I am officially in hiding.

I have blasted my music and locked my door trying my hardest to ignore the constant banging of sticks on my door and walls and its accompanying cries of, “Ashley! Ashley!” from up in the trees next to my kitchen and bedroom. I am entirely surrounded by three tireless, relentless, exhausting....

little Tongan girls.

Do you remember my blog about my adorable neighbors Foulata and Sela who come to my house to use my color pencils and pull on the ears of my dog stocking that once tugged upon plays Christmas music? Do you now also remember me contemplating hiding the stocking under my bed, pretending it had gone missing? Well, while I do not have the heart to do so, as they love to dance 'disco' to it (and I also don't want to miss out on all the laughs I get from watching them), today they have driven me so crazy that I have resorted to locking my door and playing the music so loud so as to pretend that I cannot hear their desperate crys to come in.

I sound cruel. I know. But you must understand that while the rest of Tonga is sleeping because remember now, it's mid-day and too hot to do anything else beside siovitio pe mohe (watch videos or sleep), the children know they can come to my 'cool-palangi' house, where they know I'm awake, and listen to music, sit by a fan, paint their nails, play with arts and crafts, etc. Now, I do get so much joy out of showing them my belongings- my map of the world, and talking about all that surrounds Tonga, and my computer and the pictures I have from Sea World on it. It's their first time seeing some of the animals in those pictures and it is so rewarding watching their faces as they look at these animals/places for the first time. I also enjoy just coloring with them and that it what we did today before I 'threw' them out.

We colored, sang and 'napped' for what of course seemed like hours haha (I swear I love kids!), before I had them leave because I wanted to shower. If I left them in my home while I was in the bathroom, my food would all be eaten and any leftover food crumbs would probably be buried in the keyboard of my thereafter broken computer. So, after about 30 minutes of trying to get them out, they finally left. My efforts very much reminded me of trying to get a fresh overtired five year old to go to bed while babysitting. Anyone feel me on that one? You see, the kids know I won't hit them like Tongans would if they were misbehaving so, I am in a difficult situation. I suppose this is a taste of future complications I'll have regarding discipline while in the classroom because I will not I my students unlike all the teachers at my school. (I'll talk about hitting in Tonga later as it deserves it's own entry alone but don't be appaulled. I can't believe I'm saying this, but it's not like what you think and the kids are brought up with such discipline. They're tough kids and are used to it. They usually just laugh and I find it very ineffective of course, but...yes, anyway. I did say I'd talk about this later, huh?)

Long story short, and ten years later (I hope I haven't lost any faithful readers here...), I am stuck in my house. I am going to wait until I think they are gone to pick some 'vaine' from the vines outside my house. They're these delicious vine pockets of yummy seeds comparable to a pomegranate and it makes a very tastey lemonade-like beverage. I was going to have that and make avocado salsa :) There are avocados at the market now and they are HUGE! I also splurged and bought some tortilla chips at the 'American Store' for this meal. Now only if all the Tongan children in my neighborhood would quit holding me captive!

Again, I do love children. Oh no. There's more of them coming....I am going to have to dig an escape tunnel! Guess that's all for now! 'Ofa atu!