on top of the world.

the other day i felt what it was like to be a bird.
and the moment my feet touched the ground again, the dream had come and gone just like that.
on monday i skipped my classes to do something that not many people have been able to do or i guess you could say "have had the guts" to do. and let me tell you, it was totally worth missing that day of school.
on monday the girls and i went flying. thats what we called it. its more commonly known as "paragliding."
from the moment i decided to do it up until about 5 minutes until i actually did it, i wasnt nervous at all. i guess i really didnt think about what i was getting myself into.
our group met up with the pilots at 4 p.m. on monday afternoon and we caught the bus from the city up into the hills of granada. from there, we met up with the other pilots where they would drive us to the top of the mountain.
when they pulled up, they pulled up in one of those creepy "rapist" white vans with no back windows. yes, true story.
my dad used to have one of those vans and he would haul his dental equipment in the back when he had dental contracts with different jails around washington state. looking back, im sure people would stare at us when he would drop angela and i off at school in this old, ruggedy beat up "rapist" van with no back windows, and as angela and i would jump out of the front seat because we had to share it since there were no seats in the back. (yes, again, true story) hahahaha.
so we all jumped into this creepy white van and sat there for a moment and realized that the pilots were having a hard time getting it to start.
"oh gosh you have got to be kidding me" i thought to myself.
they tried starting it about 20 times, then they went under the van with a hammer and began hitting some part of the van with the hammer, as if that would make it start. i just couldnt help but look at monica and laugh.
then they had the brilliant idea of putting the car in drive then pushing it backwards. as we were rolling down this hill backwards, in a creepy white van that was not on, i just put my head in my hands and hoped that something would get this car to start.
i dont know what happened, but as we were gliding backwards, the engine ignited and the van started. the guys started hooping and hollering and all of us girls just looked at each other, shook our heads and laughed.
the driver turned around and said, "see! no problem! its the spanish way!" hahahaha.
these spaniards never give up on their cars here ;)
they drove us up to another area where we then got into smaller cars (that yes, were normal and had windows).
i was in the car with 4 other girls and our driver was a younger pilot who had not yet gotten his license to take other people in the air.
we were driving up this mountain on this one way road and i of course was on the side of the car closest to the cliff. i pretty much clung to amanda the ENTIRE ride up because we probably had about 5 inches to spare on the right side before the car would go tumbling off the side of the road down that mountain. our driver really didnt seem to notice our nervousness though, as he went on about his crazy life which consisted of "making his wife pregnant.....twice.....ah...us humans....we never seem to learn our lesson....thats why there been so many world wars.....!" (in his cute, broken english accent). im sure us 4 would have thought his life story was a little bit more funny if we wouldnt have been so preoccupied by the giant cliff that was dangerously close on our right side.
we made it to the top safely as our driver said, "See! no problem!"
i wish i was as carefree as they are!
wow was it beautiful up there. standing up at one of the highest peaks of the sierra nevada mountain range in granda, spain.
not only was it beautiful, but it was SILENT. you could hear a pin drop from up there. it was as if we were in our own world. well, i guess we pretty much were.
the other pilots came after us, hauling the parachutes on their backs. i give them props for carrying those massive parachutes as if they were nothing. because it must have been about 100 degrees up there. man it was hot. and none of us thought to bring water. "shoot.....hope this doesnt take too long or we might pass out from dehydration" i thought. :/
the pilots unloaded their backpacks and started putting everything together. as i sat there and waited, i started to get a little nervous as i saw that we stood right in front of this massive drop off cliff. i knew that we were at this particular drop off for a reason....but i didnt really know how this process actually worked.
the pilots looked ready and they walked over to us to square us away.
they explained the process of paragliding which basically consists of this:
"we strap you up to us, you look straight ahead, wait for my signal, and when i say run, you run as fast as you can. and run straight toward that cliff until you cant run anymore. and thats it!"
oh ok....so let me get this straight.... you want me to run until i have pretty much jumped off that cliff right there? hm, ok, no problem. YEAH RIGHT!
they told us that our minds will tell us to try and sit down on these little seats we had but that we couldnt sit until they gave us the signal. they told us that we had to keep running and running and running because the parachute will force us in the opposite direction, so its up to us girls who are in front to be the "front wheels" and counteract the force.
gosh, this is when i started to get a little nervous.
i dont know about you, but i have never jumped off a mountain before....and this just seemed suicidal.
oh well, no turning back now! i am already at the top of this damn mountain and im so thirsty that i dont want to open my mouth to the dry heat... im ganna do this!!!
