As usual, Vincent plugged the address into the GPS to determine our time of departure from the house. Our destination was 1h15 away, and the roads were all clear. We scheduled to leave accordingly, giving ourselves 15 minutes of buffer time in case we ran into any unexpected traffic.
We were right on schedule to our event starting at 9 a.m. It even looked like we would arrive early. Perfect, just like Vincent likes it—early.
Early, it seemed, until we hit traffic. Major traffic! Going through the mountain hills, we suddenly found ourselves crawling behind a long line of vehicles on the narrow two lane road.
What is the Hold Up?!
What could possibly be the hold up? The GPS continued to show all roads clear and no signs of traffic.
Little by little, we saw the cars go around a slow moving object near the side of the road. In the distance, we could see something black. What was it?
As we approached the dark object, nearing our turn to go around it, we realized what the hold up was.
It was an Amish horse and buggy—slowly galloping along.
It wasn’t just one carriage. Rather, it was one carriage after another. Multiple lines of traffic were backed up to pass by them.
Cultural Awareness—AGAIN!
Our eyes were suddenly opened to the world around us. This was another wake up call in cultural awareness!
As we looked at our GPS, we realized that our GPS had not taken into consideration the Amish horses and buggies in the hills of rural Pennsylvania. They obviously could not be detected by satellite.
We live in “Amish country,” so this must happen to a lot of drivers.
By the end of our journey, we ended up being 15 minutes late to our event—not 15 minutes early!!!
While living in the “Land Between,” our family has found several cultural games. In addition to playing “Counting Camo,” our family can now play “Counting Carriages”!
—The Cultural Story-Weaver
Let’s Weave Cultures!
What unexpected traffic have you come across during your travels? Flight, train, and bus delays? In Morocco, we often ran into moped accidents, camel crossings, broken donkey carts . . .
We invite you to tell us your own cultural stories and global adventures . . . as you engage with the world, breaking down barriers, building bridges, and “weaving cultures”! Write about them in the comment box below.
