One goal has been accomplished: I have finally hiked in 'Eua. Three other PCVs and I joined together in a long but pleasurable hike to seek this Rat's Cave we've heard so much about. After biking to the next village to meet with one PCV, we "hiked" the ravine to get into town, 'Ohonua, then walked a while before someone picked us up and took us to our final destination, the house of the other 2. From there we equipped ourselves and started on our little escapade into the unknown, Tongan-less.
Luckily, we ran across some kids on the long dirt road, what looked to be a frequented path, since 'Eua does have its share of adventurous tourists, and we kept walking. And walking. And walking. Finally, we made it into the rainforest where I suddenly found myself surrounded by ginormous ferns... see the picture for ginormous-ness.
To shorten a long story, to our knowledge, we never came across Rat's Cave ('Ana Kuma), and the boys who "led" us stopped at an interesting structure/what looked like a former concrete structure to swim in this structure's basement-looking thing. Of course this was all in nature, so no walls were apparent, but there were stairs underwater. I'd love to know the history of that place. Maybe Rat's Cave was near-ish. Anywho, we kept walking...and hiking some more...through mud (lots of mud,) bush, forest, creeks...
We decided to head back when there was literally nowhere else to walk. I'm not sure how far we walked, but it was pretty darn far. We finally got back to the house, ate lunch, had our weekly tea time, and shared stories, philosophies, ideas, and finally, books! At this moment in time, I'm not really doing anything...school isn't for another month, so I spend a lot of time at home when I'm not eva'ing through the community.
I just finished my last book I brought--an amazing "Radical" by David Platt, who is a pastor in Birmingham, Alabama. I finished it today, and it really re-boosted my spiritual blaise-ness that I've had the last couple of months. I finally feel enthralled to do something here... rather than just teach English, learn Tongan, and do other menial community-integral things, I want to really dive into my village, figure out the needs, and really sacrifice things. My stress level, my need for alone time, and even possibly my vacation savings, if I can actually DO something to help someone.
Even in the Peace Corps, following a set trend is easy. Since no one is being sent to outer islands, it's easy to think that we are being put in villages that really aren't in such great of need. It's an argument, definitely, and some places have had volunteers for a while, but there's always a need.
Here, it could be awareness among youth AND adults with health, sex education, environmental education, mental health, etc.
The important part, too, is that even though I should make myself useful to them as a helping tool, I, too, need to be educated. For example, just last night, after a long long day of hiking, my friend and I couldn't find a ride back to our villages. We finally found her village's netball team, who played 2 more games before we left, but they gave us a ride nevertheless. However, we got to her house around 7:45 and I left on my bicycle with a basket full of books on an incline-only road back to my village. At night. By myself. Ughh.
Everyone--especially women here in Tonga--are very aware of the "tevolo", the devil, and always encourage female Palangi's to never travel alone... after all, we're single females...what kind of fight could we put up? (I say this with realistic sarcasm because as much as I don't want to admit it, I'm quite powerless if a crazy man approached me with a machete. Shoot, even without the knife. Tongans are big, yo!) So anyway, I'm peddling my little heart away, praying to GOD to not let the tevolo get me (remember, I'm really exhausted and even a bit delirious, with little food and my contacts drying up--and I can't see squat at night because there are no lights!), and after a scare of "seeing' something in the bush, I have to stop up the last treacherous hill. I walk up, reach the top, and slowly pedal to the gate of my school compound. I get in and want to collapse. I'm tired, my legs are custard (since jello doesn't exist here,) and after eating pineapple from the fridge (yay coldness!) and a bucket bath (boo for no running water!), I get into my childsize bed (my toes hang off the end,) I plug Damien Rice into my ears, and I stare. Stare some more. Even more.
Dog fights outside, the sound of little puakas (pigs) running by my house, and an obnoxious snorting horse are nature's lullaby.
But I can't stop thinking about me. It's a bit ridiculous, honestly, I mean I'm in Tonga working for the PEACE CORPS and I'm thinking about me. Narcissistic much? But honestly, I'm thinking about my purpose. What can I DO here? What tools do I have? Are my motivations still good? Am I selfish for wishing for a real mattress rather than a 3-inch foam pad? Yes. Am I silly for being bitter about not having a cold shower that actually works? Maybe. (After all, 2 days ago, it worked.) Am I the unfortunate wishful thinker for wanting a box of Belgian chocolate? Sure.
But it will all work out.
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