DETAINED AGAIN?!?!?!

On our last little get away together we decided to head just past Freetown to stay with our friend David near the beach. The little red jeep had done well for us. We had a few problems here and there, but by now we were getting pretty good at being our own mechanics. On the way to Rutile on the BUMPY roads we lost the right brake and then eventually the brakes went out completely as we were driving in the hills of the Rutile mines. Not too fun, but being a manual I was able to manage it until we got to town. Turns out the break line rusted through. In not too much time and not too much money (about $10- for two cans of hydraulic fluid, a new line, and their time) we were back on the road. However later that night I had no pressure in the gas pedal. Open the hood Amy, Rainny and I look around- we find this wire on the carburetor that if it is hooked in this other part we have pressure if not- none. So we just hook it there and continue on our way. Back in Bo we go to my buddy Abu and they do some things and the next day we are on our way to Freetown. We do fine until we get on the road to Charlotte Falls. Lots of bumps and rumbling around. The car keeps dying. We sit for a bit it runs again. We find some things to move around that work so we continue on again. Well after a day and a half of this it starts to go out too frequently. the last time it quits in front of a garage so we decide to have them check it out. After some dinking around they say they are ready for a test drive. At this time Meghan was sitting in the front seat resting so she just went along with the mechanic for the ride.

After about 20 minutes I turn to JK and Amy and ask when we start worrying that they broke down or that the mechanic has taken Meghan for more than the car test drive. Say a little pray and not more than a minute later a guy walks up to JK to ask if he is with the White girls. When he says yes the guys tells him that he was sent to get us because the other girl is being held by the police. WHAT?!?! Amy and I take off walking in quite a Huff. All I can think is that it should be me or at least Amy- Meghan is not the one to deal with this and secondly my time detained at Immigration is running through my head and I am just not sure Meghan can handle that. Oh the further we walk the hotter Amy and I are. JK finally tells us not to talk and let him handle it. I tell him that I am willing to do that- I trust him but he needs to take it and be strong. I can't just sit and watch it something is not happening. We continue to talk about it and try to guess what is really happening when we come over the hill and see Meghan HUGGING the two cops. Amy and I burst out laughing. Oh the stress had built up and that was not the site we expected. Walking up we find out that our mechanic did not have a license and the police officer had come over to Meghan and told her he was taking her off to jail. She got a bit worked up and teary and told him she didn't know the man and the officer could take him. I am sure there is more to the story, but not long after the female officer came over which made Meghan feel better instantly. After much talk- it turns out the officers knew the guy and were giving him trouble- and Meghan as well. We all laughed and took photos together. It all seemed fine- until we passed the officers 6 more times on different test drives being it took 5 hours to find the simple fix to our problem. The officers were no longer smiling after the 3rd time. I am not sure if we are still friends or not.

I stood firm with what little mechanic skills I had and didn't let them talk me into the things they wanted until they solved the real problem (and even after that I didn't buy anything I didn't need) it is a good thing my dad and brother taught us a little so we could at least reason through some of it. After all was said and done- one wire needed to be untied. 5 HOURS in the dust and heat missing out on time at the market and beach, telling them I didn't need a new carburetor or spark plugs or battery- it all came down to one wire- and one that Amy and I had talked about undoing earlier in our troubles- AAGGHH next time.

By the end the boss at the garage felt so bad- he gave us his number and didn't charge us much. We went back to our friend's had a Fanta and decided to start a new day- at 5pm. We headed to the most beautiful beach and watched the sunset while swimming and drinking more cokes and fanta. It truly was a new day and a perfect ending.