After a busy week in 'Eua, I returned to Nuku'alofa just in time to enjoy the best weather that we have experienced since arriving two months ago. The days are sunny and in the mid to high 20s. The south-east trade winds keep things very comfortable and even a little cool at nigh.
On Saturday we took advantage of this good weather by going camping at 'Anuhulu Beach. 'Ana is the Tongan word for cave the beach features just that as well as a graveyard and some good snorkelling.
Due to some laziness on our part, we arrived too late on Saturday to do much other than cook dinner and gaze at the stars. The latter is one of the highlights of living somewhere away from the glow of city lights.
The same is true of the sunrises and sunsets. 'Anahulu beach faces east towards 'Eua, so in the morning I rose early and watched the sun sneak over the horizon before we settled down for breakfast ahead of our first exploration of the cave. As much of the cave that we explored didn't quite live up to its full title (hulu means vast or large), but there was still plenty to see including bats, a few large pools and, unfortunately, because this is Tonga, plenty of litter. We took candles in with us and set them up around the cleanest and largest of the pools as we went for a swim. It was little cold and a bit eerie, but we all emerged from the cave safe and sound. Another trip into the cave was organised for the afternoon, and at that time it was a great way to escape the heat of the day.
No photos from inside the cave unfortunately. There are some photos of the graves up on my flickr site.
If that wasn't enought of a highlight for the week, Thursday saw the opening of parliament. This is no dull and dour affair, but starting from about 9:30 in the morning involves schoolchildren and military groups marching and dancing up and down the main street of Nuku'alofa for the best part of four hours. There are plenty of photos on my flickr site, which best capture the colour and pageantry of the day. I am looking forward to the parade for the King's birthday, his health permitting, which should make yesterday's celebration seem rather dull.
31 May 2006
26 May 2006
'eua and error
This last week has been spent in ‘Eua. I didn’t go in to the week with great expectations, hoping only to have a relaxing week away from irritations and to do some work. I was anticipating this post to be quite short as I didn’t want to cover old ground from my earlier visit to ‘Eua. It won’t be, the week was eventful both for me and Tonga. There are also plenty of accompanying photos now up on my flickr page.
This, my second, trip to ‘Eua was to support my newly-adopted counterpart, Winston, and two UN technical assistants prepare a strategic development plan for ‘Eua. This could have been a really dull week, with me just tagging along setting up computers and projectors, etc. As it turned out I was very much involved in the job of developing the plan and this job was a huge amount of fun, though a little exhausting, because the UN technical assistant who made it to ‘Eua succeeded at involving the people of ‘Eua as much as possible.
There are about 5000 people living on ‘Eua, working mainly as farmers, in forestry or as part of the small, but expanding tourism industry. The people live what is described on the sign at the airport a “friendly village life” in 14 villages spread out along the main road and the eastern coast. ‘Eua is also home to perhaps the only national park in the Kingdom worthy of such a name. Our job for the week was to work with people from all across the island and start to capture what they want for the future. The whole exercise could lend itself to pretension, however thanks to good planning on the part of the UN guys, the current popular enthusiasm for change in Tonga and the friendliness of our hosts the whole week was very uplifting.
From our arrival on Friday until the workshop on Wednesday, the days, Sunday aside, were filled meeting the various associations, collectives, chambers and other interest groups in ‘Eua. These ranged from rather dull affairs to more lively sessions, but all were interesting because they were mostly conducted in Tongan (which has inspired me to work harder on the language) and thanks to some quick translations and some participants talking in English, I finally had a chance to get a feel for how real Tongans, rather than just public servants, regard their lives and the good humour with which they approach everything.
In the evenings, we were entertained either at our guesthouse or the home of Winston’s uncle. Getting to go to Va’inga’s house was a real treat. The hospitality was superb with plentiful food and alcohol put on for us. It was also nice to talk at length with Va’inga and whoever else would drop by.
The youngest in the family, a girl of a bit less then two, also thought that these palangis who kept visiting her house were the scariest thing in the world. At the start of the week our arrival would be greeted with a terrified expression before she burst into tears. With each night the little thing became less and less afraid, to the point that she would wave at us from a distance or another room. If we were in the same room, however, she would quickly attach herself to the nearest Tongan adult and stare out at us from within their protective embrace, apprehensive about these strange pale people.
