Rain, Thunder and Lighting

Written on March 8^th

It smelled like rain when I walked out of training for break today.  You know that smell?  Well, if you’re reading this and you’re from Washington than I am sure that you know that smell that goes along with an impending rain.  And guess what…I was right.  With a flash of lighting and crash of thunder the rain began to cascade out of the sky and pound the roof of the building that we were in.  This all started about an hour before we had to head home…on bikes. 

It looked as if the rain was going to let up a little bit; you could see a sliver of sky that looked as if the sun was about to break through.  Dom, Elle and I decided to give it 10 more minutes to see if the rain would let up a little bit before we headed home (mind you, we could have gotten a ride in a van – but what fun would that be).  When the rain didn’t let up, we decided that we just needed to go and get it over with.  We strapped on our helmets, threw our bags on our backs and in our baskets and hit the road.  Since we were thinking so clearly (not), we decided it would be a good idea to take the short-cut (i.e. the dirt road).  Things were fine at first.  We were laughing as rain pelted our faces and smiled at the people huddled in their homes as we road by. 

Little by little we all noticed we were having a few steering issues.  My back tire continued to slide out and attempt to make me fall.  Mud spun through my tires to shoot out and hit me in my legs and back, and slowly but surely I noticed it was getting harder and harder to peddle.  We are all still laughing at ourselves that we thought it would be a good idea to take a dirt road on a stormy day when we all come to a sudden halt almost running into each other.  Our bikes won’t move.  We can no longer peddle.  Our tires are coated an inch thick in mud and it is getting caught in the lines for our breaks.  We have maybe a kilometer to go before we reach cement and the bikes are not going anywhere.  After attempting to clean the mud off of the tires with our hands, we know our only chance is to carry our bikes.  J  Too funny.  I only wish I had a picture or video to show everyone.

First I just carried the front of the bike; dragging the back.  Then Dom got the idea to turn the bike backwards and carry it on her shoulder.  Not only did this leave a thick stripe of mud down her back and arm, but it looked hilarious.  So what did I do?  Well, I picked it up and carried mine the same way.  Unfortunately, I was not wearing Chaco’s.  Dom was.  I had on these cute light brown sandals I bought in the states that I wear ALL the time.  They are not made for mud.  By the time that we got out of the mud, I was still wearing my sandals, but they were situated on the side of my feet so I wasn’t actually walking in them; I was walking barefoot carrying a few pounds of mud along with me.  Luckily, by the time Dom and I caught up to Elle, she was already laughing and getting acquainted with a couple of men who happen to live just past the mud.  I am sure that they think we are the craziest, funniest Americans ever.  They see us pass them almost every day, but this is our first close encounter.  They are so nice though, and they help us remove half of the dirt from our bikes.  In this process, I manage to actually break both of my sandals and I am officially shoeless and will have to ride barefoot home.  All I have to say is: Thank you nice men for helping us! 

Now that our bikes are “clean” (i.e. still covered in mud) and I am a mess (no shoes, muddy hands, muddy backpack, arms, legs, pants and shirt), I hike myself back onto the bike, get the handlebars thoroughly dirty with my mud-caked hands and step on the peddles for my torturous ride home.  If you ever have the chance to ride a bike barefoot, I don’t highly recommend it…it kinda hurt.  But, I made it…home safe and sound just in time for my 6 o’clock curfew.

I ride in, smiling and laughing at myself because of what I went through to get home, and then I here my dad and mom in the house “ohhhh!!”.  They come out of the house and burst into laughter.  They got a phone call advising them I had the option to take a ride home and I chose not to and could not believe the state that I was in.  All I could say was “kii jak-aa-yaan gap fon-tuk, sanook!!!” Biking in the rain is fun!.  That brought about another round of laughter.  I think I just gave them a good story to tell people for years about the farong that stayed with them that one time. 

My mom was amazing though, she brought down my shower stuff from my room while I washed up a little bit outside and they let me jump in the shower right away.  Best shower ever!  A bucket shower never felt so good.  And, while I was in the shower, my little brother was so nice.  He actually cleaned my bike so it looks amazing.  Thank you little brother!  Overall, it was a good ride home.  My first: I stupidly decided dirt roads were good to ride on in the rain, got stuck, carried my bike, broke my shoes, came home muddy experience…I’m sure I will have a few more.  Love it!

March 10th

FYI - I totally love the rain, thunder and lightning here in Thailand.  It rained again last night as I was going to sleep.  Sounded awesome!