Breakfast was at plum cabin this morning and Casey brought donuts! She came in clutch haha. They were enormous too. Other than the donuts, breakfast was the same as the other days. After breakfast, I walked down to the taxi with some of my friends where Glenn was waiting. After everyone got it, Glenn took us to the beach to clean. The beach was so dirty so having Jesuit clean it every year is a big blessing and it allows us spoiled USA kids to do something for the betterment of the geography. I didn’t see any really weird peices of trash this year. We cleaned the beach for about two hours and everyone had a great time doing it. After we left, Glenn took us to the rendevue bar in the marina for lunch and we were there for about an hour and a half. During this time, everyone ate and they could shop in the Dive BVI shop if they chose too. Right before everyone left, Casey decided to take Reese Elison and I to the doctor. I was getting my ear checked out and Reese was getting a rash on his chest and neck looked at. The doctor took about an hour and came to the conclusion that my ear was infected. That’s a bummer to hear but it’s alright. Jeff picked us two up about 30 minutes later and brought us back to Guavaberry. I then walked up to my cabin, cleaned off the dirt and trash smell, and took a nap. I woke up just in time to get ready for dinner and had to jog down to the taxi. Glenn took us to a restaurant right along the ocean and it is so good. Dinner was buffet style with salad, coleslaw, ribs, chicken, fish, and desert at the end. Dinner was so good! I also had a good time feeding the scraps of my mean to the massive 3-4 feet long tarpon that swim back and forth right next to the restaurant. They are fascinating creatures. Before we left the restaurant, Casey made a slide show of the whole trip and it was really good so I can’t thank her enough for that. After it ended, we walked to the taxi, said goodbye to the BVI staff, and headed home. I walked back up to my cabin, packed my bags, and went to sleep.
The next morning came early at 6:30 am to get in Glenn’s truck to take us to the marina where our Sea Wolf was waiting to take us over to Tortola. We arrived in Tortola 30 minutes later, said our goodbyes to Jeff and Casey, and walked to the airport. Everyone got their Seaborne Airlines ticket, went through security, and boarded the plane within an hour so that was quick and easy. The flight was 30 minutes long and when we landed, we walked straight to customs, went through security again in San Juan and our 6 hour layover began. I had to waste time some how so I walked to the terminal A food court and ate some lunch at 11 am. I then walked back to the boarding area and played monopoly for the next 4 hours haha. Monopoly was a big hit on this trip to pass the time. After the 4 hours rolled by, we boarded the plane, I got situated in the exit row, and the 5 hour flight back to Dallas began. I slept for the first hour and a half but after I woke up, I talked with Jackson Suarez a little bit and he and I began to play monopoly. This game lasted 3 hours and ended right when we landed. After everyone got off the plane, we walked to baggage claim. I said hello to my dad and my girlfriend, shook Mr. Golab’s hand, and thank him for everything. I was then picked up in our 1960 impala and went off into the distance.
On a personal note and on behalf of all of Jesuit Marine Biology, I would like to thank the Dive BVI staff for everything they have done! Jeff and Casey have devoted a great amount of time to serve us and we as a group can not thank them enough. The week was fantastic. I went on 9 dives and had a blast on every single one. I am sad that this is my last year with the program but I hope the guys in the following year will have just as great experience as I did. Than, you dive BVI for everything and thank you Jeff and Casey for your hard work and generosity! You will be missed and hopefully I will come back and visit soon!