Nights at The Hideway can be great. There is little to do apart from chat with the other guests and the place attracts interesting guests. Our first night involved some generous guests who kept the beers and talk about the current climate of change, including rumours of a possible strike brewing, coming for a few hours.
I didn’t want to go into too much detail now about the current tensions in Tonga, as that will surely be the topic of another blog when the strikes take place in a fortnight. But it is hard to avoid the topic of the moment.
As I think I have mentioned, the Tongan public servants went on strike last year in protest at the disparity in pay between the Ministers and public servants. This dispute quickly escalated into a dispute about democratic and political reform, the escalation being supported at the time in no small part by our fellow and generous guests at The Hideaway. This escalation was momentous for Tonga, as it represented the first time that the Tongan people in large numbers openly criticised their government and sections of the royal family. The strike ended with public servants being awarded 60, 70 and 80 per cent pay rises, however this was later qualified by the need to make a quarter of the public service redundant to pay for the increases.
Also, the then PM, a member of the royal family, resigned earlier this year and was replaced by a new PM who was appointed by the King from members of parliament elected by the people – the first popularly elected, commoner PM in a round about kind of way. (This new PM bears an eerie resemblance to Bob Hawke). In the last week, this PM has announced a cabinet reshuffle that included appointing three additional. Their appointment and the government’s seeming agreement to buy back the power company it had earlier sold to the crown prince, occurring against the background of mass redundancies and a major fiscal crisis has resulted in the public service, supported by business and the democracy movement, to threaten to go on strike again unless the government resign and fresh, wholly-democratic elections are called.
That is, another dispute about equity has quickly become a push for greater democracy. Interesting and historic times in Tonga then.
This enthusiasm for change really affected our final day in ‘Eua, when we conducted a workshop and had the people of ‘Eua choose words for key parts of the plan. Not only was the whole day kept reasonably lively by the current climate of popular empowerment (if I can call it that), but also people were genuinely happy to be working together, rather than at loggerheads and with the exclusion of some groups, such as women and youth. The end result was some genuinely good ideas and all round good feeling.
I can’t wait to go back to ‘Eua in August/September to finish the plans and I haven’t even mentioned the whales that should be migrating through the area at the time.
This, my second, trip to ‘Eua was to support my newly-adopted counterpart, Winston, and two UN technical assistants prepare a strategic development plan for ‘Eua. This could have been a really dull week, with me just tagging along setting up computers and projectors, etc. As it turned out I was very much involved in the job of developing the plan and this job was a huge amount of fun, though a little exhausting, because the UN technical assistant who made it to ‘Eua succeeded at involving the people of ‘Eua as much as possible.
There are about 5000 people living on ‘Eua, working mainly as farmers, in forestry or as part of the small, but expanding tourism industry. The people live what is described on the sign at the airport a “friendly village life” in 14 villages spread out along the main road and the eastern coast. ‘Eua is also home to perhaps the only national park in the Kingdom worthy of such a name. Our job for the week was to work with people from all across the island and start to capture what they want for the future. The whole exercise could lend itself to pretension, however thanks to good planning on the part of the UN guys, the current popular enthusiasm for change in Tonga and the friendliness of our hosts the whole week was very uplifting.
From our arrival on Friday until the workshop on Wednesday, the days, Sunday aside, were filled meeting the various associations, collectives, chambers and other interest groups in ‘Eua. These ranged from rather dull affairs to more lively sessions, but all were interesting because they were mostly conducted in Tongan (which has inspired me to work harder on the language) and thanks to some quick translations and some participants talking in English, I finally had a chance to get a feel for how real Tongans, rather than just public servants, regard their lives and the good humour with which they approach everything.
In the evenings, we were entertained either at our guesthouse or the home of Winston’s uncle. Getting to go to Va’inga’s house was a real treat. The hospitality was superb with plentiful food and alcohol put on for us. It was also nice to talk at length with Va’inga and whoever else would drop by.
