Bike for Immigration Justice

Allyson

If you thought I was done blogging then you’ve been had!!  I feel rested and ready to write again (blogging was really getting to be chore towards the end of the ride).  Plus, I have much more to write about, such as: I looked out my new kitchen window and saw a male lizard wooing the ladies with his red bulbous neck, I went to a yoga class yesterday and pulled my butt muscle, and I can catalogue all of the meals I’ve eaten in New Orleans thus far by the stains on my sole pair of non-spandex pants!

So far I’ve made three potential friends!  I was also interviewed by “CSPAN” about the oil spill in the Gulf.  Upon further reflection I have my doubts about my interviewer’s credentials.  He was one dude with a video camera and tripod.  There was no CSPAN van or crew.  I actually only saw the word CSPAN in one place: he was wearing a black hat, upon which “CSPAN” was hand-written with what looked like white-out and a shaky stroke.  Also, does CSPAN even do news reporting??  Isn’t it just just footage of the House of Representatives and such?!  Nevertheless I gave him the lucrative interview he so desired.  Because my brain didn’t process all that stuff until later.  And because he had a winning smile.  

My unwavering trust in strangers makes me think of Allyson, whom James and I meet while around Holt, Florida.  We are relaxing at a convenience store/gas station, assessing an approaching storm, talking with store-owner Sadruddin, who is remarkable for many reasons: He immigrated from Burma to Pakistan to the US with his beautiful, model, Indian wife and has passion for the rights of all immigrants.  He acknowledges the irony of the problems US border states are having with immigrants from Mexico, given that this was formerly Mexican land, which the US illegally invaded and stole from Mexico in the 1800′s.  He gives us a brief, but detailed and informative description of the history of Islam.  Without any knowledge of my background, he nonchalantly references my half-Indian-ness, how did he know?!

I see Allyson, who is about to hop into her car after shopping in the store, and ask her if she has opinions about what the gray clouds in the distance will mean to bikers such as James and I.  She thinks it is best to bike on and out ride the storm.  She overestimates me.  She lives about 5 miles away.  If we get caught in the storm she tells us we are welcome to come by her house and take cover for the night.  James and I do not get caught in the storm because we weenie out and wait for it to pass, but we decide to stop by her house anyway…we need a place to live for the night!  She opens the door exclaiming, “Oh my god, I didn’t think you’d actually come by!  What if you are axe murders?!  What was I thinking?!”  She’s freaking out.   It’s hilarious!! We assure her that we would be perfectly happy camping in the yard.  Despite her suspicions of our murderous intentions she invites us in for pork chops.  We meet her son’s girlfriend Zamira and Zamira’s 18-month daughter Isabella.  Then she proceeds to call a local camp ground and when they don’t answer she pursues the search online for any place where we could possibly stay other than her house.  Anything to get rid of us!  It’s super awkward and so funny.

Finally we get her talking about her family and found that her son James was in the same infantry unit as my cousin Dave (well, at least I think so, we’ll have to talk about this Dave).  Anywho, she says that she is a Republican but her son is in Iraq Veterans Against the War so my bike ride would be just his thing. I’m thinking, “We’re in like flynn! A place indoors to sleep!”

After pork chops, the five of us go out to the patio and have some drinks.  Isabella is a little cutie-pie with a ton of energy who’s getting into stuff constantly.  Allyson, Zamira, and Isabella are so friendly and wonderful to spend time with. Allyson tells us about her house.  The property belonged to her great grandmother who acquired the land through some government act who’s-name-I-can’t-recall that allowed people to live and work on large areas of farm land and eventually gain ownership.  The land has been divided up among family members now.  (This is the same way that many people I’ve met obtained their property). Last year she knocked down her great g-mom’s original house and built the one she’s in now.  She saved the materials of the old house and plans to build a small replica of it on the property.

Zamira tells us about how, one week prior, she and one of the dogs encountered a rattle snack in the backyard, “right over there,” she says, pointing at our bikes.  She screamed to Allyson who ran and got her shot gun and killed the rattle snake before it could strike.  Then they say goodnight to us and Allyson tells us we’re welcome to set up camp anywhere in her [rattle snake infested] backyard.    This was an unexpected turn of events.  I really thought we had scored a place inside!

James heads for the safety of the bathroom while I move trepidatiously towards the bikes.  Allyson comes out and asks us if we need anything, she seems all jumpy.  I’m laying down the tarp and getting the tent out.  Allyson comes out again, suggesting that maybe we’d prefer to set up the tent on the concrete patio, put pool floats inside, and sleep on them.  Hmmm…tempting?  I’m getting out the tent stakes.  Allyson comes out again.  She shows us the bug spray and suggests that we could sleep on the patio furniture outside…she’s flustered.  She’s about to go inside when she cracks, “OK, OK, you have to sleep inside!  You can’t sleep outside with the ratttle snakes!  I just can’t allow that!! Just please don’t kill us!  I really hope you’re not axe murderers!!”  This woman is hilarious!  By doing nothing at all we’ve worn her down.  Tent stuff gets packed away and we’re inside in 5 minutes.  James and I find cozy spots on the floor in front of the TV and the three of us hang out watching Naked Gun.  Rattle snakes are but a distant memory.

The next morning we wake up to Allyson making coffee and pancakes, sweet!  Ok, I know this is totally obnoxious and ungrateful, but I have to vent.  I’m still a bit perturbed that James got three pancakes and I only got two.  I have a ginormous appetite, but people assume that I eat less because I’m a woman…not true!!   I would woop James’ butt in a pancake eating contest and everyone knows it!!  I finish my 2 pancakes and had to sit there jealously while James continued eating.  Painful!  

We say goodbye and thank you to Allyson, Zamira, and Isabella.  Together we all breath a sigh of relief that no one was murdered doing our stay.  Just as we leave it starts to rain.  Then it’s I-can-hardly-see-in-front-of-me pooouring.  But we ride on.  There’s no one else crazy enough to be on the road so we have no cars to worry about.  The rain is refreshing.  We’re heading to Pensacola!

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