Another week come and gone!

Well I am nearing the half way mark of my trip here in Tonga.  Sad to think about...I am definitely not ready to come home! This week is finals week for my students so it has been pretty relaxed for us teachers! The kids are all pretty excited for the week break and could care less about finals themselves! So...that should be interesting....

Well we went boating on Saturday! Woot! Patch (my professor) found a random guy at the docks to take us out on his boat.  I think there were about twelve or thirteen of us that went. As you pull away from the main island of Tongatapu its amazing how many random little islands pop up everywhere. We went to one little island so that everyone could change into their swimming gear and then we headed to open water where we snorkeled above coral.  It was BEAUTIFUL! It was a pretty cloudy and chilly day so all of us were chilled to the bone but it was definitely worth it.  After a good while in the water, we boated to another island where we camped out on the beach and ate lunch. Absolute Paradise.

Selfie with an Island behind me

Stingray!

On the island that we were having lunch on, a couple of kids caught a stingray. They cut of its stinger so that it wouldn't hurt them....poor guy. haha the kids brought him over to show us.  Pretty creepy looking up close.

The boat we went out on for the day!

I bought a soccer ball earlier this week and I convinced my roomies to play with me last night! I'm having serious withdrawals! We got a couple of Tongan boys to join in and play too! It was a blast. Unfortunately we started pretty late so we didn't get to play much before it turned pitch black. So we are going to have to try again this week.

All my roomies and I are getting pretty excited for our week break coming up as well.  Most of my roommates are traveling out to some of the other Tongan islands like Vava'u and Ha'apai.  One of my roommates is going to Australia and I am meeting my parentals in Fiji! I can't wait! Everybody leaves before I do, so it looks like a will have a few days to explore the Island on my own.

OH MY LANTA! I almost forgot the craziest part of the week! Most of you probably already heard but last week one of my students stole my phone.  Yep....couldn't believe it! I looked everywhere I could think of before I went to the office and told them I was pretty sure one of my students took my phone.  Security rounded up all of my students from that class and they did body and bag checks on all of them. I felt horrible watching all of them go in one by one to get checked. Well after we got through everyone my phone was still nowhere to be found.  I was rather devastated...The office told me to come back in the morning and see if it had been turned in or if they had found any information.  In the morning I went to my homeroom and told my teacher what had happened. She was absent the day before so I had full control of my class (which obviously was a failure..haha).  She was telling me that she would have her husband go to all the places in town where they unlock phones and tell them that if they see my phone to hold onto it and I would pay them for it. Seriously the sweetest human in the world.  I was really hoping it didn't have to come to that point though.  During homeroom, two boys came in and asked if they could speak with me outside.  I followed them out into the hall and they asked if I was the one missing my phone and then one of the boys pulled my phone out of his bag. SO RELIEVED!! I was maybe a little too excited and I jumped on both boys and gave them a hug and told them thank you. They backed away like I was crazy or something...weird.. hehe.  Anyway, I asked them where they had found it and they told me that their friend was the one who took it.  They said that yesterday he had seen security coming to pull him out of class so he put the phone on top of a cabinet before they saw him.  Then he went and retrieved it later.  He must have felt bad because he gave it to his friends to return it.  I, also, think my brother, Tanner, may have had something to do with it.  When I got my phone back I looked at the locked screen and could clearly read quite a few guilt wrenching messages he had sent.  Haha so apparently Tanner is pretty good at guilt wrenching! ha Thanks for that T-bear!  I told the two boys to tell their friend thank you for having the heart to return it. They smiled and went on their merry way!  Friday, when I had that class again I decided to address the situation with my entire class.  I apologized that we all had to endure all the security checks and frustrations of Wednesday.  I explained that my phone had been returned and I was grateful for the honesty of the person that gave it back.  I told my class that I want to be able to trust them, just as much as I want them to be able to trust me.  I want to have a positive relationship with all my classes and students.  They all appeared to be really receptive to what I had to say and nodded with agreement.  Alright story is almost over! Sorry! This morning I was sitting at my desk as the kids piled in and began to study before their exam.  A boy came over and whispered to Make and she nodded to him.  He walked over to me and quietly explained that he was the one who had taken the phone and that he didn't return it because he is shy. He apologized multiple times.  I told him that it was okay and I was grateful to him for being honest and returning it to me. He had a look of relief on his face. I would have liked to talked more but most the class had turned their attention to us so I told him thanks again and left it at that! Phewf! Crazy eh?? What's funny is many teachers weren't all that surprised and told me that they should have warned me not to leave things out where the students can get them.  Mind = Blown.  It worries me when it isn't uncommon and is of no surprise to the teachers that the students just steal things on a regular basis.  Make once mentioned that she always locks the doors to her classroom otherwise the kids with come in and take everything.  Unbelievable. Anyway I am happy to say that this story had a happy ending!

