Picture this: A large african truck used to transport everything one can imagine; this one is white, a herd of cattle below, and a load of 30 or so human beings perched on the wide square ladace above, swaying back and forth and clutching tightly to the metal bars as the truck slowly groans over the always rocky or soupy road. Then throw in an Iowan right in the middle of the mix. At all the police check points along the "road" the police would shine their lights around in the faces of my friends and check their ID's; when they grunted at me, and I turned to face them (my head usually being covered), they would start with slight shock and exclaim, "oh a mzungu!" The 20 hour journey covered the remote area of northern Kenya from Moyale to Isiolo, about 500km of path; it is the sort of journey that after hour5 one can't imagine ever coming to an end, and when one approaches the final checkpoint before disembarking, one can't imagine that it was over so fast. Never again will a bus ride or flight be viewed in the same way; luxury again is redefined. But assuredly I was quite thankful I wasn't walking those 500km.
Now I am enjoying the beauty of fresh fruit, internet, ice cream, books, and companionship in Nairobi. I am being taken care of by a close friend of Joshua-- my Kenyan friend from Olivet. I continue to love it here. Matatu's here we come. I would love to share a picture of the truck, but I refrained from being the white girl behind the camera. I'm sure if you google "african trucks with a lot of people" you'll get a good idea of what I experienced. I plan to be in Kenya for the week or so, and then head to Uganda-- revisiting Uganda Christian University in two weeks at the latest! Great friends and memories to continue to reconnect with.
3 comments:
Morgan, I know exactly what you're describing. I saw the very thing driving through the streets of downtown Abidjan among the skyscrapers. I've been wondering since then what it would be like to be one of those people, and now you know!
initially, I was picturing everyone in the truck standing up... but then you said 20 hours and i pictured people being transported to a concentration camp. were you sitting down? i hope so. that sounds like a crazy trip. by the way, i'll be working on the farm again this summer: see you there!
The students miss you Morgan, and were asking about you. You also featured more than once in our semester-end slideshow, and when your face appeared they all said, "oooohhhhh, Morgan!". Glad to hear you are well - tell Margaret I say "hello" from Egypt if you see her! And, if anything changes down south, come north again!!!
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