Adventures in Driving

Most of you know that I've been driving here for some time.  But most of you don't know the full story from behind the wheel.  Let me start by giving you some of the basics of driving here.  First off, the wheel is on the right side of the vehichle which doesn't feel so weird odd here as traffic goes the opposite direction of what it does in the states.  In my city there are no traffic lights or stop signs.  Actually there are a few stop signs but those seem to be more for decoration as no one actually stops.  Intersections are just sort of a free-for-all with the biggest vehicle always having the right away.    I started learning how to drive here within three months of arrival.  I say learning to drive because the experience is so totally different from what I'm used to that I really did need lessons.  Not only is everything on the opposite side, but all the cars are manuals so I had to re-learn how to drive a stick shift.  Plus the roads here are crowded with bicycles, motorcycles, scooters, large trucks, buses, pedestrians (including small children running out into the road), and animals (mostly dogs, water buffalo, goats, and horse drawn carts, but we also get the occassional elephant and camel).  So clearly there is a lot to keep your eyes on.  I should also mention that your eyes aren't the only one of your senses that needs to be alert.  You see since there are no real stop signs the horn is used to alert other drivers when a vehicle is approaching an intersection.   This brings me to one of my favorite stories of Father's faithfulness and proctection from my first year.  My second time behind the wheel I was T-boned by a large bus.  Pretty scary stuff.  The car was pretty much damaged, but thankfully me and D were totally unharmed.  We could have been seriously injured.  For a long time after the accident I wondered if I would ever drive again, but these days I drive around town like the accident never happened.  Well that's not true.  The accident taught me a great lesson about the sovereignty of G and to always let buses go first at intersections .