Post date: Aug 9, 2014 4:07:45 PM
7 December I963
Let me tell you of an adventure I had the past two days:
Yesterday I didn‘t have anything to do, so I drove to Calabar, 30 miles, to pick up some things from a retiring PCV there. I thought I would put the stuff in the Jeep and come back the same day. All went well, I picked up several riders for short and long distances, until about 5 miles the other side of the ferry across the Cross River. There I had a flat tire. So I changed the tire and continued on my way, hoping that I didn't have another. [Tom was in, and it is fortunate that I went on Friday, for Saturday he was leaving for Enugu and I would have missed him.] I left for home in a hurry, at 3 pm, because the ferry, 55 miles away, closes at 5 pm. Well, just about the same place I had the first flat, I had another, and no spare tire this time! Now I had to decide whether
to try to fix the tire, in which case I would probably miss the ferry and have to return to Calabar,
to forget the Jeep and hitch into Calabar (50 miles), or
to try to make the ferry before they quit for the day. I decided to run home.
I made the ferry by 4:50 pm but the operator wanted to quit and it took a small dash (bribe) to see us to the other side of the river. I was still twenty miles from home, but managed to get a ride—except that we ran out of gas five miles from the crossroad at Ututu, where there is a ‘gas station‘ and a RC (Roman Catholic) mission school. I thot we were only 2 1/2 miles, so I was going to walk. Fortunately, just then along came a taxi; why he was in that lonely place at that time of night I'll never know! He gave me a lift to the crossroads, where we got gas. This Ututu is 5 miles from Arochuku. I got a tin of gas and then decided to have Fr Henley or Fr Greenen give me a lift back to the disabled vehicle, from which I got a ride home. I arrived at 7:30, an hour after sunset.
This morning I arose at my usual horrible early hour and went up to Ututu to discuss the situation with the local mechanic. He suggested we go on his motorcycle with tire repair equipment to fix the tires, then I could drive the motorcycle back.
So we left at 9:15 for the Jeep with irons, patches, and pump. When we arrived at the ferry site, the boat was on the other side, with no prospect for coming to fetch us, so we put the cycle into a canoe and paddled across the river. That was fun, too. About 10:30 we arrived at the fallen Jeep, only to discover that another tire had gone flat during the night! That made a total of three flat tires in one day. It took an hour and a half to repair them, with no time out for loafing. Of course we returned to the ferry five minutes after they started their noon break, so we weathered in Idot Okpora, eating two papayas and drinking a bottle of soda.
After crossing the river, I rode ahead (on the motorcycle) so as not to get so much dust, I came to a straight stretch and went a bit faster, and thought I had lost the Jeep behind me; that he would be coming soon. When I reached Ututu I waited l0 minutes, then went back to find out what the problem might be. Another flat! The mechanic changed the tire in 15 minutes and was soon home. We decided to leave the tire at his house for him to repair at his leisure, and bring the jeep home to roost. It is only five miles from Ututu to the school, but about a mile from school, the Jeep had yet another flat! Can you believe that, five flat tires in two days. Two of us spent nine hours today bringing that Jeep twenty-five miles. It would have been easier to walk.
Mick has gone off to Enugu for a holiday—speech and drama workshop. He rode up on his Mobylette—a long and uncomfortable trip. The Moblylette has pedals, and will travel about 40 mph on level roads. It does all right on the dirt roads around here—only on the steepest hills does Mick have any trouble.
The countryside around here is continuous low hills, leveling off to the north, where the hills just become shallower and further apart. They are normally covered with ‘tropical rain forest‘ which is easily penetrable, and only looks so thick because along the edge of the road a cleared space the sun makes the underbrush grow thicker. The palm trees shade the lower reaches. Vines hang from the trees and bananas and papayas grow wild. The peasants clear land every year to plant yams, cassava (which is a root, like potato and yam), and vegetables. Schools and government stations are the only large pieces of land in grass here. To the north the land becomes grass-land, and around Awgu the hills look, from a distance, exactly like the hills at home in coastal California. In Aro and south the villages are right in the trees, and very often a house or whole compound is hidden by banana trees. A whole village may be just 100 feet from a road, signaled only by a ‘bush path‘ or a separation in the foliage.
Latest rumor is that there will be no new PCV in January. But the director of PC here has not talked to our Principal, who is a very persuasive man!
The fridge is working more or less well now. One problem is a varying quality of kerosene, from poor to bad. It is the same stuff they burn in diesel autos sometimes. News: I get NY Times weekly review about three weeks late, and New Republic. Also Pan Am sends us news bulletins weekly. The radio helps.
Teaching salaries: two years education post primary school £11. Four years post primary £18. GCE ‘A’ level (about jr. college) £24. BA £36. These are gov’t standard starting salaries (per month). Most primary teacher (first two classes) have bicycles. Some secondary teachers (third and fourth levels) have motorcycles, but most only stay long enough to get a better job or a scholarship to a university. Three of our staff (at secondary school) have only a secondary education and are studying for and advanced certificate/ (home study course with a standard exam).