Peace Corps
A Tongan Christmas
Imagine sitting on a beautiful beach in the South Pacific, palm trees waving freely in the wind, freshly caught fish simmering over an open fire, wav…
Peace Corps
Christmas Eve in Tonga
Living in Tonga it is hard to believe that it is almost Christmas. It has little to do with the warm, make that hot, tropical weather but the complet…
Peace Corps
I’m a Volunteer
It's official. I'm now a PCV or Peace Corps volunteer. My entire group of 33 trainees made it to the swearing in ceremony on Wednesday night.…
Peace Corps
Natural Disasters
In the past 24 hours, we have been threatened with a Cyclone and we had an earthquake..the first quake I’ve ever felt. I was laying in bed reading wh…
Peace Corps
So Long Vava’u (for Now)
Tongans are known for giving speeches at just about every event. It’s very common for people to stand up and say what is on their mind at many differ…
Peace Corps
Business in Tonga
I've wanted to write about business in Tonga for some time, but it has been hard for me to get a handle on exactly how business is done here. So …
Peace Corps
Secluded Beaches and an Awesome Cave
Even though we have been in Vava’u for more than a month, I have not had a chance to see much of the island except for my village and the main town. …
Peace Corps
Aho Fakatonga (“Like a Tonga Day)
While much of our training to become Peace Corps volunteers has focused on the language, a good part of our education has also focused on culture. W…
Peace Corps
My New Job
I will be spending the next two years in Vava’u working with both the Tonga Development Bank and the Vava’u Chamber of Commerce. I am very happy with…
Peace Corps
Tonga Prices
It’s not uncommon to discover that residents in many resort destinations get a better price than what the tourists pay. When I lived in Hawaii, Kama…
Peace Corps
Here comes the rain (again)!
Remember the movie Forrest Gump? There is a scene where Forrest is in Vietnam and he says “One day it started raining, and it rained and it kept rai…
Peace Corps
How I did something REALLY inappropriate!
During Breakfast Saturday, my host sister told me that we were planning to go to another village called Taoa which she described as a long way. We ma…
Peace Corps
Vava’u—We made it!
The lush green landscape, rolling hills of tropical foliage and pouring rain all signs that we were no longer on Tongatapu. After a shorter than exp…
Peace Corps
Family, Food and School
The concept of family in Tonga takes some explaining. Yes, the families are very large but the relationship between family members is quite differen…
Peace Corps
This is Normal
In our village of Fu’amoto, there is an Internet café. Except there is no coffee, no drinks and no food at the café. It’s actually not a café at al…
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