For more island adventures see Tonga Time Archive

March 25, 2007

Jen had a great week this week. Her students finally started to grasp what is expected of them in class. That is not to say that they are all perfect angels, but Jen doesn’t have to jump up and down so much to get them to do what they are supposed to in order to complete an assignment or activity.

Cliff and Kira, on the other hand, did not have such a great week. After Kira’s fever last weekend, she recovered only to get sick again. We think it was food poisoning because Cliff and Kira both ate some prepared food that may have been tainted. They both stayed home from school on Tuesday, unable to move. That was bad enough. The next day was a Baha’i holiday (the school is Baha’i), so we had the day off. Everyone in the Baha’i community went to a beautiful beach to celebrate their new year. Kira managed to get well enough to go with Jen, but Cliff stayed home, dead to the world.

Add to that the fact that it is Cliff’s favorite time of year – tax time! Doing taxes for our two companies and personal accounts is difficult enough while living in the United States. This year, he has to do it all while 14,000 miles away. Thank goodness Dan and Judd helped to save the day by processing the bulk of the forms from home base (thank you, thank you, thank you). Cliff occasionally reminds Jen of Charles Shultz’ Linus with a cloud over his head. But, in spite of it all, Cliff has maintained relatively good spirits (I would say, “exceptionally good,” editor du jour) and accomplished his usual miracles.

The good news is that we have only two more weeks of school this term, then a two week break. This will give us time to get ahead on our lesson planning for next term and spend our days doing some touristy things and relaxing. We have been dreaming up various activities with which to pass the time. Stay tuned, and we will tell you all about it!

For any of you that plan to visit, we have a few other two-week term breaks. Or if you want to visit while we are teaching, we will make time to show you around and line you up with activities to do on your own. (Many of the travelers will be drawn into service teaching the rank and file.) The weather is getting better all the time as we slowly pull out of the extra hot, summer rainy season.

We had such a torrential downpour on Friday night that our water pipe was ripped off the wall and went crashing to the ground. Not a huge deal except that it represents our primary water source. That pipe collects water for our water tank for all our drinking, bathing, etc. We lay in bed during the pouring rain, listening to our drinking water splash onto the ground instead of into our tank. Oh sa, hopefully, it will be fixed before the next big rain storm. At least one of the pipes still works.

We braved the local market on Saturday. We usually get everything we need (not everything we might want, a la Mick J) during the week, but Jen wanted to buy some birthday presents from the local craftsmen. It is on very a busy road with lots of traffic and no real parking. It is an experience, wandering through the make-shift booths that are mostly filled with Goodwill/Salvation Army-type goods. But, there are occasional treasures. Jen acquired a lava lava (a bright piece of cloth wrapped about the waist as a skirt, worn by many Tongan women and men as well). Kira bought a little purse made of ngatu (material made of pounded mulberry bark (tapa) that is painted with natural brown and tan dyes). We hear the women pounding the tapa almost every day when we walk to school or around town.

Kira invited a friend from school to the house on Saturday. So, while Cliff finished up some work, Jen made… wait for it… banana bread! It seems she is making banana bread every weekend. As you might imagine, bananas are plentiful. Jen found a great recipe in her trusty old Moosewood Cookbook that makes a very hearty loaf good for breakfasts (and little girls who could use some extra nourishment in their diet). The loaves also make good gifts for all our wonderful friends who are always giving us food.

When it came out of the oven, Jen, Kira and her friend, Layla, walked out on the tidal flats. They saw all kinds of creatures – sea cucumbers, star fish, crabs, fish, sea snake, coral, sponges and so on. They went all the way out to the edge of the coral reef where it drops off into the ocean (the site of the famous Tongan trench, which is purported to be about 25,000 feet deep), a very beautiful site.

Please keep those emails coming. We love to hear from all of you. And with the speed of our Internet connection if you send one now, we might get it before the end of our stay! Tell us of your news; what may not seem exciting to you has a very different flavor on a 10 by 12 island. We always enjoy keeping in contact and hearing your friendly thoughts.

March 18, 2007

Two entries in one weekend! Wow! I just had a few other thoughts that I wanted to add.

Kira recovered from her fever in time to make cookies for our guests. The Year-of-Service girls fully enjoyed the pizza and cookies. They shared what it was like to live with Tongan families. They quite enjoyed it even though one of them is living in relatively primitive conditions. The one thing that caught my attention is that they eat umu (meat, root crop like manioc and tarot leaves cooked in a pit) every night! I thought it was the special Sunday Dinner. There is not a lot of variety in the stores, but the choices are not THAT slim. Jen has been pretty proud of herself for all the meals she has been able to create out of relatively few ingredients (she has done an incredible job of keeping us healthy). The family is not in danger of starving. We talked into the night, enjoying their youthfulness and life stories.

Baking has been a great outlet, even if it hasn’t been great for our waistlines. Last weekend, a couple friends were baking for a “bake sale” to raise money for a youth group. Kira and Jen made chocolate chip cookie bars (without the chips! We frosted them instead). Not knowing what to expect, we all met at our friends’ house. After chatting for a bit, one of them drove off in her car, gathered up a bunch of neighborhood kids and brought them back to her house. Everyone (including us) bought platefuls of goodies and proceeded to eat them on the spot. This all occurred in a period of less than an hour. That was the Bake Sale! They raised $51 Tongan! Not bad! I have never attended a bake sale like that, but it was sure fun!

