Because I am not living on the edge enough...
I decided to do the longest ZIP LINE in Central America!
One of the nurses here to help for surgery week! Rachel
With a group of five of the doctors, we all decided to go zip lining today in Panajachel! There were two options. The Basic Cables, of seven runs, or the EXTREME cables, with seven runs. They recommend starting with the basic to get a feel for it. BUT, of course we just decided to spend the money and go for the extreme cables. They are called extreme because the two longest runs are close to a half a mile long! I was surprisingly not very scared to do this, but instead, very excited. It only cost us $50 for seven runs! Quite the deal. These extreme cables are the longest in all of central america! Even longer than the runs in Costa Rica.
Our guide/my new friend! Loved talking to me in Spanish :-)
Quite the hike to the top!
Longest Zip Line in Central America...and the one I got stuck on...
Of course I get stuck on the LONGEST run, which was only our second run. After the first one, I thought wow this is easy! But then this second one, was more than twice the length. The reason I got stuck is because I didn't have enough weight/momentum to get my across. I was only a few yards short or something, but trust me that is enough to make you nervous. Usually you come flying all the way through till the person stops you on the ground. But no, I was hanging out on the wire, alone, and had to put my hands up on the cable and literally pull myself in. Talk about making your heart sink to your toes!
Very HIGH up! Great view of Panajachel!
Dear Maren,
ReplyDeleteI did not read your blog for the first few weeks, since I was busy moving to a new place. However, last week I sat down and read the entire blog in one sitting. I want to tell you . . . . .
Wow!!!! What amazing things I am reading from you. This is quite an adventure you have signed on for. God has big plans for you, girl! To read of you starting the trip, getting ready for class, speaking Spanish so extensively and the stress involved in that, sounds really hard. Watching you learn, and change, and go through such intense personal growth is just wonderful.
I am not surprised at all that the kids think of you as the fun teacher. Duh!! I am really glad that you have someone that you have grown so close to – that really helps when you are in a new situation, and all of the usual things that you have in your life to comfort you are not there.
Your weekend away at the beach sounded like lots of fun, including dancing on the stage. You go, girl!!! The zip line looked totally awesome, too. I still can’t get used to you having brown hair, though – I keep looking for the ‘blonde you’ when I look at your pictures!
It was very cool that your dad got to go down with you, and I am so excited that your mom is now going to make it down there as well. You are sharing this adventure with everyone, huh? ;-)
It is wonderful to see your presence help in the lives of these children. I will continue to look forward to reading your blog posts. Oh – I wore one of the beautiful bracelets that your dad brought back from Guatemala to a concert Saturday night, featuring TobyMac, Mandisa, Brandon Heath, Matthew West and two other groups at Key Arena. I hope the money made from selling these does a lot of good for the Guatemalan families.
Lots of love,
Debbie Hogan (((hugs)))