Lost in Translation

Ok, so as Americans, when we hear the word zip-line we know that that it is when a professional hooks you to a wire and you slide from somewhere high up to somewhere down low. It's fun, but a little scary. Everyone knows that that is a zip-line, right? Well Venezuelans don't know what a zip-line is. I tried explaining it to Sergio and his mom before I even got here and they had me under the impression that they understood what it was, and had booked me a trip on a zip-line through the forest.

So we headed out today to go on what I thought was a zip-line through the forest. We drove up this mountain for like 20 mintues (about 5 miles) to the very tip top of the mountain. It was soooooo high and by far the most beautiful view on the trip that I have seen so far. As we're driving up to the top of the mountain, Sergio informs me that he is deathly afraid of heights and is no longer doing it with me. So I was bummed.

Anyway, as we're driving up to the top I notice one of the signs and it has a picture that doesn't exactly look like a person on a zip-line. So I ask Sergio to explain to me exactly what we're doing. Well come to find out, once we get to the top of the mountain, we are NOT zip-lining. We are PARA-GLIDING!!!!!!!!! I freaked out.

A zip-line is one thing. You are hooked on to a cord. I felt somewhat safe. When I found out I was going to be flying through the air hooked on to nothing but some leader guy and a parachute I kinda started freaking out. In fact, after we parked the car and walked the rest of the way to the tip top of the mountain I started having panic attacks. I just knew that I was going to die and I had not told any of my family or friends goodbye.

After we got to the tip top, we met the flight instructors and the guy that would be leading my flight. THANK GOD they spoke English. That began to make me feel a lot more comfortable. It also made me feel better when I found out that Sergio's girlfriend would be riding one too, and that she was going first.

So after the hooked me in and everything and explained what I was going to do, I began to calm down a lot. To give you a picture, at this time I had stopped shaking....haha.

They guy explained to me that he's been doing this for 12 years and that he's never had any problems. He stood behind me and hooked me into his stuff and I felt kinda like we were going to be sky-diving. So then I started to get a little excited to be doing this because I have always wanted to sky-dive.

He explained to me that all I had to was run, when he told me, until we ran off the edge of the cliff. Scary thought, I know. And then he said all I had to do was sit back and enjoy the ride.

So the wind pulled the parachute into the air, and we ran straight off the cliff into nothing, and the wind picked us up and we were flying. Let me tell you that that was probably the coolest feeling in the world. I sat back like I was in a recliner and just enjoyed the ride. I have never felt anything so exhilarating and calming. I would do it again in a SECOND! In fact, I'm going to look for places to do it in Texas.

Anyway, so as we were flying I was trying to film a little for Stacey. I wanted to make sure she could feel like she was there too. Even though I was beyond nervous that I was going to drop the camera and have to end up paying for it. (I am posting vids on Facebook)

As we got near the landing the guy (Ronald) told me to just walk to the ground. The landing was SO easy. We seriously just stepped onto the ground from the sky.

After we landed my guide packed all the stuff (parachute, helmets, and backpacks) and we walked to the road where a truck picked us up to take us back up to the top of the mountain.

This in my opinion was probably the scariest part. The truck looked to be 50 years old, rusty, and about to fall apart. Andreina (Sergio's GF) and I got into the truck, and right away I thought the driver was drunk. He tried to drive off THREE times before all the guides were situated in the back. The kept yelling at him to WAIT. So one of the guides came up, pulled him out of the inside of hte truck, and he drove instead.

The drive back up to the top felt like it took forever. But the driver played English music the whole time for me, haha. When we got back up to the top we told Sergio and his mom all about it.

That was probably the coolest thing I've ever done in my ENTIRE life. Sky-diving is sooo next.