Lat / Long Coordinates of House on Google Earth

Latitude: 18°40'39.21"S
Longitude: 173°58'44.40"W

Enter the coordinates in the search box with the following format: 18 40'39.21" S 173 58'44.40" W

The Wrap Up w/ Some Ramblings

The Wrap Up
Well, I still feel like there is a lot on my mind about this place that I can not fully convey in pictures and words, it is just something you have to experience to truly appreciate Tonga. Are we glad we went? Absolutely! Would we do it again? Absolutely! Would we do anything different? No! Are we going to go back? Probably not, I like to go to new places. Where's my next trip? I would like to go to Peru to visit Machu Picchu and the Manu jungle

So what was most difficult part of the trip? For me... nothing. This was the second best month of my life (second to the month after I got married). The best part of it - no news - no stress. I did not hear one bit of news and I did not worry about anything. There was no TV (a few DVD rentals) no radio, no newspaper, no internet surfing... just the daily review of my work emails. It is amazing how good one can feel when they eliminate things like the constant barrage of media that is shoveled onto the people living in American and focusing on personal wealth.

The most difficult thing for Rachel was taking care of Caleb; she really is a great wife and mother, as Caleb is no doubt a handful.

Tongan Life Ramblings
The future of Tonga
To me this is a very interesting subject.People have proclaimed Tonga to be the last frontier... the unchanged/unpolluted country.

The youth are better educated than their parents, but at the same time, they are becoming more interested in Western culture than their own. This is the path other Polynesian Islands have followed, Fuji, Tahiti, and to a lesser extent, Samoa. The price of Tongan land is rapidly rising as foreigners are slowing gaining more and more access to the land. Many more resorts will be built, tourism will increase, and the Tongans will become more reliant on foreign investment and, in my opinion, this will cause a deterioration in their culture.

Courting
I'm still trying to figure this one out. The young girls are very rude to men their age. On a couple occasions I noticed Winnie would disappear when and a young man her age was around. The men do not spend money on the girls and the girls tease each other if one of them is trying to look pretty. When I asked a Tongan about courtship, I never seemed to get a straight answer.

Birthing
Tongans can not afford birth control, besides, large families are encourage. The more kids in the family, the more proud the parents are. After talking to one American whose wife gave birth there, he said that the county really needs better prenatal and postnatal care. There birthing methods are extremely outdated and poor.

I do not think abortion is practiced. Adoption of relatives is very common, especially if the biological mother is young.

Crime
Virtually non-existent. First of all, there are not many laws and very few attorneys; hence a mediocre legal system. Most criminals jailed are thieves.

Punishment / Discipline
Hitting is the common form of discipline. The government allows teachers to hit students, but some of the private schools have a policy that does not allow it. I do not think "beatings" are the intended form of discipline, rather mild hits that are meant to get the attention of the recipient.

Church in Tonga
The entire island shuts down on Sundays. I think there are 4 small chapels in our small village, all within a short walk from each other. I think 90% of Tongans attend a Christian church, many are LDS. We have attended church the four Sundays I was there and my first impression was... wow the Tongans can sing. You hear singing all day long coming from a chapel somewhere and it is loud. One week a rugby team came in and sang several songs to our congregation, a cappella of course, and I was impressed. Afterwards, the ladies served up some cake and ice cream. The ice cream was passion fruit, one of the best I have ever tasted. In the US, refreshments like cake and ice cream, are usually offered as one serving and the size is moderate. The portions here are gigantic and you get has many helpings as you get take, then you take more home with you; it was great.

Recreation
Their recreation is the feast they have every few weeks or so. Other than that, maybe watching a DVD.

Employment
Unemployment is high. To be out of work for a Tongan is not a concern, as they will sustain themselves from the crops they grow. The better educated Tongans seek to leave the county. Since it has become difficult for foreigners to get an American visa or green card, this leaves counties like New Zealand and Australia the place to migrate to. This unfortunately drains the country of its educated people. On the other hand, those who leave send money back to their relatives. While volunteering, I was offered a job several times... at $3/ hour or whatever it was they could offer, it was easy to decline.

All Done
I plan on making this my last post until Rachel gets back, as she is staying another 3 weeks. Her mother arrived a couple days after I left. Please do not be afraid to leave a comment and let me know if you have found this interesting and please forgive my weaknesses when it comes to writing, it is not my area of expertise.

Video: 360-deg View of Secluded Island in Paradise

The camera's microphone did a poor job blocking the wind noise.

More Pics

I made it home safe yesterday. I will be adding one or two more final posts to wrap up my experience with a few thoughts. I wish I could say, "it's good to be back", but I really wish I was still in Tonga with Rachel for another 3 weeks. A few more pictures is all I am up for tonight.

Fire roasted taro or something. This was a gift from one of the families in our village. Sharing food with your neighbors is part of the Tongan culture. Tongans have poor eating habits, a lot of carbs, fried food, and late night eating.


Sitting in the net between the pontoons on the trimaran.

Passing time with "Winnie" (English spelling) and Loni, the teenage girls from our befriended Tongan family. I would tutor Winnie with her math and English assignments. The schools can not afford text books which greatly reduces the students ability to effective learn.


