12
Location: Sandy Spit, Green Cay
We woke up bright and early this morning to a healthy breakfast of scrambled eggs and cereal, preparing for another great day. We then completed our jobs and sailed to Jost Van Dyke to pick up the Preservation Society students once again. We greeted our same buddies from the previous day and played a few games of Indian Chief, a game in which one person is given the Indian Chief title. Another person then leaves, and the Indian Chief created a pattern that everyone else follows. The goal of the game is for the person who left to guess who the Indian Chief is. The Jost Van Dyke kids quickly understood the game, each one wanting to be the Indian Chief every game. Soon after, we got all the kids into the dinghies and arrived at our boat. We hung out with our buddies as we sailed to Great Thatch, playing cards, giving tours of the boat and making rope bracelets. We taught the kids a new card game, slaps, which quickly got competitive. As everyone started to get hungry, varied types of lunches were being brought out; peanut butter and jelly, turkey and soup. While some of the students enjoyed our lunch, others brought their meals, such as rice and beans, macaroni and pizza. Shortly after, we arrived at Great Thatch and the beach we would clean up. We got back into the dinghies and then split up into groups to scour the beach for certain items of garbage, which were marked down on a special form. After the short walk on the beach, we went for a refreshing swim in the ocean. We splashed around with our buddies, throwing them off of our shoulders and having chicken fights. Next, we went for a hike on the beach to see some ruins of a village, which was founded by escaped slaves. Other than the many cacti, which easily stuck to our feet, everyone was very interested in the ruins, as we explored the top and talked to the founder of the Jost Van Dyke program, Foxy. We walked back down the hike, taking some of the younger buddies on our backs, as they were getting exhausted. We got back into the dinghies once more and brought the students back to the boat. As we sailed back to the school, we had more time to hang out with our buddies. We had some snacks, played some more cards and exchanged numbers and email addresses. When we were close to the school, one student spotted dolphins, and the whole boat excitedly came to see. Finally, we arrived at our destination and had to say a short goodbye to our buddies. After we dropped off the Jost Van Dyke kids, we sailed to a small island, Sandy Spit, to join the action quest boats in a barbecue. We had a well-deserved dinner of hot dogs, hamburgers, veggie burgers, potato salad and pasta. It was great to be able to spend some time with the kids from action quest, and a great end to a productive day of service and fun. We finally got back to the boat around 8:00, took quick showers and started playing a typical game of cards. All together, it was a fantastic day for Lifeworks. P.S. We wish a very happy birthday to Jack! Your birthday cake was awesome!
Lydia Schapiro