DRIVER UNDER INSTRUCTION

I drove a stick-shift vehicle on the wrong side of the road today!

Although my car didn't have the common insignia seen on cars of student drivers in Nairobi, "Driver Under Instruction", it was very obvious that I was a first time driver. (For those of you who don't know, I do not know how to drive a standard transmission vehicle.) After six or seven loops around the school parking lot, practicing stopping and going and stopping and going, I ventured onto the street. I drove through a nearby neighborhood and then on to Village Market, our local "mall". Jessie, my instructor, treated me to some Italian ice-cream, and then back home we went. I stalled the car several times in the parking lot of Village trying to reverse, and the guard had to hand signal traffic around me. I thanked him for his patience and help. He was very nice and responded, "It is very normal." After dropping Jessie off at the school gate, I drove home by myself. It's still a rough ride if you jump in the car with me, but it's a start. I'm not going out to attempt crazy Nairobi traffic jams yet, but I can at least get myself to the grocery store. Today is a successful day for me in Africa.