How we passed the days...

For the next few days, we communicated amazingly through the nonverbals we normally take for granted. We said the few phrases we knew frequently: "How are you? Are you happy? We're happy to know you. We love you." We also had Turnbull's English/Kreyole dictionary to look up specific words we might need to use: wash, supper, bed, teeth, hungry, quiet, wait. We probably sounded funny, but we tried. So did they. Both kids were willing to repeat phrases in English. A couple times they had no choice. Once Ange-Laurette was in the center of the pool in a float and was obviously trying to tell Bruce to take her back to the side. (She was not fond of her first time in the pool, but she became an underwater fish by day three.) Bruce told her to say, "Take me to the side." Again, she called out the phrase in Kreyole. He repeated his request, and she yelled, "Tate me to da side!" They will learn quickly :)

They loved the pool, playing with dolls, coloring and writing in notebooks, picking out their clothes for each day/night, and choosing snacks from the large stash we brought with us. Tips for other parents traveling, that were shared with us: bring extra pairs of underwear as they insist on wearing them under swimsuits, favorite foods are Cheetos/jerky/poptarts/gummies, bring socks for the tile floors in cold air conditioned rooms, have dissolvable cough strips for the colds they catch, and bring bags of markers with paper to keep them busy during lengthy supper times. Ange-Laurette and the other girls had their hair braided special for our visit but still enjoyed having new beads/bands/barrettes put in each day. They love play watches, jewelry, caps, sunglasses, having their nails painted...just like any other kids their age. Hooded sweatshirts were a must when they got cold after swimming...and extra towels for the room and pool, to add to the only 3 or 4 you will have in your room. Our kids were content with the Disney channel on the television there, rather than sitting through entire DVDs that we had brought along. They also liked just playing matching card games, catch, soccer out in the grounds, jump rope, and talking with their friends. They are experts at making their own fun and playing a "jacks" type of game with rocks they find.