the pilots hooked hillary and i up first. i asked the pilot where i should put my camera and he strapped it to one of the handles then did a little whistle thing and pointed down his shirt which basically meant that i should put it down my shirt. i couldnt help but laugh. it was a good idea though!
i was about to go when hillary and her captain started their "take-off." as i watched, my heart began to beat hard. the pilot was keeping his eye on how the wind picked up the parachute so whenever he moved in the direction the parachute did, he dragged hillary with him. so i was basically watching her get dragged from side to side on this rocky edge until finally he seemed to get situated then yelled to her, "corre! corre! corre!" (run! run! run!) and she took off with all her might and ran as hard as she could. yet, the wind was pushing them both backwards and they both struggled for a few seconds then finally began running full speed towards the cliff. hillary did well as she ran until she had no more earth to run on. luckily, right in time, the parachute caught the wind and took them soaring into the sky.
"hm........ok.... this is a little harder than i thought it would be...." i thought to myself. i began to mentally prepare myself to get tossed around by the wind and by the pilot and i kept thinking to myself, "gosh this dang parachute better catch the wind once im flying off that cliff!!!"
it was my turn. the pilot asked, "are you ready chica?" i said "si!" with the most confidence i could seem to muster.
the same thing happened to me. i was tossed around and i almost lost my balance a few times and then he yelled to me, "corre! corre! corre!" and i ran as fast as i could but it didnt seem to be working. i felt like we were starting to lose runway space when all the sudden the pilot yelled to me, "STOP!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!" and i came to a screeching halt about 2 feet from the edge of the cliff.
oh. my. gosh. i. almost. fell. off. that. cliff.
the pilot turned to me and told me i wasnt running fast enough. "you must run with more decision!" he said in english.
ok.....i dont know about you....but i was sure running with "as much decision" as i could- since i knew that running was what it took to get this thing to work.
shoot. i dont know how much faster/harder i can run but i guess it needs to be better.
so the pilot picked up the parachute and we walked back about 50 feet to where we began to try again. he asked me if i was ok, as if he sensed my worry and i said "yes, yes, im fine. lets go!" i just wanted to get in the air and get the hard part over with!
second try....here we go.
"corre! corre! corre!" he yelled again and this time, i WITHOUT A DOUBT ran as fast as my short little legs would take me, with all the "decision" i had in me. i was NOT going to die because i ran off of the edge of a cliff. heck no.
i ran and ran and ran until my feet were off the ground and oh. wait. i was flying.
oh. my. gosh.
for the first 30 seconds i was literally hanging off the seat we are supposed to sit in because the wind was forcing me from sitting down. the pilot had to pull my shirt back toward him so that i could sit down rather than being in the free fall position, strapped on for dear life by these 2 small bands.
once he pulled me back, i was sitting and at that moment, i realized we had ascended even higher- and there i was. i was paragliding!
after taking a few breaths from the take off, i settled in and enjoyed the view.
words cannot express the joy i felt at that moment.
i've met a lot of people in life whose one wish has been to fly.
if you want to see what thats like, you can do a few things. you can go sky diving, bungee jumping, parasailing or paragliding.
but let me tell you why paragliding might be your best choice.
in bungee jumping, you really cant see where you are going, as gravity is pulling you to earths core at quite the rapid pace.
in sky diving, im sure the view and experience is AMAZING, but i imagine that the pressure of the wind and the rush of the free falling would take you from seeing whats really around you.
with parasailing, you really dont go that high in the air and your view is not much different than the view of those in the boat pulling you.
but with paragliding, this is something much different than the rest.
you sit down in this surprisingly comfortable chair and as the wind hits your face at a rather pleasant speed, you have all the time and comfort in the world to see what is around you.
with paragliding, you really can experience what its like to be a bird.
and for those of you who ask, "what about being in an airplane? does that come close?" absolutely not. ;)
after about 10 minutes of this out of body experience, i noticed we were already descending.
"wait...." i thought to myself.... "they said we would be up in the air for about a half an hour...."
the pilot yelled to me, "when land, run!"
"ok" i thought, "this wont be too bad...!"
we got closer and closer to the ground and i kept hoping and praying i wouldnt break my legs from too hard of a land or an impact.
minus the tree branches we went through (hahaha) we landed well and i started running with the momentum we had going. we came to a stop and the parachute fell.
the pilot then turned to me and told me something i would have rather not heard.
