As dedicated fans may remember, one year ago I was celebrating my birthday in Quito. Well, almost all of me -- a few bits and pieces of the skin from my knee, butt, and face had been lost in a soccer game. I still managed to turn 25, and I was able to stay relatively complete for the entire year.
But it seems that February takes an annual opportunity to help me adjust to my new age, and the adjustments that I'll need to make in terms of my older body, slower reflexes, worse vision, balding, etc. I went to Mallorca to visit Billie, and she couldn't wait for me to see her motor scooter, which she uses to buzz around her town and get to school. It had been described to her as a "toy," and sure enough, she rode it around like it was the easiest thing in the world. She said I could give it a shot, so I hopped on, ignored her as she desperately tried to give me instructions, and zipped off.
What happened next was eerily predicted by a mysterious and powerful entity years ago, in an influential and popular written work. I'm not referring to Machiavelli, but instead Curious George. I'll let the following pictures illustrate how the ride went.
1 seconds after turning on the moto:
2 seconds after turning on the moto:
3 seconds after turning on the moto:
The thing malfunctioned, straight up. (the thing = my brain) I tended to my wounds as best I could, via paper towels wrapped around my legs and strapped with a dress sock. After getting the blood off my Jordans, I took it easy for the rest of the weekend.
Which wasn't too hard -- the weather was perfect, so we spent most of the time hanging out and walking around her town. On Sunday, we were invited to a big ol' lunch with her friend/co-teacher Xesca, who had a friend that was hosting a bunch of people for 9kg (20 lbs) of burgers. We were recruited to put a dent into that, which we were able to do. I also tried some Mallorcan spreadable sausage, which was weird. I talked to a friend of hers, a Serbian guy who had lived in France before moving to Mallorca, who spoke perfect English, and gave us some recommendations on places to visit in the area.
The rest of the weekend was spent exploring new parts of the island. We went to the west coast, north of Palma, and saw some cool little towns and drove around in Xesca's borrowed car on some windy mountain roads. I'll let the pictures do the talking...
By the way, all of the pictures, and more, are on my Flickr page (organized by trip here), which I encourage you to check out as I learn to use my camera.
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