Keith and Mary enjoying Junkanoo!	Ana and Lauren clean conch

This past week has been the most exciting one thus far in our three-month stay at The Island School. Due to the many exciting events, we have all appreciated our time here more than ever before. The combination of Conch Day, Founder's day, several birthdays, Junkanoo, and SCUBA diving certification has made for a very enjoyable and exciting week.

Conch Day began with a local conch fisherman speaking to us about the excitement of conch fishing as well as how the job has changed. Farmer Brown, as he is known, gave us a taste of Bahamian culture and history. Following Farmer Brown's talk, we loaded onto three different boats to go out conch fishing with the goal of finding enough "dinner" to feed the entire Island School community. Returning to land we learned to skin and clean the conch in preparation for the pounding (tenderizing) that would then occur. We sat down a few hours later and enjoyed the feast that we all proudly caught.

Chuck preparing conch on Conch Day	Gary plays the trumpet for Jon during Junkanoo

The next day was Founder's day. On Founder's Day, we had regular classes and eagerly anticipated the dance party scheduled for that evening. When classes ended, we were requested to wear "fancy" clothing in preparation for our big night out at The Island School campus. When the time came for everyone to meet at the flagpole, we were startled by the huge bonfire shaped in the number 40 (Maxey's real age!).

Soon, fireworks started going off and the party had begun. After Tony and Pete extinguished their fantastic fire display, some local Junkanoo players came and played Junkanoo with us. Junkanoo is a Bahamian music that involves lots of drum beating, some whistles, cow bells, and conch shell blasts. We had a great time dancing and adding to the blasts and beating. We spent the rest of the evening enjoying the fire and watching movies.

Adam all dressed up for Coffeehouse	Ryan and Cynthia making conch salad

To conclude our week we went on our last certification dive. After a beautiful dive at a coral head called Cathedral Rock, we can all call ourselves certified divers. We are used to being away from home and our friends here have become our new family.

Chuck, Ana, Adam, and Carly on the dance floor

Ana: Mom, Dad, Sam, Farnaz, Nic, Chloe, Ian and how could I ever forget Laura. I miss and love you all so much and can't wait to see all of you soon. Nic, I love you and thank you for writing me everyday. Lara and Ian stop stealing my cloths!. Love u guys.

Jon: Mom, Dad, Dre, Brian, Chathen, Adam, Flash, Miller. How's it going guys? How's school without me? I miss ya guys lots can't wait for lunch at Quinn's every day MUTZ FOREVER. Mom and Dad I miss home and I hope everything is good for you. Don't worry...only 4 more weeks till ya see me. Send lots of letters guys I'll try to send back. Lov ya.

Chuck: Mom and Dad I miss you guys a lot and can't wait to see you on parents' weekend. Thanks for the letters especially the NASCAR scores. Johnny: How's college? I better get a letter from you. My friends at Collegiate: I hope school is ok without me. I'm having a great time and cannot wait to see you all again.