“BOAT WAR! BOAT WAR! BOAT WAR!” Both boats were shouting as the last boat paddled closer to the other. The 3 other boats were well ahead and much too far to be involved in any battles at this point. We were fortunate enough to have the bright sun shining down on us while we rafted. The sun’s rays illuminated every mountain in sight. It was a beautiful Tuesday morning in Altai, the second day of our 8th grade Discovery Week. We had already eaten lunch at the camp, like planned. As I turned around, I could see the gleaming wood from the gazebo sitting quaint on the edge of the sparkling rock. Many thoughts were running through my head about how this day would go. Would I like it? Would I hate it? Would I love it? I had no idea.

As the 5th boat skimmed the edge of the 4th, the splashing began. Water was flying in every direction. The bright yellow of the paddle ends could be seen every second. I could feel the cold, icy water drip down my back, causing the itchy wet suit to cling to my shivering body underneath. Nevertheless, my face and hands were both being beaten down by the bright hot sun above me. There was so much water and sweat dripping off my face I felt as if I were a human candle, slowly being burned away.

I quickly unfastened my feet from the ropes at the bottom of the boat, which at the time were keeping me secure in the big inflatable raft. I lunged toward the front of the boat, realized how slippery the bottom of the boat actually is. Barely missing the air hole, my body is flung against the tough, wet rubber. More water is flying into the boat, coming mostly from my left, but there is the occasional splash from the boatmates on my right, who are aimlessly trying to be a part of the splash war. I stand up slowly and sit myself at the edge of the boat, coughing and spluttering water from my mouth and nose. I dig the edge of my paddle and pull it out as hard as my frozen limbs can. Faster, faster, I think. I can feel my heart pumping rapidly now, my arms warming up and starting to throb like when you stay in a plank too long.

I could barely see any details in the other boat, but I noticed that less water was flying into my boat. I could hear loud screeching from my left, “STOP! STOP! IT’S SO COOOOLD!” I could recognize that voice. It was Almog! She was in the other boat! Without thinking, I dropped my paddle into the middle of the boat and plunged into the frigid water.

The cold hit me like a sharp knife. The veins in my body seemed to freeze the moment I was under water. All blood seemed to just stay where it was. This moment was very short though, because I was still wearing my life jacket. As my head came above the water, the warmth seemed to unfurl through my body again. The water seemed less cold. I thought to myself, “That was AWESOME.” I already wanted to jump in again. The rush of the raw, wintry water was turning into a fire inside of me.

Then I seemed to snap into reality, people from the other boat were screaming at me, “GET IN! GET IN!” I looked around and realized why they were screaming. A set of rapids were not far up ahead the river and you could never tell how long it would take someone to get back into a boat. I swam over and grabbed the ropes on the side of the boat, just like the instructor showed in the demo. Almog immediately grabbed the tops of my life vest and yanked me out of the water. I didn’t get very far though, only falling right back down where I started. After another try we realized this wasn’t going to work. I kept falling back into the water. I was probably going to get water logged. Another kid got up and each of them grabbed a side of my vest. They counted, “I, 2, 3!” And my body was flung over the side of the boat.

As soon as I got in, Ms. Lopez was hollering, “EVERYBODY, paddle hard!” I realized I had not brought a paddle with me. Dumbfounded and not knowing what to do, I just watched everybody paddle as we entered into the rapids. The rapids didn’t last long, soon we were sitting in a long stretch of calm, welcoming water. Everyone paused and looked at each other for a slight moment, and then chaos erupted. Wailing and yelping everywhere. People rushed from both sides trying to push each other out of the boat. The first one off was Tran, as Ludvig and Pablo helped get him off together. Ellie and Sofia were both struggling with each other in the beginning, but as I looked over later, it seemed as though they had formed some kind of a truce. Almog and Luca were both fighting but as soon as Pablo got involved, both of them were in the water. Seeming as though everyone had forgot I was there, I, along with Ms. Lopez and our guide, just laughed as people were coming and going.

When Almog came up, I rushed over to help her, as she had done to me. As soon as I grabbed the top of her life vest, she got a stiff grab on my arms and pulled me into the water head first. It was the same sensation as the first time, and I suddenly remembered a conversation I had at the beginning of today, in the bus. I had been talking with Polina and firmly stated that there was no way I would be getting into that water.

You see, after horseback riding we had gone to a beach and we got our feet wet. The water felt so mind-numbingly cold it was as if my feet were sitting in frozen ice blocks. I could not even imagine having that kind of water surround my body. I was sure that I would probably freeze to death. Or at least get pneumonia. And here I was, having one of the best times of my life. I couldn’t imagine a better day than this one.

As I came above the water and was pulled into the boat, everyone was sitting on the edge like in the beginning. Almog, surely feeling bad about backstabbing me, asked if I was okay. Everyone silently looked toward me for an answer, but I just wiped my eyes and said, “Never been better.” We all laughed as we grabbed our paddles, ready for our exit from the river.

“Never been better,” I thought.

“Never, been, better.”