Top 34 Reasons You Know You Volunteered in Peace Corps Tonga (Let's make it 100!)

I’ve had nearly six months since the end of my Peace Corps service in Tonga.  It's impossible to identify all of the ways my life has changed as a result of my two years living in the South Pacific. My thoughts, behaviors, and plans for the future have all been influenced as a result of my extremely formative Peace Corps experience.  

Throughout my time in Tonga I experienced the most difficult, pleasant, interesting, busy, monotonous and fun days of my life.  While in Tonga I, along with many of my Peace Corps friends, noted the ridiculousness of “island life” –the spontaneous, confusing, hilarious and frightening aspects of living alone in a tropical island kingdom.   While sharing the idiosyncrasies of our existence in Tonga, many of us would start our stories with “You know you’re in Peace Corps Tonga when…” 

I’ve compiled a list of “You know you’ve Volunteered in Peace Corps Tonga when…” as a component of the very relevant Peace Corps Goal #3 of sharing Tongan culture in addition to my need to share my revelations and reflections in regards to my two years in Tonga.  

Enjoy:)

Top 34 Reasons You Know You 

Volunteered in Peace Corps Tonga

1.  "You’re clean for a bucket bather" is one of the nicest compliments you’ve ever received.

2.  You've shared the wonders of the English language with the beautiful children of Tonga.

3.  The thought of dining by candlelight makes you feel sad and lonely.

4.  You’ve consumed copious amounts of Ikale and lived to tell the tale.

5.  You have no idea what a Wii is.

6.  You’ve packed a giant bag of dirty laundry to go on vacation.

7.  You have friends named Loketi (Rocket), Telefoni (Telephone), Vai (Liquid),  Feiloaki (Introduce yourself), Venitaleita (Ventilator), Puke (Sick), Makoni (Telegram) and Vaka Puna (Airplane) 

8.  This is a special treat:

9.  You've purchased month old expired boxed skim milk in bulk because it was such a great deal.

10.  You went well over a year without a haircut or a hot shower.

11.  You’ve been enthusiastically congratulated for gaining weight.

12.  You've been bitten by one of these bad boys:

13.  You have no idea how to use an iphone. 

14.  You’ve eaten horse, cat, whale sea, turtle and/or dog and found it to be delicious. 

15.  You’ve danced for and/or dined with a King.

 16.  Reading Newsweek fills you with an overwhelming sense of nostalgia. 

17.  You’ve gone swimming with humpback whales.

18.  The fact that you may never eat lu again makes you depressed.

19.  You’ve had to change your plans because someone killed a pig in your honor. 

20.  You’ve kissed a corpse (or two or three).

21.  Your lawn care has been provided by a horse.

22.  Throughout the 2008 Presidential campaign you had no idea how to pronounce Palin or Biden.  

23.  Roast pig staring you down at the table increases your appetite.

24.  Giant (and hairy) brown spiders fail to freak you out.

25.  Whenever you hear a dog bark you instinctively drop to the ground and pick up the closest rock.

26.  You don't use fork or spoons when eating food that technically requires the use of such utensils.

27.  Before drinking a glass of water, you hold it up to the light to check for mosquito larva while asking "Is this rain water?"

28.  You've killed a rat with your bare hands (slight exaggeration, but only slight)

29.  You consider going on a walk with a boy a hot date. 

30.  When someone calls your name you respond by either screeching "kooooo" or  by saying "ko ou heni!" 

31.  You feel dejected when nobody at the grocery store asks you where you are going while you walk up and down the aisles.

32.  Instead of asking a simple "Why?" you demand "the reason".

33.  You sometimes forget to take your clothes off before you get in the shower.

34.  You have multiple namesakes. 

Osi Osi

My time as a Peace Corps volunteer has officially ended. The past few days have been a whirlwind; trying to pack, say my goodbyes, move out of my house... Thankfully I had a lot of understanding and support from my friends and villagers who made this huge transition extremely positive. I am leaving Tonga knowing that I made the most of my two years and that I ultimately will be back to visit the country and people who have become such a significant part of my life.

Fortunately this past week there were a lot of activities going on throughout my village, so I had many opportunities to let people know about my imminent departure. By saying traditional “fakamalo” thank you speeches, I have been able to share my appreciation for having spent two years in such an incredible part of the world surrounded by wonderful people as well my plans for the future with my villagers. These tearful speeches have given me some much needed closure.

Wednesday afternoon there was a “koniseti” concert where I was able to dance around to some classic Tongan hits with the kiddos one last time.

Thursday was the “Misionales” at the Church of Tonga, and was where I attended my last church service in Tonga and ate at my last “kaipola”.

Friday night I baked one last cake for my adopted Tongan family, and then spent much of the night acting as a “to’a” serving kava at the Silakivai organization’s faikava one last time.

Saturday, my last day in Vava’u, was mostly spent packing. I am typically not a last minute packer; I had been sick and extremely busy this past week (and a bit in denial) so I had yet to start packing my bags…

The day of my departure I was woken up at an early 6am by my neighbour Fuiongo, yelling outside my window asking if I was ready to eat some boiled tinned fish and sweet potato. As frustrated as I get at being woken up so abruptly and early in the morning (in addition to the constant query as to whether or not I want to eat) I had to laugh at the fact that on my last morning in Vava’u I had a classic Fuiongo wake up call… I wouldn’t have had it any other way.

