Demorar Muito

My host parents, Ivandete and Nido, his 3 yr old daughter Alana and I left the house at 8 this morning. They were driving to the city for the doctor and I needed to go to the MCC house today so I went along. About 20 minutes of driving we stopped at a gas station. Did you know that lots of cars here run on propane? Well, at least I think it's propane. They call it natural gas, which is the same stuff they use at home for the stove, so I'm assuming it's propane. I know nothing about this kind of thing. Anyway, it's a lot cheaper. We get back in the car. Oh ya, because everyone has to get out of the car when filling the tank with this kind of gas...higher risk of explosion. We try to reverse. All but first gear weren't working. We continue down the freeway in 1st gear with city buses passes us on both sides, cars honking and weaving around us. We go for about 10 minutes when Deborah (their 23 yr old daughter who is married to a 55 yr old...they have money) called. I had prayed a few minutes before this moment for something to work out even if the gears weren't ever going to switch and I felt at peace about our little situation... Ivandete had a doctor's appt. which is really hard to get and she is in great need of surgery. Deborah happened to be on the opposite side of the freeway in the exact same spot as us. Thank you Lord! We parked our car at another gas station and got into her air-conditioned brand new one. They dropped me off in Derby, which is another place in the city where you can catch any bus you need. I asked someone at a bus stop if my bus was going to pass there and she said yes. After standing in the POURing rain for an hour with my umbrella that didn't help much because of the sideways angle the rain was falling and being splashed by the buses that zoom to a halt right in front of the bus stop where there is a foot of water in the gutter, I decided to ask another guy about my bus again. "No, neither of the buses you need will pass here. You need to take this bus back to the city or you can walk there and there and get this bus...lalalalal!" I walked around the corner and jumped into an air conditioned taxi and found my way to the Sede. 3 hours later I've arrived at my destination.