12 March 2008 - Take it on the chin

It’s been another mad day in Ethiopia!

Today started badly as my phone played up and I slept through our proposed 7 o’clock meeting time. So feeling a little sorry for myself I wound my way through Addis’ traffic and the chaos that surrounded the construction site of Africa’s "first spaghetti junction." This irritated me a little, partly due to the complete mayhem that very seriously amounted to technical mountain biking in amongst the rubble, and partly because every time we drove between Pietermaritzburg and Durban as a little girl, I’d get very excited by the massive spaghetti junction!

However, I am fast learning that South Africa is not really Africa.I love being from Africa, but we know nothing! We live strangely hybrid lives with all the trappings of all things Western amongst the colourful chaos of Africa.

I digress…

At 45 km in I was cycling along waving at people and calling out to children as we cycled through a town… when an arm in a yellow jersey swung across my path landing squarely on my jaw!

I managed to stay on the bike, but that was little reflection of the force with which this man hit me. A combination of cycling at 20km per hour and a well-placed swing – Wow it hurt!

Three seconds later the bikes were on the floor, I was in hysterics and Grant was chasing after some crazy man… No really, it transpired that the man actually was crazy and that he didn’t necessarily mean to harm me. I think I was mainly in shock because I was hit at all.

I am now in bed in a little room listening to Twig repairing a spoke amidst cries of “I love you” from the local children. My right arm has a solid bruise and my neck and jaw are aching a tad, but I’m luckily fine… Just a little annoyed that I’m suffering because of some mad man and not some glamorous cycling story!