Week 2 in Tonga; Monday 15.9. -
Sunday 21-9.2014
The hibiscus flower at my garden
Monday 15th September
This morning I met Sela Latailakepa, the General Manager of the FriendlyIsland Bookshop which is owned by the Church. I came around last Friday to see
the books available on the shelves. I wanted to make an appointment with the
manager to talk about my Tongan Youth Hymn Book. I asked for the manager and it
was Sela. Poutele Niupalau was working there also. Both Sela and Poutele were
in USP when I was there.
Sweet potatoes
Yams, the rose
I took my bike to the
shop where I bought it from to be fixed. I was told to leave it and pick it up
tomorrow. I went to see Asinate about my school papers and the forms from Diak.
We went through what I supposed to do and what I needed for my school project.
She advised to talk to the Tongan and Biblical class teachers to involve the
students in writing lyrics for the Tongan hymn book…
You hardly find any Tongan dishes without coconut…
I went to the immigration office. I have decided to apply for
readmission to Tongan Nationality rather than applying for working visa. I got
my Finnish passport in 2004 before the Tongan law allowed double citizenship in
2007. An application form, a birth certificate, a medical form, 2 passport photos and an interview were all you needed to be a Tongan nationality.
Tuesday 16the and Wednesday
17th September
I was sick these 2 days. It was time to catch up with my blog and went
through 100s of pictures that I have taken. I guess the consequences of the
kava parties in NZ were still following me…
Lucky, I have lots of coconuts!
Thursday 18th
September
The real Tongan "topai" with fresh coconut cream from my neighbour, jami! jami!
After breakfast I went to get my bike from Prema store. I was told to
come back again next day, it was not ready. The worker started to give excuses
and I tried my best to tell him nicely that after paying $300 pa’anga for the
bicycle, I expected it to work at least a “week”…
I visited my cousin, Taka in his Universal Pharmacy. I told him
about my health form and he called the doctor and made an appointment for
tomorrow evening. His wife dropped me to the Registry office for my birth
certificate. One of the women working at the counter was my student at
Mailefihi. Tonga is a very small island. I kept running not only to people that
I knew but also to the students of QSC also.
I came out of the Registrar office and TTI was there next door. I popped
in and Tevita invited me for a takeaway BBQ lunch. The teachers had a meeting
and the food was ordered. Lucky me! I was also invited for a kava party
tonight.
At home I got a message from Janna that they had arrived in
Nuku’alofa and they stayed at a guest house opposite the Palace. How difficult
could it be and how many guest houses were there? There was only one guest
house and I was told the Finns went out for dinner.
A hundred meters and a few minutes later I found Jaana and Antti at the
restaurant. It was really nice to see the only two Finns in Tonga, sorry we were three. Jaana was my teacher at Kanneljärven oppisto when I studied youth work.
I knew they were coming to Tonga and we kept in touch with the travelling plan.
They were in Vava’u and just came back from Ha’apai. They were tired and wanted to go to bed
early, we decided to meet at 10:00 tomorrow morning for sightseeing…
Tevita and his cup!
I went to TTI for the kava party. Tevita had the biggest cup in the
hall. He could punish (tautea) anyone for whatever reasons he saw fit. When the
long arm of the law decided you were guilty, there was no mercy, refusal or
running away. You better not utter a word of complain otherwise you take 2 instead
of one cup. Kava drinking is not like coffee or tea, you have to gobble the
whole cup in one go and Tevita’s cup carried at least half a liter of kava. I
guess, you need to taste the kava in order to comprehend what I am talking about.
I was thankful for not facing the law and I continued to “nipi nipi” the whole
time.
The food sellers, visiting the party; ko e lo'i hoosi!
Friday 19th September
I met up Jaana and Antti at 10, I took them to the market, they bought
few things then we went sightseeing.
Toni took us in his minibus. We headed to the Western site of Tongatapu
where the Ha’amonga 'a Maui Trilithon was. We got a watermelon for breakfast from one of
the roadside sellers. We visited the Ha’amonga and stopped to admire some of
the beaches on the way. We visited the Tombs in Lapaha and our minibus decided
not to start… it was not the only time but somehow we managed. We had lunch of
chicken and lamp curry, and fresh coconut for drinking where Captain Cook landed
in 1777. We visited Hufangalupe look out before headed to Nuku’alofa.
The Ha’amonga ‘a Maui trilithon
Toni and our car
Lunch time!
Villagers at the beach preparing
some seafood!
The boys from the village!
We saw some whales near the beach…
I went for my medical checkup at 6:30 pm. Jana and Antti wanted to try
the kava. Because of the school holiday, there was no kava party at the school.
On my way, I saw the guard at the Army barrack just next block to where Antti
and Jaana stayed. I asked him whether he knew any Kava club in the area? I was
told they have one inside the barrack. So lucky!
A youth group from Ma’ufanga!
As soon as we went in, we became the center of attention. Places were
given, greetings were flown around. Even one of the soldiers came to ask
whether he could bring chairs for the “Palangi”? We joined a group with a string
band. Soon after, they started to sing. I think music is the only positive
thing came out of kava, except the “to’ua” of course, if there is one anyway J. It was the safest kava party in the Kingdom
and I believed the Finns knew it and they did enjoy the evening.
Saturday 20th
September:
Jaana and Antti left to the airport at 9:30 am. Toni and his wife took them. I went to the University of the South Pacific (USP) Tonga graduation which was held at the QSC hall. It was a colourful event. I met Konai Helu and her husband Randy at the event. They were part of the delegates came from USP, Fiji. Some familiar faces also. Some I could not remember their names and I had to ask. It was really nice to talk to them after all these years.
In the evening, I went to play touch rugby at St. Andrew’s rugby field. There was no one at the field but I saw someone with a rugby ball sat in one of the neighbour’s yard. I called him and he informed that he was still waiting for people to come. After waiting for half an hour or so, the players started to come. It was Saturday so the practice started late. There were more than 30 people on the field. After running for a while, I twisted my foot a bit then I stopped. I did not think it was serious but it was enough for the day. The players were all young adults and they were very fast, an old man like me could not keep up... but I was glad to do some exercise after all the eating...
Sunday 21st September The International Day for Peace with the Fale
Breakfast!
The Umu!
The Umu!
I woke up around 6, there were noises from outside. Some guys were
preparing Umu, I joined them. Cassava was peeling, coconuts were scrapping, luu
were made and umu started. I looked at the amount of food and wondered how the
food could fit in the umu. Perhaps, I had been away for so long, and the
Tongans have found new ways for doing the umu. I was told to attend the service
to take some pictures therefore I went to church.
Today was the UN International Peace Day. Fale, the Tongan Council for
Peace organised the event and there was a church service which Tonga and Tupou
Colleges attended together. Tonga College is run by the government and TupouCollege by the Church are both all boys high schools. They are known in the Kingdom
for fighting against each other. The ex-students, families, villages, churches and even the
Police force took site and blame each other for starting the fight. Both
schools have done a lot to improve the situation and in fact it is quite good. I
was surprised to see the students from Tonga College at Tupou College singing
competition last week. Seeing the Red and the Blue together says a lot about
peace in the Friendly Island. Our Umu was the lunch for 100+ students and staff
from Tonga and Tupou Colleges.
The boys from 'Atele, Tonga college!
From the church service
Lunch time
Working together is better!
No comments:
Post a Comment