I woke up at 5am this morning! I was convinced by some squad mates to go and watch the sunrise because it was going to be breathtakingly beautiful. We made the long hike to the edge of the lake in Guatemala and found an adorable wooden bridge to sit on and watch the sunrise come over the volcanoes that surrounded us. I had put on all the clothes I carried with me in my weekend bag because the weather was so cold. I looked so silly but I was warm and thats all that mattered at the time. As the last person found their place and sat, 10 of us prepared to be amazed. In an instant I heard a snap, and then I was underwater. Sandals gone, headlamp gone, iphone submerged. Immediately I thought of the one on our squad who was with us and could not swim. Being a strong swimmer I was in rescue mode. I look across the water for other heads pop up, one after the other and nothing… Everyone was shouting for him and he was standing on the edge of the lake laughing and assuring us he was fine. The water was so deep no one could touch and we didn’t hit bottom when we submerged. The weeds were so thick it was impossible to tread water because they wrapped around our legs. Also because of the cold weather we all borrowed the hostels wool blankets to stay warm. Fun fact about those, they are about 200lbs when wet… So here we were 10 people in a lake in the pitch dark surrounded by wool blankets and broken pieces of wood with weeds wrapping around our legs, trying to escape the water. I was sitting in the middle of the group so people jetted both left and right crawling their way up the concrete barrier to the ground. I hung out for a bit not exactly sure what was happening and noticing there was still many things floating on top of the water. With everyone out of the water but me I decided to grab everyones shoes, headlamps etc. After I grabbed everything out of the water I started to swim towards the edge to be hoisted up. Just then I heard what sounded like either the Lockness monster or a fish the size of a geo metro jump out of the water and back into the depths…. Many of you who know me well are pretty sure what happens next; those of you who don’t let me fill you in a little. I have one fear, Fish. Living fish, dead fish, stuffed fish, fish as food, toy fish, I don’t care, Im terrified. I then enter into straight panic mode. I was screaming/laughing so hard my body could barely move; don’t worry though everyone I was with found it hysterical. I swear Margot yelled, “CROCODILE!!!” I was lifted out of the water and laughed so hard I could have peed my pants/tights/shorts (because I was wearing them all, remember!) Everyone regrouped and was ready to head back to the hostel when I notice I still didn’t have my headlamp. Sure enough when I looked back into the lake, being it was pitch dark outside still, there it was shining from the bottom. I was so sad because it was so close and still working but yet it was almost impossible to get. Thank goodness that Ethan decided to be a wonderful gentleman and jumped back into the Lockness moster infested water with killer weeds to retrieve it for me. He did a cannonball in and made it look easy and returned my headlamp to me! Thankful!! As I got back to the room I was staying in, Jenny, who also fell in, and I looked at each other. Both sopping wet, and freezing. We laughed so hard for what seemed like hours!! What an experience! We seriously just fell through a bridge into the deepest lake in Guatemala surrounded by volcanos at 5am in the pitch dark with 10 of our closest friends. We tried to take a shower but their was no hot water. We tried to dry off but no one brought their towels. For some their only option was to “borrow” clothes from the hostels “dress up” room. We all looked fabulous! We all ended up ok and dried as the sun came up. The kicker to the whole story is the sunrise was terrible; we couldn’t see it because of the clouds. I do believe this was my first “crazy world race” story!! I finally feel like part of the club…
