I think right now we are friends but...
With the help of my new friends (also known as AAA) as well as some of my supporters I was able to fix up the red jeep that we have here at JH. We haven't had a working vehicle around for the past 5-6 weeks or so and especially with the rainy season it has been a bit difficult. So my buddies were able to get me a new engine for the jeep and fix it up for me. The even did a lot of little things to make it nicer for me- put in a new window in place of the broken passenger side window. Fixed the really hard to turn on windshield wiper button. Fixed the door handle so you no longer have to roll down the window to open the door to get out. They really took good care of me.
Even though this is a little 4 passenger jeep wrangler we have made good use of it African style in the last two days. Sunday we took some of the kids to their aunts, uncles, grandparents and what not to stay for a few days- good to see their families and spend time outside the orphanage. When drooping them off we took one load with 8 of us and one load with 7. Now we only had 2 adults and mostly the middle kids. Today we went to town with 9 of us and the youngest one being Jerry who is like a little American football player. We were packed in there. We hauled home 4 large bags of rice along with other food for the home and through it all the jeep has treated us well.
However if you remember from the last time I was here- the jeep and I have had a few rough times. First the jeep wanted to work when it did and just not work when it didn't- no real reason. Then the key switch liked to stick- so each time you turned the jeep off you were not sure you would be able to turn it one again. We couldn't find the horn and after being here you will understand how important it is for communicating while driving. With few traffic rules you need a way to make your presence known- for safety's sake. Aunty Mary and I had a few laughs yelling BEEP, BEEP while driving through Bo.
While my dad and sisters were here- Amy, Kari, Aunty Mary and I went to town one day. We were so proud of ourselves and how quickly we got in and out of the market and headed home. We made one more stop in New London to get some bread- at the same place we always do. I pulled over and parked between two other cars (with a few more cars in front and behind them) as we are there two Road Authority people on honda's pull up and block us in. (Road Authority is different than the police but...) They proceed to tell us we cannot park here- though others have so many times in the past and there are people all around us- we not only get a ticket- but they want to escort us to the Road Authority place. Aunty Mary is telling me to run away and Joe is on the phone saying the same thing- well I have a STRONG conscience and running from the police is just not something I am capable of- and it is not like it would be hard to find the one white girl driving the red jeep with Jonathan's House written on both sides. So I decide we will just go and pay the ticket and move on.
On the way there the escorts leave us so with Aunty Mary in the car and Joe still on the phone telling me to leave- I decide that I will go back to the home and let Joe deal with it- so we go to turn around outside the road authority and the jeep breaks down. We have trouble turning the key- then we get it turned but it won't start. No- many times over the previous week we had to push start the jeep- so here we are on a bit of a pot-hole filled road, going around a corner and up hill and we have Aunty Mary, Amy and Kari to push the jeep. (Mind you first I did what any American daughter in Africa would do- I called my dad. Good thing he was also in Africa and just like I knew he would- he said he was on his way)
So now here we are- 4 girls trying to outrun the cops by pushing our vehicle on foot- who comes to help us, but the same people who were escorting us there- they had come back. So now they do help us get the jeep running but then they continue to push it right through the Road Authority gate. So now we are just going to pay the ticket- however the jeep will not idle so to keep it running I need to stay in it- and Aunty Mary says there is no way she is paying that ticket- we shouldn't have gotten one and she is not going to be part of this. Kari can't go in by herself- she doesn't know enough Mende or Krio- finally we get Aunty Mary to go in but she doesn't talk to me the rest of the way home. Dad arrives and I make him drive home- I am done with this. But by the time we pull into the compound we are all laughing and taking photos with the ticket.
Not long after Joe had the jeep pulling a load of wood home and the switch finally gave out for the last time- he couldn't do anything to make it turn. So taking out the key switch completely and installing a wire you had to pull to turn the jeep on (yup that makes it pretty hard to steal the jeep) was done. Now we were in business again- until it started BURNING fuel- it took one gallon to get the 3 miles to town. I was not rich enough to drive the jeep anymore- so we finally parked it and that is where it sat for the past year.
This Saturday I got the jeep back again and so far she has treated me quite well. I do hope that we will remain on good terms for a while longer.
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