July 12, 2007

We are finally getting some rest and relaxation this break. It has taken us a while to slow down and kick back. Monday night, Jen and Cliff went on a date, and Kira spent the evening watching her friend, Nisyola, practice for a dance competition. Kira was happy to have Nisy’s company for the next 2 days while Jennifer and Cliff sorted through curriculum books, read their novels and played cards with the girls. We all enjoyed an evening walk on the waterfront that ended in a long conversation and drinks at a German friend’s restaurant/inn.

We had planned to take an overnight trip to a nearby island, Eua, to do a little hiking and whale-watching, however, on closer examination, the boat schedule did not allow for enough time to make the trip worth our efforts (curiously the boat left our island midday and returned at 5 AM the next morning). Instead, we decided to spend the money we would have spent on the trip to purchase masks and snorkels for Kira and Cliff, so they didn’t have to share Jennifer’s and could all go together.

Wednesday, we purchased the snorkel equipment and headed out to the King’s beach. We spent a very quiet afternoon playing with our new equipment. From sunset to dusk, we watched game fish jump in the air as they cut through schools of bait fish, jumping for their lives. On the return drive across the island, the sky was filled with flying foxes coming out for the night. Kira cooked us dinner (a multi-course affair replete with menu), and we finished the night with a few more hands of hearts. Jennifer got the queen of spades for the fourth time, but couldn’t capture the rest of the hearts and shoot the moon.

It is raining right now, so our plans to go to the festival and sea kayaking may not pan out today. We’ll see. Meanwhile, here is a funny story about a Chinese falakaloa:

There are several little street-side shops in Hofoa, the little village we walk through on our way to school. The shops appear all over the island and all carry the same items – chips, cookies, candy, corned beef (Spam), shampoo, diapers, juice drinks, soda (not Coca-Cola, amazingly) and maybe a few other sundry items. Almost everyone in Tonga speaks Tongan and English, so purchases at these shops is usually quite simple. One of the biggest in Hofoa is owned by a Chinese man and his wife. The irony is that he doesn’t seem to speak Chinese, Tongan or English. We visit his shop more for the show than anything else, because he never gets our requests correct – never!

Case 1: Twisties and playing cards

Krizia (the Year-of-Service Student accompanying Kira and Jennifer home): May I have some Twisties? (This is a junk food snack like Cheese Puffs.)

The Shopkeeper gives a blank look.

Krizia: Twisties. (She points to the bag behind the counter, which states “Twisties.”)

The shopkeeper walks to where she is pointing and grabs a bag that says Chips.

Krizia: No, Twisties. (She points again)

The shopkeeper grabs a bag of cookies on the other side of the Twisties bag.

Krizia and Kira: No, Twisties, the yellow and red bag! That one! (We are all pointing and trying to guide him to the only yellow and red bag, the only bag that says Twisties in big letters across the front.)

We are all thinking: This guy stands in his little shop all day, every day, selling only a small repertoire of merchandise. Twisties is one of his biggest sellers, and he doesn’t know what it is! At last, after touching every snack bag, he finally hits on the one we want. We all cheer and say thank you.

On a slight aside, Cliff had a similar experience in buying a bag of candy for his students. Knowing the shopkeeper’s foibles, he brought an empty bag of candy and learned that people call candy “lollies” here. Cliff also knows a little Chinese. When he showed the Shopkeeper the bag and asked for lollies, the shopkeeper pointed to everything except what Cliff wanted. Cliff tried for several minutes, in English, Tongan and Chinese, then finally left in astonishment, hoping for more success elsewhere. If Twisties are not the shopkeeper’s top-selling item, lollies surely are, but the shopkeeper didn’t seem to recognize his customer’s request, even with sample in hand previously purchased from his store! Amazing.

OK, you would think we had enough by now to change shopping habits, but Krizia, Kira and Jennifer originally visited the store, because Jennifer wanted to buy some playing cards for a math game in Class 5:

Krizia: Do you have playing cards?

Shopkeeper gives a blank look.

Krizia: Cards. (Jennifer gesturing in the background. Krizia even tries to say some things in her broken Tongan)

The Shopkeeper is still blank.

Jennifer: The game…cards…king, queen, ace… (She looks around to see if they are visible across the counter.)

Shopkeeper still gawks

Krizia spots the cards: There! Playing cards!

