Those who know me well are familiar with my love for road biking, for being outside it ranks up there with soccer and hiking. Well, when I first arrived in Indonesia and saw the crumbling roads, the life threatening traffic, and the thick heat, I quickly said goodbye to the possibility of biking for either commuting or exploring. This changed recently when I discovered an old bicycle in our backyard shed. I asked the family about it and it turned out to be bapak’s bike that he bought even before Sumi was born (over 33 years ago) and still uses! I decided to give the antique a try and even though the back tire clanks when I peddle and it is a little too high, I decided I couldn’t not bicycle if I had the option.
So after choosing 5:30pm as the prime time for biking because the roads are mostly empty with people going home for the evening Muslim prayers, I headed out on my first ride. Now I thought I was already getting ample attention whenever I ventured around the neighborhood, but I quickly realized that seeing a buleh girl on an old bapak’s bicycle is really out of this world hilarious for my Indonesian neighbors. Everyone starred, smiled and laughed at me unrelentingly and I got countless thumbs-up from old men walking to the mosque in their sarongs and peci (Muslim cap).
By the time I got home (to the cheers of “Jeeenny! Jeeeenny!” from the girls across the street) I was in good spirits and ready for my evening mandi. But before I made it inside, a woman chatting outside with my neighbor announced that she wanted a ride home. I thought my Indonesian was failing me but sure enough she allowed herself to not exactly hop, as she was on the heavy side, but rather climbed on to theback of my bicycle (the part that is usually used for attaching parcels). So I swerved and wobbled to her house down the street, working up even more of a sweat, and then was invited inside for a drink and short chat about her kids before I finally headed back home for my refreshing mandi and dinner.
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