Hello from Eleuthera!

Today was just another day in paradise down in the Islands. It’s crazy to think that in less then 10 days are parents will be down here to experience our new home.  The memories, knowledge, and laughs we have made already are priceless and we will never forget them.  New memories were made during our action packed day.

We started the day off with a taste of adventure when most of us went free diving at 6:15 this morning.  It was amazing to see my classmates improving their free diving skills and reaching depth of 50 feet with a single breathe.  Everyone was encouraging each other to go deeper and push their limits.  During this single experience you were able to see all of us stretch ourselves in new ways.

After free diving we lost some of our community to the down island trip.  They will begin to explore the impact of tourism and development in the Bahamas. As I experienced they will have the chance to interact with locals and tourist and learn about their views on tourism and how it impacts the culture and land in the Bahamas.  They will also be met with surprises around every corner and will experience the true beauty and history of Eleuthera. Even though it was sad to see them leave I know they will make memories down there that will last a lifetime.

Today during my sustainable system class our class learned all about aquaponics.  Aquaponics is a system that uses fish waste to help grow vegetables that we eat here on campus. We got to work with one of the interns who is working on the system and help her out with her work.  We picked lettuce, basil, and mint that will be used in our meals later this week. We also got to harvest fish to fillet, so we could have them as a meal one day.  Many of us learned that is much harder to fillet a fish then you think and you mostly end up with fish guts all over your hands. Overall, it was a great experience to see how we are using to resources that work together to help us give locally grown food.

As each day goes by it’s sad to think that our experience at the Island School is almost over.  I know we will continue to make new experiences here and continue to grow into young adults.  This place has truly become our second home and we have all been deeply affected by this place in every positive way.

The caciques

John Esposito and Emma Murphy