by Caciques Tori Suslovitch and Connor Sullivan

Tori:

Today during advisory time, my (Megan’s) advisory traveled to Rock Sound in search of a hidden cave. None of us had ever been there before but Megan had very general directions of where to look: follow the road into Rock Sound, stop at the first white church that you see on the right, and take the path on the other side of the road until you find a ladder. Climb down the ladder. Vines winded in and out of the cave and spiderwebs hung from every corner. While it was dark and a little frightening, we all climbed over the unusually shaped rocks and explored the series of caves. We even found an area that was full of bats. Going on an adventure through this National Heritage Site was incredible and exciting; the entire exploration felt like a scene straight out of an Indiana Jones Movie.

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Connor:

During my (Beth’s) advisory time, we also went to Rock Sound, but we explored the ocean hole. Although it looks like a lake, it is connected underground to the ocean by a deep cave, the bottom of which has never been found. Continue reading →

by Caciques Maddy and Ian

A Poem Update by Maddy:

Waking up, it’s a brand new day

All of the rain got chased away

Waking up it’s the early morn

Shhh.. you have to be quiet inside the dorm.

Doing some homework before the day starts

Makes me feel so awesome and smart.

I walk to the boats, excited inside

The water is currently at low tide

We boat to blue holes ready to dive

We want to see lionfish, we’re so alive

Justin and Rob dive down with spears

And I have to wonder if they’ve been doing this for years

Some of us practice shooting the sand

There are no lionfish, nothing goes as planned,

We try two more sights and it’s obviously clear

That they’re much deeper down than they appear

Rob catches one that he had chased way deep down

We all crowded round to see the lionfish with the great big frown

We got back in the boats to head back to school

I got to practice free diving and that was so cool.

This morning was educational and fun

We got to swim in the nice warm sun.

That’s what I did on my morning off

Even though my bed was so soft.

A Reflection by Ian:

Sunday is easily my favorite day of the week here. Continue reading →

by Caciques Annie B and Helen

Wednesday mornings: sacred sleep in days… except for those brave enough to venture out to Tunnel Rock for an early morning free dive! Those of us who took Maxey’s advice “You can take a dirt nap at the end of your life”, woke up bright and early and headed out to the boats, “Mac Daddy” and “Kenny T”. Once we arrived at Tunnel Rock and anchored our boats, we all jumped into the wavy waters and began our dives. In pairs of two, we took turns diving down toward the vibrant reefs, taking in as much of the beautiful scenery as we could in one breath. Practice truly must make perfect, because the more we tried, the better we got, and soon enough we were all making impressively deep dives. After the sun had risen well above the waters, we made our way back to the boats, and back to campus… just in time for breakfast. Waking up early that morning and jumping in the salty ocean, rather than sleeping in my warm bunk was one of the best choices I’ve made so far at The Island School. Though it was simply a fun morning activity, it was a phenomenal way for me to “seize the day”, and made me appreciate the true meaning of living life in the moment. -Annie

Today, in the tradition of true Bahamian culture, we were introduced to conch fishing by a local fisherman, Nehemiah. After studying sustainable fishing practices in Human Ecology, we decided to go out and do some fishing of our own.

Continue reading →