I admit the thing that most concerned me about moving to South Africa was driving on the left side of the road. I know there probably should have been other things to worry about more, but really, it was my biggest concern.
Now, I've never been concerned about driving before. I've been called crazy (or brave) for the times I used to pack up the 3 kids and the dog, hitch up the old pop up trailer and go camping sans dh. I'd back in the trailer and unhitch and it never phased me. Never once did the thought enter my mind that it couldn't be done. Still, the thought of driving on the left kind of freaked me out.
We arrived on a Thursday night. On Friday afternoon we went to my dh's work to pick up his company car. I was supposed to drive the rental car home. Well, I totally copped out. Jet lagged as I was there was no way I was trusting myself driving for 20 min. (part of it on a highway) on the "wrong" side of the road. And really I didn't want to do it anyway, I was beyond intimidated and bordering on scared. So, dh drove us home in the rental and had a colleague pick him up Monday morning.
That, of course, left me with a rental vehicle, three kids, a dog and a million things to do on Monday. Every one of those things required me to drive somewhere. So Monday morning I gathered the children and got them settled in the Toyota Yaris. Now, if you have 3 children, 2 of whom are in booster seats, you know that the appropriate sized vehicle is a mini van, station wagon or SUV. A Toyota Yaris is not a minivan. Mini yes, van no.
After crushing my fingers under the weight of a child in a booster seat, twice, in an effort to find the clip thing that the latch thing goes into to get the seatbelt fastened, I was ready to go. I promply opened the drivers side, and slipped in to find that the steering wheel was not there. Sigh. There it was on the "wrong", which of course is the "right" side of the car. So, out I got and settled myself in the "right" side.
One of the things that frightened me the most about driving on the other side was that the peddles would be reversed. Wrong. They're not reversed, they are the same as in Canada. So, I start thinking hey, this can't be too bad at least I know where the gas and break are. Surprise, surprise the ignition is on the same side as in Canada too. Woooohoooo. This is going to be easy. It was an automatic so putting it in gear with the left hand is no biggie. I'm ready.
I pulled slowly out of the garage. So far so good. Now the tricky part. Find the remote. The remote has 4 buttons. Oh heck, I think, now which button closes my side. Nope, not that one. Sigh. After getting the correct button I pull to the front gate. I know which button opens this one, now I am actually on the road outside the house.
Before going any further, I turn in my seat and implore the children that regardless of how uncomfortable they are to please, let mommy concentrate and try to be quiet. Then I back tracked and suggested that there was one and only one phrase that they could speak out loud. "Stay left mommy." So my children dutifully reminded me to stay left a few times and off we went, on the left side of the road.
Now, I'm doing okay because the subdivision is right at the end of the road so all I had to do was drive straight for a while. Hey I can manage straight, right? Yup, I could, but I would need to turn eventually. Now we've always told the kids, "Before you cross the street look left, then right, then left again." Not so much when you're driving here. It's right then left then right again.
This became my mantra all the way down the road until the stop sign. Drive on the left, look to your right. Ahh the stop sign, no problem brake in the middle, gas on the right, just like Canada. I come to a complete stop, turn on the windshield wipers and scare the poop out of myself. Sigh. I never should have assumed that the turn signal was on the same side, when I realized that the peddles and ignition were. So, after some initial confusion and giggling from the back seat, I get the wipers off and the turn signal on. I am turning left. I wait for the traffic to clear and I turn. Stay left, look right. Stay left, look right. Drive 10 feet, stop for the train tracks. Drive 25 feet stop at the red light, turn on the windshield wipers. Sigh. Turn off the wipers, turn on right turn signal. Stay left, keep right. Stay left keep right. The light turns green.
It was at that moment that I fell in love with PE, because right there before me, right at the bottom of the robot on the median was a blue sign with a white arrow. It was like a bright shiny light house to a ship in a storm. The arrow pointed down and to the left. Yes!!!!!! There were signs to remind me not to be an idiot and stay to the left. Life was good. Okay, now those of you who are actually reading every word, have gone back and read that first sentence again to make sure you didn't read it wrong. What's a robot you're thinking? Well, robots are what they call traffic lights here in South Africa. My kids thought that was hysterical. For the first week, at every traffic light I pulled up to, 3 voices would chirp out of the back seat, "Look mom a robot." Just in case you're wondering, yes, just about every robot has a blue sign with a white arrow reminding people to stay to the left of the median. Life is good.
After about 2 days, I was able to drive on the left side without my mantra running continuously through my head. So, 4 weeks in and I can honestly say I was worried about nothing. I still turn on the wipers every once and a while. It's habit after 24 years. I've also learned that some South African vehicles have the turn signal on the left side of the steering column, so I'm looking for one of those, but it's not a deal breaker.
The only thing left for me to conquer is traffic circle, but that is a whole other post.
Next post: The Easter Challenge
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