Bridge Caribbean

Tuesday, July 17, 2012

Greetings from Port Elizabeth, Bequia!

The group is out doing another MMT (scavenger hunt) in Port Elizabeth and familiarizing themselves with our new island surroundings. Last week we finished up camp on Thursday and Friday, maxing out at around 70 kids on Friday! Overall the camp went very smoothly and we were extremely impressed with the passion and vigor that our group showed as we brought a great deal of Windsor Mountain spirit to the Greiggs and Lauders community. On Saturday we attempted to climb the La Soufiere volcano. We were able to get within 10 minutes of the summit before rain and high winds forced us to make the safe decision and turn back, but the group still felt accomplished and enjoyed getting a bit of exercise. We returned home to the Cupids on Saturday night, did a massive clean, and packed for our ferry ride to Bequia early Sunday AM. Yesterday we took a ferry from Kingstown to Bequia and checked into our beautiful new home. We had convinced many of the kids that we were heading to another rustic accomodation, when in reality we are staying at a 5 bedroom house, complete with 2 kitchens, a short walk to the beach, and even our own pool! We reminded our students that the purpose of our journey here is to run another amazing camp but had a great time planning for this week as we had a Maslow's day (day of rest) yesterday and went for a dip in the pool. The group continues to remain healthy and positive and we will be meeting some of our new campers this afternoon as we connect with some of our local contacts. We are about to head to the grocery store for another shopping run and then return to the house for lunch. Enjoy the pictures below and click the link to the right for more photos from our trip!

Much love from the Bridge Caribbean 2012 group!

Thatcher, Evan, and Kate

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Meet the Leaders

Evan was raised in Peoria, Illinois but currently lives in Brooklyn, New York, where he is pursuing a career in the fine arts. Evan works as a nanny in the east village, and as a freelance prop artist for catalog and other non digital advertisements. When not working on his art, Evan can usually be found with his nose in a book, sitting under a tree in Prospect Park. He is returning for his third summer with Windsor Mountain International and could not be more excited about helping lead this year’s Leaders in Action program.

Thatcher currently lives in Jackson, Wyoming where he is a paraprofessional at Jackson Hole Middle School. He has also worked as a youth counselor in a home for high school students in Jackson. After growing up in the beautiful mountains of Colorado, Thatcher attended the Colorado College in Colorado Springs. During his junior year he had the amazing opportunity to study abroad on Semester at Sea, visiting 16 different countries over a span of 8 months. It was on this program that Thatcher fell in love with travel and education. He had the chance to hear Castro speak in Cuba, go on a safari in Tanzania, visit the Taj Mahal in India, and climb Mt. Fuji in Japan. Thatcher has since independently traveled throughout Central America, Southeast Asia, Eastern Europe, as well as China, Southern Africa, and Argentina. Leading student travel programs for Windsor Mountain International has forever impacted Thatcher's life and greatly opened his eyes to the vast world around him. When not traveling or working, Thatcher can be found fly-fishing the Snake River under the Tetons in Jackson, or skiing in the back country on Teton Pass.

Kate recently graduated from Amherst College and she now lives in the wonderfully funky city of Northampton, Massachusetts. So far she has used her newfound freedom to travel (she visited India, Thailand, China, and Nepal this past fall), to finally learn the guitar, to meet new and fascinating people in and around her waitressing job at the natural foods restaurant, Paul and Elizabeth's, in downtown Northampton, to explore her beautiful surroundings on foot and on bike, and to slowly familiarize herself with the women's rights organizations (her true passion) in Western Massachusetts. Having been a camper for two years, a counselor for two years, and the Administrative Assistant for student travel last year, Kate has a special place in her heart for Windsor Mountain. She is extremely excited to continue her Windsor Mountain experience by leading the Bridge Caribbean trip this year!