I hate rollercoasters. I ride them anyway.

Here’s how it goes: I’m at an amusement park with friends. Someone suggests we ride the rollercoaster. We all say ok. I say it really quietly. We’re on line and I’m privately panicking. Get of this line while you still can! But the only steps I take are forward as the line advances. Next I’m strapped in the seat. Why didn’t you get off the line, you idiot! The car clicks up the first steep incline. As it crests for that murderous descent, I’m scared out of my wits. Then we drop. That feeling of freefall really does make me think I’m going to die. Older rollercoasters are the worst because they only have a bar across the lap and I can feel myself lifting out of the seat as the car careens down the tracks. The rest of the ride doesn’t bother me … as much. As I get out at the end I feel weak. But if someone suggests we go again, I’m all in.

Maybe I’m wired for self-torture. Or maybe, unconsciously I know I’m ok, that the experience wouldn’t kill me, that it might even be something positive.

Life is a rollercoaster. I mean that with much more profundity than the cliché of life has its ups and downs. For me life is the rollercoaster I just described. Sometimes I’m on the line, sometimes I’m on the climb to the first big drop, and sometimes I’ve just gotten off the ride.

Maybe I’m traveling from amusement park to amusement park experiencing all the rollercoasters. Some aren’t as bad as others. Some may even be described as fun. And of course, some are far worse than I could ever have imagined. But none of them kill me or even harm me. I’ve yet to experience a catastrophe where the car came off the tracks or the structural supports failed and I plunged to my death.

That’s probably why I keep riding them.

My Tango Exhibition

The spectacle of publicly dancing tango was my most recent rollercoaster ride. I survived.

I’ll leave qualifying the performance to you. I will say that the next time someone suggests or invites me to participate in something similar, I’ll say yes with less internal debate. Meaning, I think I enjoyed the exhibition.

Now I’m on to my next rollercoaster, a simultaneous interpretation job. On the spot interpretation has a tendency to set my brain on fire.

Anyway, life – at least mine – is a rollercoaster. I hope you enjoy the video.

There’s a lot more to tell … on Colombia.