And the adventure begins. . .

Malo e leilei! I LOVE TONGA!   The flights over here were great, I watched about six movies and nine episodes of Cougar Town (very funny, by the way).  They fed us some pretty great food and had the greatest new zealand accents I have ever heard.  It was funny when we got off the flight from NZ to Tongatapu (the main island), because  instead of walking through a terminal you just step off the plane, like the president does.  The airport there is so small and has  like three main rooms, one to get your visa and check passports and one to get through customs, and one for departing flights.  So we get through customs, get our visas, and exchange our US dollars for Pa'anga, and then just look at each other, like "now what?"  Our flight from Tongatapu to Vava'u (the island we are living on) didn't leave untill the next afternoon, so we had 24 hours to kill on the main island.  After an hour, and a series of unfortunate events, we arrived in nuku'alofa at a guest house/hostel and got a room there for about $15 usd.  It was. . . interesting.  It really wasn't that bad, just a lot of bugs, centipedes, spiders, grime, etc. They were really nice though, so it was nice!  We walked around nuku'alofa and ate at this little Tongan restaurant.  It was pretty good, I had "kentucky" which was just fried chicken.  I thought that was pretty funny.  On the menu it doesn't say anything about chicken or it being fried it literally just says "kentucky."  That night we just walked around and looked at things and then played cards after it got dark because it's really bad to walk at dark (or so they say.) 

The next morning, the same taxi driver came and got us and took us on a tour around the island.  The taxi, btw, is a big van with no AC and he played a lot of funny reggae mixes of american music (like jason mraz, shania twain, and cher, to name a few).  We saw the natural blow holes which were indescribable!  They were so breathtaking.  We also saw fox bats (google them) and the stonehinge which was like two big rocks.  then we went to the beach, which was the most beautiful place I have ever seen, easily better than the pictures!  The water is AQUA blue and as clear as crystal.  The sand was clean and there were tiki torches everywhere. It was incredible. 

Our flight to vava'u was good, it's funny because they have no security at the airport and the ticket they give you is like a hand written slip of paper.  And the cockpit (where the pilot sits, I think that's what it's called) is open, so you can see him and everything in there.  We got the airport and Ofa and Uini picked us up with their four beautiful little kids.  We were supposed to be staying at three different places in two different villages, but we got to their house and they were like, "Ok, we moved to the hut outside and you guys are all going to live in our house, because all of the other familes had something come up." So we are all living in the same house! I feel terrbile that they gave us their house, but I'm incredibly blown away by their kindness.  It's not like any house I have ever imagined before.  I can't really explain it.  There is no running water out of faucets but we do have a toilet inside, but no shower.  There are bugs everywhere.  Yet somehow, it already feels like home!  I really love it.  The kids are funny, they don't speak english so they just yell "PALANGI" which means white person and then run around giggling.  Ofa (the dad) doesn't speak english either, but he seems really hillarious!  Uini does speak english pretty well, and I already love her.  She is probablly the sweetest person I have ever met. 

I'm sharing a bed with michelle and we sleep with our mosquito nets covering us up, but no blankets becuase it's too hot.  The windows are always open, because there is no AC anywhere on the island, but it feels totally safe.  Everyone is super friendly!  They wave and smile at us.  Everyone kind of stares at us, and the kids all say palangi and laugh when they see us.  It's nice though.  It's so beautiful and green.  There are pigs, cows, and horses just running around everywhere.  Lik in the road, with no fences or anything.  It's cute.  Oh! and the best part is, they play Justin Beiber, all the time!  the kids know "BABY,BABY,BABY, OHHH!" It's adorable.  Anyways, I think that covers pretty much everythig so far.  We are going to the market now, we never know what to eat so we've just had a lot of fruit.  Hopefully, we'll learn to cook tongan food, soon!  It really is like heaven here!  I'm starting to volunteer at the primary school on Monday, so hopefully I'll have good stories from that!

MALO!  Alu a!