My visit to Tonga

Week 3 in Tonga; 22.9.-28.9.2014

Monday 22.9.2014

I went to get my Tongan driving license. I can drive Private Motor Vehicle, Light Goods Vehicle, and Heavy Goods Vehicle but not rental cars. Not that I need it but I wonder why do you need a different license for that?

My information was taken, a photo, signature, fee paid and my license was ready to be printed. After a short waiting my license was ready. That was fast; even in Finland we cannot beat that. Is good to have a license just in case...

I hope my name won't disappear!

I took my application for readmission for Tongan Nationality to the immigration office. I was told someone would call about the time for an interview.

In the evening, my foot was ok so I went to play touch rugby for the 2^nd time again with the guys at St. Andrew’s playground.

Tuesday 23^rd September

The school 4^th term started today but the boarding school started yesterday evening. Again the place came alive. Today was my first day as a counsellor. I talked to few girls who were sent by the teachers. The case was misbehaved and talked during the meeting/devotion last night. The counsellor supposed to find out who was guilty...

There were students from the Tongan nurse school did an exercise about tsunami preparedness. After the assembly they gave a general information about stunami and we had the exercise before lunch break. We supposed to gather in one place and to run to another place when we hear the warning sound on the loud speaker. We had one trial, they were not satisfied with the result therefore we would do it again on Thursday.

The nurses

Only Fiji and Canada were saved, where was the Tongan flag?

My niece’s daughter, Meleane called that she would move in tonight. She wanted to come and stay at my place in order to study and prepare for her exams. She is in Form 3 and study at the Ocean of Light high school of the Baha'i Faith. At least, I could provide the space for her to do her study without “tafulu” and disturbances from mother, Mele...

I went to the women’s choir performance “pohiva” at the main church. Tongatapu was divided into 3 districts and they performed tonight. There were 3 choirs with thousands of singers. It was amazing and I could not help but to appreciate the lovely music and was sure the God appreciated it too.

Wednesday 24^th September

At lunch time, I went to see Toloa and Tupou high schools’ bazaar which was at the playground next door. There were food, drinks, handicrafts, kava and so on. People were all over the place buying this and that. After drinking few cups of kava were “given” to me, I bought some Tongan food then left.

Stuff meeting

Thursday 25^th September

The tsunami 2nd trial went better and we ended up where we supposed to go. Roll call was conducted and some were missing but luckly they were not dead. In fact, the Tsunami warning was cancelled and everyone was happy... Words of thanks were delivered, we prayed and were dismissed.

The immigration office called and informed me to come for an interview tomorrow at 9:30. Again it was fast. I am getting nearer and nearer to become a Tongan.

Friday 26^th September

I went to the playground and there was the Toloa ex-students' rugby team playing. I joined the touch and after 10-15 minutes they continued with their own training programme. I had enough running and I watched their trial for a while then I left.

The cook, Samuela mixing the kava.

The weekend started with a kava party today. Friday is my kava Tonga day. Of course, you could go for a drink but since I am a “faifekau” (reverend) now, even going near a place with alcohol is not good for my reputation...

Unfortunately we are still smoking inside, especially our tou'a,

Saturday 27^th September

I woke up this morning my foot hurt a bit. After having a Tongan breakfast; bananas and pawpaw, I went to the fair at the seafront. People set up stands at the sea front. Different kinds of root crops, greens, clothes, handicrafts, electronics, tools, food of course etc.

I bought a basket of coconut, faikakai and few small things enough for my bike to carry. There was a bunch of ripe bananas but I was already over loaded. Perhaps next week :-).

Again my bike broke, this time was the paddle. I did not bother to go back to Prema so I went and bought spare parts. I cycled the road just exploring Nuku'alofa. It is easy to know where you were since the biggest buildings were churches. They alway put the name of the village/part of the town in addition to the name of the churches. There were so many of them and it good to know which one you should go to. Often the cathedrals were facing each other. I cycled through Ngele'ia and all the way to the Tongan Cultural Centre. I saw a video about the culture centre in Finland and I was disappointed to see the place. Perhaps more sad than disappointed. From the street, the "fale" looked grand and majestic but when I went in, the place seemed ruined and abandoned. What a pity!

I talked to two of the girls as follow up from previous visiting to the counsellor. There were 8 of them that I supposed to talk to and today were the first 2. It was more a learning experience for me. I got to know the girls and of course learning more about the Tongan youth culture...

I have heard not so good stories about the youths and how much they have changed... After 21 years from Tonga, I am not so sure there is something new. There is the youth culture and there is the Tongan culture. I think, the youth just reflects what is going on in the Tongan culture as a whole. Change is coming and either we adjust and go with it or do nothing and be left out...

The boarding school started this evening. They always go home on Friday afternoon after school then come back on Saturday evening at 5.00 pm. They always had singing practise in the evening in preparing for Sunday services. My hut is about 15 metres from the dining hall where they had their practises. Again, I enjoyed listening to the hymns as if I was sitting there in the practise. It was so lovely to listen to the angels of QSC...

Sunday 28^th September

We always had a morning service on Sunday morning here at the school around 6:30. It was only for the boarders, teachers who live at the school and their families. It was the first one I attended.

At lunch time, the food started to come. My neighbour and of course my relatives brought food. Sunday is the umu day for every family and neighbours exchange food as part of Sunday rituals.

My foot got worse, my whole right foot was swollen and I could not walk. I had difficulty in standing up also. I came to realised that it was the gout. It was never that bad before. I guessed that I had eaten too much "lu pulu masima" which definately not good for the gout. I took the pain killers and stayed in the whole day.

My 3rd week in Tonga was over!

Week 2 in Tonga; Monday 15.9. - Sunday 21-9.2014

The hibiscus flower at my garden

Monday 15^th 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.

Heap of Cassava; the basic root for the Tongans. The local churches provide food for the boarding school. They bring cassava, taro, yam, sweet potatoes, meats etc.

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.

Regardless the dry weather, Nuku’alofa is still full of colours.

Tuesday 16^theand Wednesday 17^th 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 18^th 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.

He started early, could not take it anymore!

The food sellers, visiting the party; ko e lo'i hoosi!

Friday 19^th 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!

The kava party

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 20^th 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 21^st September The International Day for Peace with the Fale

Breakfast!

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.

Peeling Cassava

Squeecing the coconut cream!

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.