1-800-NO-AAA

            One of the most common questions that I hear from people when they learn that I live in Angola, Africa is whether or not I feel safe in my new environment. Many people are shocked when I tell them that I often feel safer in Luanda than I do in the States. The headlines and all of the media coverage of the violence in the States over the past few years have certainly heightened my uneasiness in the States making adjusting to life in a foreign country a bit easier.

            Africa is a huge continent. And yes, there are some countries that are in complete turmoil right now, but no, Angola isn’t one of them. Just because it isn’t in turmoil doesn’t mean that there isn’t any crime. A routine trip to the grocery store was all I needed to remind me that like any other country, it still comes with certain risks and safety hazards.

            Adam and I were cruising along the soggy roads on the way to the store when our car took a dive into one of the many manholes along the road. Our tire fit perfectly into the round hole almost as if the hole was made for it. Adam talked a few guys into lifting the car up and out of the hole. We may have survived the mishap, but our tire didn’t have the same luck. Considering calling AAA isn’t an option in Luanda, we decided to try to make it to the factory to have one of the employees change it there.

            About five minutes into the drive to the factory we knew that we weren’t going to make it. Adam saw a small shack on the side of the road with a leaning tower of tires indicating that they perform tire changes. Did I mention that advertising varies slightly from the States? Since we didn’t have much of a choice at this point, we pulled over. I stayed in the car while Adam got out and talked to a few of the men. I was suddenly reintroduced to the feelings of fear and nervousness. 

            Just as my mind started to create a million different versions of how the tire change might go, I heard the back door open. Being able to see Adam and knowing that he was still standing right outside my car door, my head immediately jerked in the direction of the creaking noise of the door. I was shocked when I noticed that the door was opening slowly but no one was there. Sounds like something out of a horror film, right? Then suddenly our eyes met. A strange man was trying to sneak into the backseat to steal whatever he could find. His deer in headlights expression told me that he was just as shocked to see me in the car as I was to see him trying to sneak into the car. I reached hastily into the backseat and grabbed our camera, the one item worth taking. Before I had a chance to get Adam’s attention, the man shut the door carefully to avoid anymore unwanted attention on him and started to walk off. I watched him as he got further and further away from our car. He turned around and gave me one last look before disappearing into the crowd of people.

            My heart was pounding and the blood was racing through my veins as I sat there frozen in fear. Someone had just tried to get into our car while I was in it and Adam was standing next to it. I locked the doors and waited for thirty minutes while the men changed our tire. Adam barely had a chance to get back into the car and buckle his seat belt before I was spouting out my version of events that had just taken place. After our rough beginning to our trip, we made it to the store and home safely without any more problems.

            As scary as the entire situation was, I am glad that it happened because it reminded of a valuable life lesson that I learned early on in life. We need to always be aware of our surroundings and never take safety for granted. And even though I can go to a movie in Luanda and have peace of mind knowing that a man in a costume won’t open up fire during the showing, or go to the mall and not look over my shoulder worried that the guy next to me is about to go on a rampage, or that I can see the children playing on the playground at school and know that the chance of one of them bringing a gun to school and shooting his or her peers and educators is slim, I am still aware of the fact that Luanda has crime just like every other country.