Well thats all from Tonga! Alu'a (bye)!

Island Update!

Yikes! I just looked to see when I wrote on my blog last and it has been quite awhile!! Let me update as best as I can on all that has been happening here in Tonga!

I have been on many adventures after school and on the weekends...really whenever we get the chance to get off of our compound here at Liahona.  A couple weekends ago we went to these caves on the north part of the Island.  The caves are pitch black except for what you can see with your flash light. When you get to the bottom of the caves there is a pool of fresh clear water.  We got to jump off of  cliffs in the caves and go swimming around for a bit.  The water wasn't as cold as we were expecting so it was doable! It was a really cool experience.  Jumping off a cliff into what looks like a black abyss is an experience I shall never forget! (I've got some pictures of us swimming in the caves but they are on my camera so I will try and add those later).

My roomies and I were invited to go to a Kava Circle this last weekend.  This was a pretty cool experience as well! Men have Kava Circles every Friday and sometimes Thursdays. They raise money for different things in their community villages.  They don't typically have women there unless she is the Tou'a which is just the person that serves the Kava, or unless they are invited guests/visitors.  So luckily my gals and I were able to attend.  It just so happens that I was the chosen Tou'a  at this Kava Circle.  So what is Kava you ask?? Its just a root that they grow here.  They grind it down to a powder and combine it with water.  This root is supposed to help you feel calm and relaxed and it also numbs your mouth for all of about ten seconds.  All the men sit in a circle passing around cocoanut shell bowls full of Kava. There are also a few of men that play ukuleles and guitars and sing.  That was a really cool cultural experience.

Me Drinking Kava! (And Tongan Man)

         

The Big Kava Bowl!

 

This last Sunday my professor asked if we wanted to go for a Sunday drive and cruise around the North side of the Island. We saw Captain Cook's Landing as well as the "Tongan Stonehenge."  One of the earlier kings built this Stonehenge thing.  We saw some locals climbing on it so we decided to give it a try as well!

Paige, My professor (Patch) and Me! (Tongan Stonehenge)

Hmmmm what else to tell you about! As far as teaching goes I am finally getting opportunity to actually my students. Thank goodness!!! I was really over observing...and sitting....  My teacher won't be in the classroom tomorrow and on a whim I told her I would take over and help the kids review for their big end of term exam that is coming up next week.  I have been really studying and catching up on chemistry.  Wish I would have payed more attention in high school! Whoops! My brain hurts from trying to study this type of nonsense.... Anyway! This review should be an interesting experience since my teacher won't be there to correct me on any content mistakes.  I'm sure the students won't mind correcting me at all! We also started my capstone and classroom management class this week so I think I am going to be a little bit busier than I have been the last few weeks! Its all pretty exciting though because we are preparing our portfolios and whatnot to prepare for graduation!! Just another step closer!

Well all is well here in Tonga!  I love every minute of everyday! I am learning and experiencing so much!  I hope all is well back in Utah! I love you all so much! Hope you enjoy the pictures.  Here are just a few more of the beautiful scenes I get to see here.

Oh! And I got to drive the truck! The wheel is on the wrong side! Kinda sketchy!

First Week in the Classroom

Well if any of you were curious, I did eventually get my luggage last Saturday! Thank goodness! I was ready to wear my own clothes again!  A lot has happened this week, far too much to write down so I'll just give you some of the highlights and some general info about my teaching placement.

