Pole Pole - Swahili for Slowly

The day started Pole Pole which is swahili for slowly slowly! Finn and I did some school work while Nash played legos. Finally we decided to head for breakfast. The winds were low and the tide was hight so it was a perfect time for us to explore the ocean on the kayaks.  We headed out and within 15 minutes the winds picked up and were blowing us out to sea. The boys got to swim in the Indian Ocean for the first time! The water was crystal clear but the wind was insane! We let the boys jump in for a few and then paddled back to shore. Once we got back to shore, the boys were trying to knock down some coconuts from the palm trees. The security guard, Shareef, came over to talk to us. We told him what the boys were attempting to do. He kindly went and got us a coconut. He used his machete to chop up the coconut and give the boys amazing coconut water! He also carved a spoon from the extra shell of the coconuts for the boys to scrape out the coconut meat! 

When it finally, almost cooled down, we walked down the beach to meet Masud and his younger brother. It was still really warm, so we sat under a tree to wait for the sun to drop a bit further. The neighboring shaded tree had a large family visiting for the day from the other side of the island. The family was playing soccer, swimming and picnicking. Shortly after we sat down, the family delivered a tray of freshly toasted peanuts to us. Finn quickly grabbed a peanut (shell and all) and started chewing on it. I realized Finn's peanut experience thus far in life has been the giant shell free Costco tin. I am embarrassed that he had no idea you have to remove a peanut from a shell. After spitting the shell out for a minute, Finn got the hang of the nut cracking. There was a young kid, probably 3 years old sitting on a blanket at the family's shade who seemed to be injured. Masud said he had stepped on a stingray. The kid was in pain but seemed super tough. I saw a man from the village who was at the field drum dance party show up. He started attending to the injured kid. When he finished, he told us that he squeezed papaya on the sting to help with the pain. Papaya apparently works miracles because that same kid was up playing soccer with his family a few minutes later. I guess Steve Irwin just needed a shot of papaya to the chest and we'd still have that crazy Australian crocodile fondler on this planet ... 

Once the sun dropped a bit further, the local boys set up "goals" (sticks that would most certainly impale someone) and the game commenced. Nash and Masud were on a team. Finn and another kid around 10 years old played on the opposing team. When a 5th kid arrived, Paul was roped into participating. The boys were super red and Paul was incredibly worried about the boys getting injured by the rock hard ball, the shells, the sticks (goals), the kids, the sand, the sun, the heat, the water, the malaria etc. etc. Thankfully we escaped the game unscathed.