely drive through the countryside (a relative term in on a 10 x 15 mile island) led us close to the Ocean of Light School for which we made this mammoth trek. Tahila stopped in, introducing us to the 2 principals (high school and primary). We had a jovial conversation, all of us excited for the start of the new school year.

Tahila drove us to our temporary house, stopping at a shop (so much like Africa) to pick up some crackers, butter, water and milk to hold us over until we could get settled and oriented. Our temporary house is a bit rough around the edges. It is old with screen doors that don’t fit anymore, questionable water, cold water only, showers included, and a THIN foam-covered plywood board for a bed. But it is clean and neat. The native Tongan neighbor’s daughter, Emma, is very sweet. She brings us fresh bananas every day and practices her English on us. The dogs, pigs and chickens are very loud throughout the night but seem to take care of our compost – a great help since we have no place to put our garbage as of yet (and neither do most of the islanders). One has to admit that the puppies are adorable. The only problem is that they are EVERYWHERE, and the mommy dogs look pretty tired.

We spent a few hours resting and settling in before we called Ma’a. He works for the board member, Sohrab, who hired us. Ma’a has been wonderful. He spent time on Thursday and Friday helping us to open a bank account, get cell phone service and buy food. He showed us our permanent apartment and took us to look at cars to buy. Did I say buy a car? Jennifer insisted on not getting a car or TV while on the island in attempt to simplify our lives and focus on the family and community. It appears as though walking may be difficult in some situations. Maybe we can still avoid the TV….

Everyone has been so welcoming and helpful. It is nice to relax briefly before we start teaching.