Home Safe!

The group has arrived safely back at Windsor Mountain. When we picked them up from the airport they were all smiles despite it being 12:30 at night. The ride back from Boston was full of laughing and telling and retelling of stories.

They are currently up at Windswept debriefing the trip and re-acclimating to life here in the States. The students are happy to be home, but it is a bittersweet return since they left another home full of new friends behind. One student told her dad - "I left part of my heart in the Caribbean." Sounds like a successful trip to me!

Windsor Mountain Student Travel Team
Kate and Angus

Friendship Camp to Friendship Rose

Dear Family and Friends,

Right now the kids are finishing up our final day of our friendship camp here in Bequia. The trip has been truly amazing and we constantly discuss what an awesome group of kids we have on our program. Last night we headed to a local basketball game to watch a few of the inter-island basketball matches and get a little taste of the local flavor. A nice and refreshing rain shower fell on us as we hopped in our cabs and returned to our house. The house we are staying at is amazing - it has 2 kitchens, giant balconies on both levels, it's a stones throw away from the beach, and it has a swimming pool in the backyard that we sometimes have our group meetings in! We are very fortunate to be staying in a place that is so perfect for our large group and the views are truly fantastic.

We are in the home stretch of our program now and eagerly soaking in our last few days on the islands before we head back to New Hampshire next week. Tomorrow we are heading out on the Friendship Rose schooner for a day of sailing and snorkeling around the Tobago Cays - a welcome respite and reward for our extremely successful community service projects on both islands and a lovely way to celebrate Hancie's birthday! Saturday we are hoping to visit with the ex-prime minister of Bequia and Sunday we will be doing community service at the Old Hegg turtle sanctuary.

All are happy and healthy and positively engaged in all aspects of group living!

Much Love,

Bridge Caribbean 2011

Friendship Camp and La Soufriere

This has most certainly been an exciting week for the LIA crew. Since our last update we have completed our first week of camp in Lauders, which the kids handled with energy, patience and positivity. All of the local kids quickly attached themselves to our Leaders in Action, even following us home after camp. Our last day ended with heartfelt goodbyes, and adorable thank you notes written by older campers. The following day the group rested up and relaxed at the Owia Salt ponds, a breathtaking series of natural swimming pools built into a rock formation on the Atlantic Side of the Island. After some carb-loading for the dinner, the group got to bed early in preparation for Saturday’s big hike: La Soufriere. This dormant Volcano is the highest point in St Vincent, and our latest conquest. The group celebrated with PB&Js at 4,048 ft and then hiked back down in record time. That night we said our goodbyes to the Cupids, our kind, loving, and gracious hosts. The following morning we awoke at the crack of dawn to set off for Bequia. By 10 am, we settled into our new home sweet home, with emphasis on the word sweet. We have plenty of space, a wonderful view, even a swimming pool. This will be the perfect venue to relax and debrief the fun yet exhausting days of Friendship Camp in Bequia. The group is rocking, and ready for all our upcoming adventures!

Until next time,

Thatcher, Katie, and Max

Student Blurbs!!

Zack is a natural leader. After the first day of the Friendship Camp, he spearheaded the movement to reformat the daily schedule so that everything would run more efficiently. He's able to see the big picture.

Henry is the resident theatre/performing arts expert. He does a fantastic job with all the performance activities. His favorite part of the trip so far has been a mountain hike called 'The Pavement'.

Hancie really loves the evening activities the group does, especially 'Celebrity'. She's very positive at all times and cooked a mean chicken dish that everyone loved. She's been having a great time making Friendship Bracelets with the kids of Lauders as well.

Deniz is the champion par excellence of card games. She really likes sharing stories about her life in Turkey with the group and lets the kids at the Friendship Camp braid her hair in island style.

Sophie is "IN LOVE WITH THIS TRIP" and says it has far exceeded all her expectations. She had the time of her life during the camp Baseball Bat Race.

Julie also loves the evening activities the group does, especially the ones designed to bring everyone closer together. Group bonding makes her happy, not to mention the beach time, camp softball, and playing a big part in the Camp Obstacle Race.

Delaney is loving the trip. She's been taking the lead in all the camp planning sessions and is great at making connections with the locals. The other night for dinner she made a wonderful stew!

Angela is having a great time, despite the heat. She has a gift for working with the younger kids of Lauders, and has made some deep connections with them already. So far, her trip highlight (aside from the kids) has been the mountain hike.

Miranda is our artsy one, representing the Los Angeles vibe for the entire group. She's been doing an amazing job teaching drawing and painting at our Friendship Camp. She also loves the evening group bonding activities. She's a celebrity at Celebrity.

Marietta is a 100% natural leader. She's fully, positively engaged in all aspects of the program and makes friends with everyone she meets. Her daily back-flips are the highlight of the camp, she gets everyone cheering for her every time.

Princess is the glue that holds the group together. On a practical level, she sees what needs to be done and does it. She always puts the group first. She's fitting in perfectly with everyone and is having a great time teaching sports classes during the Friendship Camp.

Kelly is stunningly expressive and articulate for someone her age. During evening meetings, she's able to put her daily experiences into words in surprising and insightful ways. While she's not ordinarily the most sporty girl on earth, she's been stepping out of her comfort zone by leading the sports classes at camp!

Jocie is having a great trip. Her favorite thing so far has been meeting the young kids of Lauders. Also, she absolutely loved The Pavement hike--she was surprised that she had such a good time, because it was very hot, muddy and challenging, but despite all that, she had the time of her life. During Friendship Camp, she's been having fun teaching drawing classes.

Jake is particularly in love with a restaurant in Lauders called Mrs. Blacks, which sells some of the best fried chicken he's ever eaten. He's been having a great time leading the all camp activities at the end of camp every day. His trip highlight so far (aside from the chicken) has been the Pavement Hike.

