A Memorable Day

Yesterday Emily and I went grocery shopping, as usual. On the way home, traffic began to slow about two miles from our house. Soon we were at a standstill, surrounded by five lanes of traffic on a two lane road; drivers get very creative here.

During the next hour we moved about a hundred yards. The road became quite lively, with people vacating buses to walk home, and drivers leaving their vehicles to great friends. One man must have gone too far, because we heard him calling, "Bajaji yangu, uko wapi?" (My bajaji, where are you?) There seemed no hope of a clearing. Even motorcycles couldn't get through.

Emily and I saw that we were near our pastor's house. Somewhat desperate, we paid our driver, gathered our ten grocery bags, and left the gridlock. We were graciously received, with only moderate surprise. They kept our groceries and we made our way home on foot through all the sluggish vehicles, stopping on the way to visit with a friend stuck waiting in her van. Again, the atmosphere was quite festive, with more people than usual, the light of a full moon, and plenty of honking.

Our house mates were a bit surprised to see us back home with no groceries... except the chocolate bars of course. But no worries, we gathered the groceries after church today, came home through smooth flowing traffic, and restocked the mango basket.