Live the same

Honestly, I don't remember what I've written about and what I haven't 😅. I remember touching on the topic of transportation and how people like me get scammed in the Dominican Republic when it comes to repairing and selling scooters. I actually learned how to fix my scooter pretty quickly, even though I've never owned a motorized vehicle before.

I used to be a cyclist — I did downhill and cross-country (which resulted in a bunch of injuries)), then BMX (which resulted in chronic leg pain)), then I rode a fixie (got hit by a car twice) — and that's it. Since 2012, I've maybe ridden a bike once or twice.

But scooter repairs were much more expensive. Parts were expensive, and many (like me) rode really old scooters, so we had to order parts from overseas — also expensive. Plus, removing the plastic from the scooter took a long time.

So at some point I bought a motorcycle, even though I had no idea how to ride it 😂 — I think I wrote about this too... I have many memories associated with this motorcycle — some good, some not so good. The local motoconchos (motorbike taxi drivers), most of whom I knew by sight and even personally, were constantly laughing at me because I couldn’t figure out how to change gears correctly for months 😅🤣... but I didn’t even know what they were laughing at until one day my friend asked me to give him a ride to pick up his motorcycle from an impound lot.

This friend weighed 120 kg, and at the time I was very nervous about riding with passengers, especially in areas with heavy traffic. Due to the extra “load”, the back of the bike was constantly wagging and I constantly thought I was going to fall. But during the ride he noticed me changing gears and explained how to do it correctly. That was the only motorcycle riding lesson I ever got.

The thing is, when you change gears, you have to stop pressing the gas, and I didn't know that. For three months no one told me 😅, even though most of my friends rode motorcycles...

My scooter ended up in the impound twice. Despite the corruption that allows you to pay for almost any violation on the spot (and they usually either say it outright or hint at it), there is one day a month when you can’t negotiate. This is when the traffic police “fill their quota”, hahaha. So 29 days a month, if you don’t wear a helmet (which is basically the only thing they fine motorcyclists for), they will outright offer to pay you on the spot. But on this day, the traffic police actually do their job.

It’s a bit funny. They set up traps on the road, usually right in front of speed bumps. They park a tow truck or some other large vehicle and then jump out from behind it. They don’t stop the cars, because the tow truck can only carry one car or twenty scooters/motorcycles. And on this day, it’s impossible to negotiate at all.

One time my scooter ended up in an impound lot because I gave it to a friend for 5 minutes and he rode it without a helmet. He forgot something at home and I let him take the scooter - it was less than a kilometer - but he walked back, haha. However, he took my scooter from the impound lot himself... funny system, right? A random person can take someone else's scooter, and all the documents are in the name of a third party. This is the Dominican Republic)))