Re: Driver's Ed

      Let me preface this by admitting I am unbelievably good at getting lost while driving. If there was an award for the number of times one could get lost following simple and clear directions, or an award for being impeccable at driving past the turn one was supposed to take, or an award for realizing one is going the wrong way but that turning around is not an option for quite a ways, I would be a shoe-in.  This summer, after living 15 minutes North of Eau Claire, WI for 24 years, I managed to get lost on the way to a pizza place I'd been to a hundred times. However, the benefits of being a slightly unfortunate road voyager are that I get the chance to see some places and things I wouldn't otherwise have passed, and I have extra time to make some observations, be they traffic or otherwise.
      Driving around a new place takes a while to become comfortable. The roads are unfamiliar and the landmarks are meaningless until you get some practice. But you still have your basics, right? Stop at the stop sign and red lights, watch for one-way signs, yield signs, and merge lanes. Driver's Ed has your back no matter what the roads are like....right? Not in Puerto Rico!
      One of the first things that I noticed about driving in Puerto Rico (other than that the traffic signs are all in Spanish) is the sheer amount of traffic coming from every direction imaginable, all at once, with no rhyme or reason, but at a very slow pace. There are no horns blaring (usually); it appears that road rage is minimal. Very different from driving on the mainland where as soon as the guy in the red truck has to wait an extra eight seconds for the driver ahead of him to put on her sunglasses, he's leaning all his body weight on his horn and shouting obscenities out the window. How can cars be coming from every which way if people are adhering to the Right of Way principle? It's simple: the idea of Right of Way is essentially null and void in Puerto Rico. From what I've observed in the two weeks that I've been here is that this is because of how much traffic there is. If people had to wait at stop signs until the cross traffic stopped, they'd be waiting literally for hours sometimes. Puerto Rico is a small island with a LOT of cars and adhering to Right of Way quite a bit of the time would be impractical.
      This is not to say that cars go whenever they feel like it. When you're waiting at a stop sign here, you stop initially and then keep inching forward until the cross traffic has no choice but to wait for you (because you are now completely blocking their lane) and the line of cars in your destination lane have to let you in because you're angled in front of them. Surprisingly, this is common practice. That being said, people are expecting it to some degree, which decreases the likelihood of an accident which would have been imminent on the mainland. Once in a while, when you can't merge, if you look to the people in the cars around you, you can reach a sort of nonverbal agreement that they will let you in. I'm still rather amused that this is how driving works, but when in Rome... or Guayama!
      It also common here for cars to make one-lane roads into two-lane roads. Even mid-turn. I've taken to assuming that if I'm turning there is a 70% chance that another car just slipped into my blind spot because it felt like turning at the last minute too.

The mountains that catch my attention.

      On my accidental drive, naturally past the turn I was supposed to take, toward the mountains today, I realized I was getting a little perilously low on gas. I was headed to the office of my Internet company to switch routers (for the second time-- however they were very helpful both times) and looked at the mountains a little too complacently. When I remembered to pay attention to where I was going instead of the pretty scenery, I saw a toll booth immediately ahead of me. Whoops. Luckily, the car ahead of me clearly made the same mistake and we both sneaked through a space in the median and did some U-turns. After getting the router sorted out, I figured I'd better stop at a gas station, which was conveniently located next door.
      This was my first time putting gas in my car in Puerto Rico. Like what I assumed was normal, I opened my gas cap, took the lever of the gas I wanted, and proceeded to fuel my  car. Except that nothing happened. I put the lever down, and put it back up. It beeped reassuringly at me. Yet pulling the trigger did nothing. Finally I decided to go into the gas station. In some terribly pronounced Spanish I asked if Pump # 8 was working. He said yes and looked at me expectantly. Finally it dawned on me to ask if I had to pay for gas before I put it in my car. And, for any of you who travel to Puerto Rico (though this might have been central to this particular gas station... I'll get back to you on that), you do have to pay for gas before you put it in your car.
      It's kind of like being in Driver's Ed all over again; ignore Right of Way, creep forward instead of waiting, feel free to make an extra lane, and pay for gas before you pump it. Definitely some unfamiliar territory. But at least  you can always get the satisfaction of stopping the pump at an even dollar amount!