One more try...

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The next morning was rough after such a great night of dancing, sweating, and the obligatory shot pouring. I was exhausted, but not too tired to ascend El Cerro Negro again, as I had promised myself the afternoon before. This attempt was going to go much better. There were 18 people signed up for this morning. THis was going to be a party unto itself. The entire group from last night was headed up the volcano. The Aussies grabbed liters of beer for the read. It was 9am and shit was about to get wild. I grabbed 2 liters. one for myself, and one for whoever else wanted one. The trip there was a raucous one. The flatbed was fully packed. we talked, laughed, and snapped photos as the beers went down surprisingly smooth. Carlos and I decided to shotgun a beer at the entrance to the volcano.

The ascent seemed easier the second morning, but it was still unbearably hot. I reassured everyone that it wasnt as bad as it looked and warned them of the mistakes I had made 24 hours earlier. It was a raucous crowd, but the mood changed slightly when all saw the steep descent. I decided not to go first this day, instead coaching those that were going before me. Carlos wanted the three ladies to go first, so they did. The second girl to go, seemed to take a bad tumble at the bottom. We werent sure though, as she was so far down, we couldnt tell. We would see her later after our own ride down. She had badly abraised left shin and a possibly broken ankle. I would treat her injuries later with my kit, back at the hostel.

I finally decided to go and faired much better on this day. Although my top speed was only 48 km'hr, I was happy because I felt fast. I took a fall toward the middle because I was headed straight for Carlos and didnt want to take him out. On top of that, my GoPro video camera was falling off my head as I picked up speed. I had to constantly adjust en route in order to not lose my brand new camera. All in all, it was a good morning, except for the injured girl from Texas.

Back to the hostel, mojitos were awaiting our lips. We didnt venture out anywhere and I was certainly in no mood for another night like the previous one. Most everyone decided to take it easy, except the Aussies, of course. They progressively became more drunk and more annoying. I regretted staying the extra day. The rest of the guests were decidedly exhausted and had little patience for antics. I hung with the 2 English blokes at the bar, along with T. We chatted most of the evening and actually got into some serious conversations about Buddhism, philosophy, history, government, and Armaggedon. I realized that people was the reason I loved traveling- I loved meeting not just people, but really good people, those with good hearts and a positive perspective on life. Maybe it was just the exhuberance of their youth, or maybe it was because I still have a youthful perspective myself. Either way, it was a mentally stimulating conversation and I enjoyed it very much. The only downside of the night was an unfortunate incident when one Aussie attacked another one in the group. There were no injuries, but it was fueled by too much booze and negative energy. The sober ones of the group retired early. We couldn't handle much more.

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