Bag O' Cash

The day after we arrived one of the other PAC doctor’s wives, Meredith, graciously offered to take us into Metsapha and Manzini in order to look for a car. Matt, the other new PAC doctor, joined us and we set off for a very uninformed, but entertaining adventure! Through careful research (i.e. asking around the Baylor Clinic) we determined that we were looking for a used vehicle, preferably a Toyota (because parts are easy to come by WHEN your car breaks down), 4-wheel drive, etc. Basically, we were looking for a small SUV that won’t guzzle too much gas but will have enough clearance to navigate the dirt roads…oh, and most importantly, is an AUTOMATIC. Doug really took pity on me conceding the standard because let’s face it, I’m not that good at driving stick as it is, in the U.S., let alone when the stick shift is on the left side of the body and I’m driving on the wrong side of the road. Honestly, I was sweating just thinking about having to drive a standard! Anyways, the long and short of it is that we purchased a vehicle from a placed called Nagra’s. There is one location in Manzini and one in Metsapha, and we negotiated a joint purchase with our friend Matt, so that we could get a better price. We bought identical, royal blue (could be confused with purple) Toyota Rav-4’s. Think ‘Zoolander.’ I know, right. Since the car has no documentation, no history report, a tampered with odometer and the ‘dealers’ speak limited English, it truly is a purchase of ‘what you see is what you get!’ The final kicker, we have to pay in cash…hence, the bag o’ cash pictured here! Might be the first time in my life that I actually understand what it means to have a ‘wad of cash.’