Lavinia's Mansion

We arrived safely in Tonga with all our luggage! Yesterday we finished setting up our bank accounts and placed our valuables in the Peace Corps safety deposit box. During lunch, we walked around town when we happened upon three elder Tongans sitting down with beads laid across the floor. We stopped to take a look and before we knew it, one of the other volunteers and I had received “gifts in exchange for money”. That’s my way of saying we got ripped off and 'accidentally bought useless items with our lunch money' (Though as a later note, I was able to give them as gifts to our first host family in Ha’atafu) With our lunch money spent, the rest of the group pitched in to help the other volunteer and I get a meal.

As for the rest of the day, we left the capital city of Nuku’alofa by bus and arrived at the remote Ha’atafu village by evening. We received a warm reception and split up with our host families. Each host family holds 1-3 palangis (if you’re not a Tongan, you’re referenced as a ‘palangi’/outsider). I was placed with the largest group, which was three volunteers assigned to one family.

After the village reception, we went on a tour of the entire village, which was pretty much the equivalent of walking down the length of one city block. Within a few steps we discovered an amazing ocean side view. After just a mile of walking, there was the untouched Ha’atafu beach.

When we returned home, Lavinia Sunia (our host mother) cooked us a very delicious meal of soup, chicken, assorted vegetables, and sweet potatoes.

The place we stayed in was definitely not what I imagined when I thought of Peace Corps and a developing country. It was a strikingly odd mix between new and old. The building was a 16-room mansion with amenities like a large TV and DVD player (which is considered odd in a place with sporadic electricity and almost huts next door). In terms of bathing, it was still on par with the rest of the village, which meant taking cold bucket baths. If the stars aligned perfectly and fate decided to smile on us that particular day, we could take the occasional shower.

For the rest of the night we practiced a few of the important Tongan phrases, watched the movie “Sky High”, and called it a night. Today we’ll begin our language training.