The youngest in the family, a girl of a bit less then two, also thought that these palangis who kept visiting her house were the scariest thing in the world. At the start of the week our arrival would be greeted with a terrified expression before she burst into tears. With each night the little thing became less and less afraid, to the point that she would wave at us from a distance or another room. If we were in the same room, however, she would quickly attach herself to the nearest Tongan adult and stare out at us from within their protective embrace, apprehensive about these strange pale people.
Nights at The Hideway can be great. There is little to do apart from chat with the other guests and the place attracts interesting guests. Our first night involved some generous guests who kept the beers and talk about the current climate of change, including rumours of a possible strike brewing, coming for a few hours.
I didn’t want to go into too much detail now about the current tensions in Tonga, as that will surely be the topic of another blog when the strikes take place in a fortnight. But it is hard to avoid the topic of the moment.
As I think I have mentioned, the Tongan public servants went on strike last year in protest at the disparity in pay between the Ministers and public servants. This dispute quickly escalated into a dispute about democratic and political reform, the escalation being supported at the time in no small part by our fellow and generous guests at The Hideaway. This escalation was momentous for Tonga, as it represented the first time that the Tongan people in large numbers openly criticised their government and sections of the royal family. The strike ended with public servants being awarded 60, 70 and 80 per cent pay rises, however this was later qualified by the need to make a quarter of the public service redundant to pay for the increases.
Also, the then PM, a member of the royal family, resigned earlier this year and was replaced by a new PM who was appointed by the King from members of parliament elected by the people – the first popularly elected, commoner PM in a round about kind of way. (This new PM bears an eerie resemblance to Bob Hawke). In the last week, this PM has announced a cabinet reshuffle that included appointing three additional. Their appointment and the government’s seeming agreement to buy back the power company it had earlier sold to the crown prince, occurring against the background of mass redundancies and a major fiscal crisis has resulted in the public service, supported by business and the democracy movement, to threaten to go on strike again unless the government resign and fresh, wholly-democratic elections are called.
That is, another dispute about equity has quickly become a push for greater democracy. Interesting and historic times in Tonga then.
This enthusiasm for change really affected our final day in ‘Eua, when we conducted a workshop and had the people of ‘Eua choose words for key parts of the plan. Not only was the whole day kept reasonably lively by the current climate of popular empowerment (if I can call it that), but also people were genuinely happy to be working together, rather than at loggerheads and with the exclusion of some groups, such as women and youth. The end result was some genuinely good ideas and all round good feeling.
I can’t wait to go back to ‘Eua in August/September to finish the plans and I haven’t even mentioned the whales that should be migrating through the area at the time.
17 May 2006
tinned corned beef and taro
Food in Tonga is meant to be very poor, in variety and quality, and very expensive, in price. Or so I had read before arriving. The title of this post is what I was threatened to expect. The reality is much better, at least where I live. It can be a challenge to prepare good food, but not from a lack of variety. This week my post should assure all of you that you won’t go hungry or have to do without if you visit Tonga. Also, people should feel reassured that I am neither wasting away (getting fitter, yes) nor suffering any loss in my culinary abilities by being reduced to cooking two-minute noodles each night. Hopefully, I also convey some of the fun of shopping and cooking in Tonga.
I should say to start that I am quite lucky. My work is located next door to the Talamahu Maketi (Market), which is the main market in Nuku’alofa. Monday to Friday I can slip next door at lunch time to pick up fresh fruit and vegetables.
Locally grown bananas, pineapple, lime and watermelon are the most plentiful fruits available, though I have also found it easy enough to buy apeli (apples) and oranges imported from New Zealand when the urge takes me or, with oranges, when I have been run down.
The stalls inside the market also sell beans, carrots, eggplant, okra, garlic and ginger on a regular basis. One day they are there, the next you may not be so lucky. I have also bought pumpkin (once), coriander (twice), bok choy and a few other herbs on the rare occasions they have been available to keep the variety up.
The vegetables and fruit are arranged in small piles or bunchs. Each pile usually costs 2 pa’anga. So rather than choosing how much you want, you choose the pile that looks freshest and hand over your 2 pa’anga. A very simple system, that avoids the need for scales or more than a rudimentary knowledge of Tongan/English for the buyer/seller when a palangi is involved.
