Tuesday 4/11 - Whitewater Rafting and Election Day

Most of you know about my hesitation about water. Several of you have experienced my trepidation first hand, so you can imagine how deciding to try whitewater rafting was a blend of excitement and anxiety.

19 of us went, a combination of Casa Brisas and family staying at the Costa Verde resort (where the wedding will be on Friday). It took 90 minutes to drive to the launch point on the Sagreve River, which is nestled in lush green hills and intermittent mist. We passed several palm oil plantations along the way (palm oil is the primary export of this region of Costa Rica). At one point up the hill, we switched to a Hummer to navigate the roads and trails.

There were 5 boats in all, 5-5-5-4, each with a guide. I shared a boat with Aldi, Fida, Judy (the wedding photographer and family friend of the Tsudamas) and her husband Michael. The rapids were class 2-3, but there were always calm sections in between. We rafted for about an hour, stopped for lunch, and then another hour. In all, at least 1/2 the group fell into the river, but not me! At one point our boat was completely vertical, left side down and right side in the air, and everyone, including the guide, bounced out but me. When the boat righted itself, everyone was so surprised I managed to stay in. It happened so fast, but I remember being completely submerged and just holding on SO tight.

It was an amazing experience and I'm so glad I did it. I would definitely do it again, and yes, there are pictures! One of the crew was a photographer in a kayak who would paddle ahead of us and then take photos at opportune moments. We have nearly 300 pictures in all, but here is a decent one. I'm the nerd in the sunglasses, but hey, I'm smiling! My favourite command was "get down!" which met we could sit IN the boat and not just on the edge. I reacted to that one really quickly.



Tuesday night was Election Night party at the house. Jim and I had been planning out the meal for the past few days - making the homemade chicken stock to cook the rice, soaking the beans, marinating the chicken. He and Lorenzo manned the grill and I was on rice, bean and pico de gallo duty. The chicken marinade was tequila, lime, garlic and oil and it tasted fantastic.

We had had a moratorium on TV all week except for Election Night coverage. Brett didn't even want us to use sound, but we all wanted to hear the acceptance speech. It was a fun night (I think most people had voted for Obama, but either way, most had voted in California).