Our new site

We've been in our new site for exactly a week. It has been quite a week...we are still trying to wrap our minds around all of the differences.

Our new site is in Ma'ufanga, which is a district of the capital city Nuku'alofa. There are over 7,000 people living in this district....our school is about six times the size of our old island, population wise......so to say we're experiencing a bit of a culture shock is to put it lightly.


Our new school has over 600 students and 20 teachers. We aren't exactly sure what our schedule will be next year, as there is certainly more classes than we will be able to teach on a daily basis, but we have spent the last week familiarizing ourselves with the teachers and culture of our new school. The teachers have been very welcoming and seem excited about working with us next year.

We are currently living with an older Tongan couple. It is certainly not the most ideal living situation, but they are very sweet and generous. This is supposedly not a permanent living situation, but as I feel PC's largest purpose in my life is to teach me about flexibility and strength of character, I eagerly await our next steps.

We are learning, again, how to live in Tonga. This Tonga is so different than the one we just came from...in fact, most Tongans we talk to here can't even fathom the culture of the island...I think that has been the most shocking thing. Electricity, running water, showers with hot waters, tvs, cars, English, Internet, sitting at tables to eat, washing machines, refrigerators.....it's a whole different world over here. Much, much more westernized....which is nice sometimes, but disappointing on the whole.

We have about a month left before we come home for Christmas, so for now we're relearning, sharing, growing, and very much anticipating our visit home.