School Countdown!

School starts on the 31st- it was supposed to start this Monday, on the 24th, but they pushed it back a week for various reasons. I found that out this week. Ohhhh Tonga! Haha. This week was planning week number 1. There is a new curriculum for primary school so this week consisted of various sessions on that. The new curriculum seems like it is good for the schools. The government primary schools (GPS) are changing it so that English doesn’t start until class 3 (which is age equivalent to 2nd grade in the US- kids here start class 1 at age 5). This is because they found that there was so much focus on English that kids didn’t even know the rules of Tongan grammar. They could speak it and understand it and such but didn’t know a refined level of it- for writing papers and such. However, I don’t work at a GPS, I work at a Free Weslyan primary school (FWPS). So they’re using the new curriculum in terms of what is taught but instead of pushing English back to class 3, my school is actually trying to transition to a bilingual system. Not sure yet exactly what they mean by bilingual, but they’re going to be starting English at class 1, possibly even kindy. So I’m going to be working mainly with class 1 and class 6, but also doing some stuff with every other level too. Class 6 is when they take their major exam, as you remember, to figure out where they go to high school and there’s an English section so they need a lot of practice at that level. Last year none of the kids at my school passed the exam. While I would love for even one to pass this year, I know that it’s not that simple. My goal for now is to improve their English as it functions in real life situations first, and then focus on the exam later in the year.

Anyway, the sessions this week were all in Tongan so I didn’t understand a whole lot of it. I concentrated really hard and ended up with a headache, haha. I did get some of it, and there was a PCV there from Group 75 so she explained some of it to me as well.

Next week is planning week at our individual school. I should find out what my actual teaching schedule will look like and start to get some stuff ready for actual classes. I’m really excited to get to know the kids at school and be in a classroom. I’m also a little anxious about it, since it’s not something I’ve really done before- teaching at a preschool is not the same as teaching in a primary school classroom. I’ll let you know how it goes!

Love and miss you all.
k

Mice Adventures

Hey look at me! I’m actually writing a blog ahead of time! Everyone should be incredibly proud. Hopefully they internet will work when I head to town tomorrow and I’ll get to post this. If not… at least I wrote it, right? That ought to count for something.

Update on my lovely little housemates that I mentioned awhile ago. They have continued to scurry around my house in a quite obnoxious manner. Thus far they have destroyed my 1/3 measuring cup, the bottom corner of my shower curtain, a lot of toilet paper, tinfoil, my food storage container, some plastic bags and who knows what else. I’ve even had a few stare downs with them. Although I have never actually wanted to kill a creature in my life, these mice are getting on my nerves. Thus, I’ve tried to eliminate them from my life in various ways.

The first way I tried was mouse traps. My friend Cecilia and I bought some in town. After snapping his finger in one and saying it didn’t even hurt, one of our other friends deemed them relatively useless. Despite this, I decided to attempt it. I had four . I put peanut butter on them, placed them in a couple different locations, and left them over night. The next morning when I woke up I laid in my bed for a few extra minutes, trying to figure out exactly what I would do if there were actually dead mice in the traps (and kind of hoping there wouldn’t be, to be honest). I crept around the corner into the kitchen where the first traps were, only to find that two had been set off and the peanut butter was gone but there were no mice in them. The other two traps were just still chillin, peanut butter and all. That was a failure but I was slightly relieved to not see any dead bodies.

The next time I tried to drown them. By my dad’s suggestion I set up a bucket that was filled about halfway with water, put a piece of wood in the bucket with a cracker and peanut butter floating on it, and set a ramp up so the mice could get in. The idea was that the mice would jump into the bucket to get the treat and not be able to get out, drowning instead. Once again, I woke up the next morning secretly hoping to not find any little mice bodies. Or, worse yet, living mice swimming in the water. Then what would I do?! Leave them there knowing they were drowning or rescue them and thus defeat the purpose? (Un?)fortunately there were no mice that time either.

At this point, one of my good friends expressed concern about my emotional health should I actually find dead mice in the morning. He was a little worried I wouldn’t be able to handle it. I admitted that I was lacking true commitment to killing the mice. I wanted them to leave my house but not necessarily to die. My ideal situation would be to sit down with them and say, “Look guys. You need to go. It’s nothing personal but your lifestyle isn’t compatible with mine. If you don’t leave by choice I’m going to have to kill you.” But honestly, I think they’d call my bluff.

I debated getting a cat. After much discussion with other friends, I decided against it- mainly because I didn’t want to have to worry about it when I went on vacations or when I leave in two years. I know that I wouldn’t be able to raise it fully faka-Tonga (keep it outside, let it fend for itself in terms of food, not play with it, etc.). Also I didn’t want to accidentally starve it, since I can barely feed myself. So, no cat.

