The Red Sea

This was the colour of the sea when we went down the other day. Now, I know that this is due in some way to the heavy rain and the peat being washed down from the mountains (or something like that) but I still kept looking for shark fins, and had to restrain myself from dragging A away from the water. It just looked so gruesome.

It didn't seem to bother A in the least.

We spent some time on the beach sketching with chalks:

This is the view we were sketching:

We've been having a very relaxed time lately, since the school holidays started here. I didn't think it would make so much of a difference to us, but things have really slowed down. I'm quite enjoying it, but I think A has been a bit fed up at times as most of her friends seem to be away. During term time she has regular weekly get-togethers with a couple of them, and these haven't been happening. Still, things will change soon enough as her cousins arrive next week, and just before that we are going away for a couple of nights with my friend and her two boys, we are staying in a hostel made up of railway carriages.

I recently bought A this dictaphone as I had talked about getting her one ages ago. She's had a great time with it, and its certainly helped with all the criminal investigations that go on here - now she can record all the interviews. I wish I could download some of them as they are truly hilarious. Apart from interviews with suspects, she has been recording herself singing and reciting poetry, as well as making up some of her own.

A renewed interest in Italian was sparked today (we had intended to make learning Italian one of our projects together, but found it really hard, I think its something best done in a group, certainly for A). A is off to her grandparents for the night tomorrow, and wanted to impress Nonno with a couple of phrases, so we got the books out and got online to this site, and she worked out exactly what she wanted to say, then wrote it down for herself in a way she understands for pronounciation. I'm sure Nonno will encourage her with this, I've always been a bit wary of asking him to 'teach' her Italian, knowing how A generally responds to being 'taught' anything! And I would hate for their relationship - which is based on fun, mischief, and winding up Nonna - to be affected by a different dynamic. I think what we really need to do is just go to Italy, I'm sure we'd pick it up in no time. I know that when I went on a school exchange trip to France I learnt more in two weeks than I had in the previous two years of lessons at school. Better start saving now!