With no set schedule to keep today, we were able to sleep later than usual. Rather than returning to the marina for breakfast, we walked to one of the huts for a meal catered by Casey. The doughnuts were, as last year, comically oversized and quite delicious. After breakfast, we broke for about a half hour before driving out to our service site, a beach about 10 minutes away. A short walk lead us down to the beach that was completely covered in trash. We worked tirelessly for an hour and a half, filling the bed of Jeff and Casey’s truck several times over. Aside from countless small pieces of plastic, we found planks of wood, boat fingers, and a rusted 55 gallon barrel. Once we had successfully removed most of the trash, we returned to the marina for lunch. After once again being serenaded by the restaurant’s house musician, we walked between all of the shops. We then returned to Guavaberry for 4 hours of free time, during which we enjoyed the air conditioning of the Internet room and wrote our blogs. The day concluded with another sunset dinner, this time including a final presentation of all the pictures and videos we had taken throughout the week. After saying final goodbyes, we headed back to Guavaberry in Glenn’s taxi one last time, heartily singing “American Pie” because we had had heard it playing from the restaurant’s speakers earlier.
As I conclude my final blog post, there are of course countless people to thank. First and foremost, to my parents for allowing me to come on this trip not just once, but twice. Then to the Jesuit instructors who give up time with their families to escort us down to the island and somehow manage to keep us all in line. And lastly, to the staff of Dive BVI, who all made this amazing trip as special as it is.
