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Published: April 21st 2006
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Hello!
Melia and I spent 3 days in the lovely town of Cordoba, Argentina. After taking an overnight bus from Salta we stayed in a hostel with our Irish friends Padraig and Sinead. The hostel was a bit out of the main area but the owners (Willy and Carlos) and the place more than made up for it. We spent the first day walking around the plazas and main areas in the old town. The city was quite different because there were modern high rises all over the outer areas (still built with bricks and covered with a stucco) and there are over one million residents in the city. The first night, our hostel had a traditional Argentinean parilla (or bbq with every kind of meat, chicken and sausage) which was great!!! After travelling the night before and walking all day, Melia and I were definitely hungry! We were not disappointed and in the course of eating all of the food and drinking our fair share of cerveza y vino I decided that I would join our Irish duo and a couple from Israel the next day and skydive in Argentina! With the support of Melia they called and added one
more for the Easter Sunday skydive!
On Easter morning, we walked around the city. The Easter holiday is quite huge here and every shop and store was closed. Thankfully, we found that the Golden Arches was open. So, our first trip to McDonald’s on the trip was for Easter lunch. Seeing beer served at McDonalds was a bit interesting coming from the States. With my big jump in a couple of hours I had the basic burger, fries and coke for my last meal pre jump! I was definitely a bit quiet for the next hour as I mentally prepared for jumping out of a plane. Skydiving is something I have always considered but never got around to doing.......
At 3pm we loaded up a couple of taxis and headed for the jump zone about 45 minutes outside of town. Nobody was really speaking in the cab, as all of us were a bit nervous (except Melia!). When we got to the airfield we were surprised at the size of the plane. It was very small so we would all be jumping one at a time--not as a group. Being the brave men that we were, we decided to send
the women first! With each jumper we anxiously awaited seeing the plane 20 or 25 minutes after takeoff, and squinted our eyes to watch for the spec jump out of the plane, and hoped for the parachute to open and a safe landing. I was the 4th out of 5 to jump. I was paired with a smaller guide because I was tall and this is what was supposed to be best. Although Padraig is nearly my size, he was paired with a larger man so we were a little doubtful. Everyone else had a jumpsuit (think nylonish suit covering their clothes) but I was too tall for all of the suits so I jumped in my normal clothes. I received instructions from my guide and he made it clear that the most important thing was the first 3-5 seconds out of the plane. He did not want to flip with me because I was larger than him and it might be a bit difficult to regain control!!! I didn’t share this bit of information with Melia before the jump! I had three things to do, 1) put my head back, 2) cross my arms behind my chest, and 3)
keep my legs together and kick my guide’s butt with my legs (picture two people--me in front secured together at the shoulders and waist) and he would have his legs spread and arms to control us. Sounded great!
The instructions went smoothly and when the plane had refuelled I was ready to go. At this point I wasn’t too worried or nervous other than what is to be expected. As I got in the plane and the plane started taxing on the grass runway and grass landing strip I began to get nervous. I had to tell myself to remember to breathe! The plane was very cramped so there was one seat with the pilot strapped in-CHECK, the video skydiver with a chute on his back-CHECK, my guide with our chute on his back-CHECK and me staring out a wide-open plane with no door and no chute! -NO CHECK!! For some reason this freaked the S*** out of me. I think it was a case of too many movies that I have seen where there isn’t cabin pressure and those not strapped in get sucked out of the plane. Every time I looked out the wide-open plane I freaked OUT!
So I looked out the small window next to me and didn’t move an inch. I would have paid a small fortune to have a handle to hold onto but there was none. ¨Just don’t move until told¨ I told myself. The scenery from the plane was truly beautiful. I could see the mountains, a huge lake and the flatlands that went on forever in the other direction. It was nerve-racking but beautiful.
Finally, it was ¨get ready¨ time. The videographer blocked the open door and I managed to turn around and sit on my guide (a bit difficult in a small cramped plane) so he could attach our four harness points. Thankfully, once I was attached I felt a lot safer because at least there was a parachute attached to me now. Then we slid towards the door. It was very surreal. We had just passed the clouds and the sun was setting above a horizon of clouds. Before I knew it, my legs and body were hanging free out of the plane as my guide was still in the plane getting our positioning right. The commands were ¨out, in, and out!!¨ I still don’t know why you say
out twice when you aren’t leaving the first time! First out-oh s***, In-here goes, Second OUT-Absolutely incredible!!!!!!! No words will ever be able to describe the feeling of falling straight towards the earth!!!! We shot through clouds and then the ground became visible. The video skydiver was in front of me so I smiled for the camera as I flew falling towards the earth. I had a grin as big as the Grand Canyon (those who know me know that I smile/laugh uncontrollably when truly petrified) and experienced a new phenomenon in life. After 30-45 seconds (really have no idea) he pulled the chute and we were jerked back towards the sky. Then we glided in the sky and enjoyed the land below. Again, it was truly amazing. On our way down he asked if I wanted to have some fun and of course I said yes so we started doing turns and fast circles in the sky. A bit later I felt myself falling away from my guide and headed towards the earth! I freaked out a bit. He didn’t tell me that for landing he had to adjust the straps a bit. I probably only moved an inch
or two but when you are up in the sky and people still look like ants it feels like your dropping for good.
The landing went smoothly and I could feel a ¨perma-grin¨ on my face and was elated!
After I watched my friend Padraig jump, we all had a beer with the crew while we waited for our videos to be edited. If you are in Seattle expect to be shown the video. It’s great!!!
The next day Melia and I spent 7-1/2 hours (and 6 minutes) wandering the entire city. There is a huge park and we went to the local zoo. It was a bit rundown but the access to the animals was great! (Although a little too close for comfort perhaps to the giant hippo.) We hit feeding time for some of the animals so we got to see them moving around in their habitats. Afterwards we wandered to the major University—the first one in the country founded by the Jesuits. It is huge with low buildings spread about a large campus--similar to that red school in the Bay Area that I don’t care to name, only green and lush.
That night, Melia and I took
an overnight bus to Mendoza (the wine region!) with Padraig and Sinead. The buses are incredibly nice here and we had bus cama (bed) service. It was very nice and 10 times better than the supposed bus cama service in Peru. We are now enjoying ourselves in Mendoza and will update you soon on our adventures here!
Hope all is well!
Love,
Melia and Bryan
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Debby Dittman
non-member comment
No way Jose
I will have to live vicariously through your experiences. I was getting short of breath just reading your rendition of the skydiving experience. I glad I knew about it AFTER the event. Congratulations for your bravery. I was just thinking driving to work that it was time for a Bryan/Melia update, and here it is! Thank you so much for keeping us all informed, its wonderful to be able to share your experiences as they unfold. Take care, enjoy! If you find a canopy tour, definitely sign up, now that's what I call incredible, but mind you it is only 100 feet off the ground! Love, Debby