Thursday 21 October Lunch in Ha'afeva

Vena invited us to return to her house for lunch today. She made us a drink of fresh grated mango and coconut water and served boiled taro root, bread fruit and a fish which had emerald green bones. The local people may not have much by western standards, but they welcome visiting palangai as we are known, and give without asking for anything in return. Palangai means people from the sky and in Tongan tradition the light skinned 'people from the sky' are the spirits of their ancestors. We'd put together a goodie bag of food and pencils, crayons and paper for the children and I'd printed out a photo I'd taken of the children when we were here yesterday. We understand that what is given to one family is often shared with the community. We'd given a packet of ten cigarettes to Peter and we saw him going and give half to his neighbour.
While we eating lunch and watching a sow and her piglets foraging under the table, grandmother Vena's oldest daughter, Star, phoned to talk to us. She lives in the capital Nuku'alofa and wanted to invite us to lunch or dinner at her house when we arrived there. I wrote down her phone number and we'll certainly give her a call when we get there. Captain Cook named Tonga the Friendly Islands. He was right. The people are some of the happiest, smiley, handsome and friendly people we've met. Those in the Cooks were pretty darn friendly and generous too. It must be something to do with living on an island in the Pacific.