The shopkeeper grabs a few things close to where she is pointing; then, after several attempts and our encouragement, he hits on the right package.

Wait, it is not over:

There are 2 kinds of cards. One has more than 52 cards and the other is covered with Chinese writing.

Jennifer: Is this a regular deck? King, Queen, Ace and so on?

The Shopkeeper says something indecipherable.

Krizia spots a student from our school playing marbles across the road: Hey, maybe he can translate for us.

Anything to save us from this tortuous task, we approach him and ask for his help. Begrudgingly, he follows us back to the shop, clearly thinking that playing marbles is way more pressing than translating for a helpless group of palangis (foreigners), even if they are teachers. We ask him to find out if these are just regular cards with the usual face cards and so on. He asks in Tongan. The shopkeeper responds and the student says “yeah,” then looks at us, waiting for permission to return to his game. After profuse thanks and appreciation, we relieve him of his duty and buy the cards. That was too painful for a simple purchase! We walk away laughing.

But that is not all!

Case 2: calling card

On our way to school, Krizia asked to stop to buy a calling card for her cell phone. We stop at the Chinese shop:

Krizia: malo e’leilei.

Krizia asks in clear Tongan: May I have two $5 pa’anga TCC cards? She puts $10 pa’anga on the counter (pa’anga is the Tongan currency)

The shopkeeper takes the money, gives her one card then walks into the back room mumbling something. We look at each other: He mush be going to his stock room to get the other card.

He comes back with $5 pa’anga change.

Krizia looks at Jennifer confused and Jennifer returns the look.

Krizia: TWO cards. She says it in Tongan again.

Shopkeeper: Oh, he reaches down in the same place as the first card and gets her a second card.

Krizia, laughing: Malo (thank you)

Krizia to Jennifer: Didn’t I say 2 cards?

Jennifer: I don’t know much Tongan, but caught every word you said and you clearly asked for 2 $5 cards.

We laugh as we walk away. How can Krizia’s Tongan be better than his? She has lived here only 4 or 5 months!

Case 3: acrobat tickets

We are visiting a friend just down the street from the Chinese shop. We want to buy another ticket to the Chinese acrobat show. We understand they are available almost everywhere. Cliff suggests that the Chinese shop might sell tickets. Prostin is Cliff’s student, a Tongan fluent in her mother tongue, as well as in English. We are all thinking that the Tongans in the village seem to buy things from him. He seems to have a pretty good business. Maybe Prostin can speak intelligibly to the shopkeeper. So, Prostin goes with a sample ticket in hand as a prop.

Kira accompanies her: “I gotta see this. This is going to be funny.”

The conversation went something like this:

Prostin: Malo’eleilei. (In Tongan) Do you sell these tickets?

The Shopkeeper looks at the ticket: Yes, I went to the show last night!

Prostin: Great. We would like to go tonight. Do you sell the tickets?

Shopkeeper: No, I already went.

Prostin: No, do you SELL the tickets?

Shopkeeper: I buy it from you?

Prostin: No! We want to go tonight. We need another ticket. Can we buy one from YOU?

Shopkeeper: No, I went last night.

Prostin: Please, WE want to buy a ticket from YOU.

Shopkeeper: I buy it from you. How much?

Prostin: Can WE buy one?!

This went on for a few minutes, but I will spare you the agony. Obviously, we didn’t get a ticket from him! Does this rival Abbot and Costello’s “Who’s on First” routine?

Case 4: sanitary napkins

I will preface this story with a brief interlude. We knew the correct terminology for sanitary napkin. We learned it on our first day in Tonga. We were at a fried chicken fast food restaurant. Kira asked the woman behind the counter for a napkin to wipe her hands, and the women’s jaw hit the floor. We quickly found out she was supposed to ask for a tissue. Poor Kira!

Krizia is a glutton for punishment and the Seretans were up for a good laugh so we stopped at the Chinese shop, so Krizia could buy some sanitary napkins. I won’t give you the word-by word dialogue, but I will tell you that the shopkeeper’s wife was there, too. We thought that this might be helpful. Maybe she could understood better; at very least, she would know what Krizia was talking about. So, Krizia asked them for napkins. Krizia went on to explain about women’s pain every month and pointing to the diapers that she could see on the shelf. After about 5 minutes, Krizia’s voice getting louder and louder through the village and the Seretans in uncontrollable fits of laughter, the man shopkeeper figured it out! He explained to the women, and everyone laughed.

