At precisely 3:30 AM, the [insert favorite expletive] rooster snuck under my hammock and began to crow. If I were not a guest in a stranger’s home, I would have killed the darn thing. The early bird may get the worm, but the rooster who crows too early gets kicked—and that’s exactly what I intended to do. My plans, however, were foiled because while began to roll out of my hammock, the rooster ran away. Over the next three hours, that stupid cock continued to crow directly beneath me whenever I fell back asleep and promptly run off when my tolerance wore out.

Finally, the sun was up and breakfast was ready. I ate a hearty meal in preparation for my first day of whitewater kayaking. This was the activity I had waited the whole trip for and was the main reason I signed up in the first place. No amount of drowsiness or sore muscles was going to get in my way.

Following breakfast, everyone was taken to the front lawn where kayaks were laid in rows. Each person was to find and claim a kayak that fit his or her body. I got a blue Piranha, the model of which I cannot remember. Once everyone had grabbed a boat that fit, a lifejacket, helmet, drinking water, and any other gear needed for the day, we loaded the trailer and headed out.

I could hardly contain my excitement.

When we all were finally in the river, we had to go over the basic skills to ensure that everyone was on the same page. We started by practicing high and low braces, hip-snaps, ferrying, eddying-out, and T-rescues. T-rescues were very important because they allowed a kayaker the ability to right their kayak without being proficient at rolling. Without the T-rescue, we would have to pull off our spray-skirt, flood the kayak, swim it to shore, and drain it; with the T-rescue, we would grab the nose of a friends boat and simply flip ourselves back over.

Once everyone had become remotely comfortable with the skills and could accurately perform them a majority of the time, we moved on to the skill I had been most excited to learn, rolling.

Each student went one-on-one with an instructor to learn the roll, then paired up with a partner to practice. This allowed the instructors to help with form until the movement came naturally enough to perform before practicing with a partner to give a T-rescue if it became necessary. Everyone knew how much I was loving this stuff, and I think at least some of them enjoyed watching me get so excited because, like many other times on the trip, they offered me the right to go first. I gladly took it. I’m getting excited for you just reading it

One of the girls who was working with another instructor flipped before me, but once I got it, it wasn’t going away. I practiced and practiced until my success rate had gone from zero to about one-in-four, then half. By the end of the next day, I was rolling successfully with nearly every attempt.

The afternoon consisted of class I & II rapids—rapids I would not take seriously two days later. At the present, however, they were a challenge. My boat wanted to tip over any way it could, but I was solid and way more fun than the stable ducky I had previous controlled. I did not have any near-flips and soon began trying rapids backwards and sideways to increase the difficulty. If I could have seen my face, I bet it would have been like a child when his father surprises him with that one toy that he would have done anything to get. I could not have been happier.

During the entire afternoon portion of our paddle, only two kayaks flipped. Each of us had fun, but many stated that they preferred the duckies. I didn’t quite understand why anyone would want that, but I guess they probably didn’t quite understand why I was so gung-ho about every little thing either. To each their own.

When the day was over and we were back at the home stay, everyone was happy but tired. Our leader was not able to join us in the water during the afternoon due to his injury, so we relayed those events back to him and he shared about a wonderful walk he had enjoyed while we went down river. Everyone was tired and went to bed on time because the mornings come early in Costa Rica.