The peace Corps in their infinite wisdom makes generic policies. For the most part it's a way to protect PC from liabilities and i suspect to keep PC volunteers from doing harm to themselves ... ie: you MUST wear a helmet when bicycling or a life preserver when boating and NO ONE gets to drive a car or ride on a motorcycle. It's a no ifs, no buts, and no coconuts deal!!!! Screw it up and you get sent back to America !!!!
And as for health, let's look @ "the flu" ...
Personally, i seldom have gotten "the Flu" and have never, ever had flu shots .... but flu season is coming up; @ least in America. Soooo everyone into the pool it's shot time (huhu which is the tongan word for shot... IT also means fork and breasts ... AND NO we were not given a choice at the nurses office) ... time for a shot of a flu that might exist ...NO IT"S NOT THE SWINE FLU .. which the world is holding their breath about... it's just a generic batch of maybe stuff ..... but the one guarantee is .. after the shot most people will feel like they have the FLU ....
Soooo i spent a few days in an achy way ... but bring it on ... i'm ready for the flu season ... which here in Tonga , just passed !!!! GO FIGURE !!!!!
Friday, July 31, 2009
Friday, July 24, 2009
bright lights ... city lights
Downtown Nukualofa ( Abode of Love) was alive last night with energy and people. The main street was closed off from traffic for a BLOCK PARTY ... there were bands ... vendors, FOOD of course and performances by different groups. The Fijian dancers were AmaZing as were the Japanese dancers ... kids galore getting up on the main stage to dance to the loud DJ music ... these kids may all be devout Christians but they really know how to let their hips fly uninhibitedly. The streets were packed until midnight, friday night is the only chance to go soooo late ... Saturday from the stroke of midnight on it's all about GOD and NOT being out having fun.
I think what made last night interesting was the total lack of alcohol ... in America selling beer and wine at these events is a huge part of it.... but the Tongans are happy (fiafia) just being with there families and the younger Tongan's cruising the streets looking for friends and doing the ancient ritual of a mating walk. Which for a large part of the night was getting up on stage and dancing WILDLY
I think what made last night interesting was the total lack of alcohol ... in America selling beer and wine at these events is a huge part of it.... but the Tongans are happy (fiafia) just being with there families and the younger Tongan's cruising the streets looking for friends and doing the ancient ritual of a mating walk. Which for a large part of the night was getting up on stage and dancing WILDLY
Thursday, July 23, 2009
how much time do we really have
For TIME 2/b meaningful everyone has to come to a consensus about what time really means!
The Tongans long ago decided TIME was meaningless or meaning less and less. They like to have a GOOD time, they all-ways know when it's TIME to eat but as for BEING on time ...
NO such thing exists. SO over the years ....APPOINTED TIME ... like; when does an event start or even what day does an event take place ... has become a cultural interpolation. It's E/Z to be frustrated until after you have done it a few times. In the same way that anything is hard @ first , until you have done it a few times.
Well it soon becomes self evident that NO ONE; except maybe plangis (white people) really care about TIME @ all.
It's OK if you show up late or never come @ all.... because Tongans understand that you never did know what TIME it was to begin with. So try future planing or as we are all fond of ... getting closure ... it's not gonna happen and if it does ... well it's about TIME or NOT time !!!!!
The Tongans long ago decided TIME was meaningless or meaning less and less. They like to have a GOOD time, they all-ways know when it's TIME to eat but as for BEING on time ...
NO such thing exists. SO over the years ....APPOINTED TIME ... like; when does an event start or even what day does an event take place ... has become a cultural interpolation. It's E/Z to be frustrated until after you have done it a few times. In the same way that anything is hard @ first , until you have done it a few times.
Well it soon becomes self evident that NO ONE; except maybe plangis (white people) really care about TIME @ all.
It's OK if you show up late or never come @ all.... because Tongans understand that you never did know what TIME it was to begin with. So try future planing or as we are all fond of ... getting closure ... it's not gonna happen and if it does ... well it's about TIME or NOT time !!!!!