As Krizia likes to say: Never again…

Whenever, we need a good laugh, we stop at the shop and attempt a purchase. He even recognizes us and smiles as we pass by!

July 8, 2007

Introduction

I apologize for the long intermission between entries. School has kept us very busy. Jen has been tutoring a handful of Korean students in English throughout the term. So, after staff meetings and 2 English lessons per week, there is not much free time left. Although Cliff lives in the computer room, Jennifer has been there only often enough to write and send a few pressing emails. Besides, despite Cliff’s residence in the computer lab, he has virtually no access to the Internet during work hours due to student use. (Do not fear their overworking; the students are not using it for school work purposes, rather Bebo, Myspace, email, etc.)

Nonetheless, we are happy and healthy, especially since we are in the middle of a 2 week break. We planned a few trips, but upon further inspection, we found the prices have risen so much we decided to remain focused on activities on our own little island. We are between Term 2 and Term 3, so we will need to do lesson planning for the third term, and Cliff must prepare for the final term during which the Cambridge examinations are conducted. Otherwise, we have our time to ourselves for beach visits, walks, socializing, a few errands and lots of reading. Jennifer continues to bake and cook for friends and family (still mostly banana bread ;-). Cliff has even taken to baking his own non-wheat scones and n-w pancakes. As you might guess, such specialized foods are not available in Tonga, except if they happen to be wrapped in leaves and baked in the ground. Cliff has become quite skilled in his new baking efforts!

The weather has been a partly cloudy, but a mild temperature. We had a one big rain storm and a few night-time showers, which we desperately needed, to fill our water tank.

So, what have we been so busy doing? Well, I will try to tell it all. I will break it into sections for ease of reading. So, sit back and enjoy the tour. Please note: there are lots of new photos in the Photo Gallery to go along with this narration.

School

Cliff and Jennifer spent a lot of time and effort giving assessments, recording the results, writing detailed mid-year reports and conferencing with parents. Thank goodness this routine occurs only twice per year and must be conducted while all the usual school activities continued.

Jennifer spontaneously entered her students’ “Boxtown” project in a contest sponsored by the government (for those non-teachers this is a paper and glue model of buildings, streets and accoutrement representing a proposed city plan). The contest was meant to include citizen participation in the planning and redevelopment of downtown Nuku’alofa after the riots last November. The officials were so impressed with the students’ models and knowledge that they created a special award just for Jen’s class! The class won $150. Her class made a total of 6 models. The officials also awarded $25 certificates to each student who helped make the best of the six models! And every student in the class received a t-shirt. The class was thrilled. We are still trying to figure out the best way to spend our money; the students are very conscientious in this matter.

As soon as that was over, the whole primary school deepened their focus on art and put the kids to work producing masterpieces up and down all the walls of the school. In the same way the primary school ended the First Term with a Science Exhibition, it ended the Second Term with an Art Exhibition. Students were proud to show their art to their parents and relatives. Lyndsey Fifita, the Class 4 teacher, and her family helped us all in making it a fabulous show, with multi-media presentations and all! She and her family are truly creative and always willing to assist.

This creativity was also born out in another big contest at the end of the term. A few weeks before the Art Exhibition, students in the primary and high school joined another Tongatapu-wide (our island group) contest sponsored by the Solid Waste Commission in effort to bring attention to the terrible littering and rubbish problem on the island. They had the unique idea to create a fashion show contest to see who could make the most imaginative clothes and accessories out of recycled and rubbish materials. Ocean of Light students dominated the scene and took most of the generous cash prizes. Kira helped create one of the winning costumes. Again, pictures and comments are in the Photo Gallery.

By now, Jennifer is counting the days to the end of the term. The activities have all been fun, but have taken a lot of energy for everyone involved. Jennifer taught one day with no voice. It was the quietest day her class experienced to date! Maybe she should lose her voice more often – not a hard do with the poor acoustics in the classrooms. (The cinder block, bare-walled rooms are impossible to hear in, or be heard.)

Cliff finished out his semester by designing and administering mid-year exams modeled on the Cambridge model. Fortunately, the electricity held for all the practical exams (unlike last term), so the mechanics of the process went smoothly. The form of the Cambridge exams, however, leaves much to be desired. The whole rote, rigid process reminds me of Tom Brown’s Schooldays, not exactly a modern alternative educational experience.

