Driver Test

Hi All
Well, just to keep life interesting, a couple of people suggested that it would be wise to do our drivers test here. It apparently makes life alot easier with the police, for easier passage and since international driver´s licences do not apply here, we felt it could make life run a little more smoothly when we buy a vehicle. Hense we are in the process of going for it. Sooooo, we have to do it all in spanish..... hmmmm, we have limited spanish abilities......hmmmm. What the heck are we thinking. A written test in spanish.....
Anyway, here´s what happens. You need to learn how to drive by having a drivers teacher, our´s is Telmo and he is great. He drove for a long time in the states and he knows we know how to drive. So mostly, he drives and tours us around showing us all the great sites of Baños. Next, we have to take a class in the Transit Laws. I would love to print off a copy but you all would really not believe that they have the laws that they do have, and then never ever enforce them. Fortunately in this class, we met another ¨Gringoe¨couple, and Manola speaks fluent spanish and Hurly is great too. They both have a wonderful sence of humor and have made those classes so much more easy to swallow. Next, we had to take mechanics , where our guys were falling asleep. We heard that one of our friends actually did fall asleep and fell out of his chair, talk about embarassing and quite hilarious. I wish Rob would have done this ,I would have laughed myself silly and enjoyed the class a great deal more. Next Rob and I had to go to first aid, where by accident we showed up 1 hour late to a 2 hour class. I had to do a written test and interpret it for Rob and I couldn´t understand it, because it was totally in spanish. Fortunately, I called over the teacher, where we talked it over in Spanish and it was smoothed over, but Yikes. I rarely have had the experience of looking at a test, that is a topic of something I know very well, and for the life of me couldn´t figure out a thing. It was very disconcerting let me tell you. Fortunately, I have a bit of experience with first aid, we blew through that one verbally.
The LAST Class. Ok,,,, I can understand all the other classes, and how they apply to driving but listen to this one. Psychology of driving. Here, the first 20 min of a 1 hour class was spent watching short slides of bloopers of people in embarassing situations, where I saw more male appendages hanging out than I get to see with Rob on a hot night. The final slide was 5 people naked skydiving and all along Rob and I are asking ourselves,¨what the hell has this got to do with driving?????¨ Then we saw useless Japanese inventions; the only one I liked, was butter that could be applied like a glue stick to toast seems like a pretty good one to me really, but again what the hell has this got to do with driving????? OK, next bit, and my patience is starting to wear a little thin here. I am sure you can understand why. The teacher/psychologist tells us , we are important and we are children from god and he loves us and we are wonderful, and who are we anyway, and aren´t we perfect. I kind of wish I would have said thank you and left and figured the class was finished but I just didn´t clue in. This guy is the spanish equivalent of Anthony Robbins. I think that it is the morbid curiosity that kept me sitting in my chair, trying to figure out the meaning for all this. You know, you all have been there. Like a dumb joke and you know it is going to be bad but you just have to hear the punch line. And again, what the heck has this got to do with driving?. Ok.... The next and OH so important question, what do you believe in? Do you beleive you come from God, (the correct answer), from creationism, or from outerspace? This is true, he asked us if we thought we could be from outerspace. I think that might have been a trick question, and thank god I had the forsight not to say there are some great websites and research supporting this idea or I might be taken care of in a nice quiet room with lots of padding. But honestly, this is a very important and personal question and one that could help one to get a clearer philosophical view of life and a question I myself have taken classes for, to grow as a person and try and deal with my issues in a intelligent and mature manner, but what the in the doodle does this have to do with driving? Rob, seeing that it would be much better to be a sheep in a catholic society said god, and I , trying to be honest and of course somewhat philosophical (thinking I might be rejected for ¨different extraterrestrial view¨), said possibly god and creationism, there was a pregnant pause of silence and an awkward ahem,,,,, and cough from the crowd, also alot of blank stares...... and a sudden discret change of subject. Then he asked what do you really want and deserve out of life? Rob being the honest and capitalistic Gringo said mucho dinero, they all laughed and I said I just wanted my drivers licence, again laughter. BUT WHAT HAS THAT GO TO DO WITH DRIVING? And then oddly, suddenly everyone smiled and got up and left,.....and it was over. Really.... just like that. The end¨. Stunned Rob and I left and were relieved that the driver company didn´t insist on an interpreter, and we missed alot thankfully, it could have been even more painful. Rob and I had to catch the bus back from Pelileo to Baños and all the way back we constantly asked ourselves,¨ What the heck was that all about and what does it have to do with driving?¨ Rob said it helped him get intouch with his sensitive side and that he is a better person for it and when he drives with our friend Paul, he will give breach Pauls personal space bubble, and give him a great big bear hug (Paul was the one of the people saying we really needed to do this). Rob also said he won´t be afraid to cry anymore and he can have more confidence in being more sensitive from now on,( you have to know Rob to what a load of s---t that is.)
Saddly, after several days, I still find myself pondering on those naked skydivers and wondering if they all caught colds or when and if those parts get too cold, does it affect your personal, intimate life, and what the noodle does that all have to do with driving? Did I miss something, because I think that normally quite perceptive and can see may points of view? I have to be honest and tell you, that it has been keeping me up at night,.... thinking about it. If any of you could find some insight to this quandery please find the time to enlighten me, it would be much appreciated, as I feel uncomfortably dimwitted because I have not gotten ÏT¨. I feel like I am looking at the Rubiks cube of life and only getting one side of the cube blue.
Talk with you all Later and try not to think of those skydivers, its not like counting sheep.
Robin