Tongatapu

Sorry for the delay in updates. I wasn’t really feeling inspired to write. I'm trying to get back into the groove.
Anyway, I spent a week down in Tongatapu for my mid service meeting. Mid-Service meaning half way through my volunteer experience!!! I now feel like an old timer. Tongatapu was a nice chance to get to see everyone from my group. It’s great comparing stories and getting project ideas. It also made me realize how different an experience each one of us is getting. Mainly the City folk / Village Life variation. Both are definite Peace Corps experiences, but I’m quite fond of living the village life (even with all my complaints).
There have been some definite changes in the Peace Corps community here in Vava’u. We have four new volunteers joining my island group and they seem to be adjusting well. I feel like I’ve moved from being the curious child full of Why Questions - to the wise grandparent that seems to have an answer for everything. The cycle of life here in Peace Corps is an organism all of itself.

Work is on an up swing so I’m taking advantage of the opportunity. I am organizing a small business workshop for the week of the 17th. This is a program that has been successful in the past so I’m excited to keep it going. I will then be participating in a survey of individuals with disabilities in Vava’u. I’m excited because this was a topic I had attempted to work on last year, but momentum was slow. This time around I have greater hope because the push is from the Red Cross program in Tongatapu. My final goal for this month is to have a Halloween party at the primary school where I teach. This is a holiday that is not celebrated here in Tonga, but I feel like it could be a chance for some fun.

I was standing in my doorway brushing my teeth this morning and heard the news rumbling around that the Nobel from the next village, Makave, had passed away during the night. The rumor is that the Princess and possibly the King might be attending the funeral. I’ll keep my eyes peeled.

That is all for now.

Love,
Adrianne