Observations of the Week

The ants have invaded my food. I thought I was prepared by keeping my food in ziploc bags and in a storage bin. This hasn’t seemed to be efficient enough. I thought if I made friends with the bugs, they would be nice to me. This is not the case. The time has come to take some action. I will buy some bug killer. I’m not typically a fan of sprays, but action is needed. I will not let them get me down. This should also help with the spiders that are living in my ceiling. I’m talking huge – make the hair on your neck stand up spiders. The other night I attacked four with my shoe. I think this is making me stronger.

Last night I fixed Swedish Meatballs for dinner (at least a version of it). Thank you Aunt Marlene for the packet. I only have one cooking pot so it took me about 2 ½ hours to prepare what should have taken me 1 hour max. I found some meat patties, but I couldn’t quite get them to form meatballs so… it became Swedish meat crumbles. The look was different, but the taste was the same and it was delicious. I even got compliments from a few Tongans. I think I need to do some more shopping and buy some cooking supplies. I act like things are difficult here, but I think that is only because I’m not prepared.

I drove by the hospital yesterday and notices a huge crowd of people sitting outside on the hillside wearing black and mats around their waist. Yes - a putu (funeral). Apparently when someone dies at the hospital, people stay with the body (sit outside the hospital) until they can perform a proper service. Someone then told me that there are normally about two putus a week at the hospital. My friend said that when his father passed away 50 to 60 people stayed outside the hospital for a week until all the family could travel back to Tonga. I am in shock with how many people were just chillin’ and waiting all through the night. It was definitely a sight to see.

Frustration kicked in this week when I was having communication problems with some of the men in my village. Part of it was language and part of it was their stubbornness at having a female exert any type of opinion in a youth meeting. Yes I am bitter – yes I am irritated – but no I will not let this get me down. I have done much venting to friends and family and I feel a sense of relief. Thank you everyone for your ears. I know I will have more difficult moments in the future and I’m trying to learn new ways of handling things. I’m starting to develop solid friendships here (both Tongan and palangi) so things are getting easier.

This weekend I’m heading off to Hunga (an outer island here in Vava’u). Another volunteer lives there and I though it would be nice to have a little change of pace. It takes about two hours to get there on a little boat and I’m looking forward to the scenery. I heard there is some awesome snorkeling out there and I think we might even rent a boat to do some cruising. I think I will be staying at the Town Officer’s home and I heard his wife is a great cook. I have a busy week coming up with the Small Business Workshop so this is the perfect time to relax.

Take care of yourself,
Adrianne