You know you’re starting to get familiar with an area when the mid-sized, almost-teenaged passenger in the back seat recognizes where he is and exclaims,”Hey!!  There’s the cement median we almost drove you into the first time out in the car, Mom!”  Yes, true story.  Saw my life flash before my eyes as my side of the car careened toward a very large cement divider in the road while “new” driver Aaron got his bearings and waited for the direction from the “recalculating” Waze lady to finally go LEFT!!!.  Forever Daddy’s champion, as we re-live that moment when Mommy (understandably) freaks out, Hudson defends him, “I’m sure LOTS of people hit that Daddy.” 🙂   I know for a fact that not only does Aaron seem to miss cement medians in his field of view, but he is actually “speed-bump blind”.   After the first  few times we hit them hard, like he really, truly didn’t see them, the kids have made it their mission to help him overcome this deficit: “SPEED BUMP!!” warnings from the back seat have saved us from many body-jarring, head-hitting-ceiling thud…THUD’s.

You see, speed bumps in Mexico City are not merely a suggestion to keep your speed down in a residential area.  They are EXTREME, very deep, high and wide and used to control traffic flow.  You earn a whole new respect for the potential damage these inanimate cement structures can unleash on your car.  To Aaron’s credit, many are VERY poorly marked, white painted warning lines very worn.  Although, his cover when he does “miss” them cracks me up, “You know they’re called SPEED bumps, not SLOW bumps…” hmmmm, nice try!  Interlomas, our new community, actually has very few traffic lights, instead relying on speed bumps to keep driver’s in check.  When out and about searching for a Mom Taxi for me to ferry kids and all their stuff to and from school,  Aaron “missed” the speed bump, approaching it at full speed.  I curse the great view I have in the passenger seat and I’m sure Aaron cursed the intense reaction I had to try to affect a driver response as we were barreling down fast towards a car in front of us whose driver SAW the speed bump and was slowing down.  Aaron insists he saw it; I’m quite sure he did NOT see it and that I saved the day! 🙂  We rib him for a bit and he bites back,”