 So, there I was, in the middle of God-knows-where...
6th August 2006
So there I was, in the middle of God-knows-where, getting wet with
my hands on the back of a truck.
The truck, like OJ Simpson, had seen better days. Its chassis
was so rusted that you could see the road whilst traveling and little
bits of red dust would land in your hair every time the truck hit a particularly
big bump. The air-conditioning unit had long since died but its
absence was not noticed as the truck had no windows on the driver and
passenger-side doors and a sliding window in the back that - at best -
covered half an opening. It sported an eclectic collection of
steel-belted radials that pieces of metal would poke through. The doors needed rope to
keep them shut and the journey needed an act of God to keep it safe.
God-knows-where turned out to be the dusty road that connected Mali
to Burkina Faso. I glanced ahead and saw a pot-holed road leading
to a point on the horizon. A glance backwards was just the
same. Scraggly trees only good for firewood made up the views to
the left and right. A glance up revealed a half-moon shining
through concrete colored clouds.
I was getting wet because it was raining. I had been
wearing my only set of dry clothes. The rest had long since been
soaked by the rain that landed on my backpack on the roof of the
truck. I blew a raindrop off my nose and wondered if I would ever
be dry again.
My hands were on the back of the truck because the truck needed yet
another push start. The drive-shaft that had hastily been replaced
a number of miles back had clearly not solved the truck's
problems. The oil and water that the engine constantly demanded
were also not helping as well as hoped.
But then I thought, "Though this situation is pretty dire, if I
had a choice between being here ... or behind a fucken computer in New
Zealand ... I choose here every time."
A grin spread across my face as the truck sputtered to life.
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(c)
2005 and 2006 Malcolm Trevena.
All the stuff on this site is written by me, Malcolm Trevena. Feel free to
link to this page. Heck, you can even copy stuff from here if you
want. Just make sure you sight me as a reference.
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