It has been exactly 10 weeks since the start of our journey, the length of a full UW quarter, and we find ourselves in the same place we began, Buenos Aires. The city we could not wait to get out of the first time is the place we find ourselves in once again. The city seems more bearable now, after everything we have seen and done. We are no longer novice travelers as we have taken countless busses, hiked down rivers, hitchhiked many kilometers, been stuck in places with no money, hopped on ferries, backpacked through rugged wildnerness, and most recently jumped out of an airplane. Yes, it is safe to say that this monster city no longer intimidates us. In the span of one UW quarter, I have learned and grown up so much more than I would have in a whole year at college.
After taking the night bus to Cordoba, we recovered at the nice hostel we found, and then went out to see the sights. We had not seen too much when we decided to watch a couple movies at the local movie theater. The movies: Brokeback Mountain and Pride and Prejudice. Both of these movies I would not have even considered seeing in the states but our options here were somewhat limited and after all the buzz surrounding Brokeback, I felt like I had to see it. I liked Pride and Prejudice a lot more than I thought I would. I am still unsure if I liked it because it was a good movie or because Kierra Knightley was in the lead role. It just seemed like her character changed a lot throughout the film and it was interesting to see the gradual realization that she had a blind perception of Mr. Darcy who became more likeable as the movie progressed. Brokeback Mountain on the other hand, I just don´t get it. While I do think it is a solid movie, I do not think it was as good as people were making it out to be. The actors´ performances were good but I did not like the story line, and it is not only the gay thing (which makes a few scenes make me want to cringe and close my eyes, I know, I know, I´m a homophobe). I don´t want to spoil it for people who have not seen it but I was hoping there would be more character change. It does not seem like the characters change or learn anything. Also, it seems like the movie tries to paint them as victims of societal pressures and pushes aside the fact that they cheated on their wives and were terrible parents.
Anyways, after sitting over 2 hours through Brokeback Mountain, we felt like jumping out of an airplace, so the next day we did. 
Our hostel is connected with this skydiving outfit and for $130 we got to tandem jump (hooked in with an experienced skydiver), got a video of our jump, and a cd with video and pictures…a much better deal than we could swing stateside. We arrived and watched 2 Israeli girls do their jumps first. The plane was extremely small and barely big enough to fit the pilot, the guide, the camera man, another random guy from Holland that likes to jump out of airplanes, and of course the client. Therefore, only one client could jump at a time. We waited for the first girl to jump down and we thought we saw her but it was the random guy. He dropped from the sky, made a hard landing, dragged his parachute across the grass, told us good morning, and dragged his parachute inside the hangar. I just thought I would mention this because that was the coolest introduction I have ever seen in real life. I later found out he was from Holland and did a tandem jump once, became hooked, and has been skydiving everyday for the past 3 years. Anyways, we watched the 2 girls do their jumps and then it was Adam´s turn. We received brief instruction on technique (arch your back while free falling, legs up on landing, and that was the extent). So Adam took off and did his jump and when he got down he had a big smile and was visibly shaking. The scariest part for him was when the parachute opened and he realized how high up he actually was. I am sure I did not do Adam´s jump justice, but I wasn´t there. After watching 3 others before me, it was finally my turn.
I put on my jump suit and then my harness thing. The guide dude put it on me and made sure everything was tight as the filming dude filmed me. I got on the plane and was surprised at how small it actually was on the inside. We were packed in there like sardines. During the plane ride, I gradually got more and more nervous. I think my primary thought was making sure I was hooked into this guy before jumping (he did have the parachute after all). I watched as the random dude from Holland jumped out. The guide dude held on to me as the door opened and the random dude literally dived right out of the thing. The door closed and the plane went higher. That plane ride felt like it lasted forever…that was the scariest part for me…the anticipation of jumping. Finally, after we had climbed a considerable distance, it was time. The camera dude got out first and held on to the side of the plane waiting for us to jump. We got in position and then we were falling. We twisted a couple times in the air through the clouds before stabilizing and then we fell with faces looking straight down. All of a sudden the camera man appeared out of nowhere and was flying right next to us, filming us. It was absolutely incredible and confusing. After a 10 second free fall or so the parachute was deployed and I watched as the camera man continued falling. He finally deployed his schute also. The parachute ride down took about another 5 minutes or so. We were just hanging there, gradually coming down, the whole city of Cordoba and a billion farms within view. I think I said mierda a few times. We eventually glided down to the bottom where he told me to lift my legs up for the 100th time, and we landed. What a ride! That was defenitely one of the coolest experiences I have ever had, the feeling is indesribable.
Anyways, after falling from the sky we decided to go see another movie that night: Derailed. It was a solid movie but not great. There were a couple of twists that threw me which is always fun but other than that it was your average thriller movie. We took a bus out that night to Buenos Aires where we are now! So in Cordoba we basically watched 3 movies and went skydiving…so much for sight seeing!
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