Last night my sister and I took an auto home (auto's are our main mode of transportation here-kind of like an open air taxi) from visiting commercial street. I was having so much fun watching where we were going that I forgot all about talking. I realized I was ignoring my sister, so I looked over only to see that she had the same look of joy on her face that I know was on mine. I know this because she looks almost exactly like me, just shorter. The height having no bearing on her face, we look like twins sitting down and have the same facial expressions. Our driver was...Awesome. He inspired me to make a list of things I have learned from driving in India
1. It is perfectly acceptable to drive on the wrong side of the road here
2. Driving on the wrong side of the road is a good way to get around bothersome traffic on your side of the road
3. Red lights are to be obeyed if you can't get around the traffic in front of you to run them or if you arrive after the cross traffic is too thick to drive through (please use your judgement on how thick is "too thick," 3 or 4 cars deeps appears to be just fine)
4. Scary dirt back roads are fine to drive at night as long as you are going at least 50 km/hour-be sure to dodge the people and/or buses if you can
5. If you discover that you are heading the wrong direction, doing a u-turn in the middle of your lane is a good way to turn around, never mind if you are on a one way road, just take it where you need to go
6. It is good to be delighted in your own shortcuts
7. It is not scary at all to be asked if you know where you are by your auto driver (OK, that might be sarcasm on this one)
8. What is usually a little over an hour drive can be cut to 40 mins. with creative driving
9. I am more than ever wanting to drive here
10. I am going to be seriously disappointed when I return to the US and have to follow pesky driving laws
11. My sister and I are crazy similar-we both got out of the auto with huge smiles and said "that was awesome!"
12. You probably don't want either one of us to drive you around when you visit us here
13. We would love to drive you around when you visit
14. You might cry if you get in the car with us while you are here...out of pure joy from wonderful driving
~Love from India~
1. It is perfectly acceptable to drive on the wrong side of the road here
2. Driving on the wrong side of the road is a good way to get around bothersome traffic on your side of the road
3. Red lights are to be obeyed if you can't get around the traffic in front of you to run them or if you arrive after the cross traffic is too thick to drive through (please use your judgement on how thick is "too thick," 3 or 4 cars deeps appears to be just fine)
4. Scary dirt back roads are fine to drive at night as long as you are going at least 50 km/hour-be sure to dodge the people and/or buses if you can
5. If you discover that you are heading the wrong direction, doing a u-turn in the middle of your lane is a good way to turn around, never mind if you are on a one way road, just take it where you need to go
6. It is good to be delighted in your own shortcuts
7. It is not scary at all to be asked if you know where you are by your auto driver (OK, that might be sarcasm on this one)
8. What is usually a little over an hour drive can be cut to 40 mins. with creative driving
9. I am more than ever wanting to drive here
10. I am going to be seriously disappointed when I return to the US and have to follow pesky driving laws
11. My sister and I are crazy similar-we both got out of the auto with huge smiles and said "that was awesome!"
12. You probably don't want either one of us to drive you around when you visit us here
13. We would love to drive you around when you visit
14. You might cry if you get in the car with us while you are here...out of pure joy from wonderful driving
~Love from India~
I don't know what makes you so brave, because the one thing keeping me from seriously looking into living abroad is the difference in driving in a foreign country! Are the steering wheels on the US side of the car in India at least???
ReplyDeleteActually, they drive on the other side of the street here..so many funny stories to blog about that!
DeleteI love the joy in your "voice" describing this experience, but thank you, I'll pass.
ReplyDelete