And The Pacific Ocean Goes On & On

Beautiful Mother and Son in Tonga

Today, April 2nd, Day 26 of our voyage will be spent in the extremely VAST Pacific Ocean somewhere between Vava'u, Tonga and Suva, Fiji. Now, Fiji I've heard of, Tonga, not so much. For our day (yesterday) in Tonga I chose an excursion "to acquaint one with the local culture. . . and Craft Market..." according to our Destinations Department. "Craft Market" was the key for me.

Welcoming Committee in Tonga

Typical Home

Sixteen of us boarded a bus to take us, along with three other bus-loads, to the host village. Our guide, Alex, was celebrating his 34th birthday, thus we all burst out in a loud - if not pleasant - rendition of Happy Birthday. He explained that he was wearing a black version of his customary attire, since he was later in the day burying his younger brother. When condolences were offered, he shrugged them off with "That's life." It seems life expectancy here is not that of ours. He stated that the land was all owned by the King, but later at the farm, we were told that it was owned by the head of the family who worked it. Agriculture is their primary source of income, but those fields were not nearly as lush as those on other islands. I was able to find one small pineapple growing in the sparsely planted field, a few stalks of bananas, and a huge mango tree. The villager serving as our guide, felt compelled to explain in great detail every facet of her life into a microphone attached to a portable speaker that sometimes worked and sometimes did not. All this in a sundrenched field with what had to be 200% humidity. Mercifully this ended with a short walk to the Craft Market/Cultural Center displaying many lovely, labor intensive items made from locally produced pulp. Very interesting.

At the Village Craft Market - Child's dress was made of pulp then lined with cloth

We were offered a buffet of all the local foods and the opportunity to sample one of their local drinks which looked rather like they had scooped up some of the muddiest part of the Amazon River, then served in coconut shells. (Could any of this explain the shorter lifespan?) They are a very proud, friendly, and accommodating people. But as I learned, most of all, they are TOLERANT of ugly Americans. Much to my utter dismay, as a group of young teenage girls were performing their customary dance of innocence, one of my shipmates, well beyond the age of innocence, joined in the dance demonstrating what she had learned in Hula class on board. Rude, disgusting, insulting to our hosts, totally inexcusable to say the very least, yet our gracious hosts continued to smile. .

I pray that village will not tar all Americans with that same brush and accept my personal apology for her behavior. Thank you for your kindness. All this to say, I shall not be returning to Tonga or should I find myself aboard a ship that tenders in Vava'u, I shall hole up in my cabin throughout the stay.

Today is Someday! Please respect each other!