Today concluded our final day at the BVI. It all started at 8:30 as we boarded Speedy’s one final time. We drove down to the marina and ate some delicious donuts at the VISOR head quarters house. VISOR is responsible for managing emergencies around BVI. While I was sitting and eating my friends and I saw 3 baby sharks or what looked like sharks float up to the surface. After breakfast we began to work on our service project. There were many tasks to be done so we were split in groups, there was: cleaning the boat, washing equipment, cleaning up the boat house, or painting the VISOR head quarters house. At first I helped to wash the equipment, later on Brody and I were asked to help paint. When we were ¾ done with our service project, the man in charge, Andrew, gave us a look into some things he had to do in case of an emergency. He taught my friend Alec and I how to perform CPR. After this the people who did not paint had to help paint.
After the service project, we stopped by the dive shop to buy some last minute souvenirs. I bought a shirt. When we were done looking for items at the store we went outside and waited for Speedy’s, which arrived shortly after. From the Marina we went back to Guava berry resort. Here we went to get our snorkeling gear and headed down to the Guava Berry beach to eat and enjoy the beach/ ocean one last time. I snorkeled and saw a school of blue tangs and I even saw a flounder!! I then relaxed on the beach for a couple minutes by letting the waves push me back and forth. After the beach I had 1 hour and 30 minutes left until mass, so I went to the wifi room and relaxed with my friends there for a bit. When it was 4:30, I headed back to my room to shower and get ready for mass. At 5, we all gathered around the usual spot for Speedy’s to pick us up. We went to mass at St. Ursula’s; the priest was a great guy. After mass we spent some time getting pictures of the view until Speedy’s picked us up. The taxi took us to the copper mines because it was on our way for dinner at Mind Shaft. These copper mines were not in use and had not been in use for many years of course. When we arrived at Mind Shaft the Dive BVI staff was there waiting for us. They played a slideshow of our adventures at the BVI. After this we ate and had a great time with each other. We also witnessed the space shuttle coming to earth, 2 minutes of view time at the BVI. For the rest of dinner, some friends and I talked to one of the Dive BVI staff, Jeff. He had great advice along with interesting stories to tell us. When we were finished eating we took a group picture and then took pictures with our dive team, mine was the Sea Monkey with my group leader being Sam. After this we boarded Speedy’s and returned to Guava Berry where we all raced to get great seats for the movie and to work on our blogs. I will never forget my time at BVI, it was truly a magnificent time. This is the closest I will ever get to being on paradise on earth. Most importantly I will never forget the Dive BVI staff: Casey, Sam, Andrew, and Jeff. They were the best and I know I will miss them because of all they did for us. I hope there is a marine biology II course next year because I would like to know more over ocean life.
