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The blogs of a guy who quit his job, sold or gave away all of his possessions, joined the Peace Corps and moved to the tiny island Kingdom of Tonga. This is his (and only) his story.
 
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11.30.2005

Winner of the First Annual Peace Corps Tonga Photo Contest: A Tau'olunga

Tahines preparing for the Tau'olunga

So this is the picture that one it. Actually, to be honest with you I didn't even submit it, Caty did. I did win though because, well, I'm a winner. I've got a ton of better pictures and I'm not sure this one deserved to win or not, but I do like it. Oh and mine are not nearly as cool as halfro's. He's got some sweet pics. If you click on it, you can get the full-size image.

The ta'olunga is the name of the traditional female dance in Tonga. Its not the good vibration, feel-good, booty swaying that you see in Hawaii and Tahiti, its much more reserved and subtle, but its very good none the less. Usually you'll see girls lathered up in coconut oil and dancing by themselves. However, during celebrations, like school graduations (from whence this photo came) they will perform in a group in unison.

The clothing they are wearing are comprised of all locally available materials like coconut leaves, banana leaves and some of the hundreds of amazing flowers that grow everywhere here in Tonga. Anyways, I do like this pic and am glad Caty submitted it. I won for the 'culture' picture. The Peace Corps is going to blow it up and put it around the office.

Wow. A legacy. Be humble. Posted by Picasa
1 comments - Post a Comment
  • Congratulations!

    It is a GREAT photo. nice work, mate.
    # posted by nicole : 12/01/2005 5:29 PM