enter, Tonga

One of my first adventures on my own: an Art Study Abroad in Tonga and New Zealand, second year of college, 2001. I didn't know anyone going. It was a little intimidating because I wasn't even in the art program. Sure I dabbled in drawing and painting ... but I think I was the only student going that wasn't knee deep taking art classes already. So a lot of the other kids knew eachother already.

Not like that would stop me. It's just makes it more of an adventure. Since this was my first time really leaving the country ... (Niagra Falls doesn't count) ... I even added extra travel time at the beginning and end of the trip. A week in Hawaii, and a week in Australia at the end-- both solo.

Hawaii, I will save for another day. It was scary, it was lonely, and then after a small miracle, it was inspiring.

But Tonga ... Tonga opened my eyes. Tonga taught me, shaped me.

Day one: "Small, poor, humble, loving, laid back, smiling, shabby yet beautiful. Tonight I ate octupus, raw pish, pig, veal sausages, and several more Tongan specialties. Greased-down Tongans then danced for us as I watched in amazement. The smiles! Earlier I chatted with two ladies in the ocean who were stripping wood for Tapa cloth. Sea slugs and starfish dotted the shallow water."

What surprised me the most, immediately, was how happy the families and children were. Especially for their means. They lived in mere shacks ... dirt floors ... the children had barely any clothes on, barefoot ... wild pigs running everywhere. But they ran. They laughed. They beamed. They loved. They didn't know any better. And I found myself relaxing, enjoying the simpler things too. Embarrassed about my nice Nissan Pathfinder I had just bought before college, the reason why I was working two jobs in addition to my classes. Finding myself not worried about makeup, about how I look.


Smiling Tongan boys in front of their house



My favorite little Tongan girl - Elisi. This girl could dance! She drew me pictures all the time too. I cried when I left her.

To be continued, my Tonga :)