Bicycle!

A few days ago I took the ferry across the bay and bought a bike! This has produced a massive change in my lifestyle here, and with school ramping up I no longer have to fear taking the (expensive) bus six kilometers to one of my schools.
One of the most exciting (if least productive) changes is that I can head to the beach at practically any time, and its a pretty short distance. Distance is measured in time in Costa Rica, and I never bring my watch so I'm not sure exactly how long, but I can do a pleasurable beach trip that includes swimming in a little over an hour. I've also found a nice route that takes me a pretty good distance from home, but provides excellent birding opportunities as well as stunning vistas of the hills that jut up from the fields.
The trip to get the bike was pretty exciting, it included taking boats across the gulf. The boat ride back was overcrowded and rough, and the flew into the air on every wave, and then the bottom slapped the surface of the water, while spray flew in through the open front windows. Ultimately it was worth it though, because I saw a sea turtle from the pier, and sea turtles are adorable. Upon landing we began hefting unassembled bicycles in boxes across Puerto Jimenez, and onto the overcrowded 4:30 bus. I should note that this bus, and most buses on Osa (2 of the 3) are unmodified US School Buses. They are frequently crowded, and that usually makes seated people in front start yelling at people in the back to make more room so that the bus can start going, even though the people in back are packed in like sardines. Today it was even worse, because aside from the normal bags of animal feed (and the strangely ever present weed-whacker) there were two bike boxes. Right about when we got to my friend's site the police stopped the bus, and said that there were too many people on it. I am still sure what this was supposed to accomplish, because they did not offer to shuttle us home in the police car, merely informed us that the bus was too full and could not continue. After a few minutes of argument the bus driver probably swore he would not do it again, and we could get under way. During that time my friend and I tried to get the bike off the bus, and found that we had to use the emergency exit hatch on the back, since there was a solid wall of people between us and the back door. The Police captain helped us lower the bike, and my friend leaped down and ran to pay the bus driver before the mutinous passengers forced him to drive away. Forty-five minutes later when the bus got to my stop it was no less crowded, and I found to my chagrin that no one was willing to help me lift and hold the box for the few seconds between jumping out of the hatch, and lowering the bike off the bus. This resulted in confusion when the precariously balanced box began falling back into the other passengers before I could turn around and grab it. I still feel pretty bad about this, but no one was injured or even remotely crushed, and I managed to pay the driver before one of my neighbors even managed to push her way off the bus, so I didn't even hold anyone up. I hope.
I wear a helmet every time I get on my bike, as per Peace Corps regulation, and yesterday one of my English students borrowed a bike from my house and with the help of her friends began to learn how to ride. She kept riding by to show how fast she learned, but I was most pleased to see that aside from being an excellent bike rider, she was also wearing a helmet.