The motto of our trip has been "you only live once (YOLO)" and because of Grandpa Detsch's flashlight pens, we have survived. Our last day on this amazing adventure began by waking up to another delicious breakfast. Once we had some food in our stomach's and threw on our swim suits we jumped in the water. The tour guides on the island took us snorkling. We saw beautiful fish, sand dollars, huge star fish, some squids and even a sting ray. We were out in the Atlantic ocean for hours and never wanted to come back in. Before lunch some of us went fishing and some of us took a snooze to get our energy up for the rest of the day. Around noon we came in for lunch which consisted of vegetable lasagna, fish, rice, soup and fresh salad. After we fueled up again we were back in the water. Even though it has been raining since we arrived, it has never stopped us from having a blast. Some of the group jumped on the kayaks for an adventure while others went up to the "game room" and played poker and pool. The select few that went out on the kayaks paddled around a half mile in the pouring rain. We made it to a pier and a complete stranger helped us dock our kayaks and threw a ladder in the water and helped us to shore. He showed us that it was safe enough to jump off into the water. The group was mastering front flips, dives and crazy moves in the air until dusk. Once we made it back to our beach on our island we kissed the ground and celebrated our successful safe arrival home. To continue our celebration we ran and grabbed Coach, picked her up, and dragged her into the water with us (completely clothed and very surprised). We tackled each other into the water, threw coach into a couple back flips, and enjoyed each others' company. We also thought it would be a good idea to go grab one of our tour guides and toss him into the water with us. He taught us how to water cha cha dance! Since it was pitch black and getting colder we all finally got out of the water and were walking to our rooms to shower all of the salt water off of our bodies before our dinner. On our trek home, the power on the whole island completely shut off. Thankfully Emily's grandfather made us the flash light pens so we could run to check to make sure Ellen, Amy and Coach were safe in their houses! After a solid couple of minutes with the island completely blacked out the lights came on and we all got ready for our traditional barbeque dinner. The food we had tonight was absolutely phenomenal. We had amazing steak, potatoes, and everyone even tried a piece of cooked squid! Following yet another delicious feast we all sat together and had our team awards ceremony. To end our last night in Brazil we all learned some more Brazilian dances and sang songs at the top of our lungs! We all sat around watching diligently as the tour guide serenaded us with different songs. It got a little emotional knowing that our trip was coming to an end but we all ended the night with huge smiles on our faces. I can not even begin to put into words how amazing these past 7 days have been. Tomorrow we travel to Rio de Janeiro to hopefully see Christ the Redeemer statue (weather permitting) and to buy some last minute souvenirs to bring home. We have another 10 hour plane ride home and then we will all be back in our family's arms! We will see you all at the Pittsburgh airport on Wednesday!!

YOLO,
Aly Eagle #4