Monday, July 20, 2009
NOT FOR PET LOVERS
Speaking of food ... and YES it's true Tongan's will EAT your dog, but not any dog. Pets have utilitarian value ... like a good watch dog, not something to be petted or loved. Sure the kids play with the dog when it is a puppy but after that the dogs are basically ignored. They live not on gourmet dog foods like in the states but rather stale bread and scraps ( try to image a scrap here in Tonga). The deal is that the dogs become extremely territorial and go KraZy when a stranger gets near the yard. That's the contract.. if the dog fails to live up to this... well then, chances are good he/she maybe eaten, or if your dog actually bites someone randomly ... HOT DOG they will be!
What made me think of this was i saw a car hit a dog ... a HUGE dog .. it yelped twice and then dropped dead .... for me i was overwhelmed with sadness to have witnessed this happen, but as merely an observer to the culture i was in AmaZement when a car loaded with a family of kids pulled over and everyone jumped out, not to offer any help... BUT THEY ALL LOOKED AS IF THEY HAD WON THE LOTTERY ... a fresh killed BIG DOG was now to be their supper ...into the car trunk it went.... TIT ..(This Is Tonga)
What made me think of this was i saw a car hit a dog ... a HUGE dog .. it yelped twice and then dropped dead .... for me i was overwhelmed with sadness to have witnessed this happen, but as merely an observer to the culture i was in AmaZement when a car loaded with a family of kids pulled over and everyone jumped out, not to offer any help... BUT THEY ALL LOOKED AS IF THEY HAD WON THE LOTTERY ... a fresh killed BIG DOG was now to be their supper ...into the car trunk it went.... TIT ..(This Is Tonga)
oooopies
Hey in regards to the last blog ... it was the Crown Prince's birthday on July 13th, but not to worry the King's birthday is next week Aug 1st and if it were not a saturday then it also would be a public holiday.... there are parties all week, and YES another parade!!!!
Of course the one party that is REALLY big, is the King's party at his "white house" by the sea in Nukualofa. ONLY royal guests will be attending. Maybe 250 or so.
The KING will need to feed his guests a meal fit for royalty, but "who" pays for this ...well it has been tasked to each ministry in government to provide enough tables of food fit for a KING ... lobster, oysters, clams, beef, chicken, and of course roasted PIG with all the standard Tongan root crops. My ministry is small we only have to provide for just one table of 15 people.... but that is enough .. Tongan's don't really make much money and they certainly seldom eat like a KING. So when at a staff meeting people were asked to cook or buy the food; we all opted to buy it. It's an expense few can or want to afford. Through out the meeting the room was basically silent and yet the funny thing was once it was settled about everyone paying a share the room was full of laughter and jokes ... that's what Tongans do and any stress is gone !!!
SOOOOO "let the parties begin"
Of course the one party that is REALLY big, is the King's party at his "white house" by the sea in Nukualofa. ONLY royal guests will be attending. Maybe 250 or so.
The KING will need to feed his guests a meal fit for royalty, but "who" pays for this ...well it has been tasked to each ministry in government to provide enough tables of food fit for a KING ... lobster, oysters, clams, beef, chicken, and of course roasted PIG with all the standard Tongan root crops. My ministry is small we only have to provide for just one table of 15 people.... but that is enough .. Tongan's don't really make much money and they certainly seldom eat like a KING. So when at a staff meeting people were asked to cook or buy the food; we all opted to buy it. It's an expense few can or want to afford. Through out the meeting the room was basically silent and yet the funny thing was once it was settled about everyone paying a share the room was full of laughter and jokes ... that's what Tongans do and any stress is gone !!!
SOOOOO "let the parties begin"
Sunday, July 12, 2009
Canceled parade
It must be my lack of sleep ... i'm on a roll 2 entries in 1 day .
Well today is a national holiday ... the king's birthday ... but what i'm told "not really"; his birthday happens to be some other day, maybe even some other month but, Tongans don't care ... it's a holiday.
