random bits.

This is one of the Class 1 students at my school. She and I played with rocks at recess today. I taught her about the basil I just planted. She thinks the basil is going to grow into an 'akau (tree).

so here's what has been going on recently.

monday: i taught my students the word "gonna" because they saw it somewhere and because the curriculum, that the ministry of tonga has introduced, says we need to teach common idioms. i repeated "gonna" in a sentence six or seven times and told my students to try... only instead of saying "gonna", "kona" came out. kona means drunk in tongan. they all started laughing because they thought their palangi teacher was trying to teach them the word for drunk. sorry, kids. nope.

tuesday: had dinner with two of the peace corps staff that are visiting our island (and preparing for the new group that arrives in september). we ate sipi kale (sheep curry) and had a great conversation.

wednesday: taught school and then headed into town to do an hour of yoga at the local catholic convent.

tomorrow: my students in class 4 invited their parents to school for tea and reading. they each chose a book, learned how to read the entire thing and will read to everyone who comes tomorrow. i am excited, but not nearly as excited as they are.

friday: i'm flying to tongatapu - a different island group and spending the evening with my host family. i am so excited to spend time with them and catch up. we haven't seen each other since january! i can't believe it's been 6 months! on saturday i will fly to america and spend three weeks there. 

this means that the blog will be quiet for awhile. i may post pictures from america since the internet is zippity-quick there. enjoy the rest of june and summer/winter (depending on your hemisphere!).