So I've found myself something else to enjoy doing here in Belgium - bike riding. My first time here was a maybe a week or so after I arrived - Erika offered to show me the village, so we went on a short ride - not more than 15 minutes. I had to reremember how to ride a bike, which didn't take long but did event in, I'll admit, a couple embarrassing false starts as I tried to get going for the first time in a little while. It was a nice day – if I remember correctly, the sun was actually shining, so we took a small shortcut up to the top of the hill of the village, then biked back down the hill and home in a sort of a circle. And I loved it.
So the next day I went again by myself, and had the perfect bike ride. It was sunny, but the air was too chilled to allow it to be hot. I drove up into the village, but then instead of following the short loop back to the house, I continued on upwards, driving past the many small pastures and not-so-small houses that make up the countryside here. The road, thin and winding like almost all the roads here, was a slight uphill grade on the way up, which meant on the way back I could coast the whole way. I was all alone, with just the occasional car passing by, so I just enjoyed the solitude and beautiful country. That was the first time it struck me that I really am in a totally different place than Rio Rico, and I love it here, too.