Rafting - Among Other Things

This week has been a kind of calm since we returned from Aix but still pretty busy.
We did our internships again, and since the weather was really gross, Marine was out of town this week, and there was really nothing to do anyway, I didn't go to the equestrian center on Tuesday or Wednesday. I stayed at Jean Chaix and did my internship in the kitchen. The first day there wasn't too much to do, but the most memorable thing was chopping onions. I swear they were the strongest onions I've ever chopped, and I was literally crying with tons of tears streaming down my face and laughing at the same time (because of how silly I thought I looked mostly). The next day was a little more productive. I spent the entire morning peeling and cutting and sometimes pitting A TON of fresh fruit then observed the making (and helped prepare the chocolate topping) of banana flambe. Yum!

I went to the equestrian center on Thursday to discover that the 2nd round of horses was leaving that morning for "vacation" before the busy season (also so the owners and Marine can get a vacation) and that the equestrian center would be closed next week because the rest of the horses would be gone. OH NO!!! So I said goodbye to all the horses, goats, the lamb, the sheep, the cat, the bird, and the puppies and invited Flo and François (owners) to our farewell barbecue for next Friday so I can see them one more time before we go.

Other than our internships, we've done a few things:
Wednesday afternoon we checked out an old mill in Jausiers - the neighboring city with more direct links to Arnaudville, LA. It was pretty cool. We got an in-depth explanation of how it worked, then, to my surprise, the owner started turning cranks and such and made the ancient mill work! (Complete with water rushing through the bottom to turn it, little "elevators" to bring the different stages of flour around to different parts of the mill to further refine it, and giant bag to collect the final product at the end.) It was a pretty well-spent afternoon.

Today we got up and went whitewater rafting. It was really amazing! We were equipped with wetsuits (so we wouldn't freeze in the frigid water/freshly melted snow), life jackets, helmets, and paddles and set out on the Ubaye River. Some of the rapids areas were actually rather challenging (they don't look it from far away on the road), and I totally thought I was about to go overboard a couple times. Thankfully, the only time I "went overboard" was when a few of us did it on purpose and had someone ready to help us back into the raft when we were ready. It was FREEZING but really fun to swim for a minute (always within reach of the raft) in water that was moving that fast.
Since my camera is waterproof, I got some fun pics and videos:

Getting geared up! 

(Jessica & me & a bunch of our crew in the background)

Instructions 

+ info on how to stay in the boat 

+ demonstration on what to do if you or someone next to you falls in.

 Our raft's guide, Matthieu, with Charles and Kaitlyn. 

(Our raft = Matthieu + Charles, Kaitlyn, Julie, Caleb, Todd, & me)

The other raft - Theo (I think) + Sarah, Angela, Jessica, Carla, Chris, and Kim.

Hot stuff, no? LOL. :-D

Footholds - our lifelines & the only way I managed to stay in the boat. 

(Pictured: Julie & me)

Me with our guide, Matthieu.

And a very short video:

Just for the record, it's ridiculously hard to stay in a raft, hold a paddle, and film at the same time. It's impossible to film while paddling in big rapids - trust me, I tried.

And, of course, we've been keeping up with (and watching when we can at one of the cafes here) the FIFA World Cup!