Riding shotgun in Cambodia

Sometimes you're on the left, sometimes the right, and sometimes on the back of a bike. I recently experience the latter. My tire was flat due to a combination of finally pumping it up and then running over some sort of rose bush (minus the roses). That being said, I needed to get a ride to language class, which was across town. I was lesson planning with my friend Dave (who, i should mention is taller than me) and he was heading that way and offered to give me a ride. I first tried riding saddle style, i.e. legs out to the side, on the luggage rack on the back, but we didn't make it out of the driveway. Next, i sat with my legs facing forward, leaning back, straddling the bike, and trying to balance. We were off to a rocky start, figuratively and literally (it's a reddish dirt road with gravel mixed in sporadically). I had to bail off a few times, when oncoming traffic or large potholes caused by the consistent rain made balancing impossible. We looked pretty ridiculous, and most of the village agreed. As we rode past, instead of the usual barrage of hello's, we were greeted by incredulous looks and laughter. Believe it or not this was way better than the constant high-pitched-hello-screams that greet white people, wherever we go. In the most populated area, there is a speed bump. We had built up a bit of confidence riding over a few of the smaller bumps and gave this one a shot. Dave called out "bump," next thing i knew i was launched off the bike, luckily landing on my feet. Dave, not so much. Dave went down bike and all, covered in red dirt, but ok, and our friend Christine, who had been tailing us ever since she saw us go by, joined us as we keeled over laughing. This is Cambodia.