Traffic Stops

There are days you wake up and already have the whole day planned. Sometimes they go as planned and other days…. well not so much.  I had one of those not so much days  this month. 

This month here in Abidjan it seems like there is more Police out and about than usual. This is actually a really good thing with all the recent kidnappings.  In the last month or two many children (20+) have been kidnapped and used in ritual killings. These poor children are found mutilated and their families are heartbroken at the evil that took their child. I’m praying that these killings stop and that those who intent to do them harm will be caught quickly.

So on this particular day I headed out with a to-do list. While moving on to #2 on the list, I approached a traffic stop where I was flagged over by an officer. This is quite normal and anyone wishing to live here needs to learn the “How to” of a traffic stop ASAP.  You can get stopped for kinds of different reasons some legit and some not so much. Some interesting not so much ones for me have been:

•  The officer knew the car and thought I was the previous owner of the car who had two cute twin girls. He wanting a blessing from their twins. Culture Lesson: Twins are special here, one is thought to be good and the other evil and they can bless or curse you.

•  The Officer would like a drink. “ It’s hot today and I’m thirsty” , this is followed by I want/ give me money for a coke, tea, coffee, water.

• The Officer would like to eat. “ I am really hungry” followed by I want/ give me money for a whatever they want to eat.

•  A friendly reminder that it’s a Holiday. “Hey it’s  name of holiday” followed by give me a gift.

• Ect

Now this stop was legit. So after greeting the officer, I handed over my driver license and papers for the car. Unfortunately for me one of my papers was a week out of date. Bummer! No amount of Sorry or I’ll get it right away was going to get me out of this one. So as I waited for my ticket.It took forever because I think this officer was hoping id get inpatient and slip him some money to make the problem go away. He asked and I said nope I'll take the ticket. So while I waited  I called a friend  who than came to where I was to help out.  

After I got my ticket my friend helped me find the police office and walked me through the steps of actually paying a ticket.  Then it got interesting when the Officer that took my payment asked me to drive him back to the place where I got the ticket.  

Ok so honestly, I feel like I take my life into my own hands every time I get into a car here in Abidjan.  On a daily basis driving here resembles a game of bumper cars or Mr. Toad’s wild ride. This ride back to the place where I got my ticket was no different. So with a Police officer riding shotgun I was cut off multiple times and almost hit. They whole time I had the police officer laughing at my commentary.  Hey at least I made a new friend. 

So while I had plans for the day I ended up checking one thing off my list, getting a ticket, learning the location of the police office, I now know how to pay a ticket, made a new friend who is a police officer, got my paperwork up to date and had a lot of laughs.  Days that don’t go as planned can be stressful but if you can just try to go with the flow you can find little unexpected joys in the mist of it.

But seriously don’t  pull me over to tell me you’re Hot…its Abidjan were all hot, everyday all day!!!