Hacer Kayaking!!

Yesterday I got the AMAZING opportuntiy to go on a kayaking trip. One of the Chilean guys hooked us up for free and it was well worth the time. Valdivia is technically an island, it's surrounded by two rivers and the ocean, so there are a lot of places to do water activities (Think rowing and kayaking, not wakeboarding and skiing--I think it has something to do with the sea lions). We kayaked down the river (or maybe up the river, no idea) to a little village. It was beautiful the whole way. There are a ton of trees and amazing views so it never got boring. However, it did get hard. Two hours kayaking for a bunch of people who haven't kayaked before is iiiintense. The way there wasn't THAT bad, in comparison to the way back anyway. We were all tired and hungry when we finally got there and had a really good lunch (empanadas!!) before having to go back. Our arms were dead and it was a little bit cold. Once we hit halfway it was better. The water was calm and we could see how far we had to go before getting back. Still, it was crazy hard and took forever. The whole trip took 7 hours and 4-5 of those hours was kayaking. We were all pretty sunburnt, tired and cold when we got back. I took a bath when I got home to soak my muscles. Did I mention I have no upper arm strength? Then after I took 800mg of ibuprofen, then realizing that wasn't working i popped a few more. I was so dehydrated and sore that everytime I moved I thought I was going to cry or throw up. Needless to say I didn't do either of those and I was able to go to bed early and sleep all night. We were all dreading the next morning but surprisingly, I was much less sore. My arms still hurt and my back does too but it's nothing compared to the pain I was going through the night before. I calculated how many calories I burned and it was something around a days worth of food. Looking back, the experience was amazing and totally worth it. Compared to some, I wasn't burnt at all, just my face but it's already starting to turn into a tan. Laura has super burnt legs and Alicia couldn't even get out of bed this morning because she was so burnt (she's a redhead). I would love to go kayaking again, but maybe for only an hour or two...

P.S. Happy birthday to my grandma! Love you and miss you a ton!!! Less than a month until I get to see you again!