That left poison. I don’t want the mice to die in my walls and smell but I’m willing to take my chances. I’ve put out four packets of poison. Three have disappeared so far, but it apparently takes 4-7 days for them to actually die. I can still hear them scurrying around at night, although there hasn’t been any damage recently (knock on wood). Hopefully they disappear and die outside somewhere. I feel a little bad but I guess I had no choice. Poor mice!

Love and miss you all!
k

Life as Usual

I would like to start this post with a shout-out to two of my lovely best friends, Nicole and Curtis, who got engaged at Christmas! Congratulations, guys!! I'm so happy for you.

Related, that's one of the things that has been kind of weird about being in Tonga- missing important events in the lives of people I love. Knowing that something fantastic has happened and I'm unable to be there to share it is a weird sensation. I'm completely stoked for someone but a little sad at the same time. It's only happened a few times- Lea getting her NatGeo job, Nicole and Curtis getting engaged, Josh getting an A in religion (side note: wish he had been studying religion when I was still in college because I bet he totally could have helped me out in some of my classes). I am so so happy about all of those things, it just always catches me off guard to be reminded that everyone's lives are going on without me, hahaha. I know that sounds kind of self-centered but I don't really mean it in that way at all. I would imagine it's kind of the same for some of you, knowing that so much is going on in my life and having little sense of what exactly it's like.

Anyway, sorry, that was kind of a depressing note to start off on but I don't mean it to be! It's more interesting to me than anything else. I'm really quite happy and doing very well. School hasn't started yet but it's planning week beginning on Monday, so I'll finally be getting prepared for the school year! Ahh! I can't wait to get to know the kids in my village in a school setting as opposed to just playing around. And it will be really nice to have a schedule and specific tasks to accomplish. I'm likely going to be working with the whole age range of kids at my school, not just the older ones, so that will be pretty awesome.

I really have been doing the same thing as usual. Running, cooking, battling mice, hanging in the village, coming to town occasionally. Nothing too exciting. The first week of January was Uike Lotu, prayer week. I went to church twice a day every day, at 5 a.m. and 6ish p.m. I've been attending the Weslyan church as I will be teaching at a Weslyan school and right now most of the people I know in my village are Weslyan. I hope to venture to the other churches someday but I'm going to wait until I know people better so I can go with someone instead of alone.

I also hit up a couple feasts for New Years and the end of Uike Lotu. Feasts in Tonga involve a lot of food- roasted pig included- and speeches/prayers. It's all in Tongan, obviously, so I don't quite understand all of it but I do my best. The Tongans always tell me "kai lahi, kai lahi!" which is essentially "eat a lot, eat a lot!" which I am not very good at doing. By Tongan standards I eat very little, especially because I am a vegetarian- a concept which usually takes some explaining before it is understood. But at feasts I do my best to participate in the eating! Haha. Everyone in my village is so nice and welcoming. When I go to town for the day (like today), I miss them. I think that's a good sign so far!

So.... Yeah sorry this was boring and terribly written. I was trying to be fast. Once again I was too lazy to write anything ahead of time. I'll try and write something more exciting soon, maybe in a week or two once school starts. I probably won't be getting to town quite as much once I'm in school, though, just a heads up. Don't be alarmed.

Love and miss you all!

K

Finally some pictures!

Kaitlin's mom here. These are the pictures Kaitlin sent me to upload for her. Hopefully this will work, I'm rather new to blogging. But Kaitlin explained everything pretty well in her posts, so I think you will be able to figure out the pictures. And the title of this post is just me being a wiseguy! Kaitlin did ask me to tell you that her internet time will continue to be limited. Unfortunately, there is no internet access in her village, so she has to get into town. And right now she is supposed to be spending more time in her village getting integrated and such. So it might be awhile until her next post. But I am sure she will work it out so that we get to hear from her rather than second hand from me.

