To assume = Doom

Here I am in Malta, waiting for my plane to Cairo. It seems a little crazy to me that I've already made it this far without any major problems or mishaps.....

...well except for falling in the lake last night while riding Jolanda's brother's bike. Just wait til you see the picture that was taken after it happened... (featured soon.. haha)

So here's the story...

No one felt like riding their bikes with me so I decided, you know what? I'll go by myself! I need a little independence.... but little did I know I would independently fall from the bike and in to the murky, swamp behind her house. Europeans are tall. Her brother is probably about 6'4 which means he has long legs. Following so far? Long legs mean the seat and the pedals are VERY far apart, which means my short little body and legs don't quite reach the pedals....apart from the tips of my toes.
Add a narrow bridge in the middle of a nasty, fishy swamp to the mixture and the recipe equals disaster. A smelly, wet, girly disaster.

When I realized I wasn't going to be able to turn the corner on the narrow bridge because I couldn't reach the pedals, I freaked out (not wanting to fall in the swamp, you see) and tried to jump off the bike and onto the bridge (no, not into the swamp). I missed and landed in the lake. The scenario was not as gruesome as it could have been even though I did come out with a fairly large bump on my head when the bike...well... landed on my head (sheez this is embarrasing). I managed to land somehow in a bed of nasty, slurpy, swampy seaweed and only one side of my body was at one point, fully submerged in sickly Holland swamp water. The other side was, YAY, dry. So I pulled the bike out of the water with seaweed hanging from the handle bars and ...yes... walked back to the house where I was laughed at by Jolanda and her family... of course.

Anyway, I recovered... physically, although maybe not completely my pride and somehow I made it to Malta.

The title of this post was to assume = doom and I presume everyone would be happy if I stopped babbling and got on with it. I've assumed a lot of things in the past couple days some of which have gotten me into more trouble than others:

1. I assumed Kijelt (Jolanda's friend) wouldn't drink a whole bowl full of thick sweet onion and chili sauce, meant for dipping food in, for 5 Euros. It took him awhile, but I lost that bet.

2. I assumed I would be able to ride a bike that I could barely reach the pedals

3. I assumed that I was in Valletta, Malta when I got off the bus in a very populated, yet small metropolis. Only an hour later when I read the sign that said "Paolo Police" did I realize that I was still 20 mins outside of the city I actually wanted to go to. No wonder the map didn't make any sense and I couldn't find the Ocean! Holy embarrasment, batman!

... and just in case you're ever in Malta and riding public transport, the bus drivers like to honk at each other on the rode which often scares the bejeezus out of us country folk who are unfortunately stuck in the circumstance of riding formentioned bus...

4. I assumed because Malta was an Island it would have BEACHES. I packed my sunscreen, bikini and towel in my carry on so I could just hike to the beach on my layover. I start talking to the couple beside me and we get talking about how I'm only in Malta for about 7 hours and I tell them I'm gonna find a beach and go to it.... They respond with "A beach? It's all rock. There's only a couple beaches in Malta and none of them are around Valletta." Here I'm thinking, oh blah... what do they know.... UNTIL we approach Malta from the air and I see that INDEED, the ENTIRE exterior of the island is beautiful, solid, ROCK lined shores. Oh, blah.

And now my internet time is running out so I leave you with the moral of my story:
Don't assume..... or your vocab will be reduced to two words, like mine: OH, BLAH

Much Love
Krysten