From the top of Philopappos Hill, junior Stephanie Dear and a stray dog su rvey the cityscape of Athens on Jan . 18. Phi lopappos Hill had an ancient Greek mausoleum and monument dedicated to Philopappos, a prince from the kingdom of Commange. Courtes y of Eric Giboney Trekking up Mount Arbel in northern Israel. junior Calle Pittard takes a moment to examine the ruins of an old fortress on Feb. S. The cliffs on the side of the mountain were used as a hideout for a number of Jews who rebelled against the Roman Empire in the first century A.D. Courtesy of Eric Giboney Junior Meghon Przeczewskl bungee jumps off the Corinth Canal on March 2. Twenty-two HUG students jumped off the canal during the trip. Courtesy of Eric Giboney Dangling From A Bridge , , 5 .. 4 .. 3 .. 2 .. I!" Junior Meghan Ebr ight stood on the edge of the bridge overlooki ng the Corinth Canal as her fellow ~ HUG stud en ts hollered the countd own leading up to he r \voluntary plummet off of the b ridge. r On the summer 2009 program a t Hard ing University G reece, several stud ents took advantage of one of the popular activities to ind~lge in while overseas: bungee jumping. For some it took all the guts tltey could muster to make th emselves go. "It was my first t ime to bungeejump ," Ebright said. "}was actu– ally really excited at first, but wh en I got to the platform .. . I thought to myself, 'Why am I jumping off a b ridge? What am 1 thinking?'" Not about to back down , however , Ebright was determined to jump. She j ust needed a li ttle encouragement from her group to do so . "You get the option o f having five minutes to j'u"mp 01' three count down attempts. It took me all three attempts," Ebright said. "1 stuck my arms out and bent my knees as the rest of o ur group counted clown from 5. When they got to I, I couldn't jump." After another failed countdown , Eb right had a chan ce to collect herself and then was prepared to go on the third try. In the midst of the nervous excitement, however, the process did not go exactly as it should h ave. "When they got to I , I jumped ... well , I though t 1 jumped," Ebright said. "I kind of just fell forward and my feet were going down first. I realized that I hadn't jumped right so I was going to flip once the rope was straightened out." Despi te th e fact that she was hurdling downward at high speed, Ebright was still able to take precautions to prevent getting hurt when sh e got flipped around at the bottom of her jump . "The whole way down I' m pretty sure I would black out because it felt like my eyes were rolling back and it would get dark every now and then ," Ebright said . "Before I got to th e very boltom, I grabbed my n eck to make sure it wouldn't snap when I flipped. Once I fli pped everyth ing was normal ; it was a blast! " Aside from to the exhilaration that came from the jump, Ebright later noticed someth ing unexpected that had occurred d uring h er downward flight. " It was a combination of things, but I pop~ed a bunch of blood vessels around my eyelids ," Ebright said. "1 sq1leezed my eyes tight– ly shut, so a mixture of that, me screaming and the pressure as I jumped caused the popped blood vessels." Bungee j umping was only a sample ofwhat the students at HUG got to do . But for many it was the experiences shared together with that highlighted of the trip. "The best part of the whole experience was the relationships I formed," Ebright said. "It amazes me how close you become with the people you travel with. It was awesome to see our group grow together throughout the en tire summer. closer to each other and to God . I wish everyone could do an overseas program, especially HUG, because of the impact it has on your life. I m iss Greece and the HUG experience so much!" Emily HouptJi hug 43
RkJQdWJsaXNoZXIy NTc5NA==