Surprised by Joy... in the Form of Paragliding Accidents

There was one thing to be done before I left, an awkward, unpleasant thing that perhaps had better have been let alone.  But I wanted to leave things in order and not just trust the obliging and indifferent sea to sweep my refuse away.  So I went to see her. - The Great Gatsby

I don't want to scare you, he said, but I can very clearly see you dying nobly, one way or another, for some highly unworthy cause. -Mr. Antolini (Catcher in the Rye)

So I was paragliding the other day, 2000 feet up in the air, when...

Okay hold on, hold on, let me try that again.

So I was 2000 feet up in the air, paragliding, when...

No wait,

The other day I was paragliding, and as I was soaring some 2000 feet up in the air, I realized I was a pretty lucky guy.  Much better.

I suppose if there is one place I can safely gloat it should be my blog right?  Well here's me gloating.  Gloat gloat gloat gloat gloat.

As a final hoorah for my time here in Bolivia I decided to take a paragliding course with the guys here at Andes Xtremo.  Cochabamba is one of the cheapest and best places in the world to learn, so I decided to go ahead and pluck paragliding from my "that'd be cool some day" list and put it firmly in the "did that" list.  Okay okay, I don't actually keep a list, that would be somewhat lame, but you get the idea right?

I could give you some amusing anecdotes about my awkward takeoffs and near death landings, but instead I'll regale you with the story of what happened not to me, but to a friend of mine here.  Her name is Natalia (changed to protect her identity... but actually not changed at all tee hee) who came to Cochabamba from Moscow just to paraglide.  She already had received training and was set to go, but on this particular day happened to come across a dangerous combination of strong winds and unfamiliar equipment.  As she came in for her final approach of the landing zone she ended up being swung out to the side of her wing and smashing into the ground, breaking her left foot in ten different places.

(I suppose this is the part where I have to stop gloating about the whole paragliding thing)

After undergoing surgery at a local hospital and having six different pins placed in her foot to help reset her bones she found herself quite unhappily stuck in a Bolivian hospital waiting on her insurance provider to pay for the medical bill.  You see, here in Bolivia you are physically prevented from leaving a hospital until you have paid the bill, which is a terrible system as it discourages a vast majority of the poor from ever even seeking medical treatment because they know they can't afford the bill.  (I've even heard that if a bill cannot be paid then patients can be sent to jail, but that's entirely unsubstantiated)

Anyway, i'm trying to focus on the story here.  Where were we?  Yes.  Natalia.  Stuck in a hospital.  Unable to leave.  Bored to tears.  All of us at Andes Xtremo were extremely concerned for her, obviously she's not having the kind of travel adventure she was hoping for.  So what do we decide to do?  Well, what any concerned friends would naturally do in this situation; break her out of the hospital.

I'll save you the details, in part to minimize evidence that could be used against us, and in part because I wasn't physically there for the actual event. ;)  Needless to say, through a tricky system of "taking a walk down the hall to stretch the good leg" and "where does this door lead?" and "run run run!!!" and "well carry her then" and "don't forget her crutches" Natalia managed to break out of the hospital with the help of several nameless friends.

Thirty minutes later we were celebrating back at the Andes Xtremo office.  One injured Russian, two crazy Irishmen, four sweetly endearing Bolivians, one fiendishly good rock-climbing Argentine, and myself.  We sat around our makeshift table, a loaf of bread, a few bottles of wine, some hastily made spaghetti, and a ridiculously over-sugared cake split between us.  We laughed well into the night (although not too hard because it hurt the leg), and enjoyed our spontaneous fellowship.  As I sat around the table with my new friends Kurt Vonnegut's Grandfather's words rang through my mind, "well if this ain't nice, I don't know what is"  (you'll have to read A Man Without a Country if you want more details on that particular saying).

The point, friends, is that if you let it life can surprise you with joy, even in the midst of seemingly tragic events.  My guess is Natalia would have preferred a different journey through South America, but the one she has is the one she was given, and her decision to enjoy it (not just that night but continually day after day) has brought her an adventure she will never forget.

That night, after goodbyes were said and friends began to disperse, Natalia was dropped back off at the hospital (well, a half a block from the hospital actually, so no one would get in trouble) and returned to her room with a handful of nurses clucking over her and ensuring she was okay.  She was released a couple of days later.


Quite unassumingly I've fallen deeply in love with the place where I'm at, and even though it continues to change that is a love I hope to carry with me, to new places and new friends and new daring escapes.

For friends in Texas, I'll be around in a couple of weeks.
For friends in LA, see you in June.
For friends everywhere else, carry on!


For friends who think that last little segment was cheesy, :-p


Ciao