Jennifer and Cliff were also evaluated on their teaching performance. They both scored at the top of the highest bracket (Cliff is still arguing, because we did not get a perfect score! Some habits die hard.)

Two days of parent conferences concluded the term’s administrative duties. The last week of school included a few presentations, games and parties for all. Jennifer tried to play some sports with her students, and re-injured her leg muscle. She had been diligently running 4 times per week at dawn along the beautiful waterfront road. It seems she is an older lady than she cares to admit and will have to give the leg a bit more rest.

Cliff finally left the car at home and joined Kira and Jennifer on their walks to and from school. Although the walk is through the wetland and a busy village, the fresh air and exercise does us all good. (Cliff is not always so sure when battling the garbage and vehicle fumes but has to admit it is a better way to start and finish the day.)

Events

Somewhere in all that excitement were a few other notable events. A small Chinese band of acrobats and musicians presented as part of a good will tour of Tonga. There is a large population of Chinese immigrants here. They have set up “convenience stores” called falekaloa in every community. Although everyone frequents their shops and other businesses, many Tongans ridicule them. (Unfortunately, it is not much different from other parts of the world exhibiting discriminatory practices. The Chinese people are industrious and quite successful, which is resented. The Chinese government is taking care of its own self interest, again a fairly typical model of modern society.) The Tongan government has apparently encouraged their presence in hopes of boosting the economy. They are hoping Chinese money will help rebuild Nuku’alofa, as well. Aside from the political commentary, the acrobats and musicians put on a great show, a rare type of event for us in Tonga. We attended with lots of our friends and had a grand time.

Another event was the Trash to Fashion Show and the School’s Art Exhibition, which I told the reader about previously.

Rosie, a Class 6 student, who lives few houses from us, often accompanies us on our school walk. We try to pick up as many friends along the way as we can. When the Year of Service students are staying at our house, we sometimes accumulate a group totaling about 10 students and teachers. However, we usually encounter one or two along the way and have a quiet walk, greeting all the public school kids and villagers walking the other way.

Back to Rosie: Her father, an elderly man, had kidney troubles and was house-bound for as long as we have known her. Unfortunately, about a month ago, he passed away. We learned the Tongan traditions, dressed in black for the week and visited the family to say prayers and offer our condolences and a loaf of Jennifer’s famous banana bread.

Later in the week of Rosie’s father’s passing, Kira and some Class 6 students attended the wake. It was the first time she ever experienced anything like that. It was very moving for her. She kept saying “the whole house felt so sad.”

Upon leaving Rosie’s house, the family sent us home with about one hundred cream buns and a whole box of bottled water as a gift! Ironically, people attend funerals in droves, because food is served. Any occasion when people serve banquets (weddings, birthday parties, Bar Mitzvahs ;-), the hosts find that they are serving many people they have never even met before! Any excuse to eat is a good one; Tongans love to eat. (Speaking of Bar Mitzvahs, we thought we had seen it all in our travels. But the other day when out walking in Tonga, we were passed by a tall, very white, slightly plump jogger wearing a yarmulke! We could have been in Brooklyn… except for the tropical backdrop.)

On a happier note, in the interest of fully experiencing the people and the culture, we attended the King’s Free Wesleyan Church on the first Sunday in July. We didn’t realize the first Sunday is an extremely long service of over two and a half hours. Surprisingly, the church is not much to look at or kept in fine repair. However, the King was there as well as the Queen Mum and other royalty. We were not invited to sit next to them though. The service seemed traditional (or as much so as we could tell) and the singing beautiful.

Last weekend, the Peace Corps celebrated the 4^th of July at the Director’s house. It was a big picnic with people from all around the world. We brought our badminton set and played a few games. Jeffrey, the Director, showed us his fabulous pictures of all the places he has traveled and worked. We talked a bit about Africa as he read about our sister Sarah’s (and brother Paul’s) new station in Southern Sudan. (You can read all about it in the centerfold of Time Magazine and Newsweek!) We also entertained Jeffery and one of our Peace Corps friends to a home cooked meal at our house. We shared stories about world travels and a love of books. We lent a book to Jeffery and Jennifer found some donated books at the Peace Corps for her classroom. Kira got in on the action, book-worm that she is. Beth, our volunteer friend, let Kira take some from the stock of donated books as well. The books were moldy and musty from being stored, and poor Beth is highly allergic to molds and dust. She hung in there and was exceptionally patient despite having an attack.