In celebration there was suppose to be a parade ... Tongans love marching bands, they love parades ... BUT we had soooo much rain last night ... think flooded streets ... the parade was canceled.
Well that has not stopped some people, those who made floats from driving around town , horns blowing loudly and kids jumping in and out of HUGE mud puddles. Everyone seems unabashedly HAPPY ... the rain does something to the Tongans .. for instance .. when it rains Tongans go swimming...
GO FIGURE
Well today is a national holiday ... the king's birthday ... but what i'm told "not really"; his birthday happens to be some other day, maybe even some other month but, Tongans don't care ... it's a holiday.
In celebration there was suppose to be a parade ... Tongans love marching bands, they love parades ... BUT we had soooo much rain last night ... think flooded streets ... the parade was canceled.
Well that has not stopped some people, those who made floats from driving around town , horns blowing loudly and kids jumping in and out of HUGE mud puddles. Everyone seems unabashedly HAPPY ... the rain does something to the Tongans .. for instance .. when it rains Tongans go swimming...
GO FIGURE
Mosquito Madness
It's NOT good to HATE anything ... but I HATE mosquitoes!!!!
I sleep with a mosquito net that completely surrounds my bed and is held tight to the sides. During the very worse part of the rainy season i can actually hear them buzzing outside the net, but i sleep safely inside beyond their nasty biting reach. Well for the last two nights i have gotten very little sleep. Somehow one, possibly two mosquitoes have managed to get into the inside of my net. They are driving me KraZy !!!!!
Through natural selection the Tongan mosquito is very fast and cunning!!! The result is that i lie awake @ night waiting until they are close to my ear or face and i swat randomly at their sound. My aim must be terrible because i still hear the little bast--ds flying around . How can such a small thing make such a LOUD noise!!
From all the missed hits i have bruises all over my face and bites on my body.
One quick fix is to light a mosquito coil ... god only knows what that's made from, but a headache is the only real guarantee ....
sooo what to do ???
Today i'm going to shake the net out and GREY TAPE the sides... light a coil when i'm OUT of the house .... and get a good night's sleep !
I sleep with a mosquito net that completely surrounds my bed and is held tight to the sides. During the very worse part of the rainy season i can actually hear them buzzing outside the net, but i sleep safely inside beyond their nasty biting reach. Well for the last two nights i have gotten very little sleep. Somehow one, possibly two mosquitoes have managed to get into the inside of my net. They are driving me KraZy !!!!!
Through natural selection the Tongan mosquito is very fast and cunning!!! The result is that i lie awake @ night waiting until they are close to my ear or face and i swat randomly at their sound. My aim must be terrible because i still hear the little bast--ds flying around . How can such a small thing make such a LOUD noise!!
From all the missed hits i have bruises all over my face and bites on my body.
One quick fix is to light a mosquito coil ... god only knows what that's made from, but a headache is the only real guarantee ....
sooo what to do ???
Today i'm going to shake the net out and GREY TAPE the sides... light a coil when i'm OUT of the house .... and get a good night's sleep !
Thursday, July 9, 2009
what the "FAKA"
In the beginning as a westerner it was almost impossible to feel comfortable with hearing everyone in Tonga going around shouting faka this and faka that... FAKA actually means "like" ... so lea fakatonga ... means speak like a tongan. NOW, last night was the Ms Galaxy beauty contest. All the contestants were fakaleitis (e is pronounced a and i is e ... go figure) but what it means is "like a lady" or transvestites. Now to some degree we have all some how gotten used to trans gender people, but in most cases in Tonga a fakaleiti was not born that way but created.... it is the custom here that the youngest girl of the family will remain home and do all the woman's (household) work for the aging parents. In the case of no girls ... well then ... the youngest boy is raised as a lady .. hence .. fakalaiti. Now make no mistake Tongans are a warrior class of people ... they are genetically HUGE and just because you do ladies work it doesn't mean you will look good in ankle socks and most Tongan fakaleitis don't look good in ankle socks. YET surprisingly enough last night the contestants were all blessed with strong feminine genes and they put on a wonder show ... go faka figure !!!!
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