Hawaii

Family and Friends,
On Tuesday I had one of the greatest experiences of my life. Early on in the trip, George, Dani and I joked about going skydiving in Hawaii. I took it as just that, a joke. When George actually asked me to sign up with him I was unsure, but I figured I could still get out if I wanted to. We got picked up at noon from the ship and driven about an hour away from Honolulu. On the way there, I essentially signed away my life and all of my legal rights just so I could get strapped to someone and thrown from a plane. There were a lot of people waiting to go when we got there so for about two hours I sat and watched the planes go up and then waited for the parachutes to float down. My instructor’s name was Mike, and he has been living in Hawaii and doing tandem dives for more than ten years. He has been skydiving since he was fourteen, so I felt reassured when he told me how it was all going to happen. Getting on the plane, I was extremely nervous. My two top fears are heights and flying, and I have never even flown in a plane that small so even getting in to the air was going to be a challenge. There were four tandem groups on the flight, and the only other person I knew was my friend Patricia. As we took off and kept getting higher and higher, we kept exchanging silent glances that meant “what are we doing?! This is crazy!” Once the plane got to 14,000 feet, one of the instructors opened the door and the wind came rushing in. I saw the first tandem get sucked out of the plane, and at that point I knew that there was absolutely no going back. I didn’t watch the next two divers go out because the first one freaked me out so much, so before I knew it, it was my turn to go. I scooted to the edge of the plane, trying not to look down, and let my feet dangle over the edge. The moment I looked downward, I froze. Mike had to scream at me to cross my arms and put my head back, and I did as I was told and then he started the countdown from three. I leaned back once and then I was out. I did a barrel roll and then flattened out so I could see the clouds and ground below. Mike pointed outward and I looked out to see the plane I just jumped out of doing a nosedive about 50 yards away from me, and the pilot was smiling at us and flashing the hang loose sign. The free fall is essentially impossible to describe, it is more like flying than falling. After a minute of free fall we passed through a cloud and Mike pulled the chute. The next five minutes were completely silent and peaceful, I could see the entire North Shore and Mike pointed out where some of the landmarks like Waimea and Pearl Harbor. Our descent was smooth, but my landing wasn’t exactly graceful because all of my extremities were numb and I did a full on face plant. I was glad to be back on the ground, but I probably would have done it again immediately if I had the chance. Thinking back on it, even as fresh in my mind as it is, I can’t believe I actually did it and even though I didn’t get the DVD or picture packages I stole some shots from George so I can show everybody the view from the sky. I would like to say sorry to my dearest Mother for any distress I may have caused her, but I made it Ma! It was a day that I will never forger. Well I am on the last leg of the voyage that includes class and I will write my final entry in the beginning of May after my two days in Costa Rica. I hope that everyone is doing well and I am very excited to be coming home and to see you all again soon.

Conor