Today we were the centre of attention in a classroom of 6 and 7 year olds. We were invited to come to a local Catholic School in downtown Papeete to share a little bit about our life onboard a boat and our voyage from Canada to French Polynesia. To start out however the kids put together some songs and dances which they performed for us in their classroom. A number of the kids also brought some instruments including ukulele and drums. They were a fun bunch of kids who loved to wiggle around.
We brought along a number of the photos that we have taken so far on our journey to share with the kids. The videos that Jaeden and Alyssa have been making were also a big hit. They enjoyed our videos of Ahe and Rangiroa as well as our stop to swim in the middle of the Pacific Ocean. The kids asked all sorts of questions which I ended up answering or translating the answers from the rest of the members in our family. Being the only fluent French speaker I guess I had to do most of the talking. They wanted to know how we did school on our boat and if we stopped along the way.
Teyauna seemed to fit in perfectly in the little classrooms. They had our entire family sitting up at the front of the classroom as we answered questions. Halfway through however Teyauna moved from the front of the room to a small little empty desk that was in the classroom. It was the perfect size for her and she sat there just like all of the other kids listening to what we had to say.
It was fun to share our experiences so far with these children. We were able to help them understand a little bit of the geography of French Polynesia as well as what life is like on-board our boat. Apparently this classroom has been following our travels for many months and were excited to hear that we had finally landed in Tahiti. As a result they contacted us and invited us to meet them at their school. It was a good thing we arrived when we did as the school’s two month holiday starts in just a week. Soon it will be “Fete de Juillet”.