Finally, it is over!!!! I just got back from the driver part of the Spanish drivers license and I passed!!! It was an ordeal just like the one to pass the written part. And after several driving classes I was ready for the final test.

I had to meet my driving teacher at 7:15 am in our “autoescuela” and from there 4 of us were on our way to the dreaded test. An argentinian guy who had already failed one time, a guy about my age that already had driven for a while but never got around to getting his drivers license and a 18 year old kid. We all packed in the car and headed towards the examination area. On the way the teacher reminding us of all we had to do, the rotondas, stop signs, etc…

Once there, we were surrounded by about 20 or more “autoescuelas’ with their corresponding students. We got off the car and had to wait for the examiners to come..We were all praying we got a good one because passing this test is a little knowing how to drive, a little luck and who is giving you the test. We got lucky and got a young guy who seemed nice.

I was then told that I would go first! I got in the car, my teacher next to me, the examiner behind with the guy who had been driving for a while but didn’t have his license yet. He said, get comfortable and when you are ready go.. I put on my seatbelt, checked all the mirrors, adjusted my seat and started the car. I had to back up and there were people everywhere from the other auto escuelas but I was on my way. I took a deep breath and said to myself “you can do this”. He made me turn right, then left, I passed a stop sign, he then asked me to parallel park where ever I wanted but there was no space so he told me to go into a parking lot and park there, luckily the parking lot was front parking so I went straight in.. He then said, ok thank you next!!!! I said “what, that is it?”, “Do you want more, he asked”, “No, thank you I replied”. But I thought to myself, what did I do so bad that its over…It could not be this easy…he filled in a paper and gave it to my teacher. I switched seats with the other guy and my teacher looked at me through the rear view mirror and gave me a thumbs up. I couldn’t believe it.

The other guy started to drive and got so nervous his car clonked out, then when he went to parallel park he hit a tree behind us, and when the examiner gave him another try he just couldn’t get it in and he failed. We went back and we got off and the other two got in. At that point I was pretty sure I had passed but until I heard it from my teacher I wouldn’t believe it. When the other two came back, I found out that I had indeed passed as well as the other two and that the examiner said to my teacher when I got out of the car and the other two went in..“It will be hard for me to pass people after seeing that girl drive she raised the level”...He did ask me when I sat in the back with him..”Have you driven before?”..

And so, I’m a legal driver.. I must thank my teacher for her patience with me and all the good wishes and prayers of my friends and family.. My neighbor last night gave me a printed stamp of a saint and told me to say the prayer written on it before doing the test and to place it in my back pocket and that he will help me. She said all I needed to do in return is go to his church in Valencia and light a candle.. and so when I found out I had passed, I called her and said “We are going to Valencia”.

I know need to wait for about a month to actually receive my drivers license, but in the meantime I could drive with a photo copy of the passed exam..I also have to place a big “L” on the back of my car for a year letting people know I’m a new driver and to be careful with me and can’t drive over 80 kilometers per hour.… And so ends my drivers license experience, that I think has been one of the most stressful situations in my life..

photo flckr by gwen

As you all know I passed the written part of the Spanish Drivers license part but now comes the driving part. By law you need to take driving classes even if you know how to drive. You must drive a car provided by your “auto escuela” with a teacher that has control over all the pedals in case you F**& up!

I started 3 days a go and let me tell you lots of fun..Not only are almost all cars here stick shift but probably 99% of the auto escuelas only offer stick shift cars.. Thank god that I do know how to drive a stick since my first car (for those of  you who know me for a while could remember the “slutmobile” (and many of you know why) was a stick… anyway, the driving classes are shared with another student one drives half the class, in our case one drives into Alicante from Playa San Juan where we are and the other drives back.

