keep your mouth closed while riding a bike

I just purchased my plane ticket back to the states. I am not sure if there is a betting pool on if I was going to come back, but whoever had April 21st wins. I am scheduled to arrive in KC around 2pm on that Tuesday. Any volunteers to pick me up? I am still not sure what I will do once I return, but I will keep you updated when I figure it out.
Story time:
On Monday I decided to go to the nearest place with internet, a 1 hour bike ride to a hotel in Santa Domingo. We were without internet for 3 days and I needed to check e-mails about the possible gig in Alaska. On the bike ride there I was going down a hill and a sizeable bug flew into my throat. At first I tried to cough it up with no avail. Then I just tried to swallow it, and again no good. I am now realizing that I have caught a wasp in my throat because I can feel it sting me. After a moment of panic, I realize the only thing I can do is to keep going and find help. A bit down the road I find a small tienda and buy some aqua. At this point my throat is swolen and in pain, but I realize that if I havent stopped breathing by now, I will probably be ok. I get the internet place and get some ice. In my head I think this is bad, but should only hurt for a bit and then get better and hopefully the ice will help. After about 5 minutes on the internet I realize that my throat is getting much worse and I am not going to be able to sit it out. I find a school close by, and thanks be to God, they had a small clinic room with a nurse. He had a look in my throat and told me (in Spanish) that the stinger was still in there and he would have to get it out. He tried with some cotton swaps, but with no luck. He then told me that we would have to go to Altagracia (slightly bigger town on the island) to the clinic. Luckily he was going and said he would take me, but he also had to visit a patient and it ended up being a 2.5 hour truck ride. At some point I could no longer swallow, but I held it together and was able to breath ok. Once in the clinic he took me to the dentist who held my head down and pulled out half a wasp that had been lodged in my throat for 4 hours. After that I went to get ice cream and starting feeling much better. I also had to get some medication for the swelling and to make sure it was all cleaned out. By the next day I was feeling right a rain and I havent had any ill effects.
Looking back on the situation, altough it took a long time, I was well taken care of and it only cost about $2 for the medication I needed. I actually think I prefer the third world health care to the privitized version we have in the states.
Otherwise, not much has changed around here. Hope everyone has a lucky Friday the 13th!