When I fell asleep on a tro tro

I finally pulled myself from my nap when the lullaby of the engine stopped with a “thudunk thudunk” sound. We pulled over and the driver hoped out to relieve his waters. In a slightly dazed and confused state I rubbed the cloudiness out of my eyes and realized that I had just woken up on a tro tro.

I’ve always had the gift and sometimes curse of being able to fall asleep almost instantly on moving vehicles. It stems from a childhood with road trip enthusiasts as parents and a slight tendency to being carsick. In order to avoid upchucking in motion, I’d force myself to fall asleep and ignore the ride. Now it’s become a routine that I can’t always seem to break.

Although it makes road trips fly by, it can be dangerous on a tro tro. These 15 seater vans have been remolded to fit 20-25 people (although I’ve been on ones with nearly 40 school children crammed into the seats). They have a general direction in which they move, but it’s very much the passenger’s responsibility to let the driver or mate know when to stop. Falling asleep can often interfere with this responsibility.

When I woke up on my tro tro I knew that something was wrong. I didn’t notice any of the landmarks and I felt as though I had been in my vehicle for a bit too long. Turning to the gentleman beside me I asked if we had already passed my stop.

“Shia shi?”

“Shia huh?”

This was not a good response. Either he had no recollection of this stop name or was having a difficult time understanding my accent. My mind simultaneously began to panic and prepare an escape route. I looked around for road sings, which of course there are very few in Ghana.

I knew I could take a taxi home if all else failed, but how much would that cost me? Where was I? Did I go the wrong direction? What if I’m another city? What If I’m in Togo?

For some reason during these recent tro tro adventures, I’ve developed a fear that I’ll somehow end up in Togo (a nearby country). It’s not a rational fear and very unfounded. However I fear that if I somehow end up in Togo no one will be able to retrieve me because naturally, they don’t have a visa (neither do I, but like I said I wasn’t being very rational).

We began moving once again on the tro tro and my heart started to race. Time for action. The driver began zooming down the road at a velocity two notches faster than my ability to process information. As we sailed into the night, the mate began listing off stop names. Mine was not included.

“Ok,” I thought. It’s time to get off. I randomly picked a stop and began to gather my purse. Squeezing through the tiny isle between the seats, my eyes began to swell with tears. I couldn’t believe I had messed up so bad. As I placed my feet on the stop and through my head into the night air, a hand grabbed my arm.

“Where are you going?”

“Home,” I replied.

“Shia Shi right? That’s the next stop.”

A wave of relief rushed over me and I took my seat once again. Quietly I vowed to myself to never inflict that sort of panic on myself again.

I will not fall asleep on tro tros, I will not fall asleep on tro tros.

This morning on my way to work, I fell asleep on my tro tro.

This is not a good pattern.

-Neethu