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Location: Savanna Bay, Virgin Gorda
Today was a splendid day of giving back to the island. We walked a mile and a half up a hill with heavy traffic to get to Valley Day School. Then we arrived. My team and I worked on different projects throughout the day. A couple of other students and I finished a cool greenhouse with a connected shade-room. Something very challenging was making the concrete. To make the concrete, Jackson, David, Ryder, and I collected small gravel pebbles that were scattered around the schoolyard. We filled 2-gallon buckets of pebbles after about 2 hours. Then we mixed the pebbles, sand, and concrete powder to create the perfect mixture. All of a sudden, the water shut off! It had just rained, so we scavenged for every droplet of water. The only water that we could find was some rainwater dripping from the gutters. We paused the project and moved to another. We helped Elliot finish the panels in the greenhouse. A few minutes later, we got a call that the water was back on. We quickly ran to the hose and collected some water in an old soda bottle. David and I used shovels as Ryder and Jackson mixed with their hands. Then we laid the concrete, cleaned up, and were very ready to head back to the boat.
We arrived at the boat in the dinghies, put our bathing suits on, and headed back out to the beach. We hit some wake from other boats, and it was so much fun! Then we jumped in the water and swam to the shore, waiting for the kids to arrive. We were all super excited to teach some of the local kids how to swim. The first couple of kids got to the beach, and we all introduced ourselves. We split up into groups: beginner, intermediate, and advanced. I joined the intermediate group and helped teach some of the kids how to swim backward.
“BOOM!” A huge thunder crashed, and everyone ran out of the water. We said our goodbyes, hopped on the dinghies and raced to the boat. We gathered in the cockpit and discussed our plans for the evening. We also took our first freshwater showers below deck!
We dropped the anchors, and Alice and Kyla prepared dinner — pasta with Alfredo sauce, hotdog bites, and a salad. We washed the dishes, and the deckies washed the deck. And that brings us to now when everyone is staring at me while I type up this blog. Goodnight!