It’s about time I posted an update! I wasn’t trying to purposely create some kind of build up towards the first actual jump here, things went slightly different than expected.
So, let me go through the last couple of days…
Wednesday 18th July
We woke up and the routine was to first try and check the weather. The verdict was simple, no chance at all for a jump. We expected to see rain for the rest of the day. When in the afternoon it was indeed still raining and wasn’t going to stop anytime soon we went to the (indoor) swimming pool. That evening we played some chess to keep our minds awake. It was a fun day but there wasn’t any chance of a jump for anyone. The predictions for after Friday were a major improvement. We only had the hotel until Friday however…
Thursday 19th July
This was quite the unfortunate day in multiple ways! First of all, again the weather hadn’t improved enough for us students to jump. Second of all, it turned out I ate something bad the evening before. This left me feeling not too well so I had to take it easy this day anyway. I really hoped I would feel better quickly because tomorrow could be the first day the weather would cooperate.
Friday 20th July
I woke up, and did feel a lot better. Not as it should be but there was improvement. I now faced a bit of a dilemma. I could try and extend our stay for a few more days to further get well and jump, or go home for a few days, get well and go back. If I were to stay I would go from a hotelroom to a dormitory (I wouldn’t mind). Also I was informed that students had very little jumping space because they had to catch up on their tandem jumps.
I went to the dropzone to consult with my instructor and talk to my fellow AFF students. Some of them were now making their jumps! I could probably physically make the jump as well but I also wanted to completely enjoy it and I simply wasn’t on my game just yet.
So I decided to first go home! It wasn’t all that easy though, you start to get to know people quite fast if you spend hours of training together, hanging on racks, doing the parachute landing falls or waiting on the weather. After some conversations it turned out they would probably still be there next week though so I would probably meet them then.
So that was the plan. Go home, get well, and return a couple of days later. I made some arrangements with the hotel to return on Monday the 23rd.
I’m now very ready for that first jump as you can imagine! Fortunately, the weather is looking great for the whole of the next week so if I stay away from bad food I should finally get cracking at these AFF-levels!
I’ll report back here on Monday, stay tuned… 
