I went for a walk with Sandro last night.  It was my “trying to get a little exercise after being on bedrest for three months” nightly walk.  When Sandro saw that I was heading out, he scarfed down his supper and was quite insistent he was coming too.  I’m not sure if he wanted the exercise, or figured he needed to be there to watch out for me.  Which, if you know Sandro and understand that he only comes up to the bottom of my chest, is kind of funny.  Although, having said that, I can kind of imagine Sandro being a tough little dude in a fight.  He’s fast and wiry.  At any rate, he sometimes sees himself as my self-appointed guardian.  I am, after all, just a naive gringo…  =)

At first, I wasn’t completely sure I wanted company.  I’ve started listening to different speakers/preachers on my new I-pod (thanks SCS) on these walks, and I’ve been kind of enjoying the solitude (well, except for those crazy, semi-rabid pitbulls my neighbours are raising!).  But Sandro was convinced, so I figured some company would be fine.

We ended up having a great conversation.  He was in quite a talkative mood.  We walked for close to an hour and covered a pretty broad range of topics, from my sister’s car accident, to how we were raised as kids, to Paul’s “Why do I do the things I don’t want to do?” passage in Romans.  We talked about the Holy Spirit’s role in our lives and how compassion for others is important, but if we try to help them on our own strength, it often doesn’t amount to much.  

Like I said, it was an interesting conversation.  It was encouraging to have that moment with Sandro.  I could see God working in the topics that came up, and the questions Sandro asked.  I enjoy those kinds of conversations and with the busyness of the past few weeks, I haven’t really had the chance to have them much lately.  So it was a good moment.

But a normal evening walk here wouldn’t be complete without some kind of strangeness. 

And so here it is…

We were nearly home when we walked past a taxi station wagon and a Toyota SUV who were nose to nose on our narrow street.  Neither vehicle wanted to back up and let the other pass.  As we passed by, we kind of smirked at the people arguing about who should give way to the other.

We walked a half block farther when suddenly we heard the taxi rev his engine and then the unmistakable crunch of metal on metal as the taxi rammed the SUV.  Seriously.  Then the taxi backed up and started to turn around.  As the SUV moved as well, somehow the taxi mavouvered around him (which I guess was the point, in the first place) and went racing past us, with the SUV in hot pursuit.  As the SUV flew past us, bouncing over the ruts in the road, in a cloud of dust we saw…I kid you not…a woman standing on the running boards on the passenger side, clinging to the side of the truck.

I guess when you’re chasing someone in a high speed car chase, there really isn’t time to stop and let your passenger into the vehicle.  You might lose the other vehicle.  Of course the fact that you might lose the passenger seems a somewhat more important factor to me…but what do I know… 

Sandro and I looked at each other and started laughing.  It made a good story to tell the guys back at the house…

I love my neighbourhood.