Driving

We rented a car for two days this past weekend to run errands and explore the city.  It was a lot of fun and Daniel did an amazing job of navigating around this huge place and keeping us out of any kind of fender bender.  Driving here takes some getting used to.  Thankfully, we have been able to watch how the taxi drivers weave in and out of traffic, how they honk for everything ("Beep beep, move over!", "Beep beep, speed up!", "Beep beep, I'm on your left", "Beep beep, on your right", "Beep beep, I'm coming around the corner", etc., etc.).  

If you have ever played the video game Super Mario Bros. Mario Kart, you will have a good idea of what driving here is like.  Not a lot of rules involved, you just do whatever you need to get wherever you're trying to go.  The key is not to make any sudden turns to the left or right without first looking to see if anyone is speeding up past you on either side - even on a two lane road.  

We discovered some new areas of town, and some new favorite signs.  We'll try to get some pictures of them soon, but here's  a preview: "Firestone Tyre Center", "Turkish Garpets", and one of my favorites, a little local market called the "Biggly Wiggly".  There's no letter "p" or similar sound in the Arabic language so most people here just say the letter "b" instead, like "Bebsi" for Pepsi, and "botato", for potato.   

All in all, it felt great to have a car for a couple of days without having to worry about whether or not the driver will be smoking or be able to understand exactly where you want to go.  We'll do it again soon and include pictures this time!