6 Days Left! Update

I just got back from a wonderful weekend in Louisville and, let me tell you, I've hit the ground running. I tutor tonight, have Bible study tomorrow, church on Wed. (as well as my sis and her family come in), haircut and party on Thursday, Beauty and the Beast the Musical on Friday at WKU (yay!), party on Saturday, church and extreme-packing on Sunday, and I leave from Nashville at 12-something to fly to Dallas and then LA for staging. Holy crazy brain, batman!

A lot of you have asked about postage info and all that jazz. Let me just TELLLLL you the small plan that I know :)
I arrive in Nuku'alofa (the main Tongan island) and stay in a guest house for a few days. Then, we take a 35 minute plane ride (8-10 hours by boat...holy cow!) to Ha'apai, where I will live with a host family until early December. I will receive my PC training in Ha'apai and, if and when I get sworn in on Dec. 15, I will find out where my service actually is...AKA "Name That Island!"
In Nuku'alofa...or maybe it's Ha'apai, we will receive cell phones and I'll buy phone cards to call America. Also, there are internet cafes on both islands, so I'll have email access, etc. However, I won't get a lot of opportunities to do the whole email thing during training because the program is pretty darn intensive, and they encourage us to use most of our down time to hang out with our host family and socialize with others to improve our Tongan speech and relationships with others. That was a huge run-on sentence and I'm too tired to fix it, so sorry.

Also: several of you have said you wanted to send care packages. That is AWESOME and greatly appreciated! I'm sure in a few months I"ll know what i DEFINITELY need, but a lot of it also depends on which island I'm on once I start teaching. I know that feminine products there are either crappy or nonexistent, so any box of tampons/ pads/pantiliners will be welcomed with open arms. Other things like shampoo/condit., razors, soap, American candy, and letters are definitely and warmly accepted.

I should warn that the mail takes 4-6 weeks...the mail service in Tonga seems a big lax, and they also warn not to send anything valuable. If at all possible, send stuff in a padded envelope...boxes tend to be opened and swiped, so...yeah! (Silly Tongans.)

Another word about communication: I hope to start a brand new blog that is only for my PC service. I know it has to be approved once I'm there, and I can't reveal certain information, but I'm hoping that will work. If you have any ideas as to a title, please let me know. Right now, I'm still feeling "LOST: the Tonga Chronicles." It may be a little melo-dramatic, but I'm totally up for suggestions. :)