"Don't forget to play."

Library Fun Day.

Once a year the little library in Vava'u throws a fundraiser called "Library Fun Day"!

I channeled my former art-teacher-camp-counselorness and was in charge of the face painting booth. 

What a great fundraiser for the library. What a great chance to support a great place. 

I love books!

What a great day.

an exercise in writing lists.

1. I am leaving for America a week from tomorrow. As the date approaches I find myself getting more excited, but also scared out of my mind. What if I have troubles adjusting back to the pace of American life? I'm not joking. Island living makes you slow down and I happen to like that it now takes me about three times as long to walk to town as it used to.

2. The trade winds are here in full force and THAT makes me happy. I have never appreciated a breeze so much in all my life. 

3. As each day here passes I find myself caring less and less about whether or not my outfit matches. As long as my calves and shoulders are covered, that's all that matters. I'm not being lazy. Most Tongans just don't care about this. As long as you look somewhat professional and you're wearing a kiekie it does not matter if you have stripes and polka dots on at the same time.

4. I spent Wednesday walking around Neiafu with Sean. We introduced ourselves to EVERY high school principal and talked with them about Camp GLOW/GROW. It was such a productive day. We even had time for tea at the Youth Congress.

5. I am attempting to grow my own basil in an empty alumninum corned beef can. My thumb isn't green. Which is a reason why I owned so many succulents in the States. It's hard to kill an aloe plant.

6. At lunch on Tuesday I went into the library. One of my students crawled into my lap, another exclaimed "Mandy! Fi ulu!" ("Mandy! I'll braid your hair!"), and another grabbed a book. We spent the better part of an hour reading together, giggling and making the palangi look a little bit more acceptable.

7. I found a place on the island that sells brown rice. This is more exciting than you know. 

8. I accidently killed a blue-tailed skink in my rat trap. I hope that doesn't earn me any negative karma points.

9. I showed Disney's Little Mermaid to my class 5 and 6 students this week. They loved it. And I have figured out that "being grossed out" by kissing when you're 9 or 10 just may be a universal thing. ("'Oku na maholo pe uma, Mandy? Maaaaa-ni!" They might kiss Mandy? Oh jeeeeeez!")

10. Singing with students is the best. Especially with dance moves!

Random bits.

These two little sweeties are normally the first students I see on my "walk" (erhm... four foot commute) to school. They know no English (aside from: "Hello, How are you?, I'm fine, thank you...and Manatee!") but we still get each other.

This picture was taken a little over a year ago. Two weeks from today I will start my journey to America to watch my best little sister get married!

It doesn't matter my mood, these kids can instantly brighten my day.

Not sure the source (let me know, if you do!) but I love me some yoga.

Women and Water: My Thursday Night.

This picture has absolutely nothing to do with this post. I just love teaching these kids!

How are you going to spend your Thursday evening?

I spent mine hanging out with 6 of the most lovely women. After the sun set on Vava'u, I eva-ed (wandered) over to Ane's house. Ane and her friends make up one of the Women's Groups in my village. They get together almost weekly to help each other out, to chat, to fellowship and to most of all...have fun! They also work together on ideas to better their community and I felt very grateful to be invited to a meeting last night.
These women are so passionate. Weavers, teachers, mothers, sisters, grandmothers... and hanging out with them felt, surprisingly, normal. (Even if they spoke Tongan the whole time - I did understand about 50% of what they were saying - fist pump!) They made me laugh, their children gave me hugs and uma (kisses) and I wasn't allowed to leave without a huge piece of cake ("For breakfast, Mandy!").
One of their most recent projects is making sure that all the families in my village have consistent access to drinking water. That doesn't seem so hard right?Well, it's a little trickier than what you may think.
Geography Lesson Time - Vava'u (and Tonga) are located in the South Pacific. When I moved here I said goodbye to spring, summer, fall and winter and instead gave a big Malo e lelei (hello) to the wet (hot) and dry (not as hot) season. So from December to May it's hot than the dickens out and rains quite a lot (my sima vai [water tank] was constantly full) and then right around now the humidity breaks, the sun comes out and the rain goes away. We have "city water" here, but it's very expensive for families and is sometimes full of chemicals. So I'm going to help them find some funding/grants to make sure that every family in my village has an affordable way to get access to rain water!

P.S. Some of you were wondering what I drink - I have a tank next to my house that collects the rainwater that flows off my roof. Tastes good!

"She found joy and wonder in every little thing. And joy and wonder always found her."

- Katrina Mayer

this journey.

You measure it in the days that seem to crawl by and the weeks that pass in a blur. By the kids screaming your name as you walk the four feet to the classroom door. By the sheer volume of root crop you consume at local feasts. It's found in the chickens that wake you up in the morning, the weevils that infest your baking flour. 

You measure it in the quantity of blue tailed lizards that fall on you while standing in door frames. In the number of pigs and wild horses that dart out of the way as you walk through the village. 

 
You measure it in the number of “Malo e lelei”s you hear in town and the yells you get at the Saturday morning market. It’s found in the sea turtles that poke their heads out from the turquoise sea and the cups of kava consumed every evening. It sings with the choir at 5am practice. It’s in the number of pails of rainwater collected for drinking and the number of kisses received by your new village family.