I've been getting a lot of emails asking about living conditions here, and culture. So, here you go! I hope this answers a lot of questions.
Laundry: If you're lucky, you have an open-top washing machine. You fill this up only once, for all of your clothes, to save on water. Then you rinse all of the clothes with clean, un-soapy water, and hang them on the line. If you're like us, you grab a five gallon bucket, and fill it with water and some laundry soap. Then you take a big long plastic pipe, and just push the pipe up and down in the bucket to wash your clothes. You rinse your clothes with clean water, and hang them on the line.
Then you hope it doesn't rain!
Kids: Kids run around free a lot here, no parents with them. Tonga is pretty safe as far as kidnapping goes, so you'll just see five and three year-olds just toddling down the street in their diapers! This is actually a great way to find people to teach, through kids. And, you can tell a lot about people by the way they treat children. The children are my absolute favorite.
Food: We are only fed by the members. We rely on them everyday to be able to eat, because we are not allowed to cook food! When they make food, they make a LOT. Tongan food is VERY different from American food, but I think I'm finally getting used to it. As part of tradition, you sit on a mat, indian style, when you eat. Guests eat first, (so, the missionaries,) and the family doesn't eat with you. They will often talk to us about the work, but sometimes they just sit there silently.
Main dishes include Ufi, and Moa (chicken), but recently I've had Topai (Look it up, SO yummy), And ota ika (raw fish with onions and peppers) and feka (octopus) I'm actually still working up the guts to eat that last one. Wimpy? Probably.
My training is one week from being finished. Ah! Should I know more of the language by now? I don't know. Our mission president told my companion she might be moving to eoa! (another island in Tonga) There haven't been sisters in Eoa for a very long time, So I'm very excited for her! Plus, her family is originally from Eoa. So she'll get to meet them!
Alright, sorry this email wasn't very spectacular. So little time, so much to say! I love all of you, and my heart sings to you all from this beautiful tiny corner of the world.
Ofa atu!
Sister Wunderlich
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