The outside of the market is fringed with stalls selling taro, kumala (sweet potato), ufi (yam) by the basket load. The logisitics of carrying a basket of taro whilst riding home have prevented me purchasing any of these, though our neighbour has kindly given us some ufi and we have bought kumala elsewhere in more manageable quantities.
Throughout the week the range at the maketi improves, with Saturday being the most plentiful. On Sunday, as with everything else, the market is closed. Which necessitates a bit of planning, to make sure we don’t go hungry especially as Monday’s pickings can be a little slim sometimes.
The vegetable part of shopping and cooking is fairly easy then. Meet, spices, sauces and other supermarket items are another matter as most of these, apart from fish, are imported from overseas.
Across the road from the maketi, and on the same road as I live, is the most westernised supermarket – Molisi’s. It is generally well stocked, but can be a little pricey so Tongans and more experienced palangis always question why I shop there. Convenience is enough reason for me on most days, but I still find myself doing a tour of several supermarkets at least one lunch-time a week and on Saturday mornings.
Apart from a desire to explore, the tour is necessary as no two supermarkets stock the same products and each is sure to run low between shipments. Hunting out ingredients can be great fun and as long as I am sure to check the use-by dates, the finds can dramatically change the menu for the following week. Each trip brings new surprises as the stock is always changing or replenishing with each ships arrival. The effort makes you appreciate how convenient life is in Australia when you can shop when you want and know that you are fairly likely to find what you want.
Supermarket items can be pricey. Dairy especially. As is cereal. Though the latest shipment did bring some cheaper muesli which I have been treating myself to on weekends with locally made yoghurt and fruit.
Meat and fish is a fun all of its own. I have mainly been cooking with chicken and fish. Red meat is hard to find, apart from lamb flaps and beef mince which are both very fatty. Depsite almost every Tongan seeming to own a puaka (pig), these are reserved for ceremonial feasts so there is no pork and bacon is imported from New Zealand frozen and expensive.
Chicken is only available frozen, either whole or as drumsticks. I have adapted to cooking curries and such using whole drumsticks, but am becoming quite adept at de-boning frozen or partially thawed drumsticks for stir-fries et cetera. Packing my good knife has also proved hand for quartering whole frozen chickens when I feel like something different or more elaborate.
Cooking fish has also required me to learn some new skills. Though I have found snapper and mahi mahi fillets, whole fish is far more plentiful. When I say whole, I mean whole. The Tongan fishmongers leave it up to the customers to clean and scale any whole fish. The other fish that is readily available is tuna which is cheap at about A$5 a kilo, but it is sold by the round. That is they take a whole tune and slice it vertically into discs about 7 centimetres thick. To obtain steaks or smaller pieces you need to remove the skin and bones. As each round weighs about 3 kilograms, this is usually done with a frozen fish after the first meal. Tuna loin (sashimi quality tuna) is also available for about A$10 a kilo, but I haven’t bought any yet.
My diet also includes a good range of bakery products. Bread for toast in the mornings as well as various cakes, donuts, slices and other treats in the afternoon and on Sundays. Bakeries, as I have mentioned, are the only places open on Sundays, so after going for a long ride, as I have most Sundays, I treat myself to something like cupcakes or donuts.
The other novelty about shopping in Tonga is the Falekaloa, which translates as house (fale) of goods (kaloa). On every second corner, it seems, there is a Falekaloa. These could be best described as downmarket 7-Elevens. They sell nearly everything you could want that has a decent shelf life or can be kept frozen in a freezer. From our nearest falekaloa, 20 metres away, we have bought toilet paper, beer, phone cards, toys, biscuits, flour and many other things. Only, most falekaloas have a counter across the front with security bars and you stand outside whilst purchasing what you want.
Making purchases has been a bit of a challenge at our local falekaloa, like many, is operated by a couple from Hong Kong that bought Tongan passports in the hope of emigrating to Australia or the US prior to the return of Hong Kong to China. As soon as it became known that Tonga was selling passports, Australia and the US ceased to recognise the purchased passports and the people from Hong Kong have been stuck in Tonga ever since. As they can't buy property, most run small retail outlets in rented properties. Their Tongan is great, but mine isn't just like their English so making purchases requires lots of miming and pointing as well as help from other customers.