For those of you who have never been to Europe, I must explain that the streets here are not as wide as in the states…there are certain streets where your car barely fits and where sometimes you must tuck in your rear view mirror because you will hit another car… having said that.. you could imagine just how much fun, I’m having..the teacher is very nice but she lets you know what you are doing wrong  time and time again…

Imagine driving in a city you barely know, some are one way streets with no signage, others so narrow (well I already explained above), while the teacher is telling you turn right here (and it’s a one way street where you can’t go in, she does this to see if you are paying attention), then she is reminding you, look in the rear view mirror, down shift, you are too close to the sidewalk, you forgot the turn signal, your shifting wrong, heel on the floor, you didn’t get on the right lane to go into rotondas (yes, rotondas, there are millions of them here and you need to know from which lane to get in and out, always reminds me of the Chevy Chase movie European Vacation when they are in France in a huge rotonda and it takes him all night long to get out of it, going round and round in circles…..

Ok, so what do you think? My teacher thinks I might be ready for the test mid July, I will let you know so you could all pray for me….

photos flickr by

dcphotolibrary 

autoescuelagong 

bakauatas 

Yesterday was Tuesday the 13th, here in Spain it has the same significance as Friday the 13th in the states. With that said, I got a flat tire yesterday just when I arrived at school to pick up the kids..Luckly, I have a service called RACC, that came right over and changed it for me (well, put the spare on for me).. I guess I could have done that myself, but there is no need to get dirty and most importantly I have no clue how to change a tire..

Isabella was very intrigued by the mechanic changing the tire and helped him by holding the bolts.. Marco could give three shits and just wanted to know when we were going to get home so he could eat a sandwich..hahaha..

This morning I went to a tire shop and the car is all better now..Well, that’s it, the adventure of yesterday and today…

photo flckr by thatgirlsab

Ok, after 3 years here in Spain driving (illegal) with my American license I think its about time I get a Spanish drivers permit. I had signed up to a driving school as I told you in an earlier post and started studying on my own. But between work, the kids, and life I just didn’t have any time to study so now that I have free time in the morning I have decided to actually go to the classes they offer daily.

Monday through Friday 11 am to 12 pm I will be in driving class. Today was my first class and it was pretty funny. We are about 6 losers!! All about my age or older and each from a different country (including the teacher). Half of them didn’t even speak Spanish very good and every 5 minutes would ask the teacher questions like, what’s a “carretera”? To which the teacher would  respond “the road”!!! By the end of the class, I wasn’t sure if I had signed up to a driving school or a Spanish class. But the funniest thing of all, was to watch all of us get out from the class and get in to our cars!!!!!

The teacher assured me in about a month I would have my drivers permit, I will keep you posted.

photo flckr by gethappy68

I don’t know if to laugh or cry but here goes. The story begins last year, when a very good friend of my dad’s who lives in Madrid but has a place here in Alicante gave us his used car as a gift! A very generous gift which we appreciate. The car is a Citroen (to tell you the truth, I have no clue what model or year, but it is a least 10 years old). The car runs great and Matt uses it to get around when I’m using the other car…

Ok, so today we had to take it for its yearly emissions test otherwise called the ITV (inspecion tecnica de vehiculos). We start out by not knowing where the hell this place was, we weren’t sure what documentation we needed, not sure of the cost, or what they would put our little old car through. After driving around for half an hour lost (half way to Madrid, hahah) we finally found the place, we stood in line in our car only to find out we had to go in the office first, present documents then stand in line in your car.. Ok, all that goes well..

The test starts, and we felt like we were taking the driving test again… put your blinker on, the lights, the break lights, windshield wipers, emergency lights, open the trunk, do the seat belts work…then you go to level two the emissions part, press the accelerator as hard as you can and see how much shit comes out of the back.. then a noise pollution test, again rev up the engine to 40 and see how loud it gets, then drive your car up over a hole where a guy is waiting beneath and speaks to you through a speaker which you can’t really hear or understand what he wants you to do, he then preceeds to shake your car down like he was making some sort of junk cocktail..

At the end we failed!! yes, we failed, and I thouht we had performed so well.. it seems, our windshield wiper needs a new blade, one of our headlights flickers and our emergency break is lets just say not ready for an emergency…so, there you have it.. after paying 40 euros we must return within a month pay another 40 euros and hope that our little old thing could withstand all the probing again. Needless to say we must take the car to the shop for repairs..

Oh, the joy of adulthood..the kids don’t know how good they have it..I will keep you updated on our progress.

pic flicker by Wendy