Ali reading with a 4th grader from Deep Creek

This week gave us a handful of opportunities to venture off the Cape and into the settlement of Deep Creek. In the past 6 days we had our first Community Outreach session at the local school, our first home stay with a Bahamian family and many advisory groups even made it out for conch burgers in town.

Wednesday of last week we had SCUBA in the morning and Community Outreach in the afternoon. After dinner we all gathered under the gazebo for the first CoffeeHouse of Fall 2003. Performances included a rap by Connor and Miles, Emily and her guitar, Klem playing the mandolin, a skit by Ella and Kylie, Jack singing and playing guitar, and the boys dorm, dressing up and impersonating the girls dorm! Intermission was presented by John Schatz and consisted of a huge tray of chocolate brownies topped with his homemade peanut butter called SchatzGood.

Thursday morning Yoga

As the sun was rising Thursday morning, we began the day on the deck of the dining hall doing Yoga. It was perfect being able to stretch our way into the next 2 days of full academics. Friday evening, some of us headed in to Deep Creek for dinner with our advisors. The menus in town consist of conch, grouper, burgers, french fries (big seller!), ribs, chicken etc. After dinner, we walked around town (in the pouring rain) and bought treats at a local store.

Saturday afternoon we experienced our first certified SCUBA dive! It felt great knowing we had passed our test and especially nice to not have to do skills before heading underwater. That night found us all playing an impromptu game of “The Price Is Right” with Peter as Bob Barker and Annie as the winning contestant. The grand prize was having Nick and John cover her next dish duty! It was really funny and we have pictures, but they are hard to truly convey without a lengthier explanation!

Kylie with her cake

Sunday we were paired up and taken to our first home stay experience. The families and congregations of the churches we attended were incredibly welcome. We returned to campus by 5pm with full stomachs and having met many members of the community. We experienced many tastes of authentic Bahamian cuisine and were able to learn more about the local culture that exists on South Eleuthera.  Study hours were pretty intense    that night, as the weekend flew by and we had a lot of work to get done for Monday. We did manage to take a break for Kylie’s 16th birthday though and celebrated with yet another cake!

In the past couple of days we have gone on a long swim, completed a crazy exercise/exploration of the Cape, met with our Research groups again, and have prepared for our 2nd Community Outreach meeting.

There is a lot going on here – and time is flying by!

Chrissie & Connor slice local fruit

This web update was written by Kate Parizeau, Sophie and Miles. Below are messages from them to their friends and family at home.

Kate Parizeau- Mom, Dad, Doug, Molly & Sam: Hope everything at home is well. I miss you! Take care of Cisca and give her a hug for me! Nobles and Wellesley: I miss you all sooooo much but I’m having a great time here. Send me mail and I’ll see you in December!

Sophie- Brooks: I miss all of you but am having an awesome time. Hope you all are having an awesome time and are having fun. See you in December. Mom: Have a great trip with Wendy. Dad: Have fun surfing. Maybellina: I miss you sooooo much. Have fun. Can’t wait to see you in Alta.

Miles- M&D: Hope the fall teaching season is going smoothly back home. L&M: Keep racking up the goals this season. BHS: Miss being alongside you guys in the classrooms and on the field. YG: Miss all of the great times we had this summer. IHOP the 9 th ? Life is amazing out here; keep writing until we’re together again.

Miles, Lindsey and Ali	Permaculture researchers visit a local farm

Brie at Deep Creek Primary	Aquaculture researchers after a group exercise