Ta'ahine Pele

I’ve had a bit of a bumpy road the past few days, but mixed in where some amusing moments that make me love this beautiful country of Tonga.

I left my house the other night and was gone approximately 1 ½ hours. Upon my return I noticed things were in disarray and stuff was missing. Yes, my house was broken into and things taken, one of them being my digital camera. So no more photos on my posts – sorry.

My neighbor told me to go to the police and report it right away so I had Tevita give me a lift to his home. After much casual conversation and much persuasion the officer agreed to come to my house and check things out. He then informed me that he had no gas in the police car so he hopped into Tevita’s van to travel to Okoa to do his investigation. This “investigation” turned out to be a stroll around my house with a flashlight accompanied by some more casual conversation, but I was told not to worry because he was the best. After twenty minutes we dropped the police officer off back at his house a few villages over. He seemed to be a bit exhausted by all the hard work.

The next morning my neighbor insisted I go to the ta’ahine pele (woman with the cards). I wasn’t sure what the neighbor was talking about, but I jumped in the car anyway and made the trip to the other side of the island. We arrived to a hall made of tin where a group of women were weaving. I was told to shuffle the cards according to the number of letters in my name. Then the reader placed them in a specific arrangement and gave me the details of the burglary. I was told it was two boys who broke into my house, one being the brother of a good girlfriend. She said the boys were scared right now and the truth would come out soon. I was also told they will come to apologize to me in two days.

Upon my return to the village everyone wanted to hear about what the cards ‘said.’ Some people had full faith in the cards while others were interested, but not true believers. I’m in the category of a 'not a true believer', but somehow I find myself leaning towards accepting the statements as genuine.

In the village rumors have spread as to the identity of the person(s), but no arrests as to date. I’m still waiting for the apology.

Due to all this commotion the Peace Corps has decided to move me out of my village and into a guest house near town, there to spend the remainder of my short time here. I have mixed feelings because of the suddenness of the move. It was hard to say goodbye to neighbors and friends, but I told then all that I would come over and see them often until I leave in just over a month. So now – I’m a city girl. Well, maybe semi-city.

Stay safe.
Love,
Adrianne

Kai Lelei

Last week was Saineha High School’s reunion. This happened to be where Tevita went to school, so we joined in the festivities. We made it to a couple feasts and went to a couple of dances, and I have never seen anything like this celebration. Many of the alumni currently live overseas and came back to see family and enjoy the celebrating. The thing that was amazing is what they brought back with them – which was a great deal of money. During every afternoon of feasting was a performance from various villages and groups. Many of the alumni would go up to the performing group and throw money into the air as well as tuck money in every single person’s pocket. I was astounded to see so much generosity. It was also quit amusing to see people running around in an attempt to catch the falling bills. Not only was money donated to these performers, but also large contributions made to the school.


I also spent the later part of last week in bed sick. The temperature dropped quit a bit for the South Pacific and I seemed to have caught something. I wasn’t nearly as bad as Tevita who was down for the count with a fever. As I seemed to have recovered nicely, Tevita is still wearing his winter hat around and a nice warm sweater.

My countdown is now exactly 8 weeks, which is unreal. The excitement of seeing everyone is starting to become overwhelming. I have to admit it is getting hard to even sit down and write these posts. Hope everyone is well.

Love you all,
Adrianne

Ta'eoli 'uha (Sick of the rain)

The rains came down and the sun came up.
The rains came down and the sun came up.
The rains came down and the sun came up
and the house on the sand went splat.

That is the feeling I had this past week with all the rain. My house became a mud bath and the water decided to creep inside. All my clothes got soaked and acquired that musty. moldy smell. After some massive clean up and hand washing of laundry I’m now okay. It took three days to dry my clothes (hanging them inside) and the sun finally came to help out. I’m not sure which I hate more – A bad snow storm or a horrendous rain storm?


So now it is time for a big shout out to my elder sister Kirstin. Congratulations for bringing Kellen into the world. With my upcoming marriage and Kellen’s birth, I am excited to see my family growing larger.

The countdown is now at less than nine weeks. This is a long time, but all the sudden the pace is picking up. The paperwork is waiting patiently while wedding plans have moved forward. Youth activity is at a crawl, but I remain ‘busy’ within my village.

I hope everyone is healthy and happy.

Love,
Adrianne