Riding African Style

The trip to Bangui started at 6:45 am with the alarm clock going off.  For normal people, this is not unusual.  However, I am not a morning person so this seems like it is an inappropriate time for the eyes to open up.  I crawled out of bed and packed the last few items sitting around and then went to find the truck that was to take me to Bangui.  (In Sango, a truck is called “kutukutu” b/c the first truck that they saw made that sound as it drove by…extremely technical huh).  I found the truck and we loaded my stuff and then we went over to the garage to pick up the remaining people to go to Bangui.  Now, in Africa if you are going somewhere the expats swear that the African’s know it before you do and are asking for a ride.  I had myself, my translator, and my driver so we had two open seats.  Throughout the week Kim Cone (the expat living in Berberati) arranged to have two people fill those empty seats from a local mission group.  As we were loading up, I noticed that a good sized woman was loading all of her stuff and began to get in the back seat.  I was totally surprised and began to ask questions.  Well, it appears that this is the driver’s wife and she must come along too.  I was totally frustrated.  This was not the arrangement and I didn’t want to kick the other two people that Kim told me to bring out.  Since Kim had gone to Douala the day before I couldn’t solicit his help and I didn’t know what the right protocol was given the culture, so I had someone go get Kim’s wife.  In the end, all four of them piled in the back seat.  I know that this is customary for African’s as we drove by many vehicles piled high with people and stuff.  I still felt like a tool b/c I was sitting up front with plenty of space and they were packed in the back.  Yet, I knew that I would not be able to handle being that close to them for that long of a ride. 

 

We drove basically in silence with a conversation brewing every once in a while between the Africans.  We stopped for lunch and I think they all thought I was so weird b/c I would not get out of the car.  I pulled my bread out of the bag and layered on the peanut butter.  I knew the minute I stepped out of the car I would be hit up on every side by people wanting something.  As it was, there was a teenage boy banging on my window asking for food.  I intended to give him some when we were leaving but he was gone when we left.  I didn’t want to give it to him as I sat there because so many people were just watching me and they would instantly want something too.  The staring eyes just seemed overwhelming.  I wanted to observe this world without them gawking at me.  That isn’t really possible in the rural areas of CAR.

 

After lunch we came across this vehicle that had broken an axle.  I actually don’t know what was broken but one wheel was entirely off and it looked like the rod that connected the tires had snapped.  This vehicle had been piled high with people…as usual and some of them were military men.  They flagged us down and since they were military we had to stop.  They asked for a ride (of course my translator didn’t translate this I just gathered it from the conversation).  I had this stinken feeling that we would have to take them and I wanted to say absolutely not but no idea if that was wise.  In the end, the driver told them we didn’t have room.  I could tell they were looking at us like you got to be kidding.  You only have 6 people and there is nothing on your roof.  This would have been a huge liability and caused a lot of problems at control points.  In the end, the guys let us go.  I was so glad. 

 

Throughout the entire trip, they switched back and forth between Sango music and American music as they called it.  I know they were trying to be nice but it was Christian gospel or old time music and honestly I didn’t really like it.  I almost would prefer the Sango.  I tried to tell them just to enjoy their music but they insisted.  It felt very comical.

 

I think the driver must have been flying as it did seem like he was going fast and we made it back 2 hours earlier than when we went to Berberati.  Of course, they only stopped for about 15 minutes for lunch rather than the 45 minute stop on the way to Berberati….but 2 hours earlier is good time. 

 

The entire trip felt surreal and comical.  I have experienced my first trip without another expat with me and with African’s piled in (at least by my definition).  I felt like I was getting tricked into things b/c they kept asking for stuff and I hate to say no but really wanted to.  I had no idea what was going on most of the time…a lost puppy.  I just felt like laughing. 

 

All and all…I made it.  Safe and sound.  My stomach did not loose it.  I wasn’t that tired…a little sore but that will go away.