Yesterday was gorgeous, and we spent a lot of time at the beach. I went out snorkeling for about an hour, and Breegan played on the beach with a mix of Kiwi and island kids. When I came back, the mass of kids were playing with a dead eel. They skinned it, and then started whacking each other with it. Breegan ran up to me as I came out of the lagoon to tell me the great news. "Mom, we found a dead eel, and it's sooooooo cool." Dead eel was made to swim in the little dam they had created from an incoming fresh water stream, took rides in a Tonka truck, and was buried, dug up and the reburied. I am praying that a high tide will take that stupid thing away tonight!
Living here for over four weeks now, some of my former beliefs have been reshaped. For starters, not everything is going to kill you or make you sick. I think I'm on mosquito bite #149 now, and yet I still don't have Dengue. Then again, it's their winter time now, so it would be more likely that we get the flu from a NZ tourist. Like Roger from Atiu pointed out, "We have no illness at all, until YOU bring it here!". Ok, point taken.
 
Germs. Breegan has been playing with chickens, chicks, cats and wild dogs all day. She hasn't picked up any weird illness, and has no strange rashes. We live with a family of geckos that will eat our bananas if left unattended, and I have picked up and tossed out more flying insects and creepy crawlies that I'd like to admit. I am also taking care of a fragile baby pig right now - and in it's delicate state, it would be more likely that I give it something, than it to me. Anyway, if asked if I visited a farm upon entering the U.S., my answer will of course be, of course not. I am at a beach resort!
 
For the exception of my brief strep throat in the beginning of the trip, we all feel pretty darn good.
 
Fastening seat belts is not a requirement here, and most cars are without. The maximum speed is about 35 mph however, so high speed crashes are not so much of an issue. Against my better judgement, I let Breegan ride in the back of a truck in Atiu, sitting on top of the bed rail. I kept an arm behind her the whole time, and she was beaming a great big 'I'm being bad' smile. So dangerous  and so fun.
 
We went to go get some DVDs to watch today, but the DVD shop had unexpectantly closed by the local authorities. Apparently 'new' movies that are out in the United States, should not cost a mere $5 and have a hand-written label. When viewing these DVDS, they should also not have Russian titles, be 'dark' around the edges, and have people getting up and down to buy popcorn during the film. Oops.
 
Today is Gospel Day, and most of the shops and businesses on the Island are closed. The Cook Islanders are very religious, and this is a special day for them to celebrate at their chosen Churches, or at the very least, sleep in from the benders they went on last night. Liquor and Beer are locked up on Sundays, but trust me when I say, we see plenty of drinking on Sundays. I'm thinking there must be a chapter in the Bible about Jim Beam somewhere? Anyway, there are different Christian sects here from Fundamentalist, Seventh Day Adventists, Presbyterian, Catholic, and Bahai' Faith. I'm sure there are about 58 more, as there seems to be a church every 300 feet. We thought there may be some sort of festival in down, so we drove through a heavy rainstorm to check it out. Nada. Zip. Complete ghost town. So, back to Muri Beach.
 
The clouds have cleared, and I just fed Spider Pig his baby formula. By the way, Spider Pig is very noisy! We ran into a couple today in town, as they were also looking for Gospel Day festivities. They said they figured out where we were staying, because while walking down the main road in Muri Beach, they heard a pig squeeling. Oh Good. We're now 'those people'. Needless to say, Brian is making fun of my North Carolina pig farmer heritage nonstop now. I'm allowing him to have these free shots at me, since the truth is: I am taking care of a pig, the chickens surround me as I do it, I'm not wearing any shoes, and I probably have a beer waiting for me on the deck.
 
Back to the beach for us now!