Free Falling

7/26/2009

*I apologize if this is more detailed than you need, it is mainly for me to remember every little detail, but I hope you enjoy it anyway!

After getting back to the ship, I walked through the gangway and found Eli waiting for me, Amanda and Athena were also with her.  They had decided to join us for the walk.  I dropped off some of my stuff, changed, and we headed off the ship.  As we were walking along, I found an ATM that was connected to a bank and monitored with a surveillance camera, and I deemed it safe from fraud and got out money.  As soon as I had the money, I realized there was no turning back.  I had nothing else I was going to spend it on, and none of the exchange offices had good rates.  We walked for a while and then came to a stairway leading up to a bridge, which we climbed, and continued walking along the bridge.  It was a busy highway bridge, and the sidewalk was interrupted with light poles every little ways.  We made our way out to the center of the bridge, which took a little bit, because it was a very long bridge.  On the way out we passed Courtney and Jillian who were on their way back, and they said it was the best rush ever.   A little while later, we passed a group of 6-8 SASers who said that they weren’t taking any more people for the day, we decided to keep going and at least see if they were taking reservations for the next morning.  As we neared the top of the arch, the bridge curved slightly and our destination came into view.  There was a tiny yellow tower, maybe two feet tall, that looked like it had a lawnmower engine attached to it sticking up from the blue railing.  There was also a crowd of people gathered around it.  I felt my heart start beating faster, and we kept walking.  I had already convinced myself I was going, and I knew there was no turning back…
There were two girls in harnesses in the crowd, and the guy in charge had dreadlocks down to his butt and a neon traffic vest on.  Traffic was flowing by, with cars occasionally honking when they passed.  We stopped at the edge of the throng of people, and I watched as the first girl climbed up onto the railing of the bridge (an additional 3-4 feet above the sidewalk) and stood facing out holding on to the yellow tower. Upon one of the guys’ instructions, she slowly scooted away from the yellow tower, and stood with her arms out, breathing heavily.  After less than a minute, she shook her head slightly, and was pulled back down, nearly in tears.  This didn’t help my resolve.  I just wanted to see someone go before me.  Anyone.  It was hard to hear what was going on with all of the traffic whizzing by, but as they removed the harness the first girl, the second girl was hoisted on to the railing, where she did the same thing.  After some convincing, she climbed back up, and stood there forever with a completely forlorn look on her face, breathing heavily.  She even crossed herself, and continued with her breathing.  It had taken too long though, she wasn’t going to go either.  As she was being pulled back down, I found the one guy in charge that spoke English and asked “are you taking anyone else today?!”  He looked at me skeptically for a second, and then smiled and said “I guess we could!” and went to grab the form.  I read it carefully, and filled in all the blanks, my excitement growing.  As I was signing my name, the reality of what I just got myself into hit me, and I had to take a second to process.  As I was filling out my form, another girl who had been harnessed climbed up on the railing and barely even hesitated.  There was no way that it was her first time, but in any case, seeing someone else survive helped calm my nerves a bit.
Before I new it, the guy with dreadlocks was laying out a harness and telling me to step into it, then pulling it over my shoulders.  After that, an ankle strap was put securely on each of my ankles, and I slid off my flip flops.  Then, as I was looking down over the edge and contemplating how far it was, he came back over to me saying “Whitney Huston, you must pay now”.  I got out my money, and handed it over.  It was done, I had to go or I had just wasted all that money.  There was no getting it back, even if I chickened out.  There were two more people in front of me.  Neither of them spoke English, and both of them appeared to be military guys.  I waited anxiously, watching them carefully, and convincing myself that I wasn’t crazy.  After the first one was back, I turned to him and said “fun?!”  I think he found my inability to stand still (I was fidgeting and bouncing all over the place) entertaining, but he responded “yes, very fun”.  It was reassuring.  Before I new it, they called me up.  The younger guy in charge was the one that spoke English, and as I was getting all clipped in I asked if I got instructions.  He said yes, his English was good, so he would try to explain to me.  I would climb up on the railing, and then he would say “go” at which point that is exactly what I was supposed to do.  Afterwards, a rope would be lowered to me which I was to clip to my chest and then spread my arms to be pulled up.  It was the going part that made me the most nervous.  He told me I could jump, or fall, I just had to make sure it was chest first.  I told Amanda, Athena and Eli I would need a countdown from three, something to give me a second to prepare, as this would be my first time.  After I was on the railing and out of the way of the yellow tower, I could hear them counting.  When I climbed up, I had only been looking at the railing and the tower, and when I stood up I looked out at the horizon, as I stood there, I could hear them but the fear was building and I couldn’t hear what numbers they were saying.  My heart was pounding!  I turned to them and yelled “I can’t hear you, I can’t hear you!” and they all screamed “ONE!”  I looked back out and I leapt! 
The second my feet were off the ground, I looked down, and I had a moment of terror realizing what I had just done.  I was free falling, and the water below was no where near.  Before I had to long to contemplate my eminent doom, I could feel the tension of the bungee, and I was decelerating.  Before I knew it, I was flying back up through the air, and right side up, I looked around, and as I started falling again, still right side up, I realized that I was going to have to be upside down very quickly.  The bungee caught again, and I swung around and kept on bouncing upside down and spinning and looking out at the water and the bridge I had come from.  I let out a yell of triumph, and when I was just hanging upside down spinning, I hear Eli yell down “how was it?”  I screamed back up “that was AMAZING!” and listened as it echoed off the bridge.  I could feel that I was shaking, but I think it was the mixture of excitement and fear and shock.  Soon, I saw the red rope I was supposed to grab, but I was still spinning and slightly disoriented, and the rope was very far away.  He started swinging it, and eventually I could reach it.  Once he saw it was in my hand, he pulled it up (almost too quickly, I nearly let go from the rope burn) and I had the clip, which I hooked on to the harness on my chest.  Then, I spread my arms out wide and waited.
As the tension on the little red rope increased, I was pulled into a laying, and then a seated position in the harness.  It was a slow ride back up, and I used it to look around and enjoy the view, and also to try to process.  When I got to the top, I maneuvered my feet onto the narrow ledge outside the railing, and waited for further instruction.  After the guys fiddled with the different ropes some, they pulled me over the railing in a slightly awkward “beached whale” type fashion since my ankles were strapped together.  Once I was back on solid ground, they quickly removed the harness and began packing.  I was the last one of the day.
The funny thing about bungee jumping is, before this trip, I really had no desire to go.  It ended up being so much fun though.  It is crazy, because after the initial fall and recoil, you get to do it again, and again, and again, and then just dangle helplessly from your ankles while you are waiting to get hoisted back up.  It was so much fun, and unlike anything I have ever done before.  I am torn between a strong desire to go again, and the thought that it was absolutely crazy and not natural to willingly hurl myself off such a tall object… Sky diving next I think ;)