July 9

We are hanging out in Port Villa waiting for a bit of brisk weather to pass. It is blowing close to 30 knots in the harbor and around twenty where we are tucked in near a little island. I can only imagine it is pretty frisky out in the ocean.

Yesterday Jonah and I took a walk around this tiny island two hundred feet from Port Villa. It used to be the residence of the British Governor and is now a resort. Pretty but if I wanted to take a vacation I wouldn't want to be right near a town.

Apparently there is no malaria in Port Villa and so we are living without screens which is very pleasant as we have lots of airflow.

Jonah and I have been rereading the Harry Potter books and my voice is sore every night! But he loves it and he sits riveted while I read from the books. During the passages where Harry is playing Quidditch, Jonah gets so excited he bounces up and down on the couch squealing with excitement. We have long discussions about Harry Potter and all the intricacies of the plot. Occasionally Jordan chimes in with some basic question and we just give him the hairy eyeball.

We are on a bit of budget so we are not eating out and doing lots of money/town stuff. Its hardest on Jordan because he has to cook all the time. He is very committed to producing quality meals every time despite the fact that his audience would eat just about anything. In general I don't find Villa that inexpensive - its very geared towards tourists and priced accordingly. There are good deals on local produce and meat but that is it. We did find a local eatery where we got some cheap eats for lunch today.

I am reading old New Yorker magazines and wishing I had gotten more of them when I was in the States. Read some paper back stuff - fluff but diverting.

I had to bring Jonah to the dentist to have his teeth checked as he was complaining about pain in the tooth that was filled in Australia. The dentist found a large abscess under the tooth. There is a pustule on his gums which is good so it can drain thru there. He will be put on antibiotics and if the infection doesn't clear then we will pull the tooth. The problem is that then a spacer will need to be put in so that room will be left for his adult tooth to come in when he is around 9 years old. So this makes life a bit interesting. I am not sure if there are any more dentists in all of Vanuatu. The idea is to try to keep the tooth as long as possible so that it keeps the gap open for the adult teeth. There are dentists and orthodontists in the Marshall Islands (where we plan to be in December) and we can address the issue again we get there.