As soon as I woke up and started to pack I was constantly interrupted by knocks at the door. Throughout the morning I had several people coming in to say goodbye and drop off gifts. The “me’a ofa” gifts I received were given to me with clear instructions to wear the items on my flight to Tongatapu – I showed up to the airport looking like a true “ta’ahine Tonga” – Tongan girl. There were many people from my village at the airport as well as some fellow Peace Corps Volunteers who came to see me off. Thankfully the mood at the airport was extremely positive and I didn’t shed a tear. Perhaps I was all cried out, or maybe it is just that I have realized I should not be sad to end this incredible chapter of my life; I should just appreciate that I was fortunate enough to spend two years of my life living in such an incredible part of the world with such wonderful people and share in the beauty of Tonga.


My flight to the main island of Tongatapu had a 30 minute layover on the island of Ha’apai. The island of Ha’apai is so narrow that the main road goes right over the landing strip; there is a gate that is locked to stop traffic when planes are getting ready to land or takeoff. During our two months in Ha’apai in 2006, my friend Jessica and I lived with families who lived on opposite sides of the airport runway. Jessica and I decided while making our descent to Ha’apai that it would be a great idea to quickly and literally run over to our old homestay families’ houses and say a quick hello and goodbye. Jessica and I checked with the pilot to make sure we would have enough time to make the short journey to the end of the runway, and when given permission hopped off the plane and hightailed it down the airstrip. While Jessica ran to the left, I veered to the right yelling across the runway something along the lines of "I'm sure everyone on the plane thinks we're crazy, and we probably are” Where else in the world can you hop off a plane and take off running down the runway? Needless to say, our old homestay families were extremely surprised and pleased to see us, albeit briefly!

While in Tongatapu I had a wonderful time hanging out and saying my goodbyes to other volunteers and our incredible Peace Corps staff. I also made it to the beach for one more time in Tonga :)

I was fortunate to meet my friends Katie and Steve during my layover in LA. It was so much fun catching up with them and I am really looking forward to seeing all my old friends and family over the next few weeks.

Tau Puna Lofa

Tongan children continuously amaze me with their ingenuity. Of all the random items the kids here turn into toys, the black plastic tape from VHS tapes has to be the most creative. The VHS tape provides a multitude of options for the children’s creativity in play – from ninja costumes to kite flying.

The VHS tape is often used as a kite tail. The rest of the kite is typically constructed of old notebook paper, medical tape, sticks, thread and an old can for the spool.

When I first saw the ramshackle kites I didn’t think that they would ever actually fly. The kites really do fly though, so unbelievably high in the sky it sometimes takes me a few minutes to find the tiny speck so far in the distance. One of the many random parts of my day that makes me smile.

Ofa Lahi ki he Tamaiki Ako

There is a band of children in my neighborhood who I have become extremely close to over the past two years. Now that I am getting ready to leave, their once sporadic knocks at my door have become increasingly more frequent. I had eight separate requests to come in to read, color, help do laundry – anything to get inside the palangi’s house.

If I wasn’t so close to finishing my time in Tonga I think I’d find this annoying, however, I love these children and thinking that I will be leaving them in a few short days breaks my heart – I want to spend as much time with them as possible before I go.

My desire to spend more time with the local kids was evident last week when I decided to host my first sleepover in well over a decade - complete with movies, popcorn, and nail polish. If that isn’t sharing American culture, I don’t know what is.

The kids have been receiving a lot of my clothes as I have been cleaning out my house in preparation for my return to the states next week. Giving away my belongings is a way for me to show my appreciation to the people who have spent the past two incredible years with me in this lovely village. It makes me smile to think for many years to come the kids in Leimatu’a will be running around in my clothes; Colby-Sawyer College, Google, and the Gap are certainly well represented.

I’m not as much of a packrat as I used to be, however, I did come across some interesting items while cleaning out my house this morning. I am a huge fan of theme parties. Last year when I was in Australia I took the opportunity to stock up on novelty items perfect for some fun times in Tonga, a pack of “party mustaches” being my most precious purchase. Low and behold this morning I found the comical items, with such incredible names as “The Hero”, “The Weasel”, “The Sheriff”, “The Bruiser”, and “The Hollywood”. The distribution of the party mustaches are a component of my informal English language teaching – the word “mustache” will not soon be forgotten in Leimatu’a, that’s for sure.

Pomp, Circumstance and Candy

This morning I attended the Class One graduation of my neighbor Naua. On the way to the ceremony I noticed two giant boxes full of “kahoa” necklaces made out of candy and fresh flowers in the car.

Once the class rank of the five year olds had been announced to the masses, I was instructed by Naua's mother, Uai, to help carry the kahoas to the stage.

I proceeded to put one kahoa around each child's head. I assumed by the sheer number of kahoas that were placed in my arms that I was to give one to everybody in the class; I was mistaken.

After I had placed kahoas around several children’s necks, I looked over to see each family placing an inordinate amount of kahoas around their respective child’s neck and arms.

I realized my mistake and quickly joined Uai in placing one kahoa after another around Naua’s extremities until she was immobilized.

I can only imagine what transpires at college graduation ceremonies.

too much candy...

crash