The day before we left the US to head back to Honduras, a cousin of Hailey’s invited me to go mountain biking with him just outside of Nashville, so I decided to join him. Of course I did not have bicycle, so I rode his wife’s bike. Even though it was a very nice bicycle, it was a few sizes too small. Nonetheless, I had a TON of fun riding the trails. At first I was a bit nervous, as the bike handled much different than my motorcycle in Honduras, and it actually took some effort to make it move (instead of just turning my wrist). As we were nearing the end of the trail, I had a minor accident. Nothing too bad, just a big bruise on the inside of my left thigh.
I learned today that accidents on motorcycles are motorcycles are worse than on bicycles. On my way into town to take one of our students to catch a bus back home, we hit a slippery patch in the road and my back tire slid out from underneath us. We slid on the dirt/rock road and finally came to a halt with the motorcycle on top of our right legs.
“Duele mi pierna…duele mi pierna,” cried Martha. (“My leg hurts, my leg hurts”)
I lifted the motorcycle off our legs, and we both lifted ourselves into a sitting position. My attention immediately turned to Martha, ignoring the fact that my shoulder and knee were in pain. After firing off several questions, I determined that Martha was not hurt seriously and a quick trip to the neighbor’s for some gauze and bandages would be the best choice. It was as I climbed back up on the moto that I realized that I too was injured, though I knew it was nothing serious.
When I returned from the neighbor’s, Martha was standing up with a small smirk on her face, so I knew that she was ok. We treated her cuts and bruises, and she even joked with me. “Last night I prayed that if this trip to my family’s house (the reason for going is not important) was not right, that God would not allow me to go. This is not what I had in mind!”
I told Martha that we had three options:
1) Continue on to Zambrano for her to catch the bus
2) Return to campus
3) Ask a neighbor if he could take her in his truck
She chose option one, so we hopped back on the motorcycle and finished the remainder of the trip with no problems. I waited with her for the bus and we joked about how the morning did not go as either of us had planned. I apologized to her many times and asked that she tell her father I was sorry and explain that I was not being reckless.
After I returned to campus, I cleaned my cuts and took Ibuprofen for a very sore shoulder. My injuries are nothing serious, but I will take a fall on a bicycle over a motorcycle any day. I am sure I will be very sore tomorrow, but am very thankful that our injuries were nothing more serious. It was a good reminder to live every day with joy and to be grateful for the life that God sustains every day.
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