by Caciques Connor Sullivan and Sam Saccomanno

We untied our shoes from the short jog to the triangle cut. We immersed our bodies into the warm Caribbean water for our first swim assessment. We were surrounded by squirming bodies awaiting the signal to start the assessment. “Three, two, one, start!” called Ashley, and we were immediately engulfed in kicking feet, clouds of bubbles, and salt water up our noses. After a few kicks to the head, the group spaced out and everyone found their respective place (which for Sam and I, was near the back). Throughout the near quarter mile swim, our technique gradually turned from a good quality breast stroke to a struggling doggy paddle. Although it was challenging, us two made it to the finish line.

After touring the campus,CEI, and the cape, we had down time, which was taken up by beach volleyball. The aftermath of hurricane Irene broke one of the volleyball poles, so boys dorm generously fixed the court. An hour passed by with a series of entertaining mistakes. The Belgium boys, Marius and Benji, showed their impressive volleyball skills while most others had to retrieve their miss-hit balls deep in the mangroves. Also, during dinner circle, the girl’s dorm interrupted with a happy birthday song to Devin, and later celebrated with a scrumptious cake.

We had our major class school rules meeting today, which makes it seem like our class is finally shaping up, with almost all students here. With the arrival of a two more girls in the next few days, our class will be complete, just in time for our sea kayaking and scuba instruction trips.