Christmas break is over and today is my first day back to school. My Mom and I are going to the Lucaya Market today. We are going to do school there and look for a bathing suit for me.

On Christmas Eve we went to a candlelight service at The Lucaya Presbyterian Kirk (church). There were lots of flickering candles and a real decorated Christmas tree. We sang Christmas carols and there was a short sermon.

On Christmas day we opened our presents on the boat. I got two webkinz, some art supplies, candy...My brother and I got Trivial Pursuit for kids. Later we went to a Bahamian family's house for supper. There were more than 50 people there. There was a ton of food there too. The dishes included peas and rice, potato salad, coleslaw, garden salad, turkey, stuffing, ham, chicken wings, ribs, cracked conch, fish, three different kinds of cake and my Mom's pudding pie. We also brought 36 candy canes. I had somewhere around three. I like candy canes! There was Bahamian family dancing in the living room. We stayed till around 11:00 pm.

On Tuesday December 30th we went to a British couple's house for tea. They had another couple over who was very musical and they played the Irish whistle and the mandolin for us. The lady also played an Irish flute. They had a Russian exchange student with them. We had Christmas pudding, sandwiches, scones, cookies, and rice crispy squares. The day after, the lady who had played for us gave my Dad a guitar lesson.

We went back to the British couple's house for New Years Eve. They had the musical couple over again with their Russian exchange student. We played a game called Dictionary. One person had to find a word in the dictionary that they thought no one else would know. Then they had to write the definition down and tell everyone else what the word was. Each person had to make up a definition and write it down. When everyone was finished, the person who picked the word read out all the definitions including the real one. Everyone had to guess and try to figure out which one was right. You got a point for guessing the right answer and a point for each person you fooled. It was a really fun game. There was a lot of laughing involved. At midnight we blew little plastic kazoos and the cry of "Happy New Year" sounded. We also pulled Christmas crackers. In mine was a stamp that made a picture of a weird looking bird. We went outside beside the pool and watched the fireworks coming from Lucaya. We had fun and it was finally time to go home.

On New Year's Day we went to the house of the Pastor from the Presbyterian Church. His name is Scott and his wife's name is Anita. They have two girls. Their names are Priscilla and Sarah. Priscilla is twelve and Sarah is ten. They took us to the beach near their house. We played soccer and a catching game called donkey, and then we went in the water and played Shark. When we were done at the beach we walked to a canal. We jumped off a wall into it. It felt warmer than the ocean. Scott found a Lion fish on the bottom. They are poisonous. We think they tend to just stay still and leave you alone unless you threaten them. Scott went down to poke it with his flip flop. Back at their house we had supper. The adults visited for awhile longer and we kids hung out in Sarah and Priscilla's room. Then we went with them to Junkanoo. It's a parade that is held on the streets downtown. Groups from different islands compete against each other. Each group has its own theme. We only stayed for Grand Bahama's group. They had an Egyptian theme. Their costumes are very elaborate and some of them weigh incredible amounts. They are made of materials such as paper machete, cardboard, and feathers, and are covered in bright paint and sparkles. There is Bahamian music, and each group plays instruments. Some examples of instruments they use are tubas, cowbells, and drums. When the pastor and his family took us back to the boat we showed him and Sarah the inside of it (Priscilla has already seen it). Sarah really really reeeeeally liked it.

Some friends of the British couple we know lent us a car. Now that we have a car we can go more places without having to take the city bus. Yay! Yesterday we went for a drive to check out some of the grocery stores that we can now go to because we have a car.