A Traveler's Tale of Furry Surprises

[#facilitation + #travel 🙀] Back on my #Saudi trip last month, my colleague Ahmed, his wife and I got into the car to head off for our destination.

After a moment, we started to hear the sound of a cat meowing.

Meow, meow, meow.

We drove on a little and it didn’t go away.

Was there a cat in the car? Ahmed asked.

No, surely not! I said.

I checked my seats and underneath. I was sitting in the back, and saw a cat outside.

I thought the meow must be from them.

Drive on a bit and see if it goes away, I said.

So we carried on.

But it continued.

Meow meow meow.

Tiny.

Yet persistent.

Meow meow meowWWS.

Ahmed said again he felt it may be coming from inside the car.

The more we drove, the more it seemed to follow us.

It didn’t fade away.

The meow-ing got more and more urgent.

Ahmed decided to stop the car and check it out.

And it was then that we found out that a teeny tiny kitten…

...Trapped in the bonnet of the car!

It took us + several helpful pedestrians to get the little one to come out.

And though you think that was enough drama for one post, there’s more.

Once we finally got it out, it ran away - headed right into another car’s bonnet...

So I ran after him, and grabbed hold of him to stop him from disappearing into a nearby parked car’s bonnet.

Upon which, he bit me!

Yowch.

Luckily, the hotel first aider kindly bandaged my finger up.

Ah, the adventures one has when travelling!

Some other, more pertinent lessons learned from this little adventure:

💡👀 If you’re the driver/(read: leader/teacher) and you hear a 'meow' more than a couple of times, investigate. Even if it means stopping the car/(lesson/session). Most students/participants/team members don’t cry out without good reason - there’s too much personal risk involved. Best to check it out.

💡👀 And by all means: don’t rely 100% on the words/opinions of people who aren’t in charge of the direction the car goes. I remember Ahmed saying: I wouldn’t be able to continue driving if I wasn’t 100% sure it was clear. As a passenger, I had less responsibility than him. As the driver, you’re the one with your hands on the steering wheel, and it’s all on you to make the call. Eeep!

💡👀 Also: sometimes, when you try and help someone/something, especially if they can’t see the wood for the trees, you will get hurt. I am still chomping on this one to find the wisdom to know when to help and when not to help. What to do?! 🤷🏻‍♀️

If you enjoyed our learning from this #story, join Ahmed and I later today where we’ll be hearing stories from teachers in the #MENA region who were shortlisted in the #Cambridge #DedicatedTeacherAwards: Vidya Vinod, Muhammad Shabeer, Eman Abdullah, and Heshu Faris!