It was like Christmas...the day we got bikes! :D

A blog post from May 30 that I can finally post now that our internet is back!

Yesterday...WE GOT NEW BIKES!! After testing the old bikes that were left from the volunteers who were here last, we decided that it was time to get some new bikes. They were quite worn out, and 4 out of the 5 were broken and in need of much repair. Since biking is our only form of transportation here, and we will be biking to and from the orphanage everyday (and anywhere else we need to go) we decided it was time to get some new bikes. So Laura took us to Big C (Thailand's version of a Walmart) and helped us purchase our bikes and take them home. They were only 1400 baht, which is less than 50 US dollars.

 

As you can see, our bikes are very bight...mine is an almost blinding pink! When we road our bikes around town for the first time, people were laughing at us and pointing saying; "faraong! faraong!"( which means foreigners) It was pretty funny. Although we are now the laughing stock of our village, I still LOVE my new bike! ;) We were all SO excited to pick them out and buy them! We all felt like little kids. Becca and I were commenting on how we haven't been on a bike in a long time and it's been years since we owned our "own" bike.

As we were leaving Big C and I was thinking about how I couldn't wait to jump on my bike and ride like the wind, I noticed a little boy, about 2 or 3 years old that was throwing a temper tantrum because his dad was holding his new little bike and wouldn't let him ride it out of the store. As the screaming child burst in tears and threw himself on the ground I heard him say: "But dad! I just loooovvveee my new bike!" 

I could definitely relate.    

Picking out our new bikes...we have a winner!! 

Unwrapping our new bikes!

Rachel found her bike!

All done and ready to ride :)

Emily and her new red bike!

Testing them out for the first time!

Away they go!

UPDATE: Our bikes have each broken and been repaired several times since this post (we shouldn't have been surprised since they were only $50 and we ride them everyday). 

Needless to say, we have become very good friends (and we LOVE making new friends) with the bike repair man who lives just down the road. :) When he sees us coming he just nods, smiles, and says: "ahh, faraong." We are very thankful for him and will definitely be keeping him in business this summer!