WE MADE IT!!!

Good evening everyone,

It all started at 4 a.m. when our alarms harshly awoke us. Everyone met at the Lyndhurst campus at 5:15 a.m. in lovely 30° weather with brisk winds. The parents longingly drifted around their children, trying to squeeze final moments of time together before our two-week adventure. The bus left promptly at 5:30 a.m. and arrived at the airport in plenty of time. After going through the painstakingly slow process of checking bags and getting tickets, the group moved on through security to our gate. Some of us were even lucky enough to get TSA Pre-Check (although it didn’t help us in the long-run)! After some quick stops at Starbucks and a brief wait, we hopped on our first plane to Atlanta. 

The flight was only about two hours and we then landed with time to spare for lunch. We enjoyed fine cuisine from Panda Express, Qdoba, Villa Pizza, and Frëshen Smoothies. The next leg of our journey took us to Nassau, the capital of the Bahamas. After changing into our shorts, flip flops, and Hawaiian shirts, we charmed our way through customs, answering questions like “Is this your first time in the Bahamas? What do you want to be when you grow up? What are you most excited for?” One of us answered this last question by saying “I want to swim with the sea animals!” with only a slight panic. 

We then chugged the rest of our water and passed through security again. Like a group of migrating whales, we made our way to our final gate to Eleuthera, which, in traditional Bahamasair fashion, had been switched around and slightly delayed. After descending the escalator and walking out on the tarmac in beautiful 80° weather to board our plane, we were pleasantly surprised by a new and updated propeller plane (quite the opposite of the rinky-dink plane that we were expecting). After a quick twenty-minute flight and breathtaking views of the water and island, we touched down in Rock Sound, Eleuthera, right in time to see the sun set. We were met with warm smiles and welcoming handshakes from our Island School team of Stan, Kache and Whit who then split us up into three vans for a forty-minute drive to Cape Eleuthera Institute and the Island School. On the way we saw numerous potcakes (stray dogs) and the vibrant colors of the setting sun. 

About to board the tiny plane to Rock Sound, Eleuthera! 

 The view out the window- almost there!

In the van on the last leg of our long journey- driving to the Island School! 

Can you tell how excited we are?!

Upon reaching the Island School, we quickly dropped our bags off in the dorms and headed to our very first dinner in the Bahamas. They served rice, pork, chickpeas, peas and salad. We commingled with a few of the current Island School students and they gave us sound advice for our stay here, including that we would never get used to the giant bat moths hovering all over campus (eek!!). When dinner ended, we headed to the common space called the Octagon to get an introductory presentation from Stan and Whit. We reviewed Island School rules and our daily schedule which includes a wonderful early morning exercise routine at 6:30 a.m. sharp. 

Before ending the meeting, we learned of our first Caciques (student leaders) for the next day. Congratulations Maggie and Aryeh for your excellent leadership skills throughout the tough travel day! After that, we were allowed to call our parents to tell them we had arrived safely in the Bahamas and that Stan says “Hi!” Finally, we sat down and took our first nightly quiz of the trip. Now, we’ll head to bed and look forward to a Mosquito-free sleep and the exciting activities to come!

Signing off – Caroline and Kevin

EDITOR'S NOTE: FOUND IT! PHOTOS ARE HERE! MORE TONIGHT!