Middleham Falls

I tried to create a six picture series so you could see how long the water fall really is. As you can see, it only kinda worked. It was quite beautiful though. Myself and four other ladies went on this hike last Saturday, leaving matt and the other med students to study for their first big exam. The first "mini" is going on right now! Best wishes to my study bug Willy on remembering all the information he studied. Anyways, the Middleham hike took about 50 minutes each way.

We had a guide from Extreme Adventures named Victor who was fabulous. When we got to the falls, the mist was freezing. Victor, who grew up on the island, said he has never come to the falls without jumping in. Four of us followed him down the rocky banks to test our guts and took the plunge into the cold cold water. We jumped off some cliffs and climbed in some caves -it was invigorating.

From the left: Jamie, me, Katie, Aileen, Erica, Mike -the extreme adventure crew :)

Savanne Paille Primary School

What we got here are the four coolest kids in school : (from the left clockwise) Bernard, Mick, Pria and Leon. Kevin was absent the day I took this picture. Every thursday morning I head to the neighboring town of Savanne Paille (it's french so it sounds like savon pie) to help these little darlings with their reading skills. It's one of the highlights of my week so I wanted to document it on the bloggy blog. They get to wear uniforms to school four days of the week. Pria's skirt is always blowing up while we are reading since we sit outside where it is always windy.
Anyways, it's really different working with kids that are from the states and kids that are local. The locals are much more well behaved, which is a nice change from the rascals I do the After School Program with. When I asked the bunch if I could get a picture of them, I thought they'd be hesistant. But they were super excited to have me snap a few shots of them. I even got them to pose with some books (see below) -that made me laugh because it was so staged, but they were still excited about it.
We read books that a family in america collected and sent out to the island. The kids' favorite so far are the Arthur books. They also like the Magic School Bus series of books. Anyways, if any of you want to do a service project and send some more books to the island, it would be much appreciated. The books can be used, they're not picky around here.

"Hey, send us more books cuz we're cute."

To Mother Mary G. and Mother Camille

Happy Valentine's Day Moms. We love you and miss you both. Here is a vase of hearts as our gift to you on this "heartfelt" day. The guy that sold it to us said you would be able to reach through your computer and take your gift --like in sci-fi movies.
Thank you for all the unconditional love and support we've received from you throughout our lives. Hugs and Kisses -Matt and Leigh

January Showers Bring Lots-O-Flowers

Here a collage of just some of the wonderous flowers and foliage found on the island. If you click on the pictures, it will zoom in closer. I took most of these on the way home from church until my camera ran out of batteries (sorry if some of them are blurry).
Speaking of church, did we mention that we walk to church in the mornings: forty minutes, in the rain, up hill -both ways?! No joke --it's crazy. I can't wait to tell my kids about how "hard" we had it. haha.