One of the last few things I said to myself before returning back to Madagascar was - I just need one little thing to go right… Feeling discouraged and unsure I was hoping for the best as I returned to site. And things started off pretty well! I was back into the swing of things before I knew it and things were looking up! I even rode my bicycle for the first time and went all the way into town.
And then then next thing I knew I was looking down… and was on the ground…
I was riding my bicycle on the main road closest to my house, (going straight mind you!) When a motorcycle going the opposite direction took a left turn into oncoming traffic and me. I saw him begin to make the turn (remember there aren’t lights or hand signals) and before I could say anything or react he had hit and popped my front tire and the next thing I knew I was on the ground. My bike landed on top of me and then he was gone. He paused for less than a fraction of a second to see what or who he had hit and he took off.
For a while I was so angry at the driver. He didn’t even stop. His fear of being in trouble overcame any desire to do the right thing. His face was filled of fear of what may happen to him, not fear over what he had done to me. And what was even harder to accept was that no one helped me. The street was filled with people walking and others driving and sure they all stopped, but they only stopped to stare. They knew what the driver did was wrong, but no one moved an inch to get to me or the driver Even writing about it brings back some of those not-so-nice feelings.
After the anger came disbelief. I couldn’t believe it actually happened. I just laughed at my luck. Of course it would be me. After all, I have been the person saying for the past 6 months that I wasn’t sure if riding a bike was a good idea here in Mahajanga…
But it did happen, so praise God I wasn’t injured more than a few bumps and bruises on my hands and knees. My bicycle took the brunt of it. I try not to think about what could have happened because it could have been so much worse. I try to now to just be thankful I’m okay and be glad I was wearing my helmet.
I’m not so sure that was on my bucket list, but, hey, now at least I can check that one off. Been there — survived that — and things are looking up again.