My Weekend on Fofoa.

Part of the Peace Corps journey is meeting people from all over the world.

And though I work in a small village with many host country nationals (Tongans), I am also getting the opportunity to meet folks from all over the globe right here on this little island. I am feeling pretty lucky.

We are entering "high season" here in Vava'u. The weather isn't unbearably hot anymore (well at least not EVERY day), there is usually a nice breeze coming off of the water and soon the whales will be arriving. (Life goal: to swim with the whales - which will hopefully be realized sometime later this year! Stay tuned. Eek!)

The Port of Refuge fills up with sailboats that come from places near and far. It's so much fun to listen to the passengers'/captains' stories and to learn about where they come from. 

There are also those people that aren't from Tonga and live here year round. And this last weekend I had the privilege of hanging out with a few of them.

I spent the weekend on an island near Vava'u called Fofoa. In the late 1800s Fofoa was home to an orange plantation and to this day, old orange trees dot the island. Fofoa is a smaller island off of the larger, Hunga Island. Its considered an outer island in Vava'u because it is exactly that. It's one of the last islands before you hit open sea. I was able to snorkel (and see a sting ray!), watch sea turtles off of my balcony and take in the beauty of the South Pacific. And meet some totally rad people too. Boris and Karyn live with their family on Fofoa and run an eco-friendly (the entire thing is run on solar power!) guesthouse there. Aside from being amazing cooks, they were gracious hosts and showed me such a good time. If you are ever in the area and need a great place to stay, check them out here.