K2 Down Island Trip

On Wednesday morning, Scotty and Stephen took us on our first student-led psycho. It was pretty intense and everyone was exhausted when we finished. That afternoon K2 returned from their Down Island Trip, spouting stories of civilization in polished Russian accents. Although they were sworn to secrecy about the details of their trip, we could tell from their beaming faces and radiant smiles that they had an amazing time. Everyone on campus had a big science paper due the next day so unfortunately we didn’t get to spend much time with them.

On Thursday, we had an extra long morning exercise…an hour and a half. Swim track swam from school to Sunrise Beach and, because of our high speed swimming abilities, we got there well before an hour and a half was up. Therefore, we decided to swim back, against the current, to the big bridge. Run track ran 8 miles to the old airport and back. Wow. Needless to the say, that afternoon we were all very tired…During the day we had our first Junkanoo classes and began constructing our costumes. Junkanoo is a Bahamian tradition that usually takes place during the holidays. Our theme this year is “Welcome to the Jungle.”

On Friday, we headed out to the marina to learn underwater navigation with SCUBA gear. We learned choreography for our Junkanoo dance that we will perform on parents’ weekend, and also learned dance moves to popular Bahamian songs on the side. Many of the students could be found working on their costumes throughout the day, exhibiting their enthusiasm.

Saturday began with a lovely game of water polo with a strictly enforced “no contact rule”. For breakfast, we had PANCAKES! We had normal classes in the morning and, in the afternoon, we split into our various research groups.

On Sunday, we had another class-filled day with yoga as our morning exercise. In the afternoon, we had a double-art class where we were able to construct our final art projects for the semester *gasp*. Since conch research was set back a day, they went out during free time on the boat. For most people, it was their first Sunday ever having classes. But that’s okay because it was super-hero day. Shannon came prepared with her batman costume, Lucas got close with some green body paint and turned into the incredible hulk, and others turned wetsuits, swimwear, and other misc. objects into superhero garb.

Wow…we made it. Monday was the last day of academics for K3 and K4. We woke up today excited that it was the last day of academics for both students and teachers. The past week had been tough, but fun. It was another track day for exercise and the run track ran 6 miles while the swim track swam from school to the little bridge. We had research in the morning and conch research had yet another set back: their boat wasn’t being so cooperative. Sustainable design had some yummy lemonade while hard at work on their methods section. Katie and Melissa had quite an adventure in Rock Sound during all of this: they were taking the English AP exam. In the afternoon, we had another Junkanoo class with Dennis followed by our statistics test. During free time Billy caught a small boa and put it in the terrarium, but soon it was released because some people were scared of it.

Due to the 8 day academic rotation, Monday night became our Saturday night. To commemorate the end of our rotation we celebrated our hard work with a cookout at the Maxeys’ townhouse. Everyone got to eat hamburgers and hotdogs, except for us veggies, we got veggie-burgers. We all drank juice and read poems by Shel Silverstein, as well as played a rousing game of charades. Many kudos to Geoff! J When we arrived back at campus, everyone was ecstatic to see that K1 had returned successfully from their kayak trip. The rest of the night was spent around a bonfire in the shape of a hand, taking time to catch up and hang out after an incredibly long 8 days. We had marshmallows. The bonfire was Billy’s final art project, and it represents the overuse of the earth’s resources.

Tuesday was (finally!) a day off and many people took advantage of the opportunity to sleep in and hang around campus. A few people had work left to finish from the academic rotation. The rest of the day was spent preparing for upcoming down island and kayak trips. Many of the girls got their hair braided before embarking on their expeditions.

Shoutouts:

Bonfire!

Nina: Hey everyone, I miss you crazy amounts! Mom and Dad I love you! tell the girls I say hello. Grandma, Grandpa, Mom-mom, Jeri, Chuck I miss you soo much, it’s so amazing down here. BSOD, hope it’s all amazing, I’m ready for showtime J Seniors: I love you lots, hope that projects are as awesome as they possibly can be…I can’t believe you’re done. CC, Kristi, Matt, Brynn, and Brent: way to be the only people to have actually written to me…you guys are awesome. Everyone else, I guess I still love you. Jane: Erica and I need your wisdom…come home. K2 I love you…never forget me, I’ll never forget you!!

Erica: Hey everyone im having such a great time here but i miss you soooo much! I’m so pumped for summer! Nanna Stine, Nanna Carol i miss you and your wonderful cooking. Mom and Dad and Elyssa i can’t wait to see you guys in 2 weeks! Yeah shout out to everyone who wrote me awesome letters. I love the poems you sent Sem. Jill…i love you to death… i know you try with the letters. lol. Rocky…..i miss you we need to chill out when i get home. Everyone else i miss you tons i can’t wait to see you in June.

Billy: Hey everybody!!! How’s it going in Texas and Florida? I’m doing pretty good time here in the BAHAMAS!!! Dad, Cindy, Mamma, Raina, Tom, everybody at Catholic High, hope yall are doing good. I’m going on my Down Island trip tomorrow then I get to go on my eight kayak trip. I’m getting really excited about it. Well I have to go pack for my trip now so I’ll talk to yall later.-----oh Cindy, make sure my dad puts the futon in my room!!!