Hey James Bond, in America we drive on the right side of the road!

Today I am going to talk about driving.  Anyone who knows me knows I like to drive.  You need someone to drive across the country with, I am there.  I have driven to Florida and back to Michigan, from Michigan to Missouri, to Colorado and back to Pennsylvania, South Carolina and back to Michigan two times, from Portand to LA to Colorado to Michigan and from LA to Portland to Washington to Colorado to Michigan to Pennsylvania. And countless trips to and from Michigan and Pennsylvania.  I really love driving and navigating...in the states.  Here, however, I am a nervous wreck. My first time driving here, a boda (motorcycle) hit me. Everyone was fine but he wanted money from me to repair his bike. So a took a couple days off and let my sister drive anytime we went out. The next time I drove was ok. At least no one hit me this time.  But my third time out I was hit again by a boda. Not sure what these guys have against me. There really are no rules in driving here.  You want to park in the middle of the street...go right ahead. You want to fit four cars across on a two lane street...go for it.  You don't feel like signaling or you just want to leave your hazards on...great! I am a rule follower by nature so this is really killing me.  There are very few posted speed limit signs. You just go as fast as you feel comfortable.  I really like going the speed limit, not making up my own. So Benj does the bulk of the driving here. I like to tell myself it is because I am a better navigator but mostly it is because I am afraid I am going to get in an accident or worse, kill someone.  I try to take pictures and videos of the roads and us driving but they never really do it justice.

On top of everything else you drive on the left side of the road.  I didn't think it would make much difference and now as I am getting use to it doesn't seem to be so different.  I do hit the windshield wipers instead of the turn signal sometimes and I enjoy turning left a lot more than turning right. All and all it just seems more stressful here. More people, motorcycles, taxi vans, busses, and waaaaayyy too many heavy trucks. I think for now I will continue to let Benj drive and just hold onto my Jesus Bar.

Beckie and Ruudy's "driveway"

Construction = piles of rocks and dirt in the middle of the road