September 3/4

September 3^rd

In the morning we went to Romilda’s class. Daddy and I went in as violinists, Georgie as camera man. It is very fun to perform to five year olds; they are very appreciative. A kindergarten classroom looks the same everywhere. There was artwork covering the walls, low tables (no desks) and a storage area for backpacks by the door. The only difference between this class and my elementary classroom was that everything was in French -- from the noise in the room to the poster of how important it is to brush your teeth. The rest of the day was spent catching up on school work.

September 4^th

We went to a motu! Some of the researchers wanted to test out their new boat by taking it to the motu. Daddy, Georgie and I, were invited to come along for the ride, and besides, there is great snorkeling on motus. On our way we stopped at “The Ray place”. The Ray Place is a large sandy bottomed area just before the motu. A huge amount of sting rays hang out on the sand there. When the boat has stopped and people get in the water all the rays swim towards you. They have associated people with—food. Hard to believe, huh? I panicked when I saw the rays coming towards me and I scrambled out of the water. Daddy stayed in the water with them, and he said they were brushing up against him, raising their mouths out of the water for food. Some of these rays were a meter and a half wide, longer counting their tales. Daddy said they felt like a horse’s muzzle. Unfortunately, after they realized we didn’t have food, they ignored us, so I didn’t get to touch them. But I still swam next to them. They move by undulating their wings. Rays look like underwater birds.

We saw other wild life too. We saw one parrot fish, a school of lizard fish and one shark. Lizard fish are long narrow fish that look slightly like sharks, except that they look like their mouth is on top of their head. Like a catfish they have whiskers, but they have four—two on their chin and two on their head. The shark we saw was more a hint of a shark. We saw its tail and head through the water. But the water was getting deeper and darker and our view was clouded. It looked to be about two meters long, but it was hard to tell because it was so far away.

That wasn’t our final destination. We then went to the water around the motu, but we didn’t stay very long because the water was too cold. For French Polynesia the water was freezing. For Vancouver though, it would be the normal beginning summer chil, that you find in below the first 30 cm of water. I fear I will never be able to swim in Canada again—the water is so pleasant here.