Today I was supposed to learn how to drive a manual car. After picking up the car this morning, we went to an empty parking lot so that I could practice. Matt taught me how to start and stop, and first and second gears. I think I was doing pretty well until we got to starting and stopping on a hillside. Then I started to freak out. I realized that even if I got all the basics down today, I wouldn’t have anyone to tell me what to do next if I was stalling or if the car was smelling funny (like it did this morning) with me on my way to and from work. I work several kilometers away from the city center, so I have to go up and down hillsides as well as drive on the freeways. And did I mention I’m still trying to remember which side of the road is the correct one to drive on? The driver is on the right side of the car, and you drive down the left side of the road.
Okay, I overwhelmed myself a little bit, but for the sake of my sanity and safety (not to mention Matt’s sanity [click for his version] and the safety of Cape Town residents), I opted to go back to the rental company and ask for an automatic. Where they totally laughed at me. (Why didn’t I just get an automatic in the first place? Well it’s much cheaper to rent manual cars here because only nicer cars come as automatics. But I’m going to suck it up.)
Still though, I need your prayers…right turns out. Left turns in.
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