Transportation

Today I (Pete) started Ecuadorian drivers ed. I can drive legally in Ecuador with my US and international licenses, but to be covered by insurance, which is not mandatory in Ecuador, I need an Ecuadorian license.
The last time I did drivers ed, I sat in the back of the classroom with my other 15-year-old friends and we made faces and played catch because our in-class teacher was legally blind. She would say, "I know you're probably doing something back there, but I just don't know what."
The first thing I did today, before any in-class training, was behind-the-wheel practice. I guess they figure that most people have already driven, whether legally or illegally, here. For the record, I wore my seatbelt when I drove - my instructor did not. He did wrap his seatbelt around the handbreak once to look like he had it on when he saw a policeman.
In-class training was fun. I could understand almost everything the teacher said, and I even understood his jokes, but I stood out like a big foreign exchange student with my Northern-European complexion. Any chance of blending in was lost when the teacher wanted me to teach him to pronounce my entire name, Peter Blake Vanderlinden Grangaard. But it was funny for all, and it gave classmates a conversation starter to talk to me afterward. A couple of college-age guys were especially welcoming and willing to help me if I need it.
I'm sure the class will be a great learning experience, and it will give me lots to write about.
-Pete

I (Pete) have begun driving in Ecuador, where the lines and signs don't really mean anything. I was nervous that I might not be able to understand some of the signs in Spanish, but that is not a problem because there aren't many signs. Most of the street name signs are posted on buildings on the side of the road, so even with a passenger it can be hard to tell which street your crossing. Some street name signs are as far as 100 yards from the street corner... on a small yellow house.
The 3 basic rules of driving in Ecuador are that the driver in front has the right away, even if he wants to swerve into your lane as you are passing; pedestrians never have the right away, especially at crosswalks, but sometimes on highways if they are carrying something; and you can apparently legally break a traffic law as long as you first beep your horn- For example, a bus or taxi can run a read light as long as they beep their horns first. Oh, one more rule, and I think people would drive slower here if they all new this rule: If you injure someone while driving, you can be thrown in jail.
No one pays attention to the lanes because the drivers have figured out that they can fit 3 cars on a two lane road. One nice thing though is that cars will give a courtesy beep when they are coming up to pass you.
We don't have our Ecuadorian drivers licenses yet; we can drive with our US ones for 30 days from our arrival. Even if we had no license, the de facto police policy says that a five or ten dollar bill can normally serve as your license.
Today Tesha and I drove to the Red Cross to get blood tests to find out what type of blood we have. (I'm A negative, can't I sell mine?) They print your blood type on your drivers license here (duh America, why haven't we thought of that?). It cost us $2.50 to get our blood tests done. I think that's about what doctors in The States charge if you lick an extra one of those popsicle stick things that they stick down your throat.

We've been adding more photos on Webshots, but they've been added to existing albums. I'm not sure if Webshots tells you which albums have been recently updated. I know we've updated "Pool," "Toddlers," and "Preschool" this week.
-Pete