By 630pm we needed the lantern, and we spent many nights looking at magazines, books, and reading Bible stories to the kids in the semi darkness. They loved the pictures and books. Most of the families didn't have books or magazines in their houses.
While at times the kids were overwhelmed by the constant presence of other children, they made some great memories, and had lots of fun with the village children.
This game was called "Wanpela kanu i stap long si". (One cannoe in the sea). You sang that song, while the sticks opened and closed, and you tried to jump between the spaces. The boys caused much laughter because they were so uncoordinated and kept landing on the sticks.
Allan became one of our special friends. He was about Noah's age, and was sent as an "escort" to go along with us wherever we went to make sure we didn't get lost. He usually always had his bush knife along, ready to climb a tree a get us a "kulau", if we were hot and thirsty. A kulau is the watery drink that is found in a green coconut. 
Robert enjoyed taking Doug to look for grubs in a rotting tree. After they cooked them over the fire, they wanted us all to try them. Doug first picked the smallest one he could find, but they insisted he try a nice, juicy, plump one. That was the one and only time we ate grubs. I don't recommend them. 
Scraping out coconut was a skill our wasfamili wanted to teach us. It was harder than it looked. After cutting in half the coconut, you would sit on a tiny stool, that had a sharp blade on the end, and rub the inside of the coconut over it. They actually didn't eat the coconut itself that often, but mixed water with the coconut, and squeezed the coconut through a strainer. This provided the coconut milk that they cooked almost everything in.
This was one of the spots we would bath, wash dishes and wash clothes at. Most of the time the water was as warm as a bath tub. We'd often go "was was" as they called it, once in the morning, and once again at mid-afternoon because we'd be so hot, and needed to cool down. Typically, the women and children had their own spot, and the men would go to their own spot. Doug did come with me sometimes to help carry the wet laundry back to our house. I never did manage carrying a bunch of things on my head. The boys were thrilled not to have to take "regular" showers. Swimming twice a day was fine with them.
Tia watching Donna wash Samuel.
We arrived in the village of Tokain at lunch time, and Robert our waspapa, was anxious to show us the "nambis" (beach). It was only a short walk through some trees and we were on the beach. Many other village children greeted us and walked with us along the water. 
