Izzy and Bekah visit the primary school

Tuesday morning began with our first run/swim. We were divided into two groups, one half did a long swim in a nearby cut, while the other half did a run/swim to the marina and back. It was our first taste of this challenging multi-terrain morning exercise. We continued with a regular schedule of chores, meals, and classes. Tuesday evening brought our first fish identification slides lecture, given by Sascha Clark (Science/SCUBA instructor). We later learned that we will have these slide shows every Tuesday preceded by a short quiz on the information from the week before.

Wednesday morning we all savored our sleep in until 7:30am before embarking on a day of scuba and community outreach. While half of us worked toward our scuba certification with another dive at tunnel rock, the other half visited the Deep Creek primary school to observe and interact with the local students. In the afternoon we enjoyed our free time. Some of us visited the local resource center, some helped harvest a local farmers tomatoes and grapefruits, and others worked on a research project involving lobsters. That evening, we were all stimulated by a thought-provoking lecture by Meredith Sadin, who told us about her experiences working for Newsweek, and offered insight into the media today.

An Island School classroom at Palm Island

On Thursday, we ran 2 ½ miles to Palm Island, where Christian taught a class on the beach. This class consisted of a reading from Omeros and an explanation of Eleuthera’s native population, supplemented by real pottery shards that Christian found preserved in the water right before our eyes! After a tough day of classes and work, we wound down with a feed of brownies made by Molly McKay’s advisory group to celebrate her birthday. We were all happy to have a taste of chocolate in the middle of a hectic week!

Friday morning consisted of a strenuous workout of running, strength training, ab work, and Indian sprints led by Chris Maxey, Molly, and a visiting alum, Jen Boone (Spring 2003). After another day of classes, we finished the day with a dorm meeting. The girls chatted in their common room while dorm mama Rob took the boys on a secretive male bonding run ritual.

Charley, Jacq and Elizabeth

Saturday morning exercise consisted of another run/swim. We all felt somewhat relieved to get in the water after a long week of running. Saturday we had our first day of research, and we are all excited to learn more about our group projects that we had been assigned to earlier in the week. In the afternoon, the community outreach groups and scuba groups from Wednesday switched activities. We all relaxed that night with a movie and brownies. A daring few took a late night run with Rob to high rock, inspired by an idea from Chris Rosser.

Sunday we went on our first home stays! Waking up, we had a cereal breakfast, and then hopped into the vans and headed to the neighboring settlements of Deep Creek, Wemyss Bight, and Green Castle. We were paired up with another Island School student and spent the day with a local family. We loved getting a taste of the local culture, while forming friendships with our home stay hosts. Some of the highlights included visits to the local churches, plates piled high with delicious Bahamian food, and trips to the local town hangouts. We are all thrilled to be going back in April to spend the night with our families!

Monday morning brought a much-deserved sleep in until 8pm, and we all appreciated the extra rest to help us prepare for the coming week. Our ticket to breakfast that morning was a clean personal area in our dorms, and we were all astonished to notice how clean they actually could be. We continued with a regular day of classes. This week we can expect to interact with many scientists and guests on campus and enjoy presentations given to us by a variety of visitors. We are all starting to adjust to the pace of life here, and the many challenges that we face in a day at The Island School.

The boys dorm poses after a 10pm run/swim

This web update was written by Hayley, Hillary Becker, Alden and Chris Rosser. Below are messages from them to their friends and family at home.

Hayley: Hey to everyone back in Baltimore! To all the Bryn Mawr Girls: I miss you guys and I love you all! Please write to me! Mom, Dad, Elliott, Holden, Martha & Penny – I miss you guys, but I’m having so much fun here! I can’t wait to see you at Parents weekend!

Hilary: Hey guys—Mom, Dad, Lindsay, Eliza, I miss and love you all so much! Lawrentians: Have an amazing spring term…I wish you all a taste of this gorgeous weather. I love you! Keep me posted, I’m having a blast. See you in three months! xoxo

Katie and Hayley at the 5 year dinner	Humanitites class beginning Omeros