The other big difference between a falekaloa and a 7-eleven is price. Through a combination of shoddy construction (most falekaloa are small shacks built on somebodies front yard), buying in bulk and self-packaging (such as with flour) the prices are kept below those of the supermarkets. All this and convenient as well.
There is one other fale that is important for food and that is the falekai, literally house of eat, or restaurant. We have sampled a few and the food is cheap and decent. They range from cafes through chinese and japanese to italian. No fine dining, but a nice change when you can't be bothered cooking.
Enough about food, if I talk about it anymore I will have to find a bakery.
Doubt as to why I am here in Tonga nearly consumed me in the last fortnight. After seven weeks, I am well aware of the attractions of the place – the people, their culture, the islands and their surrounds all have me enthralled and eager to see more. However, if I were only to come to Tonga as a tourist, then I would have been better remaining in Australia and earning enough money to enjoy the journey without seven hours a day, five days a week buried in the labyrinth that serves as my office. These thirty-five hours are ostensibly for work and it is a lack of such that I have found so troubling. I have also had trouble with other volunteers whose lack of experience will result in them making things worse through their fumbling efforts.
Things have improved this week as I have been working with two technical assistants from the UN and a Tongan to prepare a development plan for the island 'Eua I visited at Easter. This week we have met with senior people from all over government and it has been a good opportunity to learn about the Tongan public sector. Information isn't readily accessible, and you don't simply go around setting up meetings with senior people (well not unless you are the other volunteer I have a problem with). The meetings on 'Eua has allowed me to learn a lot more about the roles of the different ministries and authorities (which aren't all that self evident) and also how Tongans think about the role of government. Slowly, I am becoming able to piece together a work program for myself that will, all going to plan, result in something meaningful improvement.
I will have more time to think about this as I return to 'Eua from Friday. I will be spending a week there for work completing the consultation for the development plan and helping to conduct the final workshop where the technical assistants will attempt to write the plan. I will be without internet for the week, so there will be another long gap between posts.
I should say to start that I am quite lucky. My work is located next door to the Talamahu Maketi (Market), which is the main market in Nuku’alofa. Monday to Friday I can slip next door at lunch time to pick up fresh fruit and vegetables.
Locally grown bananas, pineapple, lime and watermelon are the most plentiful fruits available, though I have also found it easy enough to buy apeli (apples) and oranges imported from New Zealand when the urge takes me or, with oranges, when I have been run down.
The stalls inside the market also sell beans, carrots, eggplant, okra, garlic and ginger on a regular basis. One day they are there, the next you may not be so lucky. I have also bought pumpkin (once), coriander (twice), bok choy and a few other herbs on the rare occasions they have been available to keep the variety up.
The vegetables and fruit are arranged in small piles or bunchs. Each pile usually costs 2 pa’anga. So rather than choosing how much you want, you choose the pile that looks freshest and hand over your 2 pa’anga. A very simple system, that avoids the need for scales or more than a rudimentary knowledge of Tongan/English for the buyer/seller when a palangi is involved.
The outside of the market is fringed with stalls selling taro, kumala (sweet potato), ufi (yam) by the basket load. The logisitics of carrying a basket of taro whilst riding home have prevented me purchasing any of these, though our neighbour has kindly given us some ufi and we have bought kumala elsewhere in more manageable quantities.
Throughout the week the range at the maketi improves, with Saturday being the most plentiful. On Sunday, as with everything else, the market is closed. Which necessitates a bit of planning, to make sure we don’t go hungry especially as Monday’s pickings can be a little slim sometimes.
The vegetable part of shopping and cooking is fairly easy then. Meet, spices, sauces and other supermarket items are another matter as most of these, apart from fish, are imported from overseas.
Across the road from the maketi, and on the same road as I live, is the most westernised supermarket – Molisi’s. It is generally well stocked, but can be a little pricey so Tongans and more experienced palangis always question why I shop there. Convenience is enough reason for me on most days, but I still find myself doing a tour of several supermarkets at least one lunch-time a week and on Saturday mornings.
Apart from a desire to explore, the tour is necessary as no two supermarkets stock the same products and each is sure to run low between shipments. Hunting out ingredients can be great fun and as long as I am sure to check the use-by dates, the finds can dramatically change the menu for the following week. Each trip brings new surprises as the stock is always changing or replenishing with each ships arrival. The effort makes you appreciate how convenient life is in Australia when you can shop when you want and know that you are fairly likely to find what you want.
