Manihiki Magic - I like école, by Yann

Rachel and I walking home from school. This was when she still lived in Tukao. Now she is back in Tauhunu with her mum and dad and brothers.
 
In Rarotonga I spent a lot of time at Island Bubz daycare. I liked it a lot. There were the aunties Lerma, Leba and Nancy. And there were my friends. Keanui, Kiva & Noah, but also Maine (all the boys always wanted to give her a cuddle), Elliott, Paea, Annie-Jade, Narita and all the others. I was one of the big ones, not like baby Evie. She was so small that she couldn't walk yet.
This was my first day at school. All my friends came with me: Isaac, Rachel, Helina and Frederick.

Now I am in Manihiki and my friends all go to school. They are all big. And I am small like baby Evie now! In the morning they wear their uniforms and they have their hair neat. They walk to my house and tell me they go to school. I ask: "Maman, I go école with Helina"!  And Maman says to wait until I have my uniform on too. I want to go to school with my friends so I let her dress me and make my hair with coconut oil.

At first I wanted Maman and Charlie to come to school with me. But now I only go with Helina and sometimes Frederick if he's not on his bicycle. It is nice to walk by the beach. Everyone is wearing a white blouse and brown shorts. That is the uniform. It is very nice. But I liked to wear my Kiva T-shirt before I had the uniform. It is a blue pareu T-shirt that says Rarotonga. It was a present from Kiva. I like it a lot. 

This is my classroom! I like the wall with all the numbers and colours
Clap clap with Rachel! I like to be noisy!

 
When I arrive at school there are my friends from pre-school. Their names are Atha, Darling, Liam, Utua, Keziah and Krystiana. Rachel is not in Tukao school anymore. I miss her.

All my friends at pre-school!


But there are also the big kids and the teachers. Aunty Winnie is my teacher and I like her. When the bell rings, I need to go sit down on the bench with my friends from preschool. Then the principal Miss Napa speaks in Maori. I don't really understand so I look around and follow what Atha does. We usually sing a song for Jesus called Manea Jesu. It means Beautiful Jesus. After the song we sit again until Miss Napa tells us to go to class. So I follow aunty Winnie to our classroom. 


This was the week that Aunty Winnie taught us all about coconut! Nice glasses for my "mata", my eyes. Papa says that I look like a professor.

And a nice watch so I always know when it is Island Time!

Aunty Winnie always organizes nice activities for us. I like "color-color" but I also like when we learn the "numero". I can count to ten in Maori! Better than Maman and Papa, see? 

Tahi 1
Rua 2
Teru 3
Fa 4
Rima 5

My favorite number is Fa
Ono 6
Hitu 7
Varu 8
Iva 9
Taingauru 10

My favorite number is Taingauru


I can also count in English and in Maman's language and in Papa's language.
Maman counts like that: un, deux, trois, quatre, cinq, six, sept, huit, neuf, dix.
Pap counts like that: eins, zwei, drei, vier, fünf, sechs, sieben, acht, neun, zehn.

I don't know why I need to learn in 4 different languages but when I count, Maman and Papa always smile and take videos. It must be cool!

Now I wonder if I should also learn to count in Fijian like aunty Leba or in Filipino like aunty Lerma and my girl friend Maine from Rarotonga!

Going home! I like going to school in Manihiki!!!
Check out our Instagram - Azure Coconut

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Auftakt Cook Island Games 2020

Image
Mit einem Mal ist es ganz still im großen Stadionrund. Am sternenklaren Himmel kann man trotz Flutlichts das Kreuz des Südens ausmachen. George George, die lokale Rugbylegende, steigt die drei Stufen mit der Fackel auf das Podest. Dann entfacht er das Feuer, die Flamme leuchtet gelb orange auf und die Cook Island Games 2020 sind offiziell eröffnet. Es ist der 2. Oktober 2020. Jubel bricht aus, die Trommeln setzten wieder ein und 3500 Menschen, Athleten, Zuschauer, Ehrengäste, Organisatoren, Tänzer und Musiker feiern zusammen die Eröffnung ihrer Spiele. Unter dem Motto: „Me okotai tatou, ka arangatu te Ipukarea“ oder auf Englisch: „Together as one we move our nation“. Frei übersetzt heißt es so viel wie, „Zusammen, als Einheit bewegen wir unsere Nation“. werden die Cook Inseln in 24 Sportarten an 20 Spielstätten ihre besten Athleten küren. Es wird eine generationenübergreifende Veranstaltung, der jüngste Athlet ist gerade einmal 10 Jahre alt und der älteste 74 Jahre jung. Die Cook Insel...
Read more

Im Paradies steht die Zeit still - 365 Tage im Luxusstrandhotel

Image
Seit 365 Tagen duerfen wir jetzt schon im Hotel leben und sogar Charlies Geburtstag feier Das Corona Virus hat es nie bis nach Rarotonga geschaft. Unsere kleine Familie darf seit einem Jahr auf eine luxurioesen Hotelanlage direkt am Strand wohnen. Unsere Arbeit ist zu einem wahren Suedseeabenteuer geworden. Hier ist die Geschichte unseres Jahres am Strand. Endlose weiße Traumstrände, schattenspendende Palmenwedel die sich in der leichten Brise hin und her bewegen und dem Tag seinen natürlichen, gemächli-chen, polynesischen Rhythmus geben. Entspannen sie bei lan-gen Spaziergängen am Strand, genießen sie den Komfort unse-rer luxuriösen Villen und las-sen sie sich im Polynesien Spa bei einer Massage mit Kokos-nussöl verwöhnen, so oder so ähnlich ist ein Urlaub bei uns auf Rarotonga auf jeder Hotel Webseite beworben. Unsere klei-ne französisch/deutsche Familie lebt diesen Traum jetzt seit 365 Tage, eine ganze Umrundung um die Sonne. Es ist viel pas-siert in diesem Jahr. Kreiszeitung Weserm...
Read more

Manihiki Magic - THE best coconut crab in the world!

Image
A small part of Tukao's share of Coconut Crabs or Te Kavou Okay, so we have come to love Manihiki as a very special place. The most amazing people, stunning lagoon, beautiful reef and the sweetest drinking coconuts on this blue planet. But yesterday, well, Manihiki has topped it all and put on the most amazing feast for us. A dinner worthy of kings and queens and we are truly grateful that the Manihiki community has shared this with us. So what has happened? All of the Cook Islands have Ra'ui - protected areas where nobody is allowed to fish or hunt in. It is a traditional way of protecting the natural beauty and abundance of the seafood in each island's lagoon. But once in a while, once or twice a year in Manihiki these areas are opened for hunting and gathering. An amazing spectacle begins! I am up, walking the main coral road of Tukao with our youngest at 6am because she is teething and can't sleep. That's when we hear the drums. ...
Read more