Cleaning-Up with Rockhurst (Day 2: January 14th)

After arriving in Nassau, The Bahamas yesterday, we learned about the city where we would be making a difference. Today we cleaned up trash from a Bonefish Pond National Park with the Bahamas National Trust. We worked with students from Rockhurst University to clean up the entrance and surrounding areas. While cleaning we encountered several creepy crawlers!! These such creatures included a giant snake and many cockroaches. One of the Maryland students, Phil had an up-close-and-personal encounter with one of the cockroaches. It seems we made some new friends! :)

Once we had cleared the majority of the trash, we walked the newly constructed boardwalk that led to the mangrove trees that line the coast. Casper, our friendly BNT hook-up, enjoyed watching us pick up trash, and offered valuable insights into the ways of Bahamian trash disposal. One thing we learned from Casper was that recycling is not practiced in the Bahamas currently. To have materials recycled, they have to be shipped to the U.S.


After picking up trash, Valdez took us to visit and talk with students from the College of the Bahamas. This offered valuable insight into how they live their lives and highlighted the similarities between our two groups. We showered and Rockhurst College came with us.

For dinner we went to the Green Parrot, which overlooks Paradise Island. It was a great time and we got to learn a lot about each other. From this night we learned how to budget our money, since we couldn't eat anything over $8. While tiring, the day was a success and we are looking forward to the following week in Andros.

Grace and Abbie