Jocelyn, Diane, Deke, Tom, Camo (our instructor), Luke, Jon, me, and Julie (RIP gray shorts)
Anyway...things not to do if you don't want to die on The Nile:
1.) Lose your wedding ring in The Nile's currents of death. Luckily, my husband has such a wonderful and understanding wife that even though he lost his wedding ring in our adventure...he is still alive...I mean, come on...who gets to say they lost ANYTHING in THE Nile River...much less their wedding ring...so I handled it like a champ.
...and I would just like to add that I entered The Nile with 2 rings and a pair of earrings on...and left The Nile with 2 rings and a pair of earrings remaining...
(click on pictures to enlarge...trust me, you want to...our faces are priceless)
2.) Let The Nile's currents of death suck you out of the raft, underneath the raft, and then make the raft run over you again before you have caught your breath. I thought I was going to die. Luckily, that was the 2nd rapid we went through...so I still had faith that good things were to come...I was mostly wrong...
3.) Let your husband who is not phased by the terror of the river call the shots on how intense your rafting experience is after you have almost died. No, he wasn't that bad...but there were times when I thought he wanted me to die...
4.) Let your paddle hit you in the face. While we are not totally sure it was Julie's paddle that hit her in the face, she was hit nonetheless...and had to venture to a hospital in Kampala to get all glued back together...she spent the rest of the rafting adventure looking like the rapper Nelly with her band aid so cooly placed under her left eye.
5.) Get stuck in the raft and think you are underwater, when you are really above water being pelted with rushing water, and squander a once in a lifetime chance to surf a rapid in The Nile on a raft. Diane is a legend, according to our rafting guide. She may not feel like it, but she is a hero. I think she experienced the scariest thing of all and stuck out the rest of the 5(?) rapids...and I mean..some of these were Class 5...and Diane and I are not extreme sport people...but we should have earned some kind of badge for not crying at all during the whole experience...
Jon had the time of his life...as well as some of my Eastern classmates + Azizi Life co-workers...and me...well, I'm glad it is over and am still incredibly sore...I don't ever use my muscles...
The parts where I didn't think I was going to die were great, though. Floating down The Nile, with children waving from the banks, being with good company and getting out to swim around made for some great memories that I will always cherish. And I would recommend it to anyone who knew how to swim...really well
Also...we got to enjoy Kampala for a couple of days. Let me just say, if Rwanda had the kind of food that Kampala has...I would not need care packages from the States. We had Tex-Mex, pancakes, ice cream, Mediteranian, and even got to see a movie with a free drink...we were spoiled/splurged for our entire trip.
The time with friends, relaxing, adventuring, and playing lots of card games was good for our souls. We are ready to tackle the last 42 days here...crazy, 42 days...
Much love,
The time with friends, relaxing, adventuring, and playing lots of card games was good for our souls. We are ready to tackle the last 42 days here...crazy, 42 days...
Much love,
Emily Elizabeth
