...Only in Tonga!!

Saturday after I came back from being downtown using the internet, Kasi (another volunteer in my village) and I were invited to attend our town’s misionale feast. A misonale is a church function where once a year the families donate money to the church. But they make it a really big event. They call out the families names and say how much they donate. Some families really want to look good so they give a lot more money than what they have, sometimes taking out loans. After all the donations are done they head over to the hall to have a huge feast.

We headed home changed into appropriate wear and walked down to the church. As we were being lead into the hall…we realized they were going to seat up at the front of the room with all the ministers. This is a very great honor. It means that you are a very special guest and should stand up at some point and thank everyone for having you, the food and of course inviting you to sit in the front.

As we sit there in the front of the room listening to one of the ministers speaking (in Tongan of course…so we really don’t know what he is saying), I sit there and take in the atmosphere around me. There is so much food on the table that it has to be stacked on top of each other in about three or four different layers…when I look out into the rest of the room I feel like I am hiding from everyone behind all the food piled up. There was enough food just on the front table to feed a starving nation. There were about 10 pigs on our front table alone, crabs, lobsters, tons of different side dishes, fish, shellfish, fruit, lots of soda, candy and so much more. After the prayer is done, I sit there looking at the matrix of food in front of me not sure where to start, not wanting to cause an avalanche. As I am eating, I realize staring right in front of me is the butt of a roasted pig! =) A whole pig…just for me to eat since there are about 10 pigs on the table and about 10 people (I ate none of it though). Just when you think there is no way that you are even going to make a noticeable dent in the food….they bring the front table more food. Well…ice cream…and of course you have to eat that since it is a really big treat here!! ;-) It comes time for Kasi and I to stand up and show our appreciation for having us at the front table. So…in Tongan we introduce our selves, tell them we work with Pisikoa (the way Tongan’s say Peace Corps), thank them for the food, tell them that we really love our village and the people, say thank you again and sit down. Now, one thing to mention is that in the Tongan culture they are always standing up and saying thank you to everyone and for everything. So when Tongans stand up and talk people don’t really stop what they are doing, they just kind of listen. But when Kasi and I stood a big hush went over the room, everyone stopped, and gave us their undivided attention. Oh great!!...just don’t mess up the pronunciation! =)

The rest of the ministers at the table finished talking, the last one said an ending prayer and it was over; all the people who were outside come rushing inside. The food was divided between all the families in the community, whether they were from that church or not. Within an hour all of the food was gone and the hall was all cleaned up. You wouldn’t even be able to imagine such a giant feast had just taken place such a short time earlier. Amazing!!