30 Days of Thanksgiving: November 3--A Bike

We only have one (wonderful) car here, and there are often times where Andrew and I both need to be in different places.  Our solution (for now) is that Andrew bought a $50 Japanese-made bike, which he rides down the Cow Trail to school 3-4 mornings a week, freeing up the car for Ruth to grocery shop, volunteer at the clinic and do car-pool runs.  The ride is 3 miles downhill, and only takes him about 15 minutes.  It is always an early morning adrenaline rush for Andrew, dodging puddles, chickens, moto-taxis, busses, large flying insects and rabid dogs (okay, they probably aren't rabid, but it makes it exciting to THINK that they are rabid while biking away from them as they chase him).  He hasn’t attempt the ride up the hill from school to home yet—it would be killer. We just throw the bike in the back of the van and drive it back up at the end of each day. We are very thankful for his safety in biking so far;  there are no bike helmets in Nicaragua big enough to fit Andrew’s massive head, so we will have Ruth’s sister bring one when she comes for Thanksgiving. We also are thankful for Chepe, a gardener at NCA who is also a bike mechanic extraordinaire! His skills have already come in handy.