Random Fun Facts

Here are some random fun facts/stories about my life in Tonga:

• I am lucky. My neighbour has a washing machine. So I get to put my clothes in the washing machine and the only thing I have to do by hand is rinse them. No hand washing for Kaitlin! Sweeeet!
• In an effort to be nice, some of the Tongans in my village try to translate my name back into English. They translate Katalina into Katherine, despite the fact that I explained my name is actually Kaitlin. As a result, I respond to Katherine, Katalina, Lina, and of course, palangi.
• I successfully cooked for myself the other night, for the first time in Tonga! I made rice and vegetables. It was delicious. I was also very proud of myself, since I am not much of a cook. However, Tongans don't really understand vegetarianism very well- it took a bit of explaining. So when my principal's wife, Vau, asked me if I had cooked myself dinner and I proudly explained what I had made, her reaction was "...that is all? Tomorrow, I will look for eggs for you. I am worried you do not eat enough." I then had to explain that it was okay, I could get my own eggs and I actually eat fine. They are always so worried about me!
• I tried to bake a cake for Viniseni (my principal), Vau, and their family since they have been cooking so many meals for me. Baking is also a great way to make friends and integrate in Tonga. But, I am not much of a baker either. So my cake was not very good. But my neighbours ate it anyway and even said it was good and I was poto, smart, for making it.
• I have mice housemates. I think they only come out at night. They recently stole my toilet paper. Silly mice. They don't bother me now but hopefully they don't get any worse!
• I eva pe (just walk around) a lot to wave to people in my village so they know who I am. Eva-ing is a big activity here in Tonga. It's a little weird to them that I do it alone but the kids come with me sometimes too!
• I recently finished my first journal! That is the one Jamie gave me for my 21st birthday- thanks Jamie! Next is the one Monica gave me as a gift before I left. So everyone be proud- I've been writing a lot, even if it hasn't been on my blog.
• Tongans have beautiful voices. The singing in church is absolutely amazing.
• No, I do not go to the beach everyday.
• Tonga Group 76 is by far the most fascinating group of people I've ever met in my entire life (no offense to any of you). Everyone has such interesting backgrounds and stories that they are very willing to share. They are also very intelligent. We mesh pretty well.
• I had my first proposal for a Tongan moa (boyfriend or girlfriend) the other day. First let me explain that boyfriend or girlfriend must be used loosely. You can be texting with someone and be their moa, you can be walking with them on the street, you can actually be dating them- it's quite a wide range of activities and relationships. Tongans also frequently have multiple moas. So one of the boys in the group I was doing Christmas stuff with said "I think it is time for you to have a Tongan boyfriend." I said "Oh, really?" and he said "Yes, you should, would you like one?" I laughed and said "I think I am okay right now, I have not been here too long. I'm alright." And he said "You are okay?" And I said yes. He then didn't talk to me for the next couple of days so I felt kind of bad but we're okay now. A better way to handle it would have been with humour, such as "Oh, I already have 10 moas!" Or to just laugh and say, "You'd have to ask Viniseni first!" or something like that. But I was so caught off guard that I did not handle it well. Oh well, now I know for next time!

These are just random bits of information that have come to mind while I've been sitting at the computer. If there are questions you have about my life, or day to day activities or anything, definitely leave a comment and ask! I'll do my best to address them when I next get the chance to be online.

xoxo

k

Merry Christmas!

Merry American Christmas! And Boxing Day in Tonga!

I recently became a real PCV, yaaaaay. We were sworn in at a nice ceremony by the water on the 15th of December. I moved last week to my site and am now in my own house. It's summer break in Tonga right now so school is not in session. That means I have nothing in particular to do except get to know people in my community and integrate.

This past week that has involved participating in various skits/dances/songs with a group of youth in my community. Youth is basically the kids who are in or have graduated from high school but are not yet married, so I technically count as youth even though I will be a teacher at the school. It's a weird kind of in between. The youth are split up into different groups and have been performing every night. I jumped in with the group of which my principal's daughters are a part. We practiced a lot during the day and then did the performances at night. It was a big to-do- tents were rented for the school grounds, huge speakers were set up, and there was a stage. I played the Virgin Mary on a couple nights, danced a few times, and pretended to get married in a reenactment of a scene from Glee (from an episode I had not yet seen, which was frustrating!). I spent most of the time not being sure exactly what was going on and only understanding half of the Tongan spoken to me. However, a lot of the people in my group speak pretty good English so they were sure to help me out.

No matter what I did on stage, though, the Tongans thought it was great just because it was the palangi (white person, foreigner) doing it. All the young men in my village also got a great deal of entertainment out of posing for pictures with me. I just stood there and laughed while they rotated through. Everyone in my village is so friendly and welcoming- it's been a lot of fun.

For Christmas we went to church, had lunch, and then went swimming at the beach. After that my principal dropped me off at a PCV's house in town were a group of us had a potluck and did a yankee swap. I got two very nice coffee mugs! I'm still in town staying with my friend, and will head back to my site tomorrow. It's been a fun little break but it will also be good to get back to my site and continuing getting to know people.

