Weekend of Thrills

Last weekend was full of thrills! First, somewhat spontaneously, I decided to go bungee jumping with Caroline (her birthday present from friends back home) into the Nile River! We went tandem, which meant that we dived face-to-face, clasped tightly in a near-lovers’ embrace, as we plunged and twisted downwards-and then upwards-then downwards-then upwards again…! It was disorienting, blurry, bouncy, head pounding…and over way too quick!

Our next adventure was the following day: whitewater rafting. Our whole crew went on several grade 5 rapids (grade 6 is illegal for commercial rafting) and to be quite honest, it was a bit …terrifying! One friend received a nasty bloody nose from a wooden paddle on the very first flip of our very first rapid, which set the tone for a day of overturned boats, near misses, and yes, injuries (including a

dislocated shoulder and broken arm---raft at

your own risk!). The most frightening incident was towards the end. It began with the news that we were going over a 15 foot waterfall. “No problem-just don’t fall out before we go down”, our guide told is nonchalantly. “I’ve never even seen it happen.” Famous last words. In the rapids directly before the waterfall, our tiny friend Jap popped right out of the raft and into the rushing water! Our guide incredibly managed to lean over and haul her back in the raft, before turning back to his job of steering us over so we would not flip. Unfortunately, this meant that he had no time to hold back onto the rope, and the momentum from going over the falls caused him to dive over the front of our raft into the churning water at the foot of the waterfall! Jap’s new hero was fine-though a little disoriented-and the rest of our journey went relatively smoothly. Well, as smoothly as you can get in rapids.

Highlight of the Week!

Finally fulfilled my goal of tasting jackfruit! Crazy looking things-huge, spiky, and green with yellow, very strangely-textured meat inside divided into many, many sections. I’ve heard from many who absolutely detest the stuff, but I think it tastes a bit like Starburst candy-delicious!