Independence Day

Independence, that is, in the sense that I made my first venture out with the car tonight. Actually, it was an SUV, but I'm going to pretend that I was actually driving some nice hybrid model.

I don't know why I have been so resistant to climb behind the wheel - I've started to wonder if I was allowing myself to fall into a gender stereotype, since out of the 4 expatriate women out here, only one of us was brave enough to drive around in town. Granted, my first trip out and about wasn't exactly extensive - perhaps just a mile or so up one main road - but driving here requires that particular importance is paid to that section in the driver's ed manual on "defensive driving." Designated lanes are merely a suggestion, turning rules vary intersection by intersection, and stoplights are far outnumbered by actual traffic policemen who direct the traffic.

However, nothing in Kurdistan seems as bad as trying to figure out how to cross from DC into VA without making a wrong turn, or getting from VA back into DC without having to make a U-Turn on the Spout Run Parkway. Three years of living in DC and I still have no idea how to do either of those things.