I know this post is a little all over the place- we are in the PC office watching Eat, Pray, Love so I'm trying to multitask. But I just wanted to give you all a little update while I'm here!

I emailed my mom some pictures since it was taking to long to load them on the blog, so she will be putting those up soon. You will get to see my house, my group of youth, and the Peace Corps I did Christmas with. Hopefully I'll figure out how to make albums and stuff soon so I can put up lots of pictures!!

Once again, Merry Christmas! I hope you all had a lovely holiday season and have a great New Years. I'll be thinking of everyone! Love and miss you all tons.

xoxo
k

First Time Teaching

What up yo? Long time no talk. Sorry I've been so absent- but PST (pre-service training) is winding down so hopefully I'll be able to update you more regularly in the future.

We finished up our language training about a week and a half ago with a mock LPI (language proficiency exam). This involved having an interview in Tongan with one of our language trainers. We were asked questions about ourselves, family, food, clothing, directions, time, weather, and shopping. I was able to answer all of the questions that I was asked and scored a three out of three on every section except clothing. I was fortunate in the fact that I had a great, very patient language teacher during training. I think that is a large part of the reason I was able to learn well. Unfortunately, I haven't improved all that much since the mock LPI so I need to get back to studying before we have the real one in December!

Last week we started technical training, which for me consisted of how to teach English in a Tongan classroom. They flew in a TEFL expert from Bulgaria, which is where she works for Peace Corps. She has been working with our TEFL trainer, Lose, to educate us on classroom management, teaching English as a foreign language, and various other things. They have both been great, and we've had a lot of help/input from current volunteers. Hearing their experiences about starting to teach in Tonga has been the most helpful thing, as well as hearing from other trainees who have already taught English in other countries.

This week we started practice teaching in actual classrooms! We were split up between the schools near us in Ha'apai to teach for 2 hours a day so we can get a sense of what Tongan classrooms are like. I have been teaching at GPS Pangai (GPS = Government Primary School) in class 6, which is about equivalent to grade 5 in the US. In Tonga, students take an exam at the end of class 6 that determines where they will go to high school. If they score well enough on the exam, they go to better high schools. If they do poorly, they can still go to high school but they will attend schools that are not as strong in their education. So at age 10 or 11 students in Tonga have to test to determine the entire future of their education. And the test is hard! There is an English section, a math section, a science section, and a Tongan section. I have looked at some English sections of the exam from previous years and I know that I would not come close to getting a perfect score. There are questions on the test that are completely arbitrary (write the best word that means the same thing as big- who decides what the best word is?) and questions that are actually incorrect- multiple choice with no right answer. The test is also written by people for whom English is a second language. All in all, it is a very hard test but it determines the future for a child who is in our 5th grade. Craaaaaaaaazy.

Anyway, the students I've been teaching this week have already finished their exams and so are just hanging out until the school year officially ends. The last month of school after tests is pretty chill- a lot of students stop showing up and there isn't much in classroom education. I've had about 16 students in my class each day, although there are usually more than that throughout the school year. They are super sweet and listen very well. Kids in Tonga are very well behaved in the classroom. Some of that is because corporal punishment is generally used in most Tongan classrooms and so the kids are afraid of getting hit. But it is also partly just the kids here- they were great even for me, a teacher they have never met. In the US, a lot of kids really try to test a substitute teacher that is completely unknown. The kids I've taught this week have been pretty great. We did introducing yourself on Monday, daily routines on Tuesday, and today we did verbs. Some of the stuff I have done has been too easy for them because we didn't know the actual level of the kids going into it, but most of it has gone pretty well. I've done a lot of games and interactive activities which kids don't do in the classroom very much here. And yes, I've been teaching entirely in English, with the except of a word or two in Tongan when they don't understand something. They've been doing really well! We do not have teaching tomorrow as there is no school because of elections, but we should be going back on Friday for our last day of practice teaching.

After that, we have one week left in Ha'apai then off to attachment! I will be going to stay with a current volunteer who teaches at a Weslyan primary school in an outer village on Tongatapu. I will be there for a few days so that I can see a volunteer's life, learn what my life might be like for the next two years, and ask her any questions I might have. Should be interesting! Then we have a wrap up week in Nuku'alofa (where I started), then exams, then swearing in and then off to site on December 17th or so. I can't believe it has already been almost 2 months! Crazy!

Alright well I think that is about it for now, I could write more but this is getting pretty long so I will leave it for next time. If there is anything in particular you want me to write about feel free to comment and let me know!

Hope all is well where you are. Have a wonderful Thanksgiving! Love and miss y'all.

xoxo

k