now i have done it, i went paragliding today. it was probably the most amazing thing that i have ever done. it was kind of a spontaneous thing, but it was well worth. i rode in the back of a little chevy pickup to the top of a mountian, that was one of the scariest rides i have ever taken in my life. even the bus rides in bangladesh dont compare, the road was about ten or twelve feet wide. one side of the road was the face of a cliff, the other side was straight down, and when i say straight down i mean about a thousand foot drop. the driver was hanging out the window with a cigarette in his mouth making sure that he didnt go off the edge. after about a hour of straight up the mountian we arrived at a small shack with a three hundred and sixty degree, there was a massive valley below us in which mendoza was located, behind me stood the towering andes. after a good bit of preparations we were ready to take off, believe me i was being very patient. it was a tandem flight thank god because otherwise i would have killed myself. the man told me to start running toward the cliff in front of us, let me tell you something, you really have to trust some one to follow those orders. so i took off running toward the cliff with this little argentinian guy strapped to my back and the glider attached to him. those twenty steps were some of the most exhilirating of my life. as i arrived at the cliff i took a mssive lunge. i felt like my whole body went weightless, it was unbelievable. immediately we dropped about twenty feet off the side of the cliff and then all the sudden we were flying, my adrenaline was pumping through my viens like gas through a high powered engine. i couldnt believe that i was literally flying, it was a one of a kind experience. we sailed through the air for about a half an hour, spinning and doing aereal manuevers. the landing was really smooth, the guy obviously had a lot of experience. i have to say that it was definately the highlight of my trip, if not the entire year. i can see how it is easy to become an adrenaline junky, and it looks like i am headed down that path due to the nature of this trip.

yesterday was much more docile, we rented bikes and rode through the city to all the different wineries in the area. it was really fun, the wine here is phenomenal. we were pretty buzzed by the end of the day, dont worry we werent wearing helmets. it still wasnt anything compared to the paragliding though.

tommorrow i am headed up to the border of brazil, uruguay and argentina to see some of the most amazing waterfalls in south america, that is if everthing works out okay. you just never know what is around the corner down here, that is why i never really make to many plans while traveling. anyways i will update if anything crazy happens between now and monday, which is pretty much a given since it is the last week of my trip.

jack