Backtracking - Homestay in Ha'atafu

A cousin, Leti (the bride), and Siu (my other host sister)

Hi Everyone!!

Well, today my host family is having the giant wedding feast which i was a little worried would be very overwhelming and tiresome, but luckily Sarah Kate and I got a ride to church from Noa and Jacinta, two of our trainers, and they decided to leave church early to go to the Peace Corps office to do work (which turns out to mean take a nap at the office) and so Sarah Kate and I got to come here and check email. The weddings here are much different than in America. The bride and groom came to the church today to have their marriage blessed, but it is not a special service just for them, it is part of the regular Sunday service and appeared as though it was going to be maybe 3 hours long. (I was falling asleep - i had no idea what was going on). Also, most of the family did not even attend the church service. We were there but we didn't know anyone else in the service. The rest of the family was still back home cooking I guess. Last night I kept asking if I could help cook for the big feast today and they kept telling me it's OK, just sit down and take a rest and then finally at about 11:00 at night someone told me that they don't actually start cooking until 3:30 or 4:00am so that the food doesn't get cold for the feast. So they told me to go to sleep and they would wake me to help cook but no one ever did. I got up at 6 to help but I just kept getting waved away. I don't think they trust me. Anyways, although it might be nice to see a traditional Tongan wedding, we didn't really know what was going on and Sarah Kate has been sick the last two days (so I was by myself trying to figure out how I could help the family and sitting with them while they all gossiped in Tongan) so having a chance to come someplace quiet and just email is really, really, really nice.
ok, here is information about our training schedule (a lot of people were asking me):

october 28th-october 30th: Arrival in Nuku'alofa
october 30th-november 14th: Homestay in Ha'atafu
november 15th-december 27th: Homestay in Ha'api
december 27th-january 4th: wrap-up and swearing in ceremony in Nuku'alofa

We are currently in Ha'atafu which is on the island of TOngatapu (the main island where the city of Nuku'alofa is). As I said, we are staying with families in pairs and all day long (8:30-5:00) we have language class, safety and security sessions, health class, and teacher training. We also spent one afternoon going to a neighborhood school and observing the classes. We then have an optional language class at night from 7-8 (I will be attending as often as possible). Here is some Tongan for those interested (some vowels have accents which I can't type in, so it is not exactly right):

Malo e lelei = Hello (literally Congratulations on being well!)
Fefe hake? = How are you doing?
Sai pe. = Just fine.
Sai 'aupito = Very good
Totoatu = Excellent
Kovi = Bad
Alu a = Goodbye to the person leaving
nofo a = goodbye to the person staying
toki sio = see you later
Malo e lelei ki he pongipongi ni = Good morning

Now, about the houses...in most homes the toilet is in one room (no sink) and the shower in another room and these two rooms are usually sort of attached to the house by a covered walkway, but outside. More modern houses have them inside. Also, at my host families home they have this kind of outdoor cooking area that they seem to have added outside their home. AND (this is the wierdest part) the men sleep outside the houses as a sign of respect for the women. At my home, the men sleep in a little house in the yard, but in some other homes they just sleep on the ground outside. There is a brother in the family named Leo but I have only seen him briefly once or twice as he runs inside to get his food or something. Also, the families rarely ever eat with us...they feed us and then wait for us to finish and eat outside or in a different area when we are done.

Ok, I think maybe I should check to see if the others are awake now. Wow, it just started raining really really hard!!

Please let me know if you would like to be taken off this list!
Thanks,
Carly