17/12/09 Travel fun
Well, for the first time in several years, as I drove out to Odzuma, I completely misjudged the depth of a washed out section of downhill sandy track before me and grounded, very firmly, not only the rear axle but the front too, or at least the whole section covered by the stone-guard at the front! Even worse, someone had recently broken the small spade I used to keep in the truck for just such eventualities so I was spade-less! Happily I had at least thought to put a machete in. So there was no alternative but to get down, machete in hand, on my knees and then my stomach to slowly dig the truck out. Thankfully the sand was soft and moved relatively easily (but then that's why it washes away so easily) but it was still a long job with only the machete and an iron bar to work with (and one wheel was actually free-floating in the air, the rut was so deep! I was already too far down the descent to try reversing to look for or create an alternative track so we (I had a young woman from Odzuma and her three year old with me) then had to work the next hundred yards of the track, breaking the high ridge of sand that filled the centre and pushing it down into the ruts to level the ground. All in all it took an hour's work, but we just about made it to Odzuma before nightfall – always welcome, because digging out in the night would be even less welcome than doing so in the day!
After that I spent a pleasant few days in Odzuma (even if the kitchen table is alive - see photo!), checking the translation of Noah, teaching some of the children the Nativity story and preaching without the back-up of someone who understands French to help out when my Latege ran out – happily it just about sufficed, even though I took the risk of using a question and answer approach (it's far safer just to talk in monologue, then you can be prepared and don't have to understand what's coming back!). Oh, and I put a window in the bedroom of my house – I, at least, have learnt the lesson (see entry of 9/12), though I actually already had two doors and a window in the living room. The window was more because I wanted more light in the early morning and late evening when it's not worth lighting a lamp yet the sun is not bright enough through the tin and cracks to see clearly.