Ok this is a real lousy pic but I just wanted to document that Sophie figured out how to swim on her own with arm floats! Yay! It happened when we were in Vanuatu.

It's quite sad that when we got here we had to stop her swim lessons with Aqua Ducks in S'p. Think she would have done well and should be well swimming on her own right now without floats but oh wells, a step at a time.

She loves swimming and we've gotta figure a way to get her swimming more here!

We're all really excited here.

Sophie's gonna be in her first real dance performance this weekend! She's been going to a dance school for two terms now. It's a professional hip hop and jazz dance school. They organise a yearly show and this year the theme is Broadway musicals. Sophie's preschool class is doing a Grease number. Very cool. The girls will be wearing pink tutus and denim jackets. The boys drive a car, have their hair spiked up and wear black jackets! Cute like anything!

More photos over the weekend!

After teaching for a whole week, James crashed over the weekend so I took Sophie out on my own to town!

It's really easy to get to town. There are these vans that they call "buses" here and you just have to flag them down and it costs 150 VT per person to get to anywhere one way. Children travel free. Pretty comfy but no seat belts tho. But they drive pretty safely here. 

First stop, the open market. Saturday must be the busiest day at the market. It opens 24 hrs through the week, closes on Sat by 2pm and it's closed on Sundays. In fact most of the shops in town are closed on Sundays. It's a religious observation for most because most go to church. During the week, the market stall owners sleep at their stall. You'll see mamas feeding babies, grandmas tending the stall, others sorting out the produce. It's generally the women who tend the stores. The men are the ones who harvest the produce in their land.

Sophie bought some peanuts. They are her favourite snack here. She's mastered how to crack the peanut herself this time! She used to bite the shell into pieces. I got myself some tapioca chips. My favourite snack here. I asked the mama at the store if I could take a picture and she raised her eyes and nodded her head. That's the local way of saying yes. After that she gave us a bunch of bananas! Actually she gave it to Sophie. So sweet ah… They really love children here. After that we got a pomelo. It's pomelo season and they are real yummy!

Next we went to the French pastry shop to get an ice-cream… actually to use the toilet… for customers…. so we got an ice-cream, the cheapest thing on the menu!

Finally we went to look for a princess dress for Sophie. The local chinese shops sell the ching chiong pink frilly ones complete with lace, sequins and ribbons… altogether. Managed to find one for her. It cost only 500 VT which is about S$7. She can just wear it casually and I don't have to worry about it ripping. The chinese lady at the shop gave us a discount! Sweet!

After that, we hopped into a bus and went home… in time for Levi's feed. Nice.

We spent the whole of yesterday at the base. 

Sophie had so much fun! I hardly saw her.
 

Left: Sophie visiting the pigpen. Someone paid their staff fees with a pig.

Right: Piglets! They are really very cute and really squeal when you pick them up. 

She spent the morning cooking in the bush kitchen (this is just really the outdoor kitchen) with Rinette, feeding the pigs and watching Kalin making a nest for the chick he caught.
 

Left: A coup for the chick that Kalin caught. He made it out of coconut and chicken wire. Genius!

Right: Hanging out at the bush kitchen on the base. 

She spent the afternoon in the sun washing clothes with Rinette. She was getting all wet so Rinette hung her dress on the line too.
 

At the end of the day, she didn't want to leave.