Safe Travels!

It is summer, which means my husband and I will be taking road trips, many road trips.  I am the driver in my family.  I love to drive probably stemming from the fact that I have a hard time sitting still.  I love to move.  I love traveling to new places and seeing this beautiful country.

Last week, I took an Uber to pick up a rental car that we would be using to drive to Maine.  My Uber driver was a woman, and when I stepped into her new gleaming white Toyota, she was speaking in Arabic. Her name was Amena . She wore a dark blue hajib and a serious expression.  She nodded to me as she spoke into her phone.  I could tell she was giving some kind of instructions and was not happy about it.  Soon, she hung up and sighed, “Family!”

I chuckled and said that even though I could not understand her, I knew she was talking to a child, probably a teenager.  Amena laughed and said, “Why don’t they listen?  Why do they think they know everything?”

I smiled and nodded in sympathy. 

She went on, “ I am working all the time, and they can’t do anything without me.”

I leaned forward, “Well, that’s the life of women.”

Amena glanced at me from the rearview mirror and smiled, and we laughed together.

We started to talk about family and work as she sailed down the highway.  She asked me where I was going, and I told her to Maine and asked if she had ever been there.  Amena said she hadn’t.  I told her that her kids would love the beach and the mountains.  She said she had gone up to Bear Mountain and Lake Tiorati in Harriman State Park in New York. I told her that was where my family went in all seasons to hike and swim and ice skate.  My Grandpa Charlie used to camp in cabins by the lake.  And I swam in my mother’s belly as she swam in the lake the summer before I was born. I have such a strong connection to Bear Mountain.  It is a place that I know well, a natural place filled with beauty.  I told Amena that she should back there in the fall and winter with her family to hike in the yellowing woods, ice skate at the rink, and relax in front of the stone fireplace with a hot cup of cocoa at the lodge.  She listened and nodded, and I hope she will take my advice.

Amena told me that she gets worried on long drives and prays to Allah to keep her safe.  “I put a dollar away in a jar for the poor as my offering to Allah and ask him to keep me safe, and my family safe on the road.”

“I pray to God too before I take a long trip.  I ask him to look out for me,” I tell her.

“My children tell me I’m so cheap. Just a dollar!”  She turned and smiled at me, “I tell them that I have to put them through college.  That is all I can afford.  Allah understands.”

“Yes, Allah definitely understands!” I agreed, as Amena pulled up to the rental agency.

I opened my purse to give her a tip.  I saw a folded twenty-dollar bill at the bottom of my bag and automatically pulled it out and gave it to her.  A twenty dollar tip for a twenty-seven dollar ride. Amena deserved that! “Give Allah two dollars tomorrow!” I said.

Amena laughed, “Yes, yes!  Thank you!  Safe Travels to you!” 

“And to you too!”  I said as I left her car and headed into rental agency. 

I was so happy talking to Amena and learning about her life.  I love these little glimpses into other people’s culture and points of view. I definitely wasn’t expecting this great conversation as a prelude to my road trip.  It was a pleasant surprise. I was curious about the meaning of Amena’s name, so I looked it up when I got home.  I smiled when I read the words: trustworthy, honest, faithful, safe one, protected.  I was sure then that I would be in good hands on this road trip.

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