Relocation diaries: Entry 6 - Can officially drive

It's not that I've been driving without a valid license but it was more of having a local one which is more appropriate.

Everyone would keep on saying that if I drove in Manila I'd be driving here without a problem. Well, the thing is, here there are rules and we follow them. For the most part driving practices in manila are usually on gray areas and the horn is a very useful driving tool to get you from point A to B in the shortest possible time, that is some 1 hr if you're lucky for something as short as say 10km. Multiply that 2x, 3x or xx fold if a) it starts raining, b)drivers get into accidents (but of course!!), c) if it starts flooding, d)traffic enforcers decide to earn extra. 

So yeah, I've been driving more than 10 years in these conditions. I've tried driving on the other side of the road and thAt was quite interesting. Driving where I'm at is not new but it's been quite a while so I've had some near-misses and I'm just thankful I was lucky (and my guardian angel's been great!). But I haven't been involved in any major accidents of some sort. 

When it came to getting my local licebse though I had to:

-review and take online practice tests

-practice parallel parking/driving.

I was able to pass the written test and the parallel parking but I eventually failed my road test. Because I was doing wide turns, I was slowing down too much while turning and was doing a 35 on a 30 mile road. That was my first official driving test and boy it was technically detailed. Unfortunately, I failed and most of the remarks on my driving were Bad.

That became the trigger of my emotional breakdown. It came to a point that I was utterly demoralized that all the 10+ yrs I've been driving meant I've been doing everything wrong, that I was a lousy driver. I then came to realize why there are a lot of cases of depression here, I could end up one myself. It really sucked. It took many tears, wailing and rants after before I was able to suck it up and move on to getting it right the second time. Manila-style (gangsta style) driving had to take a backseat for now. Sure enough I did pass. Finally! 

Still I hope I can still drive back home. Home is where the heart is.