The Day I Forgot My Umbrella

Today started off with the sun shining and not one gray cloud in the sky, but that soon changed. I left the house prepared for anything, or so I thought. I had tights beneath my jeans, an undershirt under the flannel, doubled up on socks, and wore my coat just in case it got cold. I was right to where all of these garments, but the one thing I needed on this day was the one thing I forgot; an umbrella.

Today I was running a little late at work and got off at 6 pm, an hour later than usual. Usually catching a taxi from Kazanchi's to Mexico is a headache and hassle, but today I didn’t have to wait, shove, get trampled or throw bows (elbows).

It was after this that my day turns sour.

The taxi I caught stopped short of Mexico and said they were to continue in another direction so I paid it no mind, got off and walked to the next stop. The good thing about taxi's here is that there are at least three spots where you can catch a taxi for one neighborhood. I was waiting patiently for my last taxi home, Gabriel/Sarbet, but as time passed there was no taxi so I moved on and walked a little further to the next stop. It was during that time that I can tell the sprinkle of rain had grown harder, so my walk turned into a sprint. I get to the next stop only to find out that all six taxis waiting for passengers were all going to Makanesa (not in my direction) AHHHHH! The rain was pouring at this point and I don’t have an umbrella so I'm just standing there in frustration at the fact that not one taxi was going to Gabriel. I said forget it and ran across the street to the next stop, but I was left in the same predicament; no taxi, no umbrella, still raining. There was no building that I could duck into or even a tree to take cover so I just stood there, drenched, as the rain grew harder and harder. It was one of those moments when you realize that there is nothing you can do because you have no other option. To make matters worse as I ran to the last stop, I stepped in a puddle that was ankle deep. So now I'm wet, cold, and swimming in my socks. Rain water back in the states isn't the cleanest, but at least it's clear, the water here is murky brown. In Addis it's common for people to urinate on the side of the street, in a puddle, on a construction site or where ever they feel like, making the thought of rain water even more disturbing especially since I had just stepped into a puddle of unmarked rain. Finally, the rain starts to calm down after five minutes and of course, a taxi pulls up, my hooptie hero, ending the story of the day I forgot my umbrella.