the white water rafting adventure

Last Saturday, the long awaited event that was planned for decades has finally come. Despite of the left and right Christmas parties, the white-water rafting adventure was finally pursued. The night before, I was attending a house party at Grand Europa and went home around 7am. It was a bit cloudy and rained that morning which made the environment more exciting. We waited in front of Mister Donuts and ride the jeepney up to the starting point. We had a sidetrip at Macahambus cave and it was nice to know some historical places of Cagayan de Oro. As one of the tour guides quoted "this place was very important for the Kagay-anon's because they won!... in a battle." (hahaha… it was funny because we thought the Cagayan won an award because of the cave… hahaha) Anyway, when we arrived on the starting point of the rafting adventure, the guides had a demo on how to paddle, how to swim, what to do and what to expect. So, we're a little bit nervous but excited! The icy green-blue waters complement with the heat of the sun. Then, we're off to go. I'm with the Abao's while Marie and Kevin were with the Mariquez's. Ate Chang ignored to have Marie over our raft because she's… hmmm… noisy. Hahaha… On the first half, Kuya Kitty and Kuya Jason was in front of the raft, Me and Monet was in the middle then Ate Chang and a two tour guides were at the back (forgot their names *peace*). On the second half, Monet, Te Chang and I tried to be the captain of the raft. On the last part, Kevin and I switch rafts so I was with the Manriquez's then. Truly, Marie was very energetic and earsplitting. But it was fun to be with them. Even on the not-so-threatening rapids, she was shouting and screaming like we'll never survive that part. She even made a bad idea to let the guides count as she did. Hahaha… Cool!!! We went over 14 rapids not including the minor ones. We jump into the water for many times. We saw exotic and wild animals (including the wild horse, wild cow and wild goat). We saw the lava deposits of Mt. Kitanglad, the big stones and the lava area. It was tremendously fun! It was fun enjoying the nature, taking pleasure of God's wonderful creation (like we saw mountains forming like a sleeping woman), having the most wonderful time with your friends and family and experiencing extreme sports. With this great experience I learned a lot of things and realized something in life:

• I envy seeing the people in the area living so simple. Riding on their handmade bamboo raft carrying a bunch of bananas in exchange of sardines.
  
• I had been a tourist of my own country. Like, I was really amazed on their place and they were like "uh… naamaze ka nai?" hahaha.. Ignorante!!
  
• Lastly, life is like rafting. You have to be strong, be still, secure yourself and reach over the rope and the people around you when going over the rapids which are the difficult times of our lives. And like rafting, when going over the rapids we have to enjoy and laugh at it instead of letting the rapids overpower us in which we may stumble or fall. Let it be like an adventure and a nice experience. And after each rapid, don't forget to say, "HIGH FIVE!!!!" wohooooo….