This weekend I was convinced
by several members of my program to go puenting. In Spanish, “puente” means
bridge - “puenting” is the act of jumping off a bridge attached to several
ropes and swinging underneath. It is the Ecuadorian version of bungee jumping.
The bridge - 300 meters to the river.
I had almost an hour to
think about several things while waiting for the groups before us to jump: Is whiplash
a concern (the ropes are not elastic)? Why does this only cost $20? Is this
helmet actually capable of protecting me from anything? Why don’t we need to
sign a release form? Why didn’t they ask for ID? Are we really jumping from a
rickety wood platform balanced across two railings?
The view of the river.
The best way to jump off is
to dive and then flip when you reach the end of the rope. I
unintentionally flipped right as I jumped:
The funniest part about the
whole experience was the cars driving past on the bridge. Unlike rubberneckers
in the States, these cars actually came to a complete stop on the two-lane bridge and waited for us to jump. Trucks honked their horns and drivers yelled encouragement. The
guys attaching our harnesses had to keep yelling at them to “go to the parking
lot over there if you want to watch!”
Jazz comes to Quito
Jazz comes to Quito
Instead of watching the
Super Bowl, I went to the Teatro Sucre in the historical district of Quito to
see Trombone Shorty and his band from New Orleans. His performance was part of
a weekend of Jazz at the Teatro Sucre.
His band was made up of a drummer with crazy hair, two sax players that coordinated their dance moves, a bongo drummer, and two guitar players. Trombone Shorty ended the phenomenal show with “When the Saints Go Marching In” and a dance around the theater.
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