Plaj la

The children are on school vacation this week and next.  On Tuesday we had a field trip to the beach for all of the children.  The children had a grand time, splashing in the water and playing in the sand.  Some of the youngest children had never been to the shore despite the fact that Haiti is on an island and has a large coast line.  I enjoyed watching the youngest ones who in the morning seemed uncertain and even intimidated by the large body of water,  overcome their fear by early afternoon.  It was also wonderful to be able help some of the older children learn to swim; it has been a long time since I taught swimming lessons, but I think I remembered the basics and quickly translated the sayings I used to use many years ago, into Creole.  A few of them were so eager to learn and improved rapidly.  I only wish applying sunscreen four times and wearing a hat would have been enough to prevent my Irish skin from a serious sunburn, but otherwise it was truly a wonderful day!