Hello and welcome back! I'm pretty freshly arrived from a wonderful weekend at the beach with Mrs. Bortins. She was pleased with those of us who took initiative and went to the SAT practice last weekend, and so when she went to the beach this weekend, she invited us first. We were all looking forward to it, and nobody more than me, because I hadn't been to the ocean in a few years. The first few days of the week were pretty tame in comparison. We're all looking forward to the SATs on Saturday. Honestly, while I've been nervous in past years, this year, I know I'm prepared to do as well as I can, even if it's not a perfect score.
The week passed quickly and uneventfully, with the exception of one minor car-related accident. We're enjoying the extra hours of freedom during our afternoons. A few of us have taken up art, either exploring or returning to it. We've realized that the lake is going to be too cold to properly enjoy soon. I took one of the kayaks out for a long excursion around it's limits on Tuesday afternoon, and after astronomy on Wednesday, we all went swimming. Once we were in, most of us enjoyed it, but the water was cold. We played games and had a great night, but it wasn't too long before we had to go to bed and rejoin the real world for class the next morning.
Thursday morning was the usual fare of math and geometry, but during the afternoon, Leigh gave us all new assignments for the volunteer work we're doing. We're all taking part in a collaborative effort to build a business plan for one of her ideas, and then implement it by Christmas. We'll spend the rest of the year after that developing our own businesses using hers as a model. We all worked on that for a good portion of the afternoon and spent the evening at the villas.
Leigh helped us fill out our common applications on Friday, and we continued working on our high school transcripts and resumes for college applications this fall. She wants us all to achieve, and she's bending over backwards to make it happen. After lunch, we cleaned the house thoroughly and then left for the beach. She took us out to dinner that first night, and we took care of the rest of the meals that week. Dinner was amazing. We went to a local restaurant and had an abundance of seafood. Alec and I ended up sharing a platter of what looked like the dregs from the bottom of a net. Crab legs, clams, shrimp, and much more stood a foot off the table in this monstrosity of a dish. We really enjoyed eating it, and everyone enjoyed watching us. I realized that I love having a bucket for scraps instead of a plate. Afterwards, we went to the grocery store and loaded up on food. Each pair of us had a different meal to take care of, and we all did it very well. It was a great solution to our inconvenient need to eat every day. We had four well-cooked, well thought-out meals without much individual pain.
The next day, while we were exploring an island and slipping on a hazardous causeway in the early morning light, our fellows at home were taking the second practice SAT. Leigh's taking them back in a few weeks. In the afternoon, we got boogie boards and hit the beach again. By the end of the day, we were too sore to do anything but sit on the porch and watch the waves crash on the sand. That was when we found out that Elizabeth's brothers were planning to drop by and surprise her. We kept her in the dark for another hour, and when they finally walked in the door, she was utterly blown away. We all enjoyed watching the reunion.
Sunday was spent in much the same way. We fought the waves until we were utterly exhausted, cleaned the house, and came home to our villas. I really think of this place as home now, which honestly isn't great. I realized when I was at the beach that my habits are so much better when I travel. At home, I seem to stagnate. I'm working on this. Anyway, it was great to see our friends again, even if we had only been away for a few days. I don't know how we'll survive next summer. A few of the fellows were still gone. Christopher was at his home, and Laura had returned to hers. She got back after dark, but we found out that Chris had car problems keeping him an extra day.
Monday came and my roommates and I had to find rides with other people. Elizabeth's older brother John sat in devotions with us. He ships out to Afghanistan soon, and we've been praying for him. It was great to have him with us. With four days of prep left until the SAT, we focused on it all morning, each of us working on his or her own personal weakness. Caleb took over for music in the afternoon. We practiced choir, singing Blue Moon and a song from the Psalter. They're both for the Thanksgiving concert, but we're singing the last one in church next week. It gave me goosebumps. I can't wait.
Well, that's it for this week. Next time, you'll hear about our SAT experience and how we handled the first of the prospective visitors to next year's Fellowship.
Until next week,
Barnabas Holleran
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