Watch out Kinshasa...

007 is driving a car!

I just received my driver's license (for which you only have to pay money and not pass a test--suspicious don't you think?) and have been on a test drive with Papa X, our head driver.

He was really sweet and gentle with me, knowing that I hadn't driven for 8 months, much less on the African continent. He gave me a lot of encouragement, punctuated with "great job!", "you're an expert now", all the while gripping his seat to keep from fainting. If only my mother had been this patient with me when I first started to drive...

Merci Papa.

It's actually tricky to drive a stick-shift, praying to God (I left Allah behind in Senegal) I don't stall when I'm crossing traffic to make a turn into a dirt road, just barely missing the street kids and the goats, judging the depth of the numerous holes in the street and swerving left and right to avoid them...without running into a head on collision.

The office lent me the easiest car for the weekend ( with relatively smooth change of gears, power steering and shock absorbers). I shudder to think what the tough cars are like.