Oiaue!
It has been a long time and I have much to report! In brief, here is the good and the bad...
-School is almost over! I have about 5 more weeks of planning and teaching to do and then I have about a month or so off before I fly out to Australia and the US! Life is so good!
-My dog died. It's been a long time now since it happened but just to keep you all updated. I'm not planning on adopting another one- too difficult. (Sorry to be depressing!)
-I am slowly implementing a new approach to reading that is used in school systems across New Zealand and Australia. I have been busy holding meetings and workshops to teach it to teachers in Vava'u. I hope to have the new reading approach used in all the English curriculums for the next school year!
-I have long hair! I'm growing it out 'flower child' style!
-The garden is going well and we've got tomatos, cucumbers, carrots, lettuce, and some squash on its way!
- Running the school magazine has been keeping me busy lately! Myself and a few others on the committee have been busy taking class and faculty photos and coming up with fund-raising ideas. Having the magazine will be a very big deal to these students so we're trying to do everything we can to make sure we have the funds to send it to Tonga for printing, etc.
- CAMP GLOW is going great! We have our counselors in place, our campers, our venue, our caterers, our guest speakers, our games and camp songs! Almost everything is ready to go! We've been extremely busy with fundraising lately and I hosted a kalapu (a night where men come to drink kava), and we raised over 750 TOP! It was very successful! We also held a meeting for the parents and community so that they could get a better understanding as to what the camp was and its goals, as well as have the opportunity to ask questions, etc. We had the Minister of Youth from Tonga come to help us lead the meeting as well as a few other well-respected Tongans from the Vava'u community. It was another great success!
- I have joined a bible study in an outer village with some Tongan friends of mine. The study is run in English by an American family who recently just moved to Vava'u. The young couple is extremely nice and they have four beautiful little kids. It's a lot of fun to go over there on Sunday evenings and pray, eat yummy food and sing. We bring guitars and just have fun singing hymns both Tongan and English.
-Dance class is still rocking and rolling an I'm putting together a routine for the end of the school year! I 'll upload it onto youtube for you all to see!
-My friends and I put together a world-wide PC project called a 'World Map.' The project has been adopted by volunteers around the world and my close PC friend, Carolyn, was determined to execute the project here in Vava'u. In little ways, myself and other PCVs, have helped map out the world, paint the countries, and label them so that the map can be displayed downtown outside of the public library as a mural. It's a wonderful project and I'll be sure to upload a picture of that as well!
-My parents came to Tonga! (I realize this is totally lame to put as a 'dash' comment but there will be a whole blog update with attached photos on their trip to Vava'u soon to come!)
-It's my birthday!

:)

I know I'm missing some other cool, significant experiences and events but I plan to write again this week. Not to mention, I do really enjoy just posting a bunch of pictures and let the picture share a thousand words ;)

'Ofa lahi atu ka kimoutolu!
Ashley