Thursday, March 1, 2007

Ejournal 11 October 2006 Van Adventures

Okay, so I hit something with the van. It was little, and in my defense, I was trying to avoid the manhole with no cover. It was a little cement arch thing that was simply propped up to keep people from driving over this little flower garden. Let’s just say the little old man who planted the flowers was not happy that I knocked over his baracade. I guess sometimes, I really don’t mind not understanding Russian.

The other morning the van wouldn’t start. It is a deisel and it was a little cold, but even with the choke open it wouldn’t start. Ernie came out of the house and he tried to start it, but it stubbornly refused. Then it was decided we would have to push start the van. Sarah and I were not part of the desion making process and at first, we didn’t really know what we were doing. There were a couple of workers here to pour cement. I thought we were just moving the van out of their way. When they came and started to push the van out of the drive-way, I thought, okay, I will help move the van so they could get to work on the cememnt. But no, indeed, we started pushing and jogging down the road in front of the house. I am sure we looked hilarious, but fortunaly, with a little help the van started. Ernie climbed out and off Sarah and I went. Ernie assured us that was once the van was warm we “should” be able to turn it off and restart it. Thankfully, that was the case. I can’t imagine little Sarah out trying to push the van down the road by herself so that I could try to pop the clutch. The van has been repaired and I am happy to report it is now starting very reliably.

We are learning a lot about the van. For example, in the front seat, the ride is pretty smooth. In the middle seat, the ride is a little more bumpy, and in the back seat, you better hold on, or else with a big bump, you could be airborn. The other day, Sarah and I were giving Tanya, our friend and tutor, and her son Roma a ride in the van. Roma is about 5 amd he likes to sit forward in the seat so that his feet can touch the ground. As we were driving, a car pulled out in front of me and I had to break quickly. Roma, who was sitting with his mom in the middle seat, slid forward and bumped into the back of the front seat. A few minutes later, I almost missed my turn and so I turned quickly, again, Roma, slid forward into the seat. Roma turned and asked his mom, why the van kept pushing him. We all laughed and Roma had to sit all the way back.

The van is a Voltswagon Transporter. I guess there is a movie called the “Transporter”, I have not seen it, but Sarah and I have decided we are going to make a documentary called “The Transporter” about our van adventures, I am sure it wil be a riot to make, I will try to not make everyone watch it too many times.

Sarah and I are very thankful for the van. Mostly, we use it to travel to the orphanage, church on Sundays, and when we are carrying lots of things. It is a real blessing to have. We are also thankful for the bus. It is less expensive than the van and there is no need to worry about parking when we ride the bus. Boy, do we have a lot of bus adventures, but I will save those for another journal.

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