Bananas grow upside down!!!  Did you know that?  That's what the kids were saying.  This morning we went for a run and saw these fields of palm trees and a field of banana palms.  There are a lot of these coconut palm tree farms here in Tonga.  We had to stop and take a picture.  When we go running in the morning, we have to carry a stick with us because there are dogs that will chase us down.  Tongan's animals just run around without any fences, leashes, or any kind of restraint.  This morning, we saw a bull cow with huge horns and it was just feeding on the side of the road.  I think I would have got the horns if it charged us.  The kids are faster than what I am.  :)   We saw dogs running around from home to home like they are in a gang or something.  We saw chickens running around everywhere across the roads.   People were up working in their fields early in the morning around 7:00AM.  The picture down below is of a local farmer that is has a banana farm.  She was trimming up the trees and weeding.  The farmland here is lush and rich.  It looks like the "potting" soil that we buy at Lowes or Home Depot.  This picture of the this lady down below had a huge machete that she was cutting some of the leaves down with.   The people here are so humble and just smile all the time.  There are a lot of people that can speak English, but I'm surprised that there are quite a few that cannot speak English at all.  They are mainly the older generation and the young kids.  They start learning more English around Middle School.  

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Maddison assisted today!  We were doing an extraction case and Maddison stepped in and did one of the teeth.  She's a pro!  The rest of the day she assisted and did a great job.  It was her 1st day assisting.  The patients have been so patient with us while I'm trying to teach our kids how to assist and what is what with the instruments and the Dental terminology.  In some ways, it feels like I'm in Dental school again trying to get a system down and be as productive as we can.  Once the kids are trained well, I think things will flow better.  The kids are taking turns assisting and working in the sterilization room.  There really isn't any Dental Hygiene program here and we need to start something because the Tongan hygiene and their diet is terrible.  We could use the help of our hygienists back home.  This experience really makes me grateful for the wonderful team that we have back home.  If I had our team back home to help us out, we would be seeing 5 times that patients that we are seeing.  That's how awesome they are!  

Tonight, Heidi and I went to the temple right next door to do a session.  The older kids watched the younger kids and allowed us to go.  Every Thursday night, they have a Temple session that is in English.  It's a smaller temple, but has everything that all the other temples have.  What a great experience!  Well, have a great night!  Keep smiling!