March 17, 2007

Isn’t today Saint Patrick’s Day? We don’t know many Irish in Tonga to check this fact, and we didn’t notice anyone decked out in green today. Actually, we have been in the house all day. It is Saturday. Jen usually does some baking with the illusion that we can have some nice baked goods for breakfast (and heat up the kitchen because it is only about 90 degrees). Pretty soon, she finds herself doing all the household chores. We don’t have the time or energy to do much during the week (except for Jen) and shouldn’t do them on Sunday because it is a “day of rest” (for many Tongans there are many days of rest). Needless to say, the baked goodies ended up being lunch.

Today, we chose not to go to the beach, because Kira had a very high fever yesterday, and it is not yet down to normal. But we did promise the Year of Service students they could come for homemade pizza tonight. One is an 18 year old from Chicago and the other is a college student from Australia. They both volunteer at the school and live with local families. One has come down with terrible allergies. Jen can’t be thankful enough that her allergies have not reared their ugly heads here. Keep your fingers crossed they give her a rest this year. Hmmm, maybe the tropics aren’t so bad after all. There are no hazelnut trees, cedars or grass fields!

Jen is finding her class a little easier these days. The kids are beginning to figure out her expectations and routine a bit more. The school building is relatively new. The design is not bad, but it is all cinder block, so it echoes like crazy and the acoustics are horrible. It is hard to talk over the shuffling chairs and outside noise (as well as the inside noise!). She often comes home from school with little or no voice. Her class presented an assembly (dramas, songs, dancing, poems and so on) for all the parents, staff and students of the primary school. This “honor” is bestowed on each successive class throughout the year. This is not Jen’s forte, but she stepped up to the plate. It went pretty well. It was a good learning opportunity for the students, because they did not want to take the time to practice… Next time, they said they should practice more. Tune in next term.

Cliff has adjusted his expectations for the students and school drastically, but with much remorse. There is quite a bit of disappointment with the students’ lack of motivation and basic skill level. There are always a few shining stars though. Cliff really likes all the students, but enjoys the motivated students and continues to take advantage of the opportunity to teach himself programming… even if the students are not learning much. He continues to miraculously manage our accounts and affairs online over an Internet connection that sometimes seems like snail-mail. We talk about virtues a lot with the students and consequently try to live it as role models. Well, patience is a virtue!

Kira is excelling in Class 5 (4^th grade). Jen enjoys having her in class. She is one of the brightest students, with the exception of spelling. Jen has declared that this is Kira’s year to learn spelling. (Last year was the year to learn multiplication tables.) Kira learned about caves and Karst topography the first half of the term. Now she is doing lots of science experiments in preparation for the Science Exhibition in a couple weeks. In the class assembly, Kira performed a hula dance with some friends, recited one of her poems and a story about being a water drop in the water cycle. She also participated in a skit and sang 2 songs with the whole class.

The weather is still sticky and occasionally rainy, but nevertheless quite pleasant. We all need haircuts pretty badly, which would help cool us off. Cliff went searching for a salon by following directions of a friend. Streets don’t have signs, so directions are based on landmarks. Following directions can be quite a trick! Anyway, as Cliff was driving around, he encountered a nice Tongan who owns a car washing place and cuts hair on the side. Cliff brought the nice man home, and he cut Cliff’s hair in our living room. Jen and Kira are next!

March 4, 2007

I can’t believe it has been so long since we have written. School has been very busy and we all got little colds, so free time has been sparse recently. We finally bought a car and returned the borrowed car to our Tongan friend. She is presently out of country, so we returned the car to her parents.

In November, before we came, a group of people got angry with the government for lack of commoner representation in the parliament. It appears, the new King is deciding where he will stand on the issue. Anyway, in November, the people marched through downtown in protest, it go out of hand and put fire to a few select businesses (possibly targeting those owned by the Chinese). A wind came up and spread the fire throughout most of downtown Nuku‘alofa. This is the only city on the island. Everything else is tiny villages and scattered houses. So, whatever shops and businesses are left either weren’t burned or had to relocate to the outskirts of town.

Kira made more friends. She was invited to a classmate’s birthday party last weekend. The party started on the family’s boat and proceeded to a nearby island to swim and eat cake. She played hard, got a little sunburned and slept long that night!

Last night, the Board threw a Thank You Barbeque. It was pouring rain, but lots of teachers and their families came. The food was good, the rain stopped and a full moon peeked out from some low, lying clouds as we sat on the school porch and visited with each other. We topped off the evening by sitting in the school hall downloading email. Hey, you do what you gotta do!

Today is characterized by sticky, windy and sporadic rain. So, we are enjoying quiet music, good books, emailing friends and prepping for classes next week. It seems as though we may be getting to the point where we might even catch up with school work and taxes and such. Maybe we can start visiting friends and beaches (as soon as the weather cooperates) on a more regular basis.