Prislopul

By the seventh day, Mario had finished the cycling he had been doing; so on the seventh day, he rested from all his cycling.

CycloGenesis 2:2

Truth to be told, I was stuck in that same spot, for a day longer than had planned or liked, under that tree with a lush treetop, because of the rain. I need it to stop so I can dry and pack up the tent and move on.

I went to a nearby hamlet looking for a grocery store and a power outlet. I was in luck, a young girl was working in her mom and pop store and she spoke some English, so I installed myself on their little shop porch, bought some sodas, snacks, and candies and started recharging my batteries, literally and figuratively.

When her younger brother came around with some other kids they started drooling all over my bike.
Seeing a built-in digital speedometer, alarm and some other sundries, they assumed it was an electric bike. The inevitable question was 'How much did it cost?' Without thinking much I sad 'One hundred thousand..' at which point their jaws dropped. Wait, shit, what did I just say?! I meant to say one thousand! However, even after I corrected myself, stating basically that it doesn't cost 200, but only 2 average monthly salaries in Romania, my brain stopped floating in sugar and caught up with my mouth talking Romanian. Too late. Wait, fret not, The Brain will take over now!

"Where are you staying?", continued the youngster. The Brain grinned and said out loud "at the monastery", all proud of its improv. God dammit Brain, that's a nun convent! Much theme porn?! (nah, we're keeping it PG, so "The Little Hours"). But the kids were happy with the answer. I mean, it all made a perfect sense. A guy riding a bike, instead of a car, comes through their village, instead of taking the highway, paid his bicycle as much as others pay their cars...him staying in a nunnery is the least weird he uttered in his broken Romanian.
And here I am, sleeping in the open, with my bike next to my tent, during a rainy and windy night, during which my bike alarm went off several times due to wind and vibrations...or a chubby kid was stealing my bike while I was asleep! 🤨 And definitely, no nuns checking on me! 💃🏻
Oh, mystery solved, there was a dog wandering around, trying to eat an empty can of mackerel. Chewed through the tin lid, poor beast.Read more