I will never be a morning person, ever. I can't even try to be. I say this because it's been the second in a string of days we have to be up and out of the hotel by 6 am. Today we left early enough to get through the traffic in downtown Nassau to get to Queens College School by 7:30 am. Apparently if we left it any later we would be in traffic for 2 hours and perhaps starve. They never really specified.
Queen's College is a private school for kids from ages 3- 18. They have an early learning center, a primary school that's for grades 2-6, then a secondary school for 7-12 all on the same campus. It's an amazing campus. The schools are separated into three buildings, one for each center. They all face inward on a giant open atrium that keeps everything breezy and cool. All the children wear uniforms in green and white. I found yself wishing that we had had uniforms because that would have cut down on a lot of the awkward in high school,
Queens College is really successful academically. They must take standardized tests in 9th and 12th grades that are the culmination of all the subjects they have learned. These kids can usually take these early and pass first try. In fact, we met a boy who had managed to get the highest grades on his 12th grade exams in the country, and he was only in 11th grade. The schools also operate in the British system; they have prefects, and head boys/ head girls. The teachers are really invested in the kids, who are polite and disciplined. If I could, I'd send my own kids there.
We had lunch at local fish fry, which wasn’t anything special in particular. I passed on the conch salad, I’m sorry but there are some things I just won’t do. We then visited the College of the Bahamas. They were currently in some turmoil because of a election ploy of the student government. They had forced their president, who is brand spaking new as of January, to take open questions on their equivalent of a lawn. They were grilling her the entire time we were there and most of the administration had come out. Therefore we didn’t have anyone prepared to give us a tour. We did end up with a really nice gentlemen that had the best intentions, if not the best tour skills. We received a haphazard tour of the college, which made me realize that all colleges share a common network theme. They’re just about the same wherever you go. So nothing exciting or different to report.
The best part of the day was after we got home from the schools. Myself and the other students, 7 of us in all, decided we would take a taxi downtown and go exploring on our own. It’s by far one of the best times I’ve had here. We got to poke around the shops and downtown on our own time, we could speak candidly with each other, and downtown was lively and a nice distraction from the organization this week has been dictated by. We went to the straw market, where I got overpriced presents that I managed to heckle down only a few dollars. I don’t think I’ll be going back tomorrow. The straw market is a giant flea market type deal where local vendors come, set up stalls, and sell their “home made” wares. Mostly it’s all the same stuff and the sellers are really pushy. I got tired of having to reject people every 10 seconds so I wound up watching the cruise ships leave the bay from the docks.
We walked home, enjoying each others company and feeling refreshed after the long day. Tomorrow we are going to the National Insurance Board, a local café, Princess Mary’s Hospital (yay!), the historical society, and some final shopping. Here’s hoping for a good day!
I wasn’t feeling funny today, see the first sentence for why.
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