So I jumped off of a cliff today... I blame Maria. This is what happens when she leaves me alone.
Well I was abandoned this weekend by Maria so I had to find something else to do all weekend. I wasn't able to find anything to do Friday or Saturday, but I was able to find something for today. At first I wasn't sure what was going to happen because I had a possibility of doing something but they weren't sure if they were going to be able to come and get me. So instead, I went to the river with a friend and his co-workers. At first I wasn't really sure what was going to happen because a lot of them didn't speak any English, and there were about 20 people or so, so I was pretty much thrown to the lions. But it ended up being a pretty good day.
First of all, I would just like to say that my Spanish was actually really good today! I'm actually starting to be able to have decent conversations more easily and understanding people is pretty easy. I still wish speaking was easier but I just need to keep telling myself that I'll get there eventually. It's a slow process. But as I was saying, it was actually going pretty well today!
Now on to the actual exciting part of the trip. Like I said: I wasn't really sure what to expect today because I had never just hung out at a river before (and especially not one in Puerto Rico). The name of this part is Las Tinajas which is located by Ceibra. When we arrived, we had to walk a bit in order to get to the part of the river that we were going to be hanging out at. There weren't that many people there, so we got a pretty good spot with enough room for all of us and our stuff. It was so beautiful! The water was really clear, everything was so green, and there was a waterfall that you could see once you walked a little bit into the water. I don't have any pictures of my own yet, so I found some on the internet. Danny had a Go-Pro the entire time and said that he was going to put the pictures and videos on Facebook or something so once that happens I'll be adding them to my photos. Speaking of which, I should really do that to my other pictures that I have...
Well I was abandoned this weekend by Maria so I had to find something else to do all weekend. I wasn't able to find anything to do Friday or Saturday, but I was able to find something for today. At first I wasn't sure what was going to happen because I had a possibility of doing something but they weren't sure if they were going to be able to come and get me. So instead, I went to the river with a friend and his co-workers. At first I wasn't really sure what was going to happen because a lot of them didn't speak any English, and there were about 20 people or so, so I was pretty much thrown to the lions. But it ended up being a pretty good day.
First of all, I would just like to say that my Spanish was actually really good today! I'm actually starting to be able to have decent conversations more easily and understanding people is pretty easy. I still wish speaking was easier but I just need to keep telling myself that I'll get there eventually. It's a slow process. But as I was saying, it was actually going pretty well today!
Now on to the actual exciting part of the trip. Like I said: I wasn't really sure what to expect today because I had never just hung out at a river before (and especially not one in Puerto Rico). The name of this part is Las Tinajas which is located by Ceibra. When we arrived, we had to walk a bit in order to get to the part of the river that we were going to be hanging out at. There weren't that many people there, so we got a pretty good spot with enough room for all of us and our stuff. It was so beautiful! The water was really clear, everything was so green, and there was a waterfall that you could see once you walked a little bit into the water. I don't have any pictures of my own yet, so I found some on the internet. Danny had a Go-Pro the entire time and said that he was going to put the pictures and videos on Facebook or something so once that happens I'll be adding them to my photos. Speaking of which, I should really do that to my other pictures that I have...
The first thing that they talked me into doing was the rope swing. I had always wanted to do one of these because of what I've seen in movies. They always looked so fun. After the first time however, I was not up for doing another round because the ropes cut my hand up a bit. The worst are my knuckles on my left hand. It was fun but I'd rather have skin on my hands. But I was still shaking for awhile after it happened from a mixture of adrenaline and fear. But I was no longer tired from waking up at 5 this morning. |
The next thing we did was go to the other side of the river where there was a bunch of giant rocks that formed a natural water slide that went into a big area of deep water. There is also a giant rock/cliff to the right that will be more visible in another picture, as well as the video that I have linked down below. There were also just a bunch of random pools of water that people cool just sit in and enjoy while they watch everyone crazy enough to jump. |
This is a picture of the natural water slide that was on the other side. Since being here, I have seen so many pictures and videos of the natural water slides that are here in Puerto Rico and I really wanted to be able to go down one so to actually be able to was amazing! I thought that it would hurt (since you're sliding down rocks) but it actually didn't hurt at all. I just didn't like that the force of the landing kept trying to take my top with it. Every time I went down, I had to hold both my nose and my top. Usually I don't plug my nose when jumping into water but the force of the water was just too strong to not get into my nose. At least it wasn't salt water. I feel like that would have been way worse! |
So this is what I have been most proud of today. This is an extremely tall rock (which I am counting as a cliff) to the right side of the pool. There was a rope that brought you up to it, but if you kept going you'd get to the water slide. I'm not really sure how tall it is, but it's pretty high up. The first time that I tried to jump off of it I backed out after looking over the edge. Although I didn't go, I kept regretting it so I finally decided to try again. My main motivation was that there was a girl that had gone so I decided to suck it up because if she could do it, then I could as well. Well there were two other guys from our group that were jumping, so I had them go first. As I stood at the edge, I realized that I wasn't scared because of how high it was, but because I was afraid of slipping and falling. But with all of the cheering from our group, I finally jumped. I should have held my nose so that I didn't get so much water in my nose but I was more focused on not losing my top. |
Once we were done at the pool, we headed back to the original spot to meet up with the rest of our group that did not go with us to the other side. Once we got back out on the other side, there was a much smaller rock than the one that I had just jumped off of so I decided to jump off of it with the guys. I also did it a second time after we had gotten back from the other pool a second time after lunch. This time I had about the entire river cheering for me. I didn't realize how full it was going to get. But it was packed to the max practically. There were so many people that weren't even getting in the water. They seemed to be there just to watch people jump off of things. Or they might just not have had room to go anywhere. But it felt really cool to have so many people cheering for me. It's how I felt after the talent show at Cayey last semester. But I think that I also conquered some fears today as well as cross a couple things off of my bucket list!
The video posted below is of the jump and the rope swing made by my friend, Danny.
The video posted below is of the jump and the rope swing made by my friend, Danny.
Although most of the day was pretty fun and exciting, there was an incident that happened right before we decided to leave where a guy decided to show off and it ended horribly. He was on the smaller rock that I had jumped off of after returning from the other side chugging a bottle of Jack when he leaned back too far and fell. At least this is what I was told because I didn't actually see what started it. I just heard a large gasp from everyone at the river as I saw a limp body look as if it was playing ping-pong in between the rocks. It was such a scary experience because that was exactly what I was afraid of happening. Well, slipping and doing that same thing. But people started running towards him immediately in order to try and help him. He did not look good. When he came up, he was moving and making motions that he was okay, but a group of people had to help him to the shallow water. They then were helping him and making sure he was okay. I don't think he was, so I really hope that someone took him to a hospital because I don't trust that he didn't get a concussion or break something. So I'm very grateful that nothing like that had happened to me today. I also don't really plan on testing my luck any further now that I have done it once. I don't want to take any chances. But other than that it was a super great day! Well I think it's time to go to bed because I woke up at 5 a.m. today and I am about to fall asleep.
XOXO Ericka
XOXO Ericka