My first week

I have been in Tonga for a week now and it has been busy. Stan took Thursday and Friday off last week so we could hang out. We went into town and bought some supplies for me. I was feeling a bit under the weather on Tuesday it may be because I got up at 6am Monday morning for a run and my body went into shock. I really think the reason is my body is trying to adjust to the weather and the food. It is so hot and humid; I am sweating, as I take a shower, just not right!!! Well so far I have gone to an ub40 concert, which was great, they had it in an outdoor stadium. I have gone to my first of I am sure many Tongan funerals. Family and people from villages come to the deceased families home and pay their respects, say goodbye to the body and eat. The women present the family with a ngatu which is a cloth that is made from the bark of a mulberry bush that is hand painted.You go into the room where the dead person is you present the cloth at the coffin and then you kiss the body. I choose to skip the kissing part, he wasn't looking to good, beyond being dead! This happens all day and then at about 5pm they take the body to the church, have a service and then walk the body to the cemetery, which was about 1 mile away.

Stan I went to a movie last night at the new ‘state of the art” movie theatre, we saw a vampire flick. I am still suffering nausea, which I think is from the heat. I went to the capital with a friend Brian who is a Peace Corp worker here in the village. He teaches at the girl’s primary school. We went to a yoga class, it was nice to stretch my body, the only benefit of the heat here is that I am more supple. I will take some pictures over the weekend so I can add them to the blog. My goal is to do a weekly update so check in regularly.