I hate going outside sometimes. The black flies just eat up my legs, the sun at times can be hot as hell, and the constant harassment from people:
Hey Opoto!
Hey Baby!
Or one of my all time favorites: Ching chong ching chong!
Hey Opoto, ye ma di! (I want to eat)
Hey Opoto, ye man kala! (I want money)
No exaggeration, this happens at least, AT LEAST, 10 times a day. Some days I'm like, fuck me, less than a year left, I can do it.
I went for a bike ride into the bush today. I was on the road to meet Chris at the Loose Your Face junction (it's the name of a tele-center, I think). And the usual harassment happens along with, "Give me your bike." So now I'm like, do I really want to deal with this today??? Fuck it, I'm already outside, let's go to the bush......
The ride was sweet today, sunny but not scorching hot. Seeing Salone from a distance can be beautiful especially when you wanna get away from the thick of things. It's beautiful when you're not surrounded by harassment, piles of garbage, and feces both animal and human.
Salone does this to me. Whenever I start to hate this place and be like, get me the fuck out of here, something happens and I'm like it's so fucking awesome here. Bike rides out into the bush is great. Lunsar just being a clusterfuck dirty crowded town, one just needs to get away sometimes. Running off into the bush is easy. Spinning class is so fucking lame.....biking outdoors, I'm sold.
Being a terrible bike rider, I ate it twice today, like a damn fool. The first time I fell, half a dozen naked children bathing in the stream saw me. And as I got up, they kinda formed this Soul Train lineup and "thumbs upped" me and kept saying "Opoto osh-ya." (I'm sorry). I saw their mother or Auntie bruking clothes in the stream and as I rode off, I told her that she was a good mother and that her children were very respectful, she smiled and thanked me. I mean, how cute was that, really. A crowd of small naked children concerned about my fall. I know bad wording but just stick with me, it was damn cute, ok! Fall #2: I slipped into a pit of mud. The okada bobo washing his bike nearby helped me wash the mud off my bike and luckily for me I was right next to a stream when I fell so I just washed off the mud then I was good to go again.
We cut through Chemende where Boss K had us walk with him through the village. Bush kids are so quick to yell "Opoto!" when you zoom by in a bike or car. But on foot they kinda swarm around you carefully, almost as if you have this small force field around you. They crowd around because they are curious but they keep their distance because they're afraid. I told them they can touch my back fender, all of them afraid to touch, the one "dry eye" kid emerges from the crowd and touches the fender. Then all the kids get a feel and they all start laughing. Trust me, they were "enjoying", it's probably the nicest bike they've ever seen and probably perceived as extra nice because it belongs to an Opoto. Everything the opoto owns is that much more desireable because they think everything we have is imported and expensive.
I dunno, everyone was just super nice at the end of the day. Letitia even showed me a place where I can get cold ass beers. I mean, I've already settled for warm beers and I'm stoked about cool beers but this shit was fucking sub-zero cold! I mean, even really cold by American standards. Am I dreaming, NO! This was true life, this is the coldest beer in the country.......in my town, Lunsar.
Salone......it's hard to love it and it's also hard to hate it......
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