Winnie starting the 400m track race. She had won this event and it is normal for family members to run down to the field and yell for their children. The track was all grass and there was a bit of rain this day. After she one this race, Rachel ran down and did a couple cartwheels. Everyone was surprised to see her gymnastic moves and the whole town was talking about it. The Tongan youth are very interested in things like this, especially American dance style.

Lima is the fifth daughter in our Tongan family. She is wearing her school uniform. All the girls braid their hair.

Missionaries of many Christian faiths are common in Tonga.

One of the fruit trees in our yard, this one is a papaya tree.

One of the species of centipedes we say, this one is about 6". In one of my first entries, we had thought Caleb was playing with centipedes, but they were really millipedes. We had a lot of millipedes in our house in the evening, they would just walk across the floor minding their own business. The millipedes give you bite that is similar to a fire ant bite.I found three centipedes of this specie in our house. I only told Rachel of one. Each night Rachel would go to bed thinking that bugs are crawling all over her. She would use mosquito repellent at night and I wouldn't... she slept with a sheet over her while I did not... so... if a bug was going to get one of us... it would be me. I slept great every night. We used a mosquito net overCaleb.

Common jellyfish, this is a small one for this specie. On the trimaran, we saw a school of jellyfish under the boat... there must have been thousands. I never saw this specie in the water while snorkeling, but I often saw a smaller specie.

Caleb playing with the starfish. There are thousands of this specie of starfish on the reef below our house.

The army of ants the we battled everyday. The won this skirmish and walked away with the cracker.

Common crab at our beach, about 5" long. One night a crab was literally knocking at our door.

Secluded Island Visit

Rachel and I chartered a sail boat for the day yesterday. We started by sailing for about 90 minutes to some secluded islands. The sail boat was a trimaran, kind of like a catamaran, but with three pontoons or hulls instead of 2. The trimaran trades speed for stability, it does not have much of a keel (tilt). There were 3 other tourists on the boat with us, a couple from New Zealand and a guy from Wisconsin. The boat had 2 crew members, Larry, the tour guide, and Noah, a Tongan.

Before getting off onto the secluded island, Larry warned us about cone shells. They are a common shell with some kind of slug like animal the has a poisonous dart that can paralyze or kill. Although stings are uncommon, there is the possibility, so we kept our eyes open. The soft white sandy beach separating the jungle bush from the clear warm blue ocean was spectacular. With other secluded islands in the distance, Rachel proclaimed that spot to be the prettiest place she has ever been to. It did rival the views I had seen from atop Half Dome in Yosemite.

We only saw one cone shell.

We continued our sail onto another island that offered some good snorkeling. After a couple more hours, we headed back in to end our day in paradise. I'll upload a video of the island when I get back to the states. The internet connection here is just too slow. A photo will have to do for now.

A Few Pics

At the cemetery two doors down. They cover the graves with a pile of sand or place a concrete slab over it to prevent the pigs from digging up the dead.

At the rocky beach behind our house

Caleb loves the wildlife, this is one of our resident geckos, Mario. He does not show his face as much as his bigger friend, Luigi.

Evening view out our patio

The school bus that is being celebrated

The baby pig our Tongan family brought to chow on

Our Tongan "Mom" dancing with the kava tree. The kava plant is the most important plant to the Tongans. They create an aphrodisiac drink from the leaves.

The pretty girls dance and the locals give her money that is donated to the sponsor of the feast, in this case it was the government.

Volunteer Status

School in Tonga
After middle school, the students go on to attend a private college or high school. The private schools are usually run by religious organizations. The students are required to wear uniforms. The males: a white shirt with a skirt. The females: a white blouse with a dress. The male skirt and female dress are the same color, each school having a color, green, blue, light blue, apricot, maroon, etc.

Volunteer Work
As mentioned in a previous post, I have been volunteering with one of the schools here, Saineha High School. I am the only foreigner on campus, so I do stand out – just a little. I have been working with the drafting teacher, Tony, and his students. The principal wanted me to train them to use the software program called AutoCAD, but my computer died on me after a few days so I lost the necessary tools. I work with the students on the whiteboard giving them drafting exercises instead. A week after the computer died, Tony and I were able to work out an agreement with a real estate office that had a boot-legged copy of the program. The owner, Nasha, is a Yugoslavian. After school we meet at Nasha’s two-man office and I train Tony on the program. He has zero computer experience, so I feel like I have a lot of work to do.

The students and Tony have been very grateful. When I get back to the states, I would like to see if I can get at least once copy of the program donated to the school so they can continue to train on it.

Track Meet
Starting tomorrow all of the high schools on the island will be competing in a track and field competition. Training is only for one month and there is only one competition each year, although, I think a few of the winners can qualify for another competition at the capital city, Nuka’alofa. The competition lasts for 3 days, Wed, Thr, Fri., and all the students are let out of class to attend. It’s a big deal around here.

Winnie, our Tongan neighbor, is the girl’s team captain at Saineha High School. Last night I helped her write a 5 minute speech she is delivering today at their pep rally. I gave her a couple electrolyte packets I had bought at the pharmacy so she could put it in her water she drinks between races… she had never heard of Gatorade. We plan on watching the competition just on Wednesday.

Pics
I keep forgetting my camera; I will post some new photos soon.