Puke fakatevolo

Puke Fakatevolo is directly translated as “sick like the devil” or possessed. Since I learned this word two weeks ago I have heard it in many contexts. One night I was sitting in my house talking with a few youth when I heard some screaming. A stampede of children ran by my house yelling "puke fakatevolo, puke fakatevolo". Apparently one of my neighbors, a 23 year old girl, was possessed. She was screaming, wailing, and trying to vomit. It seemed to be a big show for the entire village to watch. I stayed in my house. A discussion started where I learned that my sister was struck with puke fakatevolo a few months ago. This was the incident I described on an earlier post when she was beat by her mother and then ran away. I found out that the village had no other explanation for her behavior except that the devil made her do it. I personally think she was tired of getting hit and needed to get away. I also learned that only women are struck by the devil. We women have it tough.

I have a bruise on my bottom from who knows what. I must have bumped it or ran into something. Anyway, I was talking with another of my sisters the other night and she was convinced that I was bit by the devil for doing something bad. I tried to explain to her what causes a bruise, but she could not be swayed. I tried to think of all the things I could have done for the devil to want to bite me, but I couldn’t come up with anything. I guess I am going to live in a state of ignorance.

On a brighter note, Thanksgiving was amazing here. I’m happy to have other volunteers around to celebrate ‘palangi’ (foreigner) holidays. We ate turkey, devoured a pumpkin pie and watched a recorded copy of a football game. As close to home as I think we could get. I hope everyone’s celebrations were just as great.

Two weeks ago boxing matches have started here in Vava’u. Now this is a sport that is loved by Tongans. They enjoy seeing people get hurt and then laughing hysterically instead of showing concern. I find my enjoyment by just watching the crowd. I also like to cheer on any of the athletes that I know. It really has been a fun way to spend a Friday night.

This week begins Christmas parties and also a stop-to-work as I know it. December is time to spend with family and with God. I’ve been told that nothing gets done during this season. I’m kind of glad to get a little break by heading down to the capital, Tongatapu. I have some additional training I need to get done as well as attend an All Volunteer Meeting. It will be nice to see everyone from my training group. I’m also starting to make my plans for Christmas so I will let you all know when I get them set in stone.

Adrianne

Hulohula – Tongan Dance

I’m going to start each post with a Tongan word to help with my vocabulary as well as share a little bit of culture.

I didn’t make it to Hunga this past weekend. We had a putu in Okoa so I spent the night with my community. I went to the church around 9:00 in the evening, sat on the floor and sang with my village. I didn’t have to kiss the body this time which was a nice relief. I ate my food from a plastic bag that was served at tea. I sat around and talked with everyone from my village, so I know they were happy that I stayed to give my respects. I walked home around 1:30 in the morning and was sung to sleep. The hymns continued all through the night.
I tried to catch a later boat to Hunga, but was unsuccessful. There is no formal boat to the outer islands so I tried my hand at catching a fishing boat. You either spend hours waiting around at the wharf or just missing the boat (which I’m good at). So another volunteer spent the weekend at my house. She lives on a different outer island, but was coming to Hunga with me. We had a wonderful lazy weekend and fixed some delicious food. My 8 year old brother ate with us one night and laughed the entire time at our Mexican burritos. It’s nice to expose people to new things.
Last night I went to a talent show in town. There were many acts that I thought were bad, a few that were so so, and one that was really good. I had a great time watching the crowds reaction. Tongans can be vocal. There is a typical Tongan style of dancing that I have grown to love. It consists of a nod of the head, a march of the feet, and a bounce to the hips. I find it rubbing off on me and affecting my own style of dance. I also hear music here that I haven’t heard in years. I find myself singing to ‘West Virginia’ on the radio. What is happening to me?

Happy Thanksgiving to everyone. I’m thankful for having all of you in my life and for all the support I’ve received. Happy Birthday to you Gillian. I miss you and hope your day is great.

Love,
Adrianne

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

Workshop or Sleep - What’s more important?

Yes I voted.
I sent in my absentee ballot a few weeks ago. Apparently it didn’t get to Ohio in time to save the day. I guess I’ll be staying in Tonga for the next four years.

I’ve been keeping busy for the last few weeks. I’ve been working really hard to get my youth out of the village and involved in workshops. Most of the women spend their days weaving. The men often work in the bush. There is little opportunity for employment after school so my hope is to expose the youth to different environments and perspectives. I kind of view my role as someone who creates opportunities for the youth – not someone to force them into things they don’t enjoy. Last week I got two girls to attend a workshop on reproductive health. I had to drag them to the workshop, but they left with nothing but positive things to say. One of them even gave a little speech on the radio about her experience. This week one youth and myself are participating in “how to run an efficient computer lab” workshop. My goal is to open a lab in the next three months and I want one of my youth to help me run things. He never touched a computer before this four day workshop and I think he is doing great. Every morning he has been ready and waiting right on time (For a Tongan this is a huge accomplishment). In two weeks I am helping to teach a workshop on Small Businesses. The Vava’u Youth Center has a small loan program and we are trying to encourage youth to take advantage and expand their own options for employment. I will be teaching the section on customer service. This is a concept that does not appear to exist here in Tonga and I’m hoping that my years of service to Fed/Ex will come in handy. I’m also hoping to get at least a few of my youth to come. The past two weeks I invited some guest speakers to present a program called Life Skills to my entire youth group. It addresses topics such as self esteem, decision making, and problem solving. I have an average of about 35 youth come to every class and they stay from 7 to 10 at night.

I feel like things are active now, but in a couple of weeks I’m going to run out of stuff to do. I guess during Christmas everyone will want a break anyway. Oh – I forgot to say that I had a movie night in my village last Friday. We used another volunteer’s laptop and connected it to the youth center projector. There are two white sheets the volunteers sewed together and Bam – a private movie theatre. My village crowded into the town hall and everyone set up camp with mats and pillows. We watched Finding Nemo and Rush Hour with Jackie Chan. The smile on the kids’ faces said it all. It was awesome.

It’s been raining here and the mud is driving me crazy. I can’t seem to stay clear of it. Back in the States I used to never walk around barefoot. I was anal about always having on socks or slippers even when walking around my house. Now I have Tongan feet. They are cracked and dirty all the time. I’ve been soaking them in a bucket and scrubbing them with a brush before bed every night. It doesn’t seem to do much good. This environment wants me to toughen up.

I got to talk to Jason, Cathy, Kirstin , and Vince in the past two weeks and it was just the energy boost that I needed. Some moments I just crave contact with family and friends. Thanks for making my day.

Love,
Adrianne