Parapente

So.... I just realized that I haven't written anything about when I jumped off a mountain. I'm sure you've all looked at the pictures though....

My first weekend here my Spanish wasn't so great. I understood the majority of what people said, if I listened really closely.... but normally I didn't listen very closely. Which made my life rather exciting. So when Jose asked me if Saturday I wanted to parapente, sure. No problem. Then.... Saturday morning rolls around and I figure out what parapente is. We drive up to the top of the mountain here in Iquique, me, Connie, her dad, and another guy (the other guy has this huge brightly colored bag thingy).... I'm looking around at the top of this mountain like "wow, this is really pretty up here" and I'm taking pictures. Then I turn around and this guy is putting on a helmet and hands me one. Okay.... what did I get myself into? Connie decides she doesn't want to do it because she's scared of heights (loser) and it's just me and this instructor. But for some reason I'm not really nervous. I get all strapped into this contraption (a giant parachute) and watch another guy take off. He just walked to the edge of the mountain and was in the air. Pretty simple. I'm thinking to myself, "okay if I watch one more person I'll be fine, I won't be nervous or anything" but nope. My instructor (who is strapped in behind me) tells me to start walking and because I am a midget I didn't even have to jump off the mountain. The wind just lifted us right off the ground. I think he jumped though because he was like a foot taller than me.

It was so relaxing. We just floated around with the birds for like a half hour or more until we landed on the beach. So beautiful.... so relaxing.... and I was not nervous or scared at all. Definately an adventure I recommend & would love to do again....