springtime is the best thing that ever happened to this city.
i am happy.

i've come to realize that i barely knew how to ride a bike before i came here. i've improved, but it's not always so smooth.

a few incidents:

ONE the maastricht police attempted to flag me down for going the wrong way on a street that i suddenly realized did only seem to have oncoming traffic. tickets can be steep around here, so i was lucky when i smiled, said good afternoon!, and these cops got distracted by some guys hanging out in that cloud of smoke that encircles the coffee shops in town. it's such a small town though, i fear they'll recognize me. a pair of security gaurds once flagged me down to let me know that they found my id card behind the desk. they managed to pick me out even while tucked into a coat and scarf, whizzing into a parking lot.

TWO a middle aged dutch man wearing a plaid suit actually grabbed me by the shoulders while i was biking up a hill. now, i am used to being yelled at on the street, and i got more than a few marriage proposals walking around my neighborhood in namibia, but this was a first. the worst part was that this chubby little bald man was definitely pedaling at twice my speed. of course.

also, i've never seen a tricycle. i guess that they skip the whole training wheels thing around here.

THREE i fell. twice in a row. i've told some people about the first, and others about the second, but this is my first confession that it was actually twice. in a span of five minutes. yes.

first, i was running across a street with my bike and it managed to slip out of my hands. it slammed onto the asphault, my legs all tangled up in the frame.

the second time, i had a very large sack of apples (the big bags were on sale!) in my purse. on a very windy evening making a sharp turn over a curb, i was more than a little lopsided. i tipped over. when i stood up, the wheel was pointed one way, and the handlebars another.

when i took it into the shop the repairman whipped out a wrench from his overall pockets, turned a couple of screws, and sent me on my way. no charge, of course. the fact that i had actually dragged the bike squeaking and sputtering all the way into town for this seemed comedy enough to make it worth his while.