Tonga Part Two: Small Airplane, Roasted Pig, Getting Locked In

Friday

The first day in Tonga we woke up to roosters at 6:30 a.m. ...This was a regular occurrence. We managed to get back to sleep. Our AirBnb host, Isi made us breakfast (one of the reasons why we chose this place: it also was a good price, had hot(ish) water.) This is when I quickly learned that Tongan food doesn't taste the same. There was toast, boiled eggs, watermelon, papaya, pineapple, hot cocoa (made out of Nesquik), and small bananas (also known as lady fingers even though they're short and fat). The peanut butter toast tasted different because there wasn't as much sugar in the peanut butter as I was used to. Sooo I gave it to Spencer and stuck to buttered toast. 

Since we were only going to be in Tongatapu until Saturday, we didn't get a rental car. We started to walk down one street to jog Spencer's memory and found a member who Spencer remembered. She told us where the stake president lived nearby. Since Latu is the stake president, he could tell Spencer who moved and who was still in Tongatapu.

They let us in, and this is where I got to see Spencer's Tongan shine. I took half a semester of Tongan over a year ago, which didn't help much. I got a few words but that's about it (I understood more as the trip progressed). Spencer caught up with them and asked about multiple people and how they were doing (while I enjoyed sitting on the couch as it was humid).

Latu's wife, Fono drove us around as she was picking up her kids at the Liahona school. It was fun to see the temple and more of Tonga. This is when I learned that seat belts are not a thing in Tonga.

Yes, yes that is a little boy in the front seat!

The school was under construction.

A statue that was at the school.

Across the street from the temple is the mission office. We liked this sign. :)

PHOTO DUMP. (Not necessarily all from this day, but I was constantly taking pictures as I was in cars.)

Fono drove us around a bit and we met up with Simima. She's a devote Methodist while a lot of her family are members of the church.  She updated him on her family and took a picture with him.

Later on in the evening, we had dinner with Fono and Latu. I love the bananas in Tonga as they're so much sweeter (I miss them very much). They also made us a chicken soup dish with corn, peas, and green beans. For once I actually liked green beans! I was curious on how Fono seasoned the dish, but apparently it was just paprika and black pepper. So... that was embarrassing. But the color of the broth was NOT the color of paprika and black pepper.

Saturday

We woke up and found out that the power was off. We originally thought our fan broke (a must for sleeping in Tonga) but thankfully it was only the power. After going back to sleep and eating breakfast, we packed up for our flight to Ha'apai!

Fono took us to the airport and saw one of her friends, Lupe. After we checked in, we started talking to her and became immediate friends. (This is the epitome of Tongan hospitality.) Lupe has 11 kids, and some of them live in Utah. It was fun seeing pictures of them and hearing her stories. We talked (some in English and some in Tongan) up until we had to get ready to get on the plane.

Lupe offered to help us get food/linner after we arrived in Ha'apai and to take us wherever we needed to go. She also invited us to Sunday dinner at her son's place where they would roast a whole pig! Spencer was pretty excited about that, and I was too.

We got outside and I thought this was our airplane:

But nope, that's too big.

I don't think I've ever been in such a small airplane. We ended up sitting in the first row- 1B and 1C. I was 1C so I got the window seat, which was as close to the propeller as possible. It was not a good trip.

Pre- take off.

I almost forgot my ear plugs as we checked out of our Airbnb, so I shoved my ear plugs in my purse instead of my suitcase. Those ear plugs happened to be my saving grace! The propeller vibrations were so loud, it was hurting my ears. I put the ear plugs in and made it more manageable, but still unpleasant. The vibrating was rattling my stomach and Baby Hoffman was freaking out wondering what the heck was going on. I was also smelling the planes fumes and other unsavory smells as my nausea got worse. No one was talking on the plane because you couldn't hear anyone.

I felt very sick and twenty minutes on the plane felt like an hour. I communicated with Spencer through typing on my phone. The last fifteen minutes Spencer took my seat, so I was in the middle of the plane right behind the pilots.

Spencer took this photo after we switched seats.

I was grateful there wasn't much turbulence since anything would have tipped me over the edge. As we landed, I knew I was going to throw up (and I did). I'll spare the details for the faint of heart.

So... this next part is a funny story...

Once we got off the plane, I went to the bathroom ... and I ended up getting locked into a bathroom stall. I kept twisting and turning the lock both ways, but the lock was broken and wouldn't budge. I inspected the stall and saw that the stall wall was way too low for me to shimmy underneath. I may be skinny, but not THAT skinny.

Stall from the outside

I tried to fix the lock again and no luck. I decided that I was going to need to jump over the wall so I could be released from this awful prison. At least the bathroom didn't smell bad! I put my purse on a "T section" of the wall up top and started my ascent.

