the struggle is real.

this has been our favorite phrase since we've arrived. living in a new culture with little understanding of anything and severely limited language skills proves for interesting experiences daily. thus, "the struggle is real" seems to explain our lives quite often. some of the struggles are emotional, some are just plain confusing, and some end up being hilarious.  the struggle was very real when a group of my friends and i decided to ride a random amusement park ride plopped down in the middle of our town square. we affectionately referred to it as "the spinning ride of death" before we got on. little did we know this name would come too close to accurately describing our fate... five of us hopped on and got hardcore strapped in--we had bars across us, waist straps, and even two foot straps. as we loaded up, a crowd of at least fifty asians gathered to watch us crazy americans experience this ride. before we knew it we were happily spinning through the air, questioning if we would see our dinners again, and uncontrollably laughing!! the funny thing about the ride is you rarely know if you're going up or down because as the ax arm rotates, the entire bench of seats spins any and every way. it's a mess but hilarious. the weird thing about rides over here in EA is they should last absolutely no more than two minutes but generally go on for at least ten. joyfully spinning until... we had been spinning and laughing for less than two minutes when we suddenly heard a loud BANG, CRACK, CLUNK...what??? one of my friends who has already spent a year here started shouting to the operator to immediately stop as we were all screaming. simultaneously to the treacherous sounds we felt the entire ride shift left and drop out of bracket. the struggle was SO real. due to our velocity and fierce speed, it took a few more turns around and clanking down until we slowed to a near stop. meanwhile the entire crowd was gasping. we had one friend on the ground who was able to document this crazy experience. fortunately we made it off and didn't slingshot off anywhere. the ride...clearly not supposed to be angled a foot down. the quick fix for this gear separation and bracket splitting was a mere handheld wrench and screw driver...the ride was closed for a few days, but we're pretty sure not many repairs went into it. i guess that's what we get for trusting an amusement park ride that was probably pawned from america in about 1970...the struggle was real, but we are extra thankful for trusted protection. it certainly gave us a wild memory, some hearty laughs, and enough wisdom to never ride it again... mr fix-it.