Supermarket items can be pricey. Dairy especially. As is cereal. Though the latest shipment did bring some cheaper muesli which I have been treating myself to on weekends with locally made yoghurt and fruit.
Meat and fish is a fun all of its own. I have mainly been cooking with chicken and fish. Red meat is hard to find, apart from lamb flaps and beef mince which are both very fatty. Depsite almost every Tongan seeming to own a puaka (pig), these are reserved for ceremonial feasts so there is no pork and bacon is imported from New Zealand frozen and expensive.
Chicken is only available frozen, either whole or as drumsticks. I have adapted to cooking curries and such using whole drumsticks, but am becoming quite adept at de-boning frozen or partially thawed drumsticks for stir-fries et cetera. Packing my good knife has also proved hand for quartering whole frozen chickens when I feel like something different or more elaborate.
Cooking fish has also required me to learn some new skills. Though I have found snapper and mahi mahi fillets, whole fish is far more plentiful. When I say whole, I mean whole. The Tongan fishmongers leave it up to the customers to clean and scale any whole fish. The other fish that is readily available is tuna which is cheap at about A$5 a kilo, but it is sold by the round. That is they take a whole tune and slice it vertically into discs about 7 centimetres thick. To obtain steaks or smaller pieces you need to remove the skin and bones. As each round weighs about 3 kilograms, this is usually done with a frozen fish after the first meal. Tuna loin (sashimi quality tuna) is also available for about A$10 a kilo, but I haven’t bought any yet.
My diet also includes a good range of bakery products. Bread for toast in the mornings as well as various cakes, donuts, slices and other treats in the afternoon and on Sundays. Bakeries, as I have mentioned, are the only places open on Sundays, so after going for a long ride, as I have most Sundays, I treat myself to something like cupcakes or donuts.
The other novelty about shopping in Tonga is the Falekaloa, which translates as house (fale) of goods (kaloa). On every second corner, it seems, there is a Falekaloa. These could be best described as downmarket 7-Elevens. They sell nearly everything you could want that has a decent shelf life or can be kept frozen in a freezer. From our nearest falekaloa, 20 metres away, we have bought toilet paper, beer, phone cards, toys, biscuits, flour and many other things. Only, most falekaloas have a counter across the front with security bars and you stand outside whilst purchasing what you want.
Making purchases has been a bit of a challenge at our local falekaloa, like many, is operated by a couple from Hong Kong that bought Tongan passports in the hope of emigrating to Australia or the US prior to the return of Hong Kong to China. As soon as it became known that Tonga was selling passports, Australia and the US ceased to recognise the purchased passports and the people from Hong Kong have been stuck in Tonga ever since. As they can't buy property, most run small retail outlets in rented properties. Their Tongan is great, but mine isn't just like their English so making purchases requires lots of miming and pointing as well as help from other customers.
The other big difference between a falekaloa and a 7-eleven is price. Through a combination of shoddy construction (most falekaloa are small shacks built on somebodies front yard), buying in bulk and self-packaging (such as with flour) the prices are kept below those of the supermarkets. All this and convenient as well.
There is one other fale that is important for food and that is the falekai, literally house of eat, or restaurant. We have sampled a few and the food is cheap and decent. They range from cafes through chinese and japanese to italian. No fine dining, but a nice change when you can't be bothered cooking.
Enough about food, if I talk about it anymore I will have to find a bakery.
Doubt as to why I am here in Tonga nearly consumed me in the last fortnight. After seven weeks, I am well aware of the attractions of the place – the people, their culture, the islands and their surrounds all have me enthralled and eager to see more. However, if I were only to come to Tonga as a tourist, then I would have been better remaining in Australia and earning enough money to enjoy the journey without seven hours a day, five days a week buried in the labyrinth that serves as my office. These thirty-five hours are ostensibly for work and it is a lack of such that I have found so troubling. I have also had trouble with other volunteers whose lack of experience will result in them making things worse through their fumbling efforts.
