Today, I Jumped off A Cliff

Okay, if you want to get technical, I scuffled off of a very steep incline because my crippling fear prevented my legs from running to what appeared to be my death. The lack of information regarding paragliding that we received is laughable- the only instruction I heard from my paragliding pilot was "run!" Whenever I voiced a concern, such as "hm, my harness feels loose..." or "how do we land?" he merely mumbled "yes" or "no," as he hardly spoke a word of English.

I knew that paragliding in Bir was one of those "must do" things, since the area is known for running off of gorgeous mountains and sailing through the sky. So we waited for a day in which the weather was ideal- sun shining against azure blue, sparse, gentle, cotton-ball clouds floating along peacefully. We could not have asked for a better day than today to fly. Well, we could have, but that would just be getting picky and demanding. At 9:30, we all boarded a van to make the long trek up to the take-off site. Around 10 in the morning, the steep grade beside our vehicle and the sheer altitude of our location began to elevate my heart rate and make me thankful that I made a will prior to arriving in India, The picturesque view awaiting us at the top calmed me once more, until they began to strap me in and I watched the others running until the wind caught them.

When my pilot told me to run, my legs turned to jello. I closed my eyes and pretended I was running on solid ground until I felt nothing beneath my feet. Once airborne, I felt instantly calm. The sheer beauty surrounding me cancelled out the natural fear associated with sitting on a little camp-chair like thing at such a high altitude. The most terrifying, but also most fun part of the flight was when my pilot asked if I wanted to do "aerobatics" and I said "oh, that sounds scary..." and before I could ponder the scenario and consent (I like to think before making decisions while airborne 5,000 feet in the air) he said "ok, I begin now." Before I knew it, we were corkscrewing down to Earth and my stomach flew into my throat, causing a wave of nausea to wash over me.

Thankfully, the air stunts did not last long, and a few moments later, we were ready to touch down. My landing was not exactly elegant; I landed awkwardly on my ankle. Forty dollars well spent, I would say. The most comical aspect of the day is that they did not make us sign a waiver. I'm pretty positive my travel insurance does not cover paragliding mishaps. All of the volunteers were happy to have done it, even Maree who overcame her fear and eventually stopped crying once airborne. She admitted having second thoughts, but the van ditched us after dropping us off at the top of the mountain leaving only one easy way to get back down. The experience bonded our volunteer family even tighter, if that is possible.