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A Trip to Rwanda - Part 1



The end of the story first ....


This past Thursday, we were on our way to the Kigali airport. Scott had negotiated an open-ended fare with Emmanuel, the taxi driver. 17,000 francs for a marginal ride. 20,000 for a good one. Initially, Emmanuel offered to sing. Scott assured Emmanuel that if there was singing, the amount of the fare would actually go down.


After thinking for a moment, Emmanuel said, “OK, how about music? “Who is your favorite musician?” Off the top of his head, Scott, responded, “Stevie Wonder.”


Emmanuel was stumped. After a few fruitless internet searches on his phone for “Steven Wonder” “Steve Wonder” and “Steve Jobs,” (seriously) Emmanuel handed the cracked and well-loved phone to Scott who typed in “Stevie Wonder” and handed the phone back to Emmanuel.


Moments later, “I Just Called to Say I Love You” came on. Full blast. Because it was so enjoyable, we actually listened to that particular song 4 times. “I Just Called to Say I Love You.” 4 times. During a 20-minute ride to the airport.


But the real highlight was the second song. You see, when you search for Stevie Wonder songs on Rwandan internet, “I Just Called to Say I Love You” is the 1st, 3rd, 4th and 5th written by Stevie Wonder.


"We Are the World."


Scott and I were driving through Rwanda in a beat-up taxi with Emmanuel signing along to “We Are the World” more than 35 years after the western world, arguably for the very first time, began paying attention to the welfare of the people in Africa. We shared the cab ride with Ray Charles, Dionne Warwick, Bob Dylan, Lionel Richie, Michael Jackson (and his whole family, except Janet, sadly), Diana Ross, Willie Nelson, Kenny Rogers, Billy Joel, Steve Perry, Kenny Loggins, Huey Lewis, Tina Turner and, of course, Dan Aykroyd (look it up).

As we exited the cab and the chorus faded out, Emmanuel took his 20,000 francs and commented, “I love that song. I need to remember that Steven Wonder guy.”


As he pulled away, I’m pretty sure we heard the opening notes to “I Just Called To Say I Love You” drifting out of the taxi windows.



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lindenlodge9009
lindenlodge9009
02 mar 2022

I love your usual humor. I was riding along with the Steven Wonder guy.

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