For the sake of those who will inevitably jup to the end before even finishing the beginning, it's probably best to start this story at the end. So...
When Uncle Yeo go there, he looked everything over and with a smile said, "It's not serious. You're okay, Aunt Awa is okay. You're getting lots of experience here in Africa,eh? Let's go." With that, we got on the motorcycles and rode back into town. The End.
Now for the beggining...
One day, Uncle Yeo asked me to take Aunt Awa out to a nearby village so that she could buy more Baobab grain. She uses the meal to make the delicious Baobab juice she sells in the market and at the high-school.
He gave me some directions and the usual encouragement, "The road isn't good, so be careful." I smilled and nodded. As we headed down the road, really more of a dirt path, I realized just what he meant. Where the path wasn't washed out or too overgrown for a moto to cross, it was covered in differing depths of sand. If you've ever tried riding a bicycle in sand, you know how difficult it is to get traction and stay upright on sand. The same is true of motorcycles.
Following the lines left by the motos and bikes that had gone before me, I tried to stay out of the deeper sand. I say try because, well... yeah... you guessed it, I crashed. Coming over a small bump, the rear tire hit the sand and instantly slid to the left, while the front tried to go straight. Faster that I could react and catch the moto, we were on our side lying in the dirt and sand.
I got up instantly to see if Aunt Awa was hurt, but she was already checking me over to see if I was hurt. Then she started to laugh, the kind of laugh that just makes you sigh and chuckle at your self. With the help of a mechanic that happened to pass by, we checked the moto and bent back the few pieces that had been damaged. Everything was fine except for the left turn signal, which we would have to go to Bouake to get a new one.
I kept apologizing and couldn't have felt worse about damaging the moto. But everything I apologized Aunt Awa would just laugh and say it wasn't serious. We still needed to get the Baobab from the village, but the road was still just as bad. We walked out to the village pushing the moto through the sand. Later we called Uncle Yeo and he came out with a friend to drive us back into town.
When Uncle Yeo go there, he looked everything over and with a smile said, "It's not serious. You're okay, Aunt Awa is okay. You're getting lots of experience here in Africa,eh? Let's go." With that, we got on the motorcycles and rode back into town. The End.
Now for the beggining...
One day, Uncle Yeo asked me to take Aunt Awa out to a nearby village so that she could buy more Baobab grain. She uses the meal to make the delicious Baobab juice she sells in the market and at the high-school.
He gave me some directions and the usual encouragement, "The road isn't good, so be careful." I smilled and nodded. As we headed down the road, really more of a dirt path, I realized just what he meant. Where the path wasn't washed out or too overgrown for a moto to cross, it was covered in differing depths of sand. If you've ever tried riding a bicycle in sand, you know how difficult it is to get traction and stay upright on sand. The same is true of motorcycles.
Following the lines left by the motos and bikes that had gone before me, I tried to stay out of the deeper sand. I say try because, well... yeah... you guessed it, I crashed. Coming over a small bump, the rear tire hit the sand and instantly slid to the left, while the front tried to go straight. Faster that I could react and catch the moto, we were on our side lying in the dirt and sand.
I got up instantly to see if Aunt Awa was hurt, but she was already checking me over to see if I was hurt. Then she started to laugh, the kind of laugh that just makes you sigh and chuckle at your self. With the help of a mechanic that happened to pass by, we checked the moto and bent back the few pieces that had been damaged. Everything was fine except for the left turn signal, which we would have to go to Bouake to get a new one.
I kept apologizing and couldn't have felt worse about damaging the moto. But everything I apologized Aunt Awa would just laugh and say it wasn't serious. We still needed to get the Baobab from the village, but the road was still just as bad. We walked out to the village pushing the moto through the sand. Later we called Uncle Yeo and he came out with a friend to drive us back into town.
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