5-4-3-2-1 JUUUUUUUUUUUMP

Studying abroad is all about being open to new experiences. On orientation day told us that we should all be open to changing and growing. When we arrived here our identities had been erased and we had the opportunity to try new things and evolve a people. Since that time I have tried many new things but today may have been the most out of character experience for me. Today, I went bungee jumping. Now earlier this week I was trying to decide what to today since its a holiday in Costa Rica so we had no school. When my friends suggested Bungee Jumping I opposed. After some cajoling I was convinced to do it...I mean you only live once right?

 I was very nervous the hours leading up to the jump and I wasn't even sure if I would jump. They had us sign release forms which was an eerie experience. We were then brought to a bridge going over a deep gorge. Now this bridge wasn't special for bungee jumping, in fact cars would cross every once in a while. The guys that worked for the company made us feel so safe. They were reassuring and got you really pumped up to jump. I was the second person to jump in our group and I was really scared to do it, especially after watching someone else do it first. When its your turn they have you  step up and they tighten all your straps...its kind of weird how few straps they actually use. There is a safety tether they attach around your wait and the bungee is attached to your feet. The bungee is only like 2 inches thick and extremely elastic like a really thick rubber band. Yet despite all of it you feel extremely safe. 

After getting suited up you have to walk to the edge of a tiny platform. Since the bungee connects your feet you have to waddle over to the edge and drop the bungee cord between your feet. You look down and all you see are trees and a river. The countdown begins, 5-4-3-2-1 you put your arms straight out, push off with your feet (barefoot by the way) and begin to free fall. At first you feel like you have "eagles in your stomach," you want to scream but the wind in knocked right out of you. Before hand I thought I'd scream, shut my eyes, panic but none of that happened. The feeling is pure joy absolute euphoria. The best part is the free fall. You feel strangely free and light. Once I snapped the laughing began. I could not believe how amazing the experience had been. Once you snapped the first time you start to swing and you swing a long ways. Imagine hanging there upside down, over a river and swinging from side to side under a bridge. Hanging there is that moment is like nothing else I've ever felt and the feeling lasts for quite some time. You feel more relaxed more.... Pura Vida! 

After you stop swinging they lower a rope down to you. Its kind of tricky because you're hanging upside down, on this endorphin high, blood is rushing to your head and you have to catch this rope that they lower to you and clip it on your belt. Coming back the the bridge is an amazing feeling. I remember thinking "did I just really do that?" and then I said to my friend Jes "I kinda want to do that again." Here is what I learned today. Sometimes we have to do things that scare us because we might actually enjoy it. Experiences help us evolve as a person and personal development is critical to growing up. This is just an example of many experiences I've had so far in Costa Rica. All of these things have changed me in some way and hopefully for the better. I see the world through a slightly different lens. I leave you with this quote:

"A mind that is stretched by a new experience can never go back to its old dimensions."

Oliver Wendell Holmes Jr.