Countdown to KiKi

We've all been anxiously awaiting (yes, "we") the arrival of my belongings and my car. My car has been in Addis Abeba for something close to three weeks now but has been held hostage by the Ethiopian Road Authority. Why? It's not because they found that product in my glove compartment. There were no white powdery trails on the dashboard and no green leaves and stems between the seats. I keeps it clean these days. Anyway, when you ship a car overseas, there is some basic information that the importing agency needs to know, including make, model, year, VIN (vehicle identification number)and sometimes, the engine number. When I took my car to the mechanic before I left DC, I asked them to find the engine number as this was not something that I could find on my own (obviously, because it's on the engine--and not just listed all shiny on a plate on the top of the engine). I was told that they couldn't find the engine number. I didn't put it on the shipping documentation and just figured that we'd cross that bridge when we came to it. I google-d engine numbers for my type of car (and where to find them) and most websites said that the VIN number will work instead.

Now, here is where things get tricky. Some of you know the complicated history of my car. When my Nissan Sentra began giving me trouble last spring and the repairs were going to cost more than the value of the car, I had decisions to make. My sister had offered to sell me her "old" car (my current Suzuki) but at the time, I was not fully employed. But after talking to her about my car issues, she offered to let me drive the Suzuki if I could make half of the car payment. We kept this deal for about six months or so, until November, when I actually bought the car. We won't go into the details of that nightmare (because my credit union is wack and slow), but it was a unnecessarily long struggle. Anyway, my sister handed over all of the paperwork from her car to me, including documentation from when she FIRST got the car in 2006 (or something). At the time, she had traded in her Pathfinder for the Suzuki.

Fast forward to July, when I'm preparing to leave for Ethiopia. I have all of this documentation because of the random information required to ship a vehicle. When they came and got the car, I *think* I had all of this documentation on hand. I use think because I can't understand why I would have a particular document when it wasn't relevant in any way but we'll discuss that in a minute. Anyway, everything goes according to plan when they come to get my car. I take everything out and take off my tags. This was at my sister's house and they literally tow the car away so it looked like my car was getting repossessed. My brother-in-law joked that they don't give you a chance to take off the tags when they repossess your car. Touche. I don't remember the man asking for my engine number but maybe I'm forgetting this tidbit. I don't think so.

Anyway, last week, I went to the folks in shipping who are handling the importation of my stuff and ask about my car. They tell me that the Ethiopian Road Authority won't release my car because they cannot find an engine number. I tell him that there is no engine number. He says "Well, there's an engine number on the documentation from the shipping company". What? I didn't give them an engine number, where did they get it? So I go to said shipping man's office and he shows me the paperwork and sure enough, there's an engine number. Hmm. I start going through my own paperwork and look at this copy of the trading transaction (when my sister traded the Pathfinder for the Suzuki). There's an engine number for the Pathfinder but not for the Suzuki. Mind you, its clearly marked that it's the Pathfinder engine number. I cross-check this with the paperwork over in shipping...and somehow, its the same. So they have the engine number for the Pathfinder listed for the Suzuki. I don't know how this happened because I would think that the shipping company would have looked at the actual engine to get an engine number, but no. And I would almost swear that I did not give the shipping people in the US that document (with the Pathfinder number). I have no idea how this happened. But now, the folks in Ethiopia are looking for an engine number that doesn't exist. We've managed to clear that up but it has delayed me getting my car. I got my Ethiopian license last week (everything is in Amharic, including my name) and will be getting my insurance this week. Allegedly, the keys to my car will be in my hand on Wednesday or Thursday (allegedly).

I'm scared to drive. We have to take a class at the Embassy that is supposed to prepare newcomers to the country to drive in Addis. This is where they essentially tell you that Addis has the highest traffic fatality rate in the world and that you have to be on the lookout for pedestrians (who cross the street at any point, at any time), donkeys, cows, sheep, goats, dogs, mini-buses and taxis. Yay. I actually don't want to drive but I'm so tired of being held hostage in my house (okay, not really but I do feel really limited in my goings). There's this one place, called Meskel Square, where none of the stoplights work. It's like a big free for all with at least six different streets meeting at this one intersection. I'm going to avoid that at ALL costs. Some people suggested hiring a driver for a few months but I feel like that's a waste of money. I've been riding with drivers since I've been here. I'll just be pumping my brakes and driving slow (homie).