Oliver Pepper: Trip To Somalia Part I (From Allegany NY to Scranton PA)

Before I get to Somalia, I would like to describe the journey to get there. I have never left the town of Allegany, New York. When I say, never left, I mean I have never been out of the city limits. When my friends would go on vacations I would have them bring me over the video tapes and I would write stories as if I were there. Trust me, I had some great trips to Disneyland. However, this has left me a little green when it comes to traveling the globe, which appears to be a large component of my new occupation. My inexperience outside my home town, hopefully, will not be a factor as I will depend on the kindness of strangers.

I am 19 years old, almost to turn 20. I enjoy doing what typical college students do, you know, reading, researching, writing, investigating things that don’t add up, all in an attempt to gain as much academic success during my time at St. Bonaventure. I try to be in bed by 11:30 pm each night and up by 4:45 am. That gives me roughly nineteen hours or so of time to be productive. I have friends, but they feel like I work too hard and am trying to make them look bad in class. I can’t help it, that’s how much I love news! I am the President of Journalism at St. Bonaventure as well as Editor- In-Chief of our university’s paper known as: The Bona Venture.

Oliver Pepper and the Multipla

The plan was simple enough, first I anticipated venturing out in my blue 1998 Fiat Multipla to New York City the trip is roughly 350 miles. Then I would hop on a plan to London, then hopefully, without too many stop offs land in Mogadishu, the Capitol and largest city in Somalia. So, yesterday I spent a great deal of time compiling an enormous collection of home made compact discs. I felt like I had some pretty decent stuff on there, I was excited and a little anxious, for the trip, to say the least.

At 5:21 am I said farewell to mom and my 19 year old cat named Zoltan and stepped out of the home that I hadn’t been away from for more than one day at a time. Let me tell you a little about Zoltan besides being 19 he is one of the biggest and weirdest cats I’ve ever met. On a daily basis he will drink either my mom or I’s beverage if it’s left unattended for more than three seconds. Along with that feature Zoltan likes to dive bomb you in your sleep, just to wake you up and then he walks away from you purring. The cat is heavily addicted to cat nip and if you even mention that word he loses his mind and goes on an all out search and rescue mission. It’s best to stay out of his way at that point, trust me. As for my mom, she raised me by herself working two or three jobs at a time and was always there for me and always told me to go after what I wanted. She’s a good mom and more worried than I am at this point.

Anyway, the Multipla started up like a beast. For being a ’98 it only had 37,000 miles on it. I imagined that it still operated the way it did when it came off the assembly line. Full tank of gas, cds and some junk food, “what’s the worst that could happen?” I thought.

And there was nothing to worry about as I merged onto I-86, the interstate that I will be on for almost 200 miles. Things were going swimmingly, even if I wasn’t swimming. I had my GPS sat to a female Brit, the music made the trip as if I were playing a video game, weaving in and out of traffic like GTA.

However, that’s where I happened upon a problem. The Multipla had never been driven like that before. It was only used to be driven at about 33 mph, no hurry when I was just fetching some milk for the mother unit. The Multipla, which a long time ago I had given the nickname Ted, started making one of the most unusual noises I had heard in my lifetime. The noise sounded like an automatic can opener and a blender fighting with a dog for its breakfast. I signaled my intention and pulled over to the shoulder. The worst that could happen did happen, there was an automatic can opener and a blender under my hood! Luckily, there was no dog. I removed the kitchen appliances and it started up like a champ, “way to go Ted,” I thought.

Kitchen appliances aside, Ted and I were back on the road. I still had over 200 miles to cover just to get to New York City, not to mention navigate traffic there. To prepare myself for this trip I played 38 hours of GTA 3 this week. The interstate drive had been easier than I had anticipated because I didn’t have any police, nor tanks, FBI, or helicopters after me . However, there were still the idiots that changed lanes without turn signals.

Call number four from my mom the conversation went like this:
“Hello”
“Hello”
“This is mom.”
“I know, mom”
“What are you doing?”
“Driving.”
“Are you checking your blind spots, the mirrors, are both hands on the wheel, is the GPS still working?”
“Yes.”
“Where are you?”
“On a road.”
“I know that, but where are you close to?”
“Pretty close to Binghamton, about to stop there I think.”
“Ok, be careful!”
“I will be.”
“Love you.”
“Love you too.”

That took some energy out of me so I stopped off in Binghamton, which is right off the interstate. I decided I would grab a bite to eat since my breakfast was a concoction of Skittles and Golden Graham Treats. To be honest, that version of breakfast was tasty, but I felt like I needed some perhaps, real food. That being said, I had to take Mcdonalds, Burger King, and so on. So, I chose Subway and prayed to God I wouldn’t choke on it.

Ted was gently guided from I-86 to I-81 and we would enter Pennsylvania very soon. Passing through Conklin then Hallstead then New Milford and so on, traveling through PA in the summer time is a beautiful experience. I would have to change roads again when I made it to Scranton, I-380/80 would lead me back into New York and to the biggest city in the USA.

Check Back In For Part II