I finally got to have my first behind-the-wheel lesson with Elite. I had to drive like 30 miles on back roads and places like Reisterstown and Liberty Road. Somehow I ended at Pimlico race track, and then by a farm. The guy I rode with was also very talkative. He would see a random person on the street and be like, “That’s my uncle/aunt/mom.” And then he would explain if a cop pulled me over and asked for my license, registration, proof of insurance…etc, that I should refuse to give it to them. I’m pretty sure he was just kidding. And then when we were almost to my house, he told me about where he was from: Liberia, and how they had a civil war that lasted for 14 years, how he was almost recruited by the rebels, and how he had lost his dad, uncle, sister, and many friends. I was taken aback. It was just like what we had read in “A Long Way Gone” in AVID. It was nice to hear him tell his story, and great to have met him. All in all, he was a pretty cool guy and it was a great experience.
Liberia is a rough place, it's nice that you got to hear that from someone in person and not just hear it on a page. Sometimes, even with non-fiction like in A Long Way Gone (wish I could underline or italicize it!), sometimes we can almost convince ourselves it isn't real if it didn't happen to us.
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