Thembaletu First Impressions

After 36 hours of plane travel and 6 hours of driving across the South African country side, I was a little tired. My mind was not its clearest.

When we entered the city of George at night my anxiety level began increasing. I was still a novice at driving a manual transmission vehicle on the left side of the road. Then we entered Thembaletu, a dimly-lit Black township with people socializing in the streets. My fear went up again. I did not want to hit anyone. I did not want to lose the other van that I was following. I did not know where I was going.

I was driving slowly down the street to avoid pedestrians when a woman came up to the passenger's side and began knocking on the glass. She was jogging a little to keep up with our van. Amanda, my co-pilot, rolled the window down.

"I'm with you! I'm with you! Let me in the van! You will come with me!" the strange woman called to us in the front seats.

I looked at Amanda for guidance. She looked at me with despair. Amanda said, "I think we should keep going." I nodded, rolled up the window, and kept going. The woman ran after us for a little time and then stopped to walk.

We continued through the dark streets of the township and made a sharp left at the bottom of a hill. A man approached the van on the driver's side. I rolled down the window.

"Come with me. Just turn the van into this driveway. You're staying with us."

"I'm not sure of the plans. You should talk to our leader. He's in the van ahead of us," I replied and then I rolled up the window.

I looked at Amanda. "What if that woman was actually with us?" I wondered ashamedly out loud.

I saw our lead van turn into a nearby driveway and the man who had spoken with me was directing me to follow.

We parked and went inside of our lodgings, a bed and breakfast owned and operated by Jerry and Eunice.

Eunice was the woman who greeted us earlier on the road. Jerry was the man who approached afterward. We were staying at their house for the week.

Eunice came into the house a little out of breath and approached me.

"Why did you pass me by when I called to you? Were you afraid of me?"

I stared down at my shoes. I could feel my ears burning. "I'm so sorry. I didn't know who you were."

Eunice let out a big laugh. "Of course, you didn't." She clapped her hand to her forehead. "I was standing out there raving like a mad woman. How were you supposed to know what I looked like or that you were staying with me? I probably would have done the same thing."

I let out a little chuckle. Eunice clasped my hand.

"Don't worry. It's alright. You know who I am now."

"I won't make the same mistake again."

I really did feel bad about the whole affair. Why hadn't I trusted her? Why hadn't I let her into the van? Was it the color of her skin? Her clothes? My tired and/or racist state of mind? I knew that I wouldn't make the same mistake with Eunice and Jerry, but would I with other people who don't look like me?

For the rest of our week in Thembaletu, Eunice retold my little identification mishap over and over to her friends and neighbors. She always told it as a joke. Each time the embarrassment and shame lessened and the humor grew. Eunice forgave me with her motherly chiding and healed any bad feelings that I may have caused between us. Thank God for her sense of humor. Throughout our visit we had a wonderful time getting to know one another. Fortunately for me, my first impression wasn't my lasting impression.