Following our Fulbright orientation session, the group of us headed down to Cardiff Bay to try our hands at building rafts for a team bonding experience. We swapped our classy, formal attire for wetsuits and helmets to try our hand at building rafts. We were split into two teams, given four barrels, two planks of wood and a pile of rope. Fast-forward about an hour: we were up! While our “raft” was a little flimsy, it seemed like it would hold together…until we tried to stand up. Our rope started to give way and some of us (mostly me) found ourselves falling in the water more than staying atop our raft. We brought them back ashore to do some slight adjustments and in about half an our we were out again, but this time it was a race! We had to stand up now, on our new and improved rafts and paddle out to the middle of the water to a buoy (it was much harder than it sounds!). Both teams started out strong, but the other group’s raft seemed to fall apart just as they began to stand up, ours, on the other hand was strong as ever! We made it to the buoy and were awarded bragging rights for the rest of the afternoon. We then took a small raft (a real one this time) to another area of the water, though not before our guide decided to jokingly push me into the water. In case anyone was curious, yes, Cardiff Bay is cold, even with a wetsuit! We eventually pulled the raft onto a small dock to make it into a makeshift diving board. We all climbed up and took turns diving and belly flopping into the water before we called it a day and headed back for the dorms. We were all exhausted by the end of the night and definitely ready for a warm shower.