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I went skydiving, I went skydiving, I went skydiving! Okay, so I’m still high off the fact that yesterday, within three hours of being in Cape Town, I free-fell from 10,000 feet. So cool. I got off the ship with two other girls, Alyssa and Lindsey, who I barely knew before hand, without any pre-arrangements to skydive, and within fifteen minutes we were signed up and heading towards the pick-up spot for the 10:30 skydiving group. We had worried that all the tours would already be full, but instead we were the first group on Semester at Sea to take the forty-minute drive out of Cape Town to the field where our plane took off. It all fell together so well.

There ended up being nine of us total in my group, as some other SAS kids had reserved spots beforehand and as soon as we arrived at the giant silver shed that sat alone on a plain, they were rushing us. I happened to be the first one to hit the bathroom, and in turn, the first one ready to skydive, so they called me over instantly and I stepped into my harness. My guide, or I guess my “tandem-master”, Hugo, introduced himself to me and walked out of the shed, motioning for me to follow him. It all happened so fast and before I knew it I was in a tiny, rickety plane ten thousand feet above the ground freaking out silently. There was another SASer skydiving with me as well, Eric, and we both just kept looking at each other, wide-eyed, saying nothing. The only training I received for skydiving consisted of Hugo telling me to stick my legs out of the plane when he opened the door, which was right beside me. He also told me to look up, hold on to my harness, and take a deep breath when the door was opened. And that’s what I did…and it was amazing!

Hugo and I sat on the edge of the plane, feet dangling, ten thousand feet above civilization. I didn’t look down, I was afraid I would fall before he was ready. Instead I held onto my shoulder harnesses as though I were squeezing a bookbag to my back, and looked up at the plane wing which was above my head. And then we rolled out of the plane and fell. Only it doesn’t feel like you are falling. In fact, I didn’t have the type of adrenaline rush you get when you do free fall rides at amusement parks, because it doesn’t feel like you are falling. Instead you are flying, the wind rushing at your face so loudly that you can’t hear yourself screaming. It’s a completely different type of rush. For about thirty-five seconds I screamed and cheered, my arms outstretched, staring straight down at the ground. I was so happy I didn’t even think about my parachute opening, or worrying that it wouldn’t. When Hugo finally pulled the cord and the parachute slowed our descent it felt as though we were barely moving anymore. My legs shot up in the air and my body bounced like a rag doll as we were caught. “Thank you so much! Oh my gosh! That was awesome!” I kept telling him for the rest of our descent.

Back down on the ground there were about twenty SASers total now, all anxious to hear what I had to say. I loved being the one to go first because it gave me the chance to talk about the experience right away with those who hadn’t gone yet. I was talking a mile a minute. Oh and I thought about it, and I was the first SASer off of our voyage to skydive! Go me! By Sunday at least half of the students will have.
I still can’t believe I skydived. It’s one of those things I’ve never wanted to do, even thinking about doing it used to make me sick to my stomach. Man.

I spent today drinking wine. I took a tour of the winelands with four other people, stopped at four wineries and tasted over 20 different kinds of wine. Pretty cool. More about that later.

In other news, we have an extra two days in Cape Town now in order to make up for Kenya. After that we’re heading to some island off the east coast of Madagascar…starts with an M I believe. It’s a resort island, not exactly where I want to be going, but oh well.

Oh, and my family is crazy and I love them for it. I also love them for sending me pictures that make me laugh out loud.…

Plus my favorite quote from mom’s last email “ i know you're having the time of your life. reminds me of that song from the movie where patrick swayze says, "nobody puts baby in the corner!”

One more thing, I’d like to give a shout out to the one and only Shingle Shirl…love you, hope you get better soon!

K. I miss you all. Cape Town is awesome. I went skydiving.