Fellowship of the Raft

         It has been one week since I arrived at Sewanee! I can't believe that... One week ago, Alex and I stumbled over the threshold, cold, confused, damp with the humidity that is our room, into the vast unknown of this experience. This week has been busy, and chock full of new adventures!
        After a week, I can honestly say that I absolutely love class. I am so excited to start a new week of learning tomorrow. This material is right in my interest area, so I feel very comfortable in the classroom and really enjoy learning more about something I have already cared about and studied in the past. Popes, emperors, churches, relics, Charlemagne, Anglo-Saxons? Tell me more! On the less fun side of class, I need to get some more work done on the research paper I am writing on San Vitale (6-8 pages due Friday.) I am not worried about it--that is plenty of time and the paper isn't asking for much--but it is never fun to have a project hanging over you. Not to mention our mid-term on Tuesday! To brighten the mood, however, our dear friend ANDREA DAVIES is driving up for a visit on Wednesday! And then next week I will drive down to Nashville to see my aunt and uncle as well as my parents! Yay! So lots to look forward to--and prepare for, work-wise--next week.
        Now to the meat and potatoes of this entry: Today was our big ES white water rafting trip on the Ocoee River! I had never done anything quite like this before (kayaking is much different, I now know) and it was such an experience. After hearing a terrifying briefing about foot entrapment (don't ask) and falling out, our group of seven rafters dubbed ourselves the Fellowship of the Raft. Our leader, Tweedle (umm...gesundheit?) was a little grumpy and slightly discouraging, yelling at us to paddle better and eventually informing us that we are "clearly not built for surfing). Despite this discovery of having some sort of inherent flaw, according to Tweedle, that prevented us from ever being good at rafting--the fact that we were basically total rookies with a mumbly leader and no direction having nothing to do with it--we refused to be  brought down and had a wonderful, if slightly harrying, time anyway! Since we had an extra person in our raft, for the first half I was actually perched, a bit precariously, on the back with Tweedle, before I moved to the front at the end.

        One of the most exciting things that happened while we were on the rapids (in addition to being flung around and splashed in the face with water) was that we saw a real live black bear! He wasn't very big and right on the bank beside us! Several of our raft leaders flailed around in panic, but the ever-stoic Tweedle kept his cool. 

       On the way back from rafting, hair frazzled and still drying, I saw another rainbow! It had been raining on and off all day and cloudy, which was really nice for rafting and produced this extra little gift at the end of a spectacular day:

      I had an amazing time today getting to know more of the people who I am taking this journey with. Through this week I have already been forming friendships that I cherish and look forward to deepening! And then there are also so many people I have spoken to briefly but haven't gotten to know well yet--how exciting to have the potential of even more friendships on the horizon!