"there was problem with the lines. had to land early."
um..........what did you just say?????
that definately freaked me out and 10 minutes before this, i would have never thought that being on the ground was somewhere i would have been happy to be.
we walked back up to the cliff we were on and the girls there gave me a confused look like, "whoa. that was fast.....?"
i know this sounds bratty, but i kind of felt jipped. right when i was starting to enjoy my time up there and get comfortable with the feeling of flying in the air, we already had to land.
at the time, i was so grateful for having flown, but at the same time, the money i had to pay almost didnt seem worth it.
hillary, who went before me, landed about 10 minutes after i did and was confused to see me already sitting there. i explained to her what happened and she felt bad and didnt know what to say.
"oh well katie, at least you did it. have a good attitude about this" is what i kept trying to tell myself.
the other girls went and as they would be gone upwards of 40 minutes and as i sat there in the heat, as thirsty as i have ever been in my life, i started to get a little upset. but again, i kept telling myself to chill out and get over it. "may be they wont make me pay as much.....?" i thought to myself.
once the others were done, we were about to leave when my pilot ran up to me and said, "you ready?!"
i was confused....
i looked at him and said, "what?"
he said, "last time, you not fly long enough. we fly again. now."
oh..........!
i wasnt sure if i should be happy or scared all over again.
i mean, sweet! i really wanted to fly for longer.....but were the lines "going to be a problem" again....or was my take off going to make me almost have a heart attack again? sheesh.
the word "ok!" almost seemed to involuntarily slide out of my mouth as i was on the fence in agreeing to putting my life on the line, again.
the pilot got the parachute ready, strapped me up, and there i was again, about to run off the cliff. aye aye aye. what did i sign up for?!
"corre! corre! corre!" he yelled to me and there i went again. running. with. all. my. might.
after only a few steps, we flew into the air. "yes!" i thought, thinking that this take off was much better than the last one. but right after that thought, we hit the ground again and the pilot yelled, "corre! corre! corre!" and i ran as fast as i could again, seeing the edge of the cliff come creeping closer and closer.
we took off into the air one more time yet to be pulled by earths force back down. "corre! corre! corre!" he yelled again and i took the last 5 steps i had before the edge of the cliff came to force me to fly and that last step i took, i shoved my body over that cliff with as much umph as i had in me and there we went- the parachute caught the wind and we quickly gained altitude.
"thank you Lord!!!!!" is what immediately came to my mind. i was in the air and all seemed well.
"very nice run!" the pilot yelled to me.
"gracias!" i yelled back, with a slight quiver in my voice ;)
this time around was even better as we took more altitude and as the pilot reassured me that the lines were "perfecto!"
"oh good...." was all i could think to myself.
we flew for about 20 minutes until the pilot apparently decided to see how my spanish was. he began asking me in spanish if i had ever flown anything before and if i ever wanted to try. i guess i thought i knew what i was saying back to him but all the sudden he told me to take the gears that control the parachute so that I. COULD. FLY. US.
ummmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm, what?!?!?!!?!?!?
before i knew it, my hands had the controls and i. was. flying. the. entire. thing.
ok.......... i had no idea what i was doing.
trying to take commands in a different language while you are already in semi fear of your life is quite the task, ladies and gentlemen. but to be honest, the pilot really gave me no choice as he had already let go of the gears and said "i can sleep now!"
UM....NO YOU CANT!!!!!! i said back ;)
he laughed. i totally didnt at the time ;)
i definately flew that thing for a good 5 minutes as he told me to lean left and pull right and lean forward and level out then lean right and pull left. i was actually taking turns and bringing us up and down in the sky.
way. to. cool. for. my. own. good.
as he began explaining to me how i would land, i finally stood up for myself and said that i preferred not landing the thing and that i would really appreciate it if he would land it for us ;)
he laughed and said "ok then!" hahaha. wow.
after a few minutes, the pilot yelled, "hold on and lean right!" right when i did, we began spinning in circles and i felt a sudden decline as i realized that the "normal" way to land these things is to lean one way and pull the gears that same direction which then lifts the air out of the parachute to land it. we were spinning in these tight circles for about 30 seconds and at this point, the wind was beating my face as i tried to hide it behind my arm.
before i knew it, we were about 100 feet off the ground and again, the pilot yelled, "ok! we land! you run!"
i prepared myself and scooted myself out of the seat so that i was hanging in mid air and as we hit the ground, i began to run with the momentum. we came to a halt and i watched the parachute fall to the ground.
the pilot looked at me and said, "you like?!"
all i could seem to say was, "si!!!! como un sueno." (yes! it was like a dream).
would i do it all again?
you bet i would.