8/16/14

We said goodbye to Florianopolis today and embarked on the more travel-intensive part of the program. First, we stopped just outside of Floripa for Apuama rafting. It was my second time rafting this summer, but last time didn’t even compare to today’s experience. The very first rapid was a 4 meter drop that seriously felt like a waterfall. Once we tackled that, I got a chance to look around and realized that we were in the middle of the jungle. The scenery was absolutely stunning; it was drizzling rain and the clouds were so low that they masked the mountaintops all around us. I felt like I was rafting through the amazon rainforest. We even saw some pretty big spiders that probably bit me when I jumped in, because I found some interesting bite marks on my legs when we were done. Next we headed to a hot springs resort for a much-needed recovery session. After drying off and getting a nice hot meal in me, we hit the sauna and indoor swimming pool, which was filled with natural warm water from the springs. Once everyone was feeling sufficiently revitalized, our class basically took over the game room at the resort for the night, where Dr. Abad and Ihor put Joe and me to shame in both pool and foosball. Shout out to Dr. Abad for putting me in my place tonight, and for carrying Ihor through all four well-earned victories!