Blogging
From Abroad

Last weekend had two highlights! First the victory over Marshall (oh yeah, let’s gooooo Mountaineers!!!) and second our trip to Ohiopyle! I don’t think I have to write a lot about the football game, but I had the opportunity to take some nice photos, you find them at the end of this post. For those who didn’t know: we won 27-3!

Now something about the whitewater trip. It was the first time for both, my girlfriend and me. Weather was wet and misty, so going whitewater rafting isn’t a bad idea, you’ll be wet anyway. Still we were hoping for a dry trip and put on our waterproof gear. We were so clueless…

The Austrian Connection. That could bet he title of the image above. Starting from left: Me, Rob, Josh, Eric, Madison and Doris. You already know Eric who’s been to Vienna last semester. Rob and Josh, actually, spent the entire last year at the BOKU. Now they are back at the WVU. Madison is Eric’s lovely girlfriend, majoring forestry. Doris is my girlfriend, who coincidentally ;) or cleverly planned, is doing her exchange semester here at the WVU simultaneously with me. Rob is not just a student majoring in horticulture, but an experienced rafting guide, too. How convenient ;)

He guided us down the lower Youghiogheny river for free. We just had to pay for the boat. And it totally payed off. The Goretex Gear, too. After the first rapids the water stayed inside my boots fort he rest of the trip. 100% waterproof! And he didn’t just show the river to us, but a really nice, 30 ft. cascade called the “Cucumber Falls”, too.

The rapids were rated class III to IV. That means they were perfect for beginners like us. Once we almost were flipped over but thanks to Doris’ quick-witted downfall across the boat that brought the barycentre back to the bottom we kept rafting atop.

Here we found quite a unique spot for our lunch break. We landed on a small rock in the middle of a rapid and pulled the boat on land. To get access to the bigger rock where I was standing when I took the picture, we simply used the boat as a bridge as you can see. That was where we enjoyed our sandwiches. Just minutes later we had the malicious joy (or “schadenfreude” to use a German word) seeing another raft flipped over. Oh yeah, they were wet. Just like me, because I missed the boat when I tried to enter it after we ended the pause. But the water was surprisingly warm for a rainy end-of-september day!

Finally I say “Thank You” to Eric who organized the trip and provided his Volvo and of course to Rob who turned out to be a marvellous guide. I can only recommend him!

Now some football photos: