Bicycle

So I finally broke down and bought a bicycle. This metallic beauty (named Oscar because that's the brand, I'm so original) only cost me $13,500 (about $75 US). I don't live far from town proper, maybe a half mile, but the bike makes it much easier to get there and back, and I've been using it a lot. Its also much easier to carry stuff to and from the market, etc, so I've been really happy with it in general. However, because its basically the world's cheapest bicycle, there have been some issues. I was riding back into the rice fields just to see where the road went and the seat came loose. For some reason there is an adjustment at the top of the seat post if you want to angle the seat up or down or something, and the nuts allowing this adjustment had gotten loose. So I had to ride for about 30 mins alternating between a severely angled seat and an awkward squat. Also, for some reason all the bicycles here have the breaks switched around backwards from what I'm used to. So the front break is on the right hand side of the handlebars, and the back break is the left hand. So I almost killed myself a few times by using the wrong break until I figured it out and got them switched around. The bike is a little small, so its a little awkward to ride. And every time I need to make an adjustment, I have to go to the market (only open until about 4 and school gets out at 3) and hope the guy is there. Sometimes its just his wife or female workers or something and while they are pretty handy, they can't do everything. So then other times I have to go to the guys house where he keeps all his tools and such. He's been really friendly and helpful though, and it turns out that I teach one of his daughters. Its a small town.

So I love riding the bike, probably moreso because of its “character,” but I've also managed to open pandora's box at the school. One day I was riding back from town, and one of the dorms kids asked if he could borrow the bike. I said sure, and he rode it for a while and brought it back. Now not a day passes where at least 2-3 kids ask if they can ride the bike. Other dorms kids have bikes. There are plenty of bikes around. For some reason they all want my bike though. Its only the younger kids and some of them didn't know how to ride and now are looking pretty good on the bike. The constant stream of kids knocking at my door asking to use the bike gets a little annoying, but I figure there's not really any harm in letting them ride around the school compound in their free time.