My driving nightmares

I do not normally have nightmares, or at least I can hardly remember them the following morning. But since I landed in the United States about two weeks ago, I have been frequently woken up by a terrifying yet mundane and simple issue: driving.

Those of you who know me (and I bet you do because you are reading my blog) know that I have always felt proud of the fact that I am perhaps one of the few people of my age that actually takes pleasure in not needing a car for everyday matters.

Even in Bogotá, where traffic is appalling, I spent at least a decade using public transport because it gave me some quiet time to myself and allowed me to look through the window, daydream, speak to random commuters and get a sense of how common people moved around (instead of just sitting in my private little box, isolated, cursing other drivers as I accelerate).

Public transport was something I also appreciated about my time in Europe. Regardless of where I went I always found some sort of public transport available. Yes, even in Poland. I know I wrote about how Polish trains are unreliable and how buying a simple ticket was an adventure, but I could still get to one place or another without needing a private vehicle.

Not so in Miami. There are buses, but the city is extremely big and perfectly built for cars –but not so for pedestrians. One of my first impressions of Miami was precisely the emptiness of most sidewalks: at times I was the only pedestrian out in the heat and people would just stare at me out of their air-conditioned SUV as if I were crazy. Probably I am.

Anyway, I am now going to work and back home by bus, but that means that I spend between three and four hours a day commuting, I have to go twice a day to the airport to change buses and I additionally have to order a taxi for the part of the journey not covered by the public transport system. So, in short, I will have to buy a car sooner or later. Much to my regret.

So here comes the second part of my nightmares: they are not only about driving a vehicle, but also about buying one. And, believe me, that has been a real challenge. Considering I have only driven about ten hours in my life (and with an instructor sitting next to me), I have got no idea about what car to buy, where to look for one, or how to buy one that works well and not just looks nice. So when a dealer offers me a “2002 Volvo S60, 2.4L L5 PFI DOHC 20V” (the one on the picture) I really feel despaired: What on earth does all that mean?

As you see, I have drastically failed to refrain from driving and to buy a car. Nevertheless, I hope I will soon manage to post a picture with my new vehicle, tell you about my driving experiences and, most importantly, wake up in the morning without having these ridiculous nightmares.