RAFTING!

Have I mentioned that I get to drink freshly squeezed orange juice every morning? It's wonderful!

Last night, I went with Adriana and Emily to El Sol Negro de Chabuca, a concert/play based on the songs of Chabuca Granda. I really liked listening to the music, though I didn't understand very much of it. One thing that surprised me was that people were taking pictures the entire time. That's generally not encouraged at theater productions in America. So, I too took some picutres.

The best thing about today is that 16 of us went white water rafting on the Chili River!!!! Oh man!!! That was really really really fun! We all had to wear wet suits and helmts and life jackets. I was in a raft with three other Calvin students and one guide, who was very good at getting us through the rapids. The part of the river that we were on had class 3, 4, and 5 rapids. The biggest one is called Dolor de Cabeza, which means "headache". We followed our guide, Rafael's, instructions. He would yell "FORWARD!" or "BACKWARDS!" to let us know which direction to paddle. And when he yelled "FORWARD FORWARD FORWARD FORWARD!!!!!!!" then we had to paddle really hard to avoid really big rocks. Most of the time we were sort of perched on the side of the raft, but when he yelled "INSIDE!" we had to jump inside and just ride out the rapids. Oh man. It was so fun!!!!

About halfway through the trip, we got to a calm part of the river. Rafael guided our raft to the shore, and led us up a steep cliff, about 30 feet above the water. From there, we jumped into the Chili River! And--oh wow--it was cold! My insides still feel cold. The river starts up in the snow-covered mountains. But it was very very fun!!!!

Oh God, I thank You so much for mi familia here in Arequipa, for my classmates, and for the fun that we had today. Thank You for making such beautiful rivers and mountains and canyons. Oh man! Thank You, God!