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My last words about Africa… And how they wanted to arrest me!!!

6 min read

I am home now and I almost feel back to normal… whatever that means?? Being in Africa has me seeing my community, and the world differently. Even though I blogged this adventure, many interesting things happened that I did not include.

One thing is for sure, I came back changed. It was truly a blessing to be able to give gifts along the way. It was an even bigger blessing to be able to share this experience with my niece. She has developed into one remarkable young lady with a future that is bright.

Before I share with you about my hair raising arrest episode, I want to share with you some words that we use that differ from the Africans. We say traffic lights, they call them robots. We go to get gas for our car, they get petroleum. We push shopping carts or buggies in the store, they push trolleys. We go to the bathroom, them the toilet.

My final adventure was one that I could have done without. It was my last day in Africa and I wanted to stock my niece up with food. I went to the store while she attended to an issue with her cell phone. I shopped for quite a while as I filled my buggy (trolley) with items that would last her for some time. I checked out, then took the buggy with the food in it into the mall area as I looked for my niece. In the States, you never see anyone taking the shopping cart into the mall; well this is a natural thing in Africa (as well as walking around barefoot and shirtless).

As I left the store, I was asked to come back in by a female. I didn’t think much about it, so I followed her. She led me to a small room where four others appeared. They began to speak to each other in their native tongue. All I could do was smile, after all I knew I did nothing wrong. Then one of the girls asked me to see my note… my note? I asked her what is a note? She pointed to the food in the buggy and then said again, ‘your note!!!’ I said ‘my receipt???’ (yet another different word). I produced my receipt, and they said, ‘Did you pay for everything?’ I said of course I paid for everything! The entire time I was in Africa, I found shopping to be almost as natural as it would be here in the States. When we go grocery shopping, it is normal for us to fill our buggy full. However, that is not the case in Africa; they get just what they need for a day or two. So my bill was over 800R which is $80.00 to us. I was quite pleased that I was able to get that many items for so little money; you all know that $80.00 does not go far here. We would be lucky to end up with 10 items; I had an entire buggy full.

So back to the interrogation… the talk was getting serious. I was able to pick out a few words, those being “we are going to have to call the diplomat about this American.” Ok, so now you got my attention… I asked them what did I do wrong?? The one woman said, “you left the store” I said OKAY, so why wouldn’t I have left the store? They all looked at each other, and one of them said, “we have to have you arrested.” I said for WHAT!!! You know that little flap that is in the top of the buggy? The one we put down if we have a child with us so they can sit down? Well, sister girl lifted that flap and there it was – a small bottle of nail polish!!!

Oh my goodness… I left the store and forgot to pay for this polish. Right away I went into my Joyce Ellis mode and began to explain that this was an accident… all you heard were crickets… then I tried to find another word. I said, I had every intention to pay for this… more crickets!!! Then one of the women kept saying over and over, “you left the store, you left the store.”

Now let me try to explain the severity of this situation – my niece had no idea where I was and I couldn’t leave to call her. Then they called upon the head honcho, and he said they needed to see my purse. Well I just withdrew from the bank 1000R ($100), and the purse I was carrying was a small wristlet. When they opened the wristlet and saw all that money, then looked at the amount I spent in the store, they were confused. Not as confused or scared as I was, because sister girl really wanted to see me end up in prison. The head honcho said if we go through your bags of food and find one item that is not paid for, you will have to go to jail.

As they checked each item with the receipt they asked me why I have so much food. I told them I was stocking up for my niece… more crickets… darn language barrier.

As they searched I did what I do best; I prayed… and prayed. Well after a meticulous search they found nothing out of order… you mean I was free?? Head man asked me if I was going to pay for that polish. I said y… it cost 5R which is 50 cents… yes I was on my way to prison for 50 cents. Needless to say, I will always keep that bottle of polish.

America, here I come. I spent three wonderful, adventurous, scary, life changing weeks, but I couldn’t wait to get home. We need to thank God every day. We take way too much for granted; we spend too much time consumed with our looks or whether or not we have the best car, clothes, or home. If we spent the same amount of time praising God and tending to our family, we would be truly Blessed beyond words.

So I am now feeling renewed and ready to complete the new task that God has placed in my life. The true purpose of my trip has come to focus… I will be a changed women forever.

Hakuna Matata…… and Stay Blessed!

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