Woke up to clear blue skies and a beautiful sunrise. We got to the school nice and early and waited until all the children arrived. They were very excited to be together and we were proud of the way they looked amongst the none uniform brigade. We were given a welcome by Madame Mesoir (the principal of Jean Mariotti who wears the most beautiful ropes of black pearls probably the cost of a house deposit), the Deputy Mayor and the Mayor's PA. The children then had breakfast with their billets in the school canteen.
They then headed off to class with their billets, some to PE and some to English class. We met again at lunch where they were treated to the Noumean school lunchtime experience in the extremely busy and noisy canteen. They go to the counter with their trays and are given a hot lunch which is the norm here. We had a very interesting meeting with a very, very large (the technology teacher, Baz, said it looked to be 12cm long, far more precise than me!) katydid. have a look at the pics.
After that we headed to Anse Vata to take a tour on Le Petit Train. This gives the kids a great idea of how the city looks and the commentary provided tells them all about it. We managed to grab a quick ice cream in the Place de Cocotiers during the tour too. I've never seen so many photos being taken. They loved waving and calling 'bonjour' to anyone and everyone we passed and were waved and greeted back enthusiastically by the locals.
After this we walked back up to school and had time for a quick catch up before meeting up with the billets. They shared some of the new words they've learnt and some of the experiences had already. Some of them were surprised at how welcoming the families have been as some of the billets have given up their bedrooms and wardrobes(!!) so they can be comfortable. The kids will now spend the weekend with their billet families and it certainly sounds like they will be doing a variety of activities including camping, windsurfing, snorkelling and shopping of course! I also know some of them are meeting up at a friend's birthday party and others are just getting together.
They all want everyone at home to know that they were bathed in sunshine and heat today and they all realised the importance of drinking lots and wearing hats.
Bonsoir!
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| The view from the top of the city |
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| Arriving at school |
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| How big? 12 cm?? Freaky anyway! |
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| Lunch |
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| Le Petit Train |
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| Quick foot dip in the heat |
Hi Guys!
ReplyDeleteWhat wonderful photos. Glad to hear that all is going smoothly. We can't wait to hear about your weekend activities with your billet families.
Kristy - I was thinking of you as we were both flying at the same time. My trip home went fine. It's a bit of an adjustment from summer back to winter! Everyone sends you their love.
Your netball team won their game this morning 10:1. Your coach is very proud!
Hope you are having a lovely weekend and taking lots of photos. Big hugs from all of us!!