The Brick
“The Brick.” That is what I have fondly nicknamed this big ole’ horse of a truck that I drive now. I guess I did always want to drive a truck and now I’ve got my wish and more. I think this vehicle is a little more like a Semi than a truck though – it drives like one at least! This is the truck that was purchased to use for the goat project and any needs that the project might have and it was designed to get work done, not necessarily to deliver a smooth ride. I will admit that I enjoy the security that I feel in it, but neither Sarah nor I enjoy the extremely bumpy ride out to the goat site a couple of times each week. The site is about an hour away down a dirt road that was built partially from US AID funds (thank you US tax payers!) and as grateful as we are to have a road, due to the shocks on the truck– or lack thereof – it is quite a neck and back jarring trip each time!
Unfortunately for the truck, I hadn’t had it very long when it had its first near death experience. Coming back from the city on a rainy day, we came across some donkeys carrying tin that had decided to take a little break in the middle of the road. I hit the brakes, but ended up just skidding headfirst into the donkeys on the wet road. I hit two of them at once and was waiting for the angry farmer to come up demanding money for killing two of his donkeys when they just hopped back up and walked away. We couldn’t believe it! I’m sure there was some internal damage on those donkeys somewhere! The truck wasn’t so lucky. The tin that the donkeys were carrying hit the front of the truck when I hit the donkeys and dented the hood as well as busted a headlight cover. The light cover costs $600 in US dollars to replace, so we opted for duct tape instead. I’d say for the price, we got a good deal!
One other harrowing experience for the truck actually happened the same weekend as the donkey accident, while we were in the city. Apparently our passenger side front tire was a little slack and every single person in the city noticed. Before we could get somewhere to pull over, we had been waved down about 6 times with people adamantly demonstrating that our tire was “flat.” Sarah and I were kind of freaking out by the show that people were making about the tire. However, when we pulled over we realized that it was just a little low on air, hardly riding on the rims like the people led us to believe. We continued driving the truck around that night because we didn’t know where to get air and couldn’t understand any of the directions people gave us. Over the course of the night, I bet 20 people (even after it got dark) waved us down to tell us that our tire was “flat.” As much as I love Southern hospitality, I’m afraid this African country had us beat in that department on that night.