It's a good day.

So today, I left school a little bit early. I know, I know, I shouldn't be missing class, but trust me when I say it was the right decision to make in this particular instance. The last session of our day is a 1 1/2 hour review of the things we've covered in the two previous two hour sessions, and my options were to either go to this review, or experience what I experienced instead.

I went rappeling today.

180 feet.

Down a waterfall.

Apparently, one of the river guides for the people who went rafting on Saturday is also a fairly well-connected fellow who does things ranging from kayaking in canyons to horseback riding through the mountains to such things as we did today. So Minnesota John got this guy's number, gave him a call a couple of days ago, and next thing I know I'm commiting to spending the afternoon trusting my life to people I've never met. It's an exhiliarating feeling, to say the least.

I haven't rappelled in close to three years, so I had lost my old confidence in the equipment; in other words, I was a little nervous. The guy came to pick us up here in Santa Ana, drove us to a place about a half hour away, and it was a short hike to the top of the waterfall. Looking down from the top, I realized it was almost three times higher than anything I had ever descended before. This thing was massive; but it was incredible. The beauty was really something that has to be seen to be believed, but it was really out of this world. The three of us who were to be going down the falls were mesmerized while the guys set up the ropes.

Once I was strapped in, I was getting re-acquainted with what I was supposed to be doing; I got back the cockiness I was used to from when Nate and I used to do this every weekend down in Red Rock. But the waterfall was really something to behold. I got soaking wet on the way down, and I was loving every single minute of it. At one point, the guide we were with had tied off our "eight ring" so that we couldn't descend any further, and we got to jump straight into the waterfall. So much fun. I don't know that I'll ever get to experience anything like it ever again, but I'm glad I got to do it today.

Moving on...

Like I said yesterday, about half of our really good friends from Conversa are leaving in the next couple of days. Deb from Michigan treated us to dinner and drinks at a restaurant that's about halfway up the hill, and it's pretty safe to say that a good time was had by all. We bid fond farewells to Deb from Michigan and Bob from Kentucky, who will both be missed a great deal in the coming weeks, and just had a great time talking about all the fun we've had and laughing about stories from our respective pasts. Like Bob said, I don't think I've ever met such a diverse age group of people with whom I've been able to mingle so well.

So here I am, closing out my day at the internet cafe, writing my blog entry while my laptop downloads the latest episode of Lost. I suppose once that's all done, I'll take myself home, watch the episode, and fall off into an all-too-brief sleep before I get to hike up the mountain and see my friends again.

It's a good day, indeed.
-Juan