There is a Heilala Festival named after a very small, but beautiful, flower this week. It is a national holiday on Thursday, and there should be several interesting activities we hope to attend.

R and R

We have managed to visit the beach every Sunday in the recent past. It is a quiet day because Tongans are busy going to church all day. Also, it is a bit cool by their standards (Jen will admit that she wore a sweater a couple times), so Tongans aren’t swimming much this time a year (i.e., winter where the frigid temperatures sometimes dip into the low 60’s).

We also treated ourselves to a meal or two at the local tourist café called Friends Café. There are a number of references to the Friendly Islands, because that is what Captain Cook called them when he landed here. According to legend, the natives appeared friendly, because they were entertaining him while they were deliberating who was going to eat him! He departed before they stopped bickering, so he only experienced their “friendly” side. Lucky him …until he landed in Hawaii! That story came to a different and more final end....

Nonetheless, Friend’s Café subdued any momentary cravings for the tourist scene and “palangi” (white folk) food. We enjoyed people watching as we sat somewhat dazed. Such a common occurrence and setting in the States seemed, even in this short time, foreign to us. We associate our daily lives with Tongan’s so much already, if we were to look in the mirror, I think we would be surprised that we are white!

We have all been enjoying a new level of cooperation. Kira experienced some drastic living conditions for a week about 5 or 6 weeks ago. She was enjoying “princess” status in the manner only she thought she deserved. Much to Cliff and Jennifer’s consternation and badgering, Kira did not see the value in helping one’s fellow man, or Mother…unless there was something in it for her. No man, or child, is an island, but if Kira thought she was, we were going to give her a chance to experience what that might really mean. After a week of cooking, cleaning and washing clothes on her own and without our beneficence, she realized that doing things together is more fun, even chores. Since then, Kira has turned a new leaf. She jumps up to help when asked, and even before she is asked! Cliff and Jennifer are enjoying their “new daughter,” and Kira is enjoying the feeling of being helpful and thoughtful. Yahoo! Google! Over another developmental hurdle we go. Heck, Kira even memorized all her times tables. What next?

Yesterday, we decided that we needed to do some real vacationing, so we took the long walk into Nuku’alofa with our cart. (We brought to Tonga the Burley stroller/bike trailer that Kira rode in as a baby, so we could carry our books, etc. to school every day.) We did our weekly market run for fresh vegetables and fruits at the big market in town. Then, we made a few other stops at the playground and the visitor’s center to find the schedule for the Heilali Festival this Thursday and information about trips to Eua, a nearby island. The day started out overcast, but was clear, bright and beautiful by the time we returned home. So, we broke with tradition and tried a beach on the western tip of the island. It is touted to be some of the best snorkeling in the island group, so we borrowed some gear and ventured out in the late afternoon.

Jen and Kira found it to be very beautiful, but not better than the reef in front of our house. So, we made it a short visit, and then drove to the next beach where there is a little resort with a covered patio, tables, pool table and food. We played a game or two of pool, watched the sun set (sorry, Grandma; no green flash) and drove home.

On the way home, we were honored with the sight of dozens and dozens of flying foxes (fruit bats) flying over the car and landing in some trees along side the road. We saw some bats during our last vacation in the rainforest. We sometimes see them flying high over the school if we work until dusk. We have never seen them in these numbers or so close. They were crawling on the branches and swooping over the road.

Today, we went to a Mormon service to again experience another aspect of the Tongan society. The Tongan family and socialization is tied to their church. We were interested in the Tongan version with all the singing, but we experienced the English service, which most of the missionaries attended. Cliff had on such an official uniform (black slacks, a white shirt and tie) the missionaries thought he was a member. There was visible disappointment and dismay at their discovering he was not of the church. All the Mormon churches are clean, white cinderblock and well appointed facilities. (In fact, many Tongans “become” Mormon during their school years to attend the best equipped facilities. After graduating, many return to the previous fold.) Maybe next time we will try a local raucous Tongan church. Of all ironies, after the service, we broke with Tonga’s Sunday tradition and drove directly to OUR true place of worship, the beach!