Tia has a wonderful, positive and infectious energy. She's great with the little kids of Lauders, but her favorite thing so far has been getting out and about the town of Kingstown during group MMT's (Magical Mystery Tours designed to get the kids familiar with a place through experiencing it themselves, talking to locals, and asking questions).

Cupids and Camp!

Dear Families and Friends of Bridge Caribbean 2011,

We are all happy and healthy and staying with the Cupid family in Lauders. We have been running our camp the last 2 mornings and it has been a truly inspiring and amazing experience. The children started to trickle in at about 9 am and there were only a few for the first hour or so but we finished with over 30 campers on day 1. Today we had around 45 kids ranging in age from 4-16 who absolutely loved our activities. We split the kids into classes much like they do at Windsor Mountain- frisbee, Monkey business (low ropes course, teamwork initiatives), arts and crafts, song writing, "The Ultra Race," were but a few of the options the local community got to choose from. Katie, Max, and I continually step back more each day to let your students run our program as much as possible and they are doing a fantastic job. They have been cooking delicious stir fries, tacos, grilled cheeses, and pasta dishes.

On Sunday afternoon we hiked for several hours up the mountains around us on The Pavement hike, which was highlighted by magnificent views from the top and a lovely rainshower rinse on the way back down. Yesterday we went to a black sand beach and cooled off in the waves after a long morning of summer camp. Right now the kids are out at the markets with Max and Katie resupplying us with vegetables (and doing a little price haggling in the process) and other food items we need for the next few days. Tonight we are having a Peace Corps volunteer who has been here for 35 months come by and share dinner (burgers!!!!) with our group and do a question and answer session.

The temperatures are hot and humid as expected but the daily short rain showers have been a treat. Our host family, the Cupids, have really taken us in and are amazingly hospitable and kind to our group.

We really are having a terrific program. The days are quite long and action packed but we wouldn't have it any other way.

Much Love from Bridge Caribbean 2011!

First Update: "It's like a dream"

Bridge Caribbean Families and Friends,

Greetings! Typically with student blurbs I get from leaders I spend some time 'fancying them up' since they're relayed to me over the cell phones with less-than-perfect reception. This time, however, these blurbs were typed straight into an email by the the students themselves! Check out some of the language: "breathtaking"..."amazing"..."enchanting"..."exotic"..."it's like a dream"..."magical and wondrous"..."vivacious"..."ueberragende".

Ok! I certainly get the impression that the trip is going well. I'll step out of the way now--here are the blurbs:

Tia: It’s beautiful here, I love the people. I’m so excited and I can’t wait to do more stuff here!

Hancie: Arriving in the airport it didn’t really register with me, but sitting in the first van staring at the ocean and the colors, it hit me WE’RE HERE! It’s like a dream, I don’t want to wake up.

Miranda: I’m honestly in a dream. We’re observing and interacting with such an exotic culture. I’m currently painting a water color of the breath-taking mountainside out of the balcony of our hotel. Everything is new and amazing to me, ever experience we have on the island is enchanting.

Sophie: I can’t believe we’re finally here. Even through all the ups and downs, our group is still strong as ever. St. Vincent is a truly charming little island and I can’t wait to have more experiences with this amazing culture!

Delaney: I can’t believe that I get to be in such a magical and wondrous place! Everyone here is so friendly and the people and the island itself are teeming with life as if the land itself is too vivacious to ever be contained. Everywhere we look is just a rainbow of plants and people and colors that amalgamates into one glorious dream that is Kingstown, St. Vincent.

Kelly: So far the experience has exceeded any expectation I may have had, and I know it will continue to do so. I am so amazed by where I am right now, and am so excited to see and learn so much more about culture and beauty. I’m extremely excited to witness the simple, beautiful and enthralling life, so effortlessly different from New York.

Jake: I love it here! The solitude of this place brings such a serenity and peace of mind. The people here are unanimously happy, which is extremely contagious in St. Vincent.

Marietta: ich habe gerade das Kochen beendet, und wieder einmal hatte ich unheimlich viel Spass. Ich geniesse jeden Moment dieses Abendteuers und mache viele ueberragende Erfahrungen und geniesse es in vollen Zuegen. Alles Liebe, Marietta

Julie: Once we landed on the island it felt like we were all transported into another dimension. A dimension with kind people, cool breezes, turquoise water, and delicious food. Today we talked to a lot of locals and got a real sense of who lives here. After that we swam at a beach with black sand. I can’t wait for what’s to come. I hope everyone is doing well at home.

Angela: The trip is amazing and the people on the island are very unique. The leaders are also great. They are definitely making this trip 10 times more amazing.

Jocelyn: This trip can be only described as breath taking. The culture here is so different and beautiful. Everyone here is so great and loving we are truly a family here.

Deniz: We are finally at St. Vincent and all I can say is that everything is wonderful. The colors, the fruits, the people. I’m enjoying every second in the Caribbean.

Henry: Hi Mom/Dad/Sam- I’m having tons of fun. Snakes on a soul plane!

Zach: The trip is fantastic and the group leaders and members are so kind and wonderful. It is simply too amazing here to have any worries!

Princess: Hey Mom and Family. I’m having fun. The Caribbean is great it’s beautiful out here. Everyone is so nice. I miss you a lot. I’ll see you in a few weeks. Love you lots. Princess

That's all, folks. As always, feel free to call me if you need anything!

Best,

Angus, Kate, and the entire Windsor Mountain Team

Bridge Caribbean families,

After an unexpected delay the group has arrived safely in Kingstown! The kids were enthusiastic throughout the change in schedule, but are happy to be in St. Vincent finally. They have met up with their third leader Max and are continuing their orientation to the island.