The one where she buys a bike and rides a scooty

Yep, you read that right. I bought a bike...well, to be culturally correct here in India it is a cycle but either way I purchased one and I am now a proud bike/cycle owner. Now, for those of you that know me, I'm sure you are scratching your head saying, "Can she actually ride this bike cause last I checked...she could not." Well guess what people, not only did I purchase a bike but I also learned to ride it. Yep, I CAN NOW RIDE A BICYCLE!!!! (insert Queen song here).

Anyways, the next question to answer would be, "WHY did you buy a bike?" Well here is your answer. Because I am now working in the school full-time, I rarely leave the Rising Star campus and after awhile I start to get a little stir-crazy being in the same place for so long. Having a bike gives me all sorts of freedom to go to all the little villages and places nearby just for a little jaunt off campus--it's just grand! Of course, being India, the bike purchasing experience was a great one. When I talked to Jim about Rebecca and I wanting to get bikes he said the person to talk to was Vikram...I should have known. Vikram does everything, of course he would be the one to go to if we wanted to all the sudden purchase a couple cycles. So Vikram, Rebecca, Joanne (who wanted to tag along) and I all headed out after school to get some cycles in Chengalpattu. After looking in a couple stores, we decided on two LEGIT bikes that included bells, locks, and a place in the back to put your bag--awesome right?! As we were waiting for the bikes to be tightened and ready for riding we went back and waited in the van. While we were waiting, Vikram left for a bit (again, he does all manner of things so this was not very surprising) and when he came back he had bought us all ice cream!! Yayy!! I felt like I was 5 all over again--buying my first bike, eating ice cream....it was all very super. We went and picked up our bikes and we realized that by the time we got back to Rising Star we would have long missed dinner so......Vikram had the great idea of stopping and eating parota on the way back (parota is my FAVORITE indian dish and we do not get it very often). The five of us had an awesome dinner, shared our highs and lows, and then went back to Rising Star. Besides the excitement of buying a bike, it was also exciting and great just to get off campus for the afternoon and shop and eat and be with friends just like I would in America.

 In the bike shop with our new cycles!!

With the go-to guy himself, Mr. Vikram

Oh the places I will go...on my bike :)

Now, as you can see from the title of this post, the story is not finished yet. This week I also had the opportunity to ride a scooty (aka mo-ped, scooter, whatever name you prefer really but in India it is a scooty). Rajakumari recently moved back to her home in a neighboring village and is no longer working as a housemother, only as a teacher. Because of this and my recent bike purchase, I told her I would come visit her at her home since I couldn't visit her at the hostel anymore. To make sure I knew the way to her house, she brought me home with her after school on Thursday so I could learn the way to her house. It was AMAZING driving through the back roads and villages with Rajakumari on her little scooty--India really is a beautiful country. When we got to her house, she showed me all around and we drank sweet milk from her own cows and ate coconuts from the tree in her front yard (she also sent a papaya home with me from the tree in her backyard). It was an excellent afternoon for sure.

Yes, I did tell Rajakumari that all my American friends were going to like this video...I hope you do.
Shout out to Ember for helping me get this video uploaded--THANK YOU!!

Well, that's all for now!

Vanakkam