I had never been so excited to be out of a car as when we first arrived in Johnsbach, Austria for a whitewater rafting trip. As soon as the car stopped, we all scrambled out. We passed over rocky terrain and Austrian countryside and it made us anxious to get out and hike. The rafting guides wouldn’t be ready for us for about two hours so we were free to explore the area: some of us pet cows and walked along the paths around the city; others came back with itching, burning legs from stinging nettles; others with ticks, and someone even got hit in the head with a boulder! But, it was all a great way to prepare for the impending rafting adventure.
Suit up! One by one we jumped into the wet suits, helmets and life jackets. One cool thing about them was that they had this magical power to turn you into any action hero you imagined: We started play fighting in the streets, even though all the townspeople were staring at us. Nevertheless, we felt invincible. Now I’d never been rafting, and I was feeling particularly adventurous that day, so when I found out that the guides would be coming with us, I was a little disappointed. I was hoping to go crazy and flip the rafts and be wild about it, without anyone telling me to stop. But my disappointment was short-lived.
After giving us basic instructions on how not to die, our guides got us in the rafts and let the current sweep us downriver. Over the rushing of the water our guide yelled for us to start paddling. He led us through some intense rapids which soaked us instantly, and when I looked to see the guys around me, they were all grinning from ear to ear. It didn’t take us long to realize that our guide was the coolest. He had the raft flipped over within the first ten minutes of the trip and he even ran us up onto a rock just for fun.
After that, our guide was no longer just a boat guide to us--He was our captain. He led us in some kind of battle cry and we all smacked our paddles together in the center of the raft. Quickly he had us turned around and facing the other boat, to ram them. Chaos ensued as our captain was merciless toward the other boats. I believe at one point we had stolen four or five paddles, and we were jumping into other boats to throw people into the river. The other teams caught on too. Tony Ertel (the resident director) tackled his own guide into the river and left a boatful of girls to fend for themselves. It was hilarious. Even Father Brad got mixed up in the confusion. At one point I looked over at him and he was just holding onto the raft in the freezing water calmly claiming to be “a pacifist”.
Pacifist perhaps, but we did have one close call that day: One of our fellow students got caught in the rapids and hit a few rocks while dodging the bigger ones. Thankfully, in the end he was alright.
After all the excitement we had some time to just look up into the mountains and swim around as the current pulled us downriver. To the south there were tall, gray cliffs that had been cut away at by the river. The setting of the evening sun cast shadows in front of the cliffs so that they looked closer, but maybe further away. It was a strange contrast to see, but it was so beautiful, I imagine a blind person could have sensed it. It struck a feeling of reverence over our group.
To top the day off perfectly, we stopped at a little pizzeria and ordered about 15 pizzas and some beer. We talked and laughed about the trip over our supper. However, amidst all the laughter and fun, I believe it is important to remember to be thankful for the wild opportunities, beauty, and culture of this amazing country.
Gott segnen Österreich,
1 comment:
I personally wouldn't go white water rafting. But on a side note: when I saw the time the blog entry was posted, I started to think that it wasn't 5:49pm at the time I read it. But then I realized that that was the time in Austria. It's 3:03pm in Steubenville right now.
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