Going to the Bush

I'm sorry it has taken me this long to really get my posts out for Tonga. I just am having a hard time being motivated to blog about it. I don't know why, but I think probably because there are so many more posts to do about it. HA! Well for now here is another one and we will see if I can do some more while Adona is sleeping and I'm motivated.They call the farms in Tonga, the bush. That is pretty much what it is, a very bushy area, that they actually get food from. Pretty much everyone has one, I believe, it's one of the only ways to survive there. They all get their main sources of food from there. It's amazing to see, because they don't look organized or anything, but they really know what is what and where they put it. Watermelon grow so well there that they just put it between plants and other rows.
We headed out to Semisi's father's bush one night to pick watermelon. It was fun to see Semisi running around with a machete getting us watermelon. Of course we were followed by the gross stray dogs that run free through out all the islands. (At least it wasn't a pig, I guess. Their village has a law about keeping pigs in fenced areas, one of the few places that has the law.) Notice the picture below with the dog in it. It might not look so bad here, but it was gross and it had a friend with it. I asked my sister if they ever have had rabies there, but she didn't think so. Needless to say Adona has not been obsessed with dogs since. (She still likes them, but not so focused on them.) In the background of the picture you see all the huge leaves, well they get bigger, but they are Taro. If you have had Tongan food from me, you have eaten these. They are in every bush, because they wrap their food in it.It was a little bit of a walk to the bush, maybe 10 minutes at most. With picking watermelon we brought a wheel barrel and gave the kids rides out. Adona loved it and Vili loved it so much he insisted on riding on top of the watermelon on the way back. He is potty trained, but had an accident. Yuck, we cleaned the watermelon well before eating them. They were very tasting and even though we filled the wheel barrel up to the top, we had them finished in a matter of days. That might be why Dave and I both lost weight there. (Yes! Great diet! Dave probably last 10-15 lbs and I lost almost 10lbs. My doctor wasn't too happy. HA!)