So I have kept my blog fairly friendly for the first few months because I did not want to vent about this country and give the impression that it is some sort of wasteland. Actually the country is quite lovely, but there are a LOT of areas where I find myself wanting to clothesline some people just to laugh at them on the ground, haha.
Have you ever had that feeling while walking in the dark that something bad is going to happen to you? In the US that feeling is just you being paranoid...in Tonga it is almost a certainty that something will happen. Don't get me wrong, it is generally pretty mild and tame, but this fear is not paranoia at all!
The first thing to fear on this road to our right is the packs of dogs that wander/rule it. Unfortunately these dogs (which most of the time have 'owners') have been beaten so much that they are super aggressive. With all the abuse they luckily are easy to keep at bay by pretending to throw something at them.
Assuming you've made it past the dogs there are still the drunk Tongans to worry about. Most of the time they are pretty harmless, but every once in a while you'll get the 'white people are the devil' variety who unfortunately don't have the same boundaries about grabbing people as drunks in the US do. These are actually pretty easy to deal with compared to the final type of drunk. This drunk is the deportee drunk. Normally this drunk will talk to you in perfect English since he spent most of his life in the US. He reminisces about his wife and children in the States and will make it his goal to hold you as long as possible without saying a single thing that you feel at all interested in.
Assuming you make it home safely you'll get to a house that has absolutely nothing inside of it and fall asleep. You'll be woken up at 3am by the rat that obviously lives in your ceiling and then again at 7am by the next door neighbor who needs at that particularly moment to inform you that your banana tree is ripe. Yay!
You'll then be the first person to arrive at work...three hours late! Only to play secretary and get calls for the other two guys who weren't there the first ten times they called. Then of course you'll leave work to go somewhere where there is something to do, but only to find that you're needed at the office! It may seem like this is all a one bad day rant, but this is pretty daily. I am considering asking for a secretary....or at least an answering machine!
So then after work I am ready once again for the walk home which begins this vicious cycle all over again!
There are occasional breaks in which something awesome happens to me. Like this morning when I am walking to work and an elderly women stops what she is doing, stands up, and sincerely thanks me for working (Malo e ngaue - a Tongan phrase). These moments make me realize that Tonga is really one of the most awesome places I have ever stayed...regardless of the drunk guy who pee'd at me the other day (PEED AT ME...not on me!)
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