border trip

Wow.. today was so … african!  I had to go to the border and get my visa stamped, something I have to do once a month (long story). The day started with rain.  I was really excited because it hasn’t rained in a long time, maybe a month, and usually it means I get to wear jeans because it’s not hot.  It was humid and rainy all at once though, so I wasn’t in jeans… I decided to wear my white shorts since most of the day would spent in the car.  In my head that meant a skirt would be uncomfortable and they’d probably stay stark white all day.  Well we left right at 9am, me and Gildo (the driver) and all seemed fine… that is, all seemed fine in the first 100 feet of driving.  When we left the center I quickly realized what a journey it would be to get to the border in the rain.  It was a torrential down pour.  The car’s A/C wasn’t working very well (but it’s the only car with A/C)and there was no heat to speak of, making the windows wet inside and out, so I couldn’t see what was in front of me.  I prayed Gildo could. Here’s a little history about Mozambique: freedom from Portugal: 1975, end of civil war: 1995; country-wide floods: 2000.  So every time it rains, it’s really flooding.  Thus, the toll was closed which meant we had to go the long way; the long way on top of the slow driving due to rain!  And, Gildo was taking our truck off the road and driving through huge puddles most Americans avoid, in order to get in front of the traffic!  Basically, he was doing exactly the opposite of what Americans are taught to do –scary!  Oh my gosh, it took 3 hours to get to the border, which is how long it should take round trip!

Well everything at the border went well, which is an amazing blessing, and kept my spirits high for a most of the rest of the day.  Right when we left the border Gildo slows down and says, what I understood as: I’m tired.  But no, oh no, he was saying “oh no, the tire.”  So we pull over and he jumps out to check out the tire.  In true Mozambican culture, we end up with five guys helping us.  So I just stayed in the car, even though I wanted to help (because I love cars) I thought staying dry was a better option :o)  I ended up just furthering the stereotype of white people being lazy and girls knowing nothing of cars…but again, I thought being dry was a much better choice.  So they put the spare tire on, and for whatever reason, the decision is made that this spare isn’t good and we need to fix our original tire before trying to make it home.  From later observation, I’m pretty certain there was next-to-no tread on this spare tire.  So we drive two minutes with the guys who helped us hitching a ride in the back of the truck and land at a little place that apparently fixes cars.  I’m in a small heaven here :o)  First of all, the guy who’s working there looks my age and he’s really cute.  But more importantly, I get to hang out at a car shop and watch this guy fix the tire in Africa!  It was awesome.  This, like the border stop, kept my spirits high.  I took the liberty to walk around and check everything out, it was really fun!  So after ten minutes and 100 mets ($3) we’re off again on our original tire. 


This is when it really got fun, about ten minutes –no, five minutes, into the drive this tire starts making a weird noise.  I point it out to Gildo and he says “It’s fine--”  But before he can finish his sentence the tire totally blows out and we’re on the side of the road for round two.  This time is different in so many ways though… first, we get no help.  Second, I realize Gildo doesn’t really know how to change the tire (probably never having owned a car).  He lifts the truck before loosening the blots, classic beginner mistake.  Well it’s (#3) starting to rain, again, and to add on to the rain the road and every where around the truck is covered with ants (#4).  To try and paint a picture for y’all: the ground is moving there are so many ants.  This is when my attitude to laugh about the day turns immediately into frustration and disgust.  I have ants and rain all over me!  Eww.  Difference #5.  So I try to show Gildo how to loosen the bolts (the only way me and my mom could ever do it was to stand on the wrench and bounce a little) and he gets them loose in no time.  *white shorts, not so white anymore*  Then he tells me to get in the car, which I do immediately because I’m really tired of constantly stomping my feet to keep the ants off (which doesn't work any way).  I literally couldn’t make contact with my feet to the ground with out having ants on me.  Moving on, I’m back in the truck again because I didn’t need Gildo to tell me twice.  He ends up finishing about ten minutes later and jumps into the car –dripping wet.  I felt so bad for him, he was wet pants and shirt all the same.

We’re on the road again, and this time it looks like we’ll make it home.  This is where it’s important to remember that little detail about the spare tire not having tread left.  I was literally praying the first 30 minutes into the drive home because I was so scared.  Gildo didn’t seem to get that you have to nice and gentle with spare tires, he was taking the turns at 180kph.  I don’t even want to know what that is mph. :o)  And this is the tire on my side, too!  We stop at the first gas station we see to get more fuel and I go in to buy chocolate.  Because at this point, I need comfort food, and it’s 2pm so I need food in general hah.  I bought two cokes, two sandwiches and a big chocolate bar.  It was great that this place had sandwiches, uncommon for gas stations :o)  I got home around 3pm, three hours later than I had expected.  All in all, I got what I need done and I was home safe: good day. Nothing went according to plan: African day.