I didn't even fall out of the boat!

Yesterday, I crossed something else off life's to-do list: white water rafting. I went with a group of teachers to the Urubamba River, which boasts class 5 rapids. When we got to the lodge and changed into our rafting gear, we had a good laugh over the ever-so-stylish wetsuits we put on, many of which had holes in unflattering places. Mine had a nice big patch over the center of the bum. It looked like a trapdoor. The day was sunny and warm until it was time to get on the river. As we pushed off from shore, the rain started (not that we noticed the rain anyway), but the clouds and the wind made for a chilly day.
In Ecuador, I went tubing, which was a blast. Rafting is also a blast, but much more work. You actually have to paddle, whereas with tubing, you just hang on for dear life. (Tubing also lasted 20 minutes, yesterday we were on the river for over 2 hours.) It didn't take us long to realize we couldn't look at Jake, who was in another boat. Jake's rafting faces are the funniest faces I've ever seen. If we looked at him, we were laughing too hard to actually paddle. (When we got the pictures back, Alayne and I laughed until our stomachs hurt and we had to run to the bathroom. Jake says he has a very expressive face. No kidding.)
The rafting itself is a wild ride. It's moments of calm interrupted by wild rapids trying to throw you out of the boat. Peter fell out twice, and Alayne was tossed out by her guide, but everyone in my boat stayed in place, even though I did get tossed around a few times. Occasionally, a huge splash of water would go right down the collar of my wetsuit, and I swallowed a good bit of the Urubamba, mostly because I was smiling and shrieking and couldn't keep my mouth closed. That was never very pleasant. The toughest part was to keep paddling while going over big rapids. At that point, synchronization went out the window and we just tried to hold on. The biggest rapid we did was a 4+. Scary and awesome at the same time.
By the time we finished, my fingers and toes were white and numb, and we were all pretty exhausted. Luckily, the lodge where we finished had a sauna, so we were able to warm up nicely in there. Then they fed us a huge lunch. Then, of course, the sun came out.