Driving

I am not sure when I'm ever going to have enough gumption. Maybe I never will.

I mean this one two levels. The first is the border, general sense of living here in South Africa and the second is the main focus of this blog: driving. I hate driving. Generally speaking, I am not a big fan of driving at home. Don't get me wrong. I do it all the time and boldly too. I've made a 10 hour road trip in one shot, all by myself. Regardless, it still isn't my favorite thing to do no matter how liberating it may be to be alone in the car, with the stereo up, and the North Carolina Mountains in the background.

Here it is much worse. All my fears of driving are emphasized, like they are on speed. And I am not sure how I am going to overcome this besides just sucking it up and doing it. Yet, I am not a fan of that – because driving here seems insanely dangerous. Everybody (especially Kombis) do whatever the heck they want whenever they feel like it.

Today we went with the BCI staff to a day at the beach, which was really great – we got some sun, saw the ocean, and got a week day off of work. Awesome. But this day at the beach also include more adventures with the ballade. First of all, this car is so ghetto. The bumper is currently held on with zip ties. (We won't mention how it got that way). Needless to say, its current condition does not make me more excited about driving it ever. Anyway, on our way home we almost got in 2-3 accidents. Ugh. The scariest one happened because we were spotted in traffic on this monster of a hill. And the car needs a ton of gas to go anywhere – let alone up a hill. Thankfully we did not hit the car behind us, and after stalling out 3 times we finally got up the hill and my heartbeat eventually resumed its normal rate. I wasn't even driving. Still, if I had been in this situation I would've lost it. I get in the car and just wait for the chance to get out again – and that's not even when I am driving.

If nothing else, the ballade has made me pray more.

Ugh.