Friday the 13th of June, 2008.

One of my classmates just died in a school expedition to the Himalayas. 10th graders do this as a requirement of the IB full diploma which states that you need to do 150 hours of CAS (Creativity, Action and Service). We have a choice of 3 trips but I chose to stay in the campus.

This classmate of mine was half American half Italian. Pretty straightforward and intelligent guy, he was also a very good soccer player with incredible acceleration, speed and dribbling skills. A very sporty guy.

He died stupid. He was with the leader from the school, expedition leader, and 2 other guides on a small plateau, because they were climbing a mountain. His helmet dropped and he went to get it. But he went running. In the earlier days it rained heavily, so he slipped on the wet grass, rolled a few times without stopping, and fell down in a steep "crevasse" for 5 meters, hitting his head on the wall and breaking his neck. He died instantly.

Everyone in the school is devastated. The girls are crying without pause, I was crying with the headmaster(!!) and another Italian along, the guys in the Himalaya trip are no comment and are coming back on Sunday... It's just so incredible. 3 weeks ago I was talking to him at dinner about his future plans...No comment.

Sorry I had to vent. I'm just shocked right now.