When All You Can Do Is Laugh

If there’s one thing I’ve learned in all my times of traveling overseas, it’s BE FLEXIBLE!  Things will never go as you plan.  Most times, there’s not really a plan, so you just have to go with the flow.  I like to think that I do pretty well with being flexible with my time, expectations, etc.  Besides, some days you just have to step back and laugh.  That sums up fairly well my most recent adventure.

It was 6 a.m. on a Friday morning and I was hopping into Pastor’s car.  The plan was for him to drop me at Salgaa to join up with the women who were heading to Molo town for their graduation.  I didn’t have a clue what to expect (how we were traveling, exactly where Molo was, how long we’d be gone, how many would be there, etc., etc.).  Yeah…I was definitely clueless!  Pulling into Salgaa, I met up with the women and then two of them joined me in the back of Pastor’s car.  He then drove the three of us to the next town where we got out and stood along the side of the road waiting for a matatu or taxi.  There were about 15 other people waiting alongside the road with us, but when a small white taxi pulled up, all 15 quickly disappeared!  Did you know that you can fit 15 people in a car made for 5 if you pack 4 in the front seat, 5 in the back seat, and 6 in the boot (trunk)?!  Yeah, I wasn’t so sure either until I saw it with my own eyes!  So now, I was ready.  I knew what to expect when the next taxi pulled up, and I was completely prepared to squeeze in and find a seat…I thought!

Five minutes later, a second taxi pulled up (same size as the last) and myself and the two women I was traveling with were soon squeezed inside.  I found myself in the front seat between the driver and one of the women, with the gear shift pressed tightly into my leg!  No matter what, that gear shift wasn’t moving!  So whatever gear he’d had it in when he pulled up, we stayed in the entire 20 minute drive to Molo town (uphill)!  As if that wasn’t enough to get me laughing, you could barely see out the windshield!  The defrost was broken and the window was fogging over, but if you closed one eye and squinted with the other while ducking down by the steering wheel, you could almost see clearly!!!  That’s how we nearly hit a donkey!  Yeah…I’m not kidding!  Luckily, we swerved at the last minute into a giant, crater-sized pot hole.  Close call!  And if that still wasn’t enough to have me dying laughing (inside of course), then whoever passed gas twice in that insanely long twenty minutes sent me over the top!  Honestly…15 people packed in a car and you can’t hold it!  But the day was only really beginning!

When we arrived in Molo and finally fell out of the taxi (that’s what happens when you’re packed in tight) gasping for fresh air, I learned we still had a hike ahead of us.  So we walked up this hill to a place packed with nearly 2500 Kenyans getting graduation gowns.  Do you know how many eyes that is staring at the one and only Mzungu (white person)?  Talk about culture shock!  I’m used to being the only Mzungu, but I’m not usually hanging out with a crowd of 2500!  Note to self: Hair down = bad idea!

We met up with the rest of our group, got the gowns for each of the women, and then made our way out to the main road.  It was here that I discovered we’d be marching through Molo town up to some stadium where the graduation ceremony would be held.  Bet you’ve never walked in a parade of 2500 Kenyans and one Mzungu before!  There’s one word to describe it – PACKED!  At one point I felt like I didn’t really need to bother walking because the people both beside and behind me were doing a fine job of pushing me along!  Of course, they also nearly pushed me into an oncoming lorry (semi)!  Yeah…we’re friends!

I was so thankful to reach the stadium after our 20 minute walk and was so tired too!  Thank goodness for those chairs they had set up for us so we could sit!  And apparently I wasn’t the only tired one!  Yep…you can ask the random woman beside me who fell asleep on my shoulder!  Yeah…we’re friends too!

The ceremony was scheduled to start at 9 a.m., so at 11:15 things were under way!  After a few brief speeches (about 30 min. each) and a few presentations, the ceremony was “wrapping up”.  An hour and a half after that, we were done!  Next came the adventure back home.

We hopped in a matatu this time which can comfortably seat 15, but why seat 15 when you can fit at least 24?!  From the back seat, you can feel the bumps the best, which wouldn’t be so bad if it wasn’t for that stupid metal bar above your head!  Kenyans are like jelly, their bodies just move with the vehicle not against it.  But when I tried that, my head smashed into the window, hit the seat in front of me, and nearly knocked Julia out who was sitting beside me!  My bad!  Don’t worry, we really are friends!

Some days all you can do is laugh…and well, this was definitely one of those days!