Well, I finally did it. The Wednesday before I leave Rio I went hang gliding which I've been wanting to do for a long time. I've attached a few pics but I have a couple of videos and more pics on facebook.
The weather hasn't been good for the past few weeks when my friends from church could go. I had been praying for good weather. We were planning on going Sunday but when I called to confirm the guy said they weren't doing flights because the winds weren't good. I was disappointed but glad that they didn't want to just make some quick money and were taking precautions.
I started praying and put it down on my prayer list for good weather today because it's a holiday here and people from church could go. This morning was a little cloudy but I believed it would be a great day and the clouds starting breaking up the closer we got to the time to go.
The owner of this company has been doing this for 29 years and took Curt Cobain from Nirvana years ago. He was a very relaxed and reassuring guy. My instructions lasted less than a minute - bite your lip and run like heck. Not really but not too far off. He said to have one hand in this rope attached to my jacket and the other on his back. He said to just look at the horizon and run when he said run, that's it.
When it got to be my turn I tried not to look down, only at the horizon. It actually worked. I just started running and when we left the ramp it was just smooth. I felt like Superman. My brother John would love this. At one point as we were making a turn you could see Sugarloaf mountain an I could also see Christ the Redeemer in the distance. It was pretty awesome!
This was more than just hang gliding for me. I don't know if I told many or any about this story but I was reading a book that had inspired me to take action for this journey in the first place. I had been looking at language schools in different countries and for some reason Rio kept coming back to me. I was reading the 4 Hour Work Week on the way back from my wonderful Aunts in Mississippi when I read a chapter and it started with a guy going hang gliding in Rio. The whole premise of the story was that risks aren't as scary once you take them.
When I read that, I felt like Rio was the place that I needed to go. I still remember the moment riding in the car when I read this. So for me to do this was a big deal to come to the place where someone's story had inspired me to launch out and do what I wanted but was scared to do. Just like the hang gliding, the risk of coming to Rio hasn't been as scary since I've taken the step.
I'm moving to another city for the rest of my time here, called Belo Horizonte. It's the same city I've visited a couple of times. The scenery isn't as nice but the people are great. I think I've said before how they remind me of Southerners.
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