Settling in

We arrived in Tonga on Saturday afternoon. The flight from Fiji is only about an hour and a half. The pilot said it would be a three day trip in a Tongan canoe. I’m glad we have airplanes!

One thing I noticed in the airport is that Tongans travel with the hugest luggage I have ever seen! I wondered what was in those massive duffels – Clothes? Food items? Books and magazines? New computers? Probably a bit of everything. It reminded me of Kodiak, where I lived for seven years. When you live on an island you have to make the most of every opportunity to get stuff that is only available off-island. I bet there’s no Amazon Prime Free Shipping when you live in the remote island nations in the South Pacific.

We got our first taste of the kindness of Tongan people when we met Manoa, who worked for the car rental agency. He had the physique of a rugby player and, sure enough, he was a player and a fan. Myles, who does NOT have the physique of a rugby player, grilled Manoa about rugby a long time before I finally had to yank him toward our waiting van so we could get loaded up.

That is one of the things about Myles that is so fun and endearing. He always makes a point to connect with people whenever he can. He doesn’t just go about his business in a little bubble, but reaches out to everyone, asking questions, learning what they are interested in, making a human connection. During the trip I adapted a phrase we use for our extremely outgoing third daughter, because it applies just as well to him: “Myles makes friends wherever he goes.”

We made our way through the capital city of Nuku’alofa (population 23,221) and to the north shore of Tongatapu Island, where we were staying in an AirBNB. Our hosts, a Brit Expatriate named John and his Tongan wife ‘Ofa, were very gracious and welcomed us personally. They live in the opposite side of the duplex bungalow, which is situated on a small man-made lagoon filled with turtles that John feeds each morning. At 6:30 you start to hear the “ker-plunk” of potatoes hitting the water, and you know it’s feeding time.

Ryan, who is more adventurous (and more slender) than me tried climbing a palm tree that overhung the lagoon in hopes of capturing his first coconut, but he almost fell in the water, so he gave up on that enterprise. You can buy coconuts from any of a dozen local vendors so it’s hardly worth the risk, but it made for a great photo.

We settled in briefly and headed down the street to the Church of St. George, which was an easy 5-minute walk. We soon met Elias, Romeos and Niko, the Greek men who had been working so hard to complete the Church. Niko lives in London and his English is superb, so he gave us a tour of the property, describing the work they had completed thus far. We also met Fr. Bartholomew Senibulu, a Fijian priest sent by the Metropolis of New Zealand to host us.

Fr. Bartholomew officiates the Lesser Blessing of the Waters service

 

Fr. Bartholomew invited us to join him in performing the lesser blessing of the waters service, which is frequently done in the Greek tradition as a way of invoking God’s blessing on an undertaking or as a thanksgiving offering. We prayed all together and Fr. Bartholomew blessed the entire property with Holy Water. It was a lovely way to set a prayerful tone for the work week ahead of us.

Up next… Sunday Liturgy and and a tour of Tongatapu Island – because it’s illegal to work on Sundays in Tonga!