Outer Islands

I (finally) was able to visit the outer islands

I was at Kava a few nights ago, per usual. I love kava. My village has around 400 people. I would estimate 200 of them are between the ages of 50-75, 190 are between 0-17, and there are like 10 people remotely close to my age. I’ve taken a lot of solace in the old dudes. Those are my guys. We drink kava and usually talk about the same stuff every night. “‘Oku ke fie ma’u mali ta’ahine Tonga?”, “Fefe tou’ua”?, “Fakaofaofa piskikoa i Tuanuku, ay?” (so true though). The other night however the fellas invited me to go on a boat trip around the islands. Vava’u is an island group. I live on the main island, but the main island is surrounded by many smaller islands. I have never been able to visit them, but I can see them from my front doorstop and they stare back at me. I have been fiending to go for a long while.

I woke up, made some awful Nescafé instant coffee, got picked up at 7 am, and headed to the wharf. First stop, Hunga. Hunga is one of the two islands I have been looking at every day now for over a year, but have never visited. This island was super neat. The entrance was a slim break in the rocks that our boat narrowly squeezed through. The narrow opening made the entrance look like a lagoon. We walked up the hill and I was able to do some exploring. This is probably a good time to say what the purpose of this trip was. In Tonga right now it’s election season. A man in my village is running for parliament (again) and he’s going around to all the islands campaigning. As a Peace Corps Volunteer, I am not allowed to endorse a candidate, but nothing’s wrong with going on a little island tour. My first impression was just how quiet everything was. Laughing children were there but to a much lesser extent than on the main island. I also noticed just how much grass there was. On the main island if there’s grass there will be something built or planted there. I’m sure it’s with the lack of people, there’s less necessity for building on every foot of possible land. Some of these islands have fewer than 25 people,  this island had around 200. Another thought I had was, I wonder what the children’s world view is here. Some of the children in my village have hardly ever left Longomapu, let alone Vava’u. I wonder what it’s like for the children on the small outer islands?

The next island was Lape. I really liked this island, it was tiny. I did a jaunt around the island, which took about five minutes, and I found, I kid you not, three people (one of whom was taking a wicked nap on his porch). But the other two people were amazing. I thought about this recently, but I speak a language that less than 1% of the world does. Being able to go to a rural island and speak to a native speaker, on an island with fewer than 30 people, is very special. I look forward to the day when I go back to America and run into a Tongan and chat it up (talanoa). My crew did their campaigning to the two whole humans that we were both on that island and awake. I did my wondering, and we were off to the next island, Ovaka!

Ovaka was a bittersweet visit. It was my favorite island, and I loved it. It was so beautiful it didn’t look real. But recently, a new Peace Corps Volunteer was placed there and less than a month into his service he called it quits. When I pulled up on the boat, the children saw me and shouted “he’s back!!”. That was tough. Some of the highlights of Ovaka were, the most beautiful kava location I’ve ever participated in, a kaipola (feast) that made me so full, like I mean SO full, and I was even able to do some fishing! I caught two little guys, nothing worth showing. But the number of times someone asked me about the Peace Corps that left did break my heart in a way. I talked with the principal and we made an arrangement for me to visit in December to teach some English lessons during my school holidays.. to be continued.

Pulling up to these little islands is always a bit comical. The process includes using a giant stick in shallow water to move the boat a certain way, yelling at the nearest child to catch the rope and tie it to the nearest large rock, and a single toko tuli hopo-ing (guy jumping in the water) to swim to shore and pull the other rope from the front of the boat. These small wharves have a lot of character. Since they are built out into the ocean it’s a common theme that children use them to tuli hopo.

The next stop was Neapapu. This place didn’t even seem real. Lush grass fields, horses roaming the plains, and trees with trunks larger than a truck. I had a scary run-in with some dogs that were not perturbed by my fake rock throwing and I had to jump over a fence to avoid a mauling. I decided that was a sign and I kept walking in that direction. It was a good decision. I found a few oldies who were happy to talk to me. I even ran into a toko that I beat at pool a few weeks ago in town. I won, but he wasn’t as happy to see me. We had a really good talanoa (conversation) under a mango tree, then we were on our way.

The boat we were on was a silly little boat with an awful lot of large Tongan men and one skinny American. It was very full so I was told to sit in the front. The front kept splashing me so I decided to lie on the roof. It was beautiful up there, a very special moment. I thought to myself, I pressed the “send me where I’m needed most” button when I applied to be in the Peace Corps. I was lucky enough to get selected for Tonga, I was lucky enough to get accepted, I was lucky enough to be placed in Vava’u, and now, after all the domino luck, I was lying on my back, on top of a boat in the middle of the ocean, watching the clouds float by. Around this time the men managed to catch a fish (while the boat was going) and they all started yelling, “Ota ika!” (raw fish). They chopped it up and immediately started eating it.

The last stop was Matamaka. I was looking forward to this specific stop because there was a new Peace Corps Volunteer there. Her name is Mo. Once we docked on shore I walked around the island til I found her house and to my surprise, not only was Mo there but another PCV, Gail was as well. We both just happened to surprise Mo that day for the first time, crazy odds, huh? I took a few portraits of Mo with her house, yapped it up, and I was on my way. Mo seems built for the rural island life. She dethroned me for the title of “most remote volunteer in Tonga”. I think Maia and I might try to visit her in December.

All in all, an amazing day. I’ve been wanting this for over a year and now I’ve done it. Outer islands, cool as hell. Island time is a real thing. Tongans work incredibly hard, but they do it at their own pace. Outer islands are half that speed. I want to visit again, but spend a lot more time. Those naps are calling.