On the Island the weather is hot and refrigeration is a problem. Yes we have fridges now, but they are expensive to run as all our power comes from the big diesel generator owned by the power company at $1.20 per kw. You are not allowed to generate your own power. So palm corned beef becomes a staple as it doesn’t need refrigeration. The other funny thing about our diet is condensed milk, we use it the same as you would use cows milk in our tea coffe etc.Same reason as above. We do have cows on the Island and they are eating on special occasions but they are not milked as the milk goes bad to quickly.We love to put crackers in our cups of tea and wait for them to go soggy, so we can eat them with a spoon, this is called desert. The end result of this diet of course is diabetes and death. Death on the Island is not a scary thing ether we live we die and big deal, if you like. Funny when you die they don’t know the cause and so they just say you were puke (sick). We don’t have cemeteries as such on the Island ether . Some burial mounds are on the side of the road others in the bush even some buy the beach. We dig a hole and put the body in and after we have covered up the hole we make a mound over the top to sit on and talk to our dead friend our relative. We decorate the graves with upside down beer bottles and plastic flowers. Weird as the Island has very pretty flowers indeed, but it’s a” Tongan thing.” If you go to a florist on the main Island of Tonga (there are none on my Island) you wont find any real flowers in it only plastic ones .I will get you some pics of these graves one day for you inspection. We use to throw our dead to the sea, we have these big such holes that suck water down under the Island. Burial is another thing we have to thank the English missionary’s for. I say through me down a suck hole when I die,much more romantic than being put in a grave to rot.
So that’s it for now, post a comment if you like. I would love to hear from you.
The Fevah Blog 