interesting bits.

here's a list of interesting bits from this week:

1. baking buttermilk cinnamon & sugar swirl bread and then proceeding to eat an entire loaf of it in one sitting will do two things: 1. attract all the ants in tonga 2. give you a stomach ache.

2. people like to say hi to you when you are walking down the road. even if they are sitting on the toilet, doing their business and the door is open.

3. it is entirely possible to be on the other side of the world and run into somebody you know from america on the street (yay friends from camp!).

4. ants like the taste of molokau (poisonous centipede). so if you're feeling too lazy to clean up the bits of molokau that still exist after a hacking spree, you may just want to shut the door, leave the molokau corpse and check on it in the morning. i'm molokau free for the time being!

5. don't rest your hands on your laptop keyboard for too long when it's humid out. it creates puddles and may ruin your computer.

5. showering three times a day is perfectly acceptable. especially when it is 432,355,232 degrees celsius out and you can wring (yes, literally wring) your clothes out because of the sweat.

6. it is possible to forget what it feels like to be cold. i have zero concept of this. i even stuck my head in my mini fridge to try and remember. no such luck.

7. here in tonga, it is common practice for the post office to close from december 20 - january 2. i guess i'll see you in january, mail.

8. it is impossible to eat more than 7 bananas in a day. it doesn't matter if you have over 60 and they all ripen at the same time and you don't want to waste them.

9. sometimes lizards make the sound that a wood block does. did you play the wood block in elementary school music class? cuz i did.

10. febreze's falling leaves and spice air freshener smells 100 bajillion times better in tonga. i found it at the saturday market and snatched up the very last bottle. now my house smells like pumpkins and spice and everything nice ... or just a yankee candle store. that's pretty groovy since i didn't get to experience fall this year (the way that i'm use to experiencing it, anyway).

11. bored in tonga? the coolest place to hang out in my village is the local falekoloa (store). i recommend just sitting outside and saying hello to as many people as you can.

12. if you leave the gate to your house unlocked, villagers will think this is an invitation to visit. they won't always announce their arrival though, and sometimes you will be working on the dishes and look up to find someone staring at you through your window.

13. if you ever work the money table at a tongan catholic high school's alumni dance, be prepared to be asked to dance a lot. and if you aren't paying attention a very large attractive tongan man (that looks a little bit like gaston from beauty and the beast) might just pull you up on the dance floor and make you lead all 300 dancers with him. just smile and pretend like you have an idea of what's going on and what everyone else is saying. it'll be fine.

14. it's important to check the toilet for molokau or giant cockroaches at least once a day.

15. want to swim, but are hungry? sai pe (it's all good), just take a plate of food with you right into the water. it doesn't matter if your hot dog floats away or your drumstick... just pick it up out of the ocean and take a bite!

16. this is my 100th post in tonga!