Wow! Went White Water RAFTING today - hopped in raft #4 with the French Canadians - when I met them at the bus at 5am they were so excited - I said to myself "I'm rolling down the river with them!". One guy, Simon, was like "Oh man(french accent) it's theBEST it will be THE BEST! THEbest the best the BEST! ..oh ma gad, my art is beatin' so fast la.." We still had two hours to go before arriving at the place and the sun hadn't even come up yet.
When we did finally get there, all 80 of us, we got our life jackets, helmets and oars and the saftey briefing. Anyone who has ever done anything extreme may know that any and all safety tips usually go out the window once you hit the danger zone. The first rapid we hit - we were HURTLED from the boat!! Into CRAZY rapids! We were told if we lose our oar we are not allowed back on the boat so don't let go of the oar! Of course, I immediatly lost one of my water shoes and let go of the oar.
If it hadn't been for the swimming coach in the kayak yelling at me SWIM SWIM SWIM SWIM! I would have not swam it was so immediate and disorienting. Somehow Her shouting swim helped me get my wits back - I caught my oar and got pulled into another boat and brought to shore with the rest of the team. The French boys were so enthusiastic to go again it kept me pumped. I was scared but I felt good being with them. I didn't want the rest of the girls to back down either - I figured ok! the worst is over! we made it! let's go!
At this point I nixed the English ONLY rule, because we fell due to everyone pulling their paddles out and not paddling at all when the guide yelled "PADDLE HAAAARD!" I secretly wanted to hear them in their full blown Quebecois anyway so I could join in and get in the mix. One of the Simon's was right at the front of the boat with a HUGE smile on his face that lit up the ominous sky and this encouraged me to go on. The hurtle gave me a panic attack, I couldn't catch my breath! One of the most athletic and muscular guys on the raft had to wear a red helmet because he couldn't swim very well, which surprised me - he told me he could only swim "doggy style". The Doggy Paddle you mean, dog paddle!
Never a dull moment! One thing is for sure that I would like to let everyone out there know - people from Quebec are totally underated. They were singing songs, making jokes, full of life - their camraderie is just outstanding - put a bunch of Quebecers that don't know each other in a room together and they'll get a party started. I learned so much today. Being around their infectious energy, out in nature, getting tossed around by it's awesome power, and continuing on as a team. It really helped prepare me for my big move coming up by showing me how to really go with the flow!
When we did finally get there, all 80 of us, we got our life jackets, helmets and oars and the saftey briefing. Anyone who has ever done anything extreme may know that any and all safety tips usually go out the window once you hit the danger zone. The first rapid we hit - we were HURTLED from the boat!! Into CRAZY rapids! We were told if we lose our oar we are not allowed back on the boat so don't let go of the oar! Of course, I immediatly lost one of my water shoes and let go of the oar.
If it hadn't been for the swimming coach in the kayak yelling at me SWIM SWIM SWIM SWIM! I would have not swam it was so immediate and disorienting. Somehow Her shouting swim helped me get my wits back - I caught my oar and got pulled into another boat and brought to shore with the rest of the team. The French boys were so enthusiastic to go again it kept me pumped. I was scared but I felt good being with them. I didn't want the rest of the girls to back down either - I figured ok! the worst is over! we made it! let's go!
At this point I nixed the English ONLY rule, because we fell due to everyone pulling their paddles out and not paddling at all when the guide yelled "PADDLE HAAAARD!" I secretly wanted to hear them in their full blown Quebecois anyway so I could join in and get in the mix. One of the Simon's was right at the front of the boat with a HUGE smile on his face that lit up the ominous sky and this encouraged me to go on. The hurtle gave me a panic attack, I couldn't catch my breath! One of the most athletic and muscular guys on the raft had to wear a red helmet because he couldn't swim very well, which surprised me - he told me he could only swim "doggy style". The Doggy Paddle you mean, dog paddle! 
Never a dull moment! One thing is for sure that I would like to let everyone out there know - people from Quebec are totally underated. They were singing songs, making jokes, full of life - their camraderie is just outstanding - put a bunch of Quebecers that don't know each other in a room together and they'll get a party started. I learned so much today. Being around their infectious energy, out in nature, getting tossed around by it's awesome power, and continuing on as a team. It really helped prepare me for my big move coming up by showing me how to really go with the flow!
5 comments:
no, we have to talk.
my dream - YOU JUST WROTE AND DESCRIBED MY DREAM. but instead of hot quebeckers we were with dad.
That sounds like a scary bunch of fun.
oh man i miss hearing quebec french so much!
hahaha, swimming doggy style! too much.
yay, LUCY!
love readin your blog la.
peace and love to you
and yours.
people from quebec are are way attractive. i don't get it. my last name is french and i have no sexy three day-looking facial hair.
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