Adventure Trek!

Yesterday (Saturday for me), I went on one of the local adventure treks. Tim and Claire organized it for me, so it turned out to be really cheap, about $21 for a day of hiking, waterfall viewing, elephant riding, village visiting and bamboo rafting. It was awesome!
When we hiked up to the first village (hill tribe) I found some boys building a structure, but instead of using a hammer, they were using this humongous knife. And everyone had their fingers all around the work area. I was sure something was going to be severed, but nothing was, thankfully.
The highlights for me were the elephant riding and the bamboo rafting for sure! My friend Jennifer, from the Centre, and I had this big ol' elephany that we were riding. And then that got sorta boring, so I asked if I could move down onto the neck. The driver said I could, so I jumped down, but it turned out to be rather uncomfortable because of all the shifting muscles. So then I got back up. Then, in a move inspired by PA, I motioned to the driver that we should switch places, which he did! So now I was sitting on the head, driving the elephant! I yelled "gu-ay!" (go) rather impressively, and rocked back and forth, and pulled on the ears, just as I saw the driver do before. And in no time, that little elephant was... well... following the elephant in front, just as it had before. Anyways, it was fun and everyone else in the group thought I was crazy. Not that that is anything new.

Then the bamboo rafting. They had these bamboo poles, probably about 25 feet long, lashed together. And then in the middle there was another log, lashed across for us to sit on. Everyone else went aboard and sat down. My guide stopped me, giggled in her own little way, handed me a bamboo pole and motioned me to step onto the back of the raft. Then as it moved away she yelled "Don't worry, you'll find your balance in about 5 minutes. Have fun!". I looked down river and saw some rapids coming all too rapidly my way...
Basically, it's not that hard to balance on the raft, considering you have about 10 independently moving logs, each about 10 cm in diameter. You just need to be careful, watch your footing, and try not to slip. I was just getting the hang of it when the driver from the raft behind me rammed into me with glee. Then he would use his pole to slap the water and soak me completely. I did my best to get back at him, but I think he got me a little more wet than I got him. Then he would jump onto our raft, causing it to dip, dunking the people who were sitting down further up. It was great fun!
I jumped onto his raft once, and then my raft driver started poling his way downriver really quickly, so that I wouldn't be able to get back on. So I had to do a running leap back onto my raft. It was awesome.

So, you might be wondering, is it all fun and games over there? Well, mostly. But I am still teaching at the Centre, and working on language aquisition, and biking everywhere. One of my classes is going really well. I'll try to get a picture up of them.
My other class is not going so well. Attendance is random, and I'm having trouble planning because I never know who will show up, and they are all at different levels. Please pray for all the classes that are going on at the Centre!

Thank you!