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Happy Bastille Day!  We celebrated by sleeping in, eating pancakes, going to the beach, and going to Petite-Anse's party in the park!

Olivia and Me

Barbe a Papa or Daddy's beard is what we call cotton candy!

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At worksites today my group got to go work in a medicinal garden, using machetes to clear out the unwanted branches and bushes, which was pretty exciting haha.  A hip-hop teacher came from the main island and after learning basic hip-hop moves and techniques from him, we all had a dance off, which turned into quite the competition!

Trying to lure the goats...

Olivia right before our hip-hop lesson!

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This morning my group got to teach English again!  Today we taught them body parts by teaching the song "Head, Shoulders, Knees, and Toes."  The children loved it and had so much fun singing super fast, in funny voices, or leading it themselves.  In the afternoon we had fun learning the traditional Gwoka dance, snorkeling (I was amazed when I swam right through schools of hundreds of fish!), and having a bonfire!  I am loving it here in Guadeloupe!

Khanh and Alex at the Gwoka lesson

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Today was a pretty relaxed day.  At worksites my group planned our next English lesson for tomorrow.  After lunch we wrote and delivered Thank You cards for our homestay families.  The rest of the day we enjoyed all hanging out together.  Whether we were in the park, buying Floups, or all sitting around Rachel while she played the guitar and we sang along, we were having fun just being with each other.

Hanging out in the park.

Back at home base.

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At worksites today my group got to teach an English class to kids 6-8 years old then again to kids 9-10 years old.  They were all so cute and they loved learning!  We taught "I like," "I do not like," and "Do you like?"  It is so gratifying to see that they understand and know that I had a part in that.  This evening we were put in groups of two or three and went to homestay dinners.  At first I was so nervous to spend a whole evening with a local family because I was afraid that I wouldn't be able to understand what they were trying to say to me!  But I ended up having a blast!  The mom made it really easy and asked simple questions that I knew how to answer such as, "Do you have siblings?" "What do your parents do for a living?" and "What do you like to study in school?"  The family was very kind and welcoming, the food was delicious, and the conversation flowed easily!

The whole group right before homestays!  I was with Goose (3rd from the left on the top row) and
Jeff (the one in the front).  We all had a lot of fun together!

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Today was my last day working at the pavilion.  It was a slow process getting started, but now the next groups should be able to move quickly.  My internship group got to make coco (coco = coconut) sorbet, which we all loved!  This evening we went out to dinner to Chez Tido, a yummy pizza place, and all just loved being out at dinner together laughing and having fun!

Alex and Jeff with the not-yet-frozen coco sorbet. 

The group during an activity called 'Ti Semble. 

Natalie, Khanh, Olivia, Me, and Ryan at Chez Tido.

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Sleep in day!  Whoever thought the day would come when I would treasure sleeping in until 8:00??  Today we drove to the other side of the island and spent the day at the beach in Grande Anse.  A huge sailing race happened to be leaving from the beach we were at and it was really cool to see the boats all get ready and take off.  Later in the afternoon, we hiked from Grande Anse back to Petite Anse.  (That is how small this island is...we can hike across the whole thing in about 3 hours!)  I am starting to feel more and more at home here and I love continuing getting to know and becoming close with all the people I am living with and all the people in the community.

Loriya and I at the sailing race. 

Ryan, Me, and Olivia

The view from the hike of Terre-de-Haut.