19. Colombia Boogie- Is This Real Life?!

colombia! a weekend with two boogies! is this real life?! after lots of salsa dancing, we all slept in and then had a relaxing morning with my little girl. the maid spoiled me again with an egg breakfast. victor is a skydive instructor at both drop zones that share the same runway in flandes, colombia- both of which were having boogies that weekend. victor, his son and i packed the car and we were off! the traffic in bogota is unreal- but it gave me a view of the city. i learn so much by sitting in the car and watching the people of different neighborhoods go about their day. we went through some really poor neighborhoods and seeing those people’s lives gives me a constant reminder of how lucky we are for basic needs in the states.

that night we met both groups at xielo and skydive colombia. as i write i often wish i was a professional writer and had more words to describe beautiful places and people. the welcoming i received from the people at these boogies has no words- the warmth, immediate love, and comfort from these people is like no other i have seen. i was the only american guest with limited spanish at their boogies yet they loved me like family from day 1. people had even reached out before the boogies welcoming me in. the colombia culture paired with the skydiving community made me want to stay with those people forever.

the 1st jump in colombia was out of a DC3 plane at skydive colombia. they had flown in the world champion ryan rinsberg- he is someone that felt like home right away. he jumped with 3 of us for the first jump and gave amazing coaching that whole weekend. everyone was so welcoming to a stranger jumping at their DZ and they nicknamed me bom bom. it was a total high for 4 days straight- by far my favorite boogie to date. victor and gianina were like cool parents, always making sure I was comfortable.

3 days of jumping, 4 nights of parties, surrounded by the kindest, warmest people. friday night we drove into very rural colombia- through beautiful fields, tree lined roads, night sounds to a house party at a pool. i loved the 4 of us singing to my new favorite spanish songs- no nececito vacasiones! saturday night was a pool party where ryan, oli and perfected our sit trains down a water slide. for hours we worked on our ‘formations’ down the slide and onto flotations.

daniela came to jump on sunday! she brought me one of her jumpsuits to wear and we got some fun girl jumps in. seeing her was like being at home with a sister- previously just spending one day with her before that weekend. the boogie ended that night with popping champagne, family truck ride back to the hotel and a huge pool party. chaaamps!

saying bye to those people felt like saying by to family i had known forever- thank you all for welcoming me like family- much love!

buying fruit in town before day 1: