Day 8 - SYCO!

Today we began the day with a crazy start led by Keanu, called Syco workout. It was a combination of cardio and upper body workouts that ran for about an hour. During which we had a lot of “screaming, yelling, and crying out loud” according to Keanu. After which we had a little downtime before a having the famed breakfast of granola, milk, and yogurt.


Later, we split into two groups by playing rock paper scissors. One group would go out to work with the permaculture, which is a theory of sustainable agriculture. Through talking with one of the C.E.I. workers named Josh, we were able to gain more information on how the Island School is sustainable wit their food sources. We got to see the ducks, pigs, and even pick radishes. Also, we learned a lot of great information about composting and the process of composting in the Bahamas. The others went with Keanu and Alex “Sal” to catch tilapia in the Aquaponics center to measure and gauge the size of the fish in the tank, though the second group beat the first in numbers caught and average fish per minute caught.

After that, most of us showered and went off to have a lunch of baked potatoes and left over lasagna, and it was fairly quiet since the Island School kids were out hanging on their last day in the Bahamas. Then we stayed in the dining hall and talked to Emory Lang, the head chef of the Island School. A graduate from The Culinary Institute of America and an Island School Alum, he has made many changes in the school including: the preservation of the food, the preparing their food, and the attitudes about cooking in general. Then we would take an hour trip to a farm run by Edrin Symonnette, who provides fresh produce to the Island School. He showed us how he grafts (also called budding) his plants, almost replicating crops, and showed us many goats, at which point Sara went crazy trying to pet one. Then some people had a chance to hold some baby goats who were only two days old. Also, a select few were able to try finger peppers that were extremely spicy for some, but not so much for others. Then we were given the opportunity to eat at a local restaurant called Coco Plumms, where we had the opportunity to have a burgers, lobsters, chicken, and even conchs. After dinner we traveled back to the dorm and finished off the day with a little review and highs, and lows of each of our days.


Tomorrow's Caciques will be Kirsty, Jen and Riley - so look forward to hearing from them tomorrow night!  We are going to spend the day doing Flats research out in the shining sun!  G'night!
Ben and Cailin