Yup, that's where I put my purse.

I tested the toilet to see if it would hold my weight and it worked. I then checked to see if the toilet paper holder was sturdy enough as the wall was way too tall for me to jump over without the holders help. I was very grateful that I'm small and wasn't super pregnant yet! I contemplated taking a picture halfway between the two stalls, but decided against it. Just in case someone was going to come into the bathroom and see me scale the wall while taking a picture. I managed to get my foot onto the other toilet paper holder in the adjacent stall and stepped down onto the toilet. Didn't even want to think about the last time someone had cleaned those stalls.

The fact that I was feeling really sick and I went through that just makes me laugh now. Who would have thought I would have locked myself into a bathroom stall in Ha'apai?!

Soon after, Lupe asked how the flight went and I admitted to them that I threw up. Lupe gave me a roll from her bag and her Mom gave me some Sprite. They were so sweet and were trying to make sure I was feeling better. Aren't Tongan's great?! They took us to get some fried chicken, but honestly I had no appetite. The Sprite and a roll was enough.

We got dropped off at Kasimi and Serena's house. Kasimi was Spencer's ward mission leader when he was serving in Koulo. He remembered Spencer and was excited to see him. I was pretty tired as I didn't get great sleep, so they offered me to sleep on their bed while Spencer and Kasimi went  around the neighborhood to catch up with people. How I slept with pigs and dogs fighting, plus kids making a ton of noise, and Serena cleaning (as quietly as she could), I don't even know.

Serena and Kasimi. We spent a lot of time in that car!

I woke up after an hour long nap and Kasimi drove us around to see other people. We saw Kasimi's brother and his family.

The brothers look very similar!

We saw someone who Spencer taught as well.  She had a kitty! Unfortunately, I did not get a picture of said kitty.

We also went to see the stake president and his family.

After all that, Kasimi drove us to Sandy Resort, the place we were staying next.

The best picture I could get of the sign while in a moving vehicle.

Surprise! We got there ten minutes before dinner was supposed to start. At our dinner table was Freddy and Suzanne- a young couple from Sweden, but they live in New Zealand. They're divers and enjoy traveling a lot.

The room we stayed in at Sandy Beach.

The view from the porch area.

What our bed looked like when we waked in. All real flowers! I was very disappointed since I was going to keep some of the flowers and the maids took them away when they cleaned our room the next day...

Sunday

Originally, we were planning on biking to church since we got to use them for free at Sandy Beach. But Kasimi told us that he would be happy to drive us to church. At church, the conductor welcomed both of us over the pulpit since we were visiting. :) I told Spencer I thought he was going to ask him to speak. Later on, I was right as he was asked to say a few words to the congregation. Of course I have no idea what he said since he said it in Tongan! He translated what he said to me later on.

We took quite a few pictures after church (the majority of them are blurry since 10 year olds were taking them). I love how Tongans love being in pictures.

After pictures, we were outside chilling in the shade as Spencer was looking through his planners trying to see who he wanted to visit in Koulo. I was tired and was pretty comfy lying out on the grass (it is SO soft there) while Spencer put his list together. A girl named Mele came up to us and said that she wanted us to come back to her house. Additionally, I could rest at her place (we had briefly been to her place earlier that day). We agreed, and her mother ended up helping Spencer a lot with who was where in Tonga. While this happened, I slept on their couch. Two naps in two days at complete strangers (to me) houses!

You see that couch behind us? Yup, that's the napping couch.

After my nap, Mele started to walk with us to show us where everyone lived. One of the families remembered Spencer and was excited to see us. It was fun to see them catching up with Spencer.

It was about time to go to Lupe's for the pig feast, but we didn't have her number and only gave her ours. Their son, Sione (far left) knew where Lupe was staying and offered to drive us there. When we arrived, Lupe said it wasn't ready yet. This mean we had time to explore Sandy Beach before she would call us and say they're on their way to pick us up!

Spencer and I went to try and find the petroglyphs (scroll down on this link to see more info) and it was pretty fun although we didn't find them. We saw some cool rocks, creatures, (and some very creepy, HUGE spiders), and Spencer found a dead crab.

What a nice face Spencer is making!

This was ALL coral

One of my favorite pictures of this trip.

After exploring, we had dinner with Lupe and her family. It was my first time with pig skin and it was good! The watermelon there was also the best watermelon I've ever had in my LIFE. I miss the fruit in Tonga. Utah fruit isn't all that good once you've had Tongan fruit.

After our second dinner at Sandy Beach, we prepared ourselves to go swimming with Humpback Whales the next day...