We started our attendance in the classroom on Monday. I have already learned and experienced so much this week.  I am adjusting to change of age in students.  I am used to the oldest being 12 years old.  The age group I will be teaching here is from 15-17 years old.  They title the grades by form.  I will be teaching form 4 and assisting in form 5 for high school science.  It has been a very long time since I have studied or recapped on my high school science.  I find that I will be doing a lot of studying while I am here, so that I am capable of efficiently teaching the content for this grade.  

My cooperating teacher's name is Makeleta Latu Katoa. Some people call her Maggie especially around us Palangi (white people) but she usually just goes by Make (Makay - Long A vowel sound). This is her first year as a teacher and I find her constantly asking me what she can do to improve her teaching.  I just keep telling her that I am still a student and can't exactly give her feedback on her teaching.  You can tell her heart is really in it, but the teaching here in Tonga is much different than in the states.  The teachers are all very laid back and as long as they have gotten the information out they have pretty much done their job.  You can see that all the teachers are really friendly with the students and are trying to build good connections with them, but the students seem to kind of take advantage of this and they just do what they want.  Its going to be an adjustment for both me and the students when I am actually in front of the class teaching.  Anyway! Make is such a sweet person.  Every day she gives me food or something to eat for breakfast.  She invited me to her kids' birthday party this week. She has three kids and two of them have the same birthday! Her youngest boy turned two yesterday and her daughter turned 4. 

I went to her house with her family after school yesterday and left all my other Palangi friends behind.  It was a different experience for sure.  I basically hung out with her daughter Namelda all evening. She knew little english but continually grabbed by hand and would say,"Come wif me."  Then she would point to different things and say, "It's cool?"  hahaha cutest girl in the world.  She would just laugh and giggle but wouldn't leave my side!  We had an Umu which means pig roast.  I went to an Umu the night before but at this one I actually watched them cut open the pig and pull all is insides out... Let's just say I have had enough experiences here that I have moments of wanting to be a vegetarian.  I am a picky meat eater... I like all my meat clean with nothing on it that shows it could have been a living animal at one point.  I am slowly adjusting.  I had to debone a chicken the other night for dinner too...that one was a little rough! Anyway the party was really fun and I ended up being there majority of the evening.  And of course Make packed me a ton of food to take home to my roomies.  My roommates have realized that I am a good source of food since Make sends me home with food everyday. 

I am having an absolute blast here in Tonga! I will try my hardest to keep this blog updated! So much happens in one week that I will try to update twice a week if I can! Hope everyone is well at home! 

Below are some pictures I took on my phone of the Island:

This is the view from my apartment. Those are other homes on the compound that some of the teachers live in. 

This is the view of the coast as we were walking to the beach.

This is Alexa (fellow classmate) and I sitting on top of a rock we climbed at a hidden beach. 

Lost Baggage! (7/31/14)

After a few flights we have finally arrived in Tonga!  Our flights seemed to fly by (ha pun!) because I was pretty much only awake for the meals. I had just enough time after waking up and before we landed to meet the kind people sitting next to me on each flight. Sooooo happy that I can sleep on planes! I was a lot more refreshed than some of my classmates who didn’t get much sleep at all.  The only unfortunate part is that both my bags didn’t make it to Tonga with me.  I certainly am not the only one.  It seemed like about half of our plane didn’t have their bags because the plane we took from Fiji to Tonga was too small.  Good thing I chose these comfy clothes..looks like I will be wearing them for a couple more days.  Cross your fingers that our bags arrive by Saturday...cause these clothes are not going to smell very good by tomorrow. 

Today was still a very eventful day! I got my phone set up so that I can use data while I’m here and communicate with my classmates and whatnot.  We also just drove around through town!  Different parts here remind me of Peru and other parts remind me a lot of Africa, but it is absolutely beautiful everywhere you look. The Liahona campus where most of us are staying is extremely nice! We will definitely be well taken care of while we are here.  My apartment has two bedrooms, a living room, and a kitchen. The bedrooms have two sets of bunk beds that are of queen size! Schweet! 

We drove to the coast just after sunset and saw blow holes, which were absolutely amazing! These waves were incredibly powerful hitting up against the rocks.  After we drove to a small hidden beach and climbed down in the dark.  May or may not have been the safest route but it was a blast none the less! We climbed around using our phones as flashlights and waded in the water a bit.  It was a good first little adventure!