Notes from the bush
Lessons learned:
Shortcuts are not shortcuts if you don't know where you are going. They then turn in to back this way and that cuts until you curse the heavens and all of Africa.
If you don't know where you are going do not assume you will be able to find it.
Even if the path you are on is but an ox-cart trail of bent grass through a field that does not mean you are going the wrong way
When going somewhere new, or somewhere you've been before, ask every person you pass if you are still headed towards your destination. Make decisions based on average of answers. Give people who speak english extra weight. Do not include the responses of people who are drunk, look like they have seen a ghost, or who want to marry you.
If someone tells you to just go straight please know that there will be at least 3 forks in the road. Probably 5.
Thinking you know how to fix a flat tire and knowing how to fix a flat tire are different things
Be wary of stopping too quickly because there might be children running behind you that you were unaware of.
___________________
I rode past a dead snake on the path that was about the girth of my arm. It had no head as had been cut off. The small boy running behind me confirmed that it was poisonous. I asked him what type it was and he said "Green."
I would have stopped to take a picture but I was late to meet a man who never showed up. Again.
I don't know why the children of Zambia like to run behind foreigners on bikes but they seem to find it a rare joy. Sometimes you don't know they are there - but only hear the faint but continuous rustle of a plastic bag following you. Bare feet on sand don't make much noise.
I rode my bike for like 6 hours over some small mountains and when I sat down to eat the orange I brought - found that is was in fact the most delicious orange ever grown in the world. Might have fallen from heaven.
Being frustrated, late and tired with a flat tire you tried unsuccessfully to fix can lead to moments of weakness: such as accepting the statement - "let them do it they are boys" and sitting down to chat while the men folk take care of business. I am not proud of it but it happened.
I had another flat tire and fixed without assistance.
Shortcuts are not shortcuts if you don't know where you are going. They then turn in to back this way and that cuts until you curse the heavens and all of Africa.
If you don't know where you are going do not assume you will be able to find it.
Even if the path you are on is but an ox-cart trail of bent grass through a field that does not mean you are going the wrong way
When going somewhere new, or somewhere you've been before, ask every person you pass if you are still headed towards your destination. Make decisions based on average of answers. Give people who speak english extra weight. Do not include the responses of people who are drunk, look like they have seen a ghost, or who want to marry you.
If someone tells you to just go straight please know that there will be at least 3 forks in the road. Probably 5.
Thinking you know how to fix a flat tire and knowing how to fix a flat tire are different things
Action step #1 for being lost in the bush: put chitenge on as cape. To protect from unplanned sun exposure. And also to make you feel invincible.
Be wary of stopping too quickly because there might be children running behind you that you were unaware of.
___________________
I rode past a dead snake on the path that was about the girth of my arm. It had no head as had been cut off. The small boy running behind me confirmed that it was poisonous. I asked him what type it was and he said "Green."
I would have stopped to take a picture but I was late to meet a man who never showed up. Again.
I don't know why the children of Zambia like to run behind foreigners on bikes but they seem to find it a rare joy. Sometimes you don't know they are there - but only hear the faint but continuous rustle of a plastic bag following you. Bare feet on sand don't make much noise.
I rode my bike for like 6 hours over some small mountains and when I sat down to eat the orange I brought - found that is was in fact the most delicious orange ever grown in the world. Might have fallen from heaven.
Being frustrated, late and tired with a flat tire you tried unsuccessfully to fix can lead to moments of weakness: such as accepting the statement - "let them do it they are boys" and sitting down to chat while the men folk take care of business. I am not proud of it but it happened.
I had another flat tire and fixed without assistance.
posted by Keli at 6:10 AM