Things have improved this week as I have been working with two technical assistants from the UN and a Tongan to prepare a development plan for the island 'Eua I visited at Easter. This week we have met with senior people from all over government and it has been a good opportunity to learn about the Tongan public sector. Information isn't readily accessible, and you don't simply go around setting up meetings with senior people (well not unless you are the other volunteer I have a problem with). The meetings on 'Eua has allowed me to learn a lot more about the roles of the different ministries and authorities (which aren't all that self evident) and also how Tongans think about the role of government. Slowly, I am becoming able to piece together a work program for myself that will, all going to plan, result in something meaningful improvement.
I will have more time to think about this as I return to 'Eua from Friday. I will be spending a week there for work completing the consultation for the development plan and helping to conduct the final workshop where the technical assistants will attempt to write the plan. I will be without internet for the week, so there will be another long gap between posts.
5 May 2006
'ane po na'e mofuike
The title of this post translates as, "last night there was an earthquake". I know that isn't perfectly correct, as the earthquake was two nights ago now. However, saying the night before last is a bit of a stretch for my limited Tongan.
My first attempt to say "there was an earthquake" in Tongan was " 'Ane po na'a Tonga teketekelili." I thought this translated as "last night Tonga shook", but my language teacher corrected this to "last night Tonga was enraged". Having experienced the earthquake, that isn't an inappropriate description.
Anyway, you are probably all more interested to read about the earthquake rather than receive "ako lea fakatonga" (Tongan language lessons).
Fortunately, I haven't been sleeping through the night since arriving in Tonga so I was awake when all the excitement began. Fortunate in that I was able to experience it rather than fortunate because I didn't get hurt (which I didn't anyway). I may have awoken ahead of the earthquake because the dogs in there weird doggish-way sensed its approach and began barking madly well before the ground rumbled. Once the earthquake began, everything went quiet and there was just the roar of the quake itself and the occasional clatter as something fell from a shelf or the blinds were smashed against the wall.
It felt like our house was a boat being tossed about on a rough ocean. The house, and possibily a large amount of Nuku'alofa, seemed to move as one whole and there never seemed to be any real threat of the house being broken up or the roof collapsing.
After the initial excitement and confirming with my bemused housemate that we had just experienced an earthquake we both went back to bed. Before going to bed, John had watched an episode of Buffy that featured an earthquake which resulted in the opening of a hellmouth and the issuing forth of various demons. I think at first he thought the real earthquake was just a dream, and then later, if it was a dream, when the demons would appear. Tonga is too devout for this possibility.
There was a tsunami warning issued shortly after the earthquake, but Tonga was without power and even the Australian High Commission, which has its own generator, didn't receive the warning of the threat of the wave until forty minutes after it was meant to hit Tonga. A great early warning system.
This week has involved a couple of firsts. In addition to the earthquake, I saw my first 'anga (shark) whilst snorkelling. Only a 60cm reef shark, but it caused me to pause for a moment as it emerged from the murky water (probably stirred up by the earthquake and an overnight storm). I should have followed it for a while, but lost it whilst trying to attract the attention of the others I was snorkelling with.
Unfortunately, whilst I was swimming somebody stole my small swimming goggles which I had left with my t-shirt. We were warned about the high likelihood of being the victims of burglary and theft whilst we were here. As far as things go a $10 pair of goggles is pretty light price to pay for my first experience.
I am to work on the development of an infrastructure plan for the island of 'Eua I visited at easter. My role will be in support of two foreign technical assistants, from NZ and the UN, so I am not sure there will be much for me to do. At least I will score a trip to 'Eua out of my involvement. There may also be a subsequent plan for the Niuas, which are the most remote of the Tongan islands. They are closer to Samoa then Nuku'alofa and are serviced by one plane a week and one boat a month (if the ocean is calm enough to allow them to dock). There is little chance of me going to the Niuas as a tourist, so going for work would be quite a piece of luck.
Finally, I didn't manage to sleep through all of last night either. I wasn't woken by an earthquake, but by my mum calling to let me know that my sister Annabel had given birth to a baby girl Mieke Elizabeth Kennedy. This was as exciting a reason to be awoken as an earthquake, though a little more expected. The free flight from virginblue as compensation for our delayed trip to Tonga will be put to good use to visit Mieke, my other niece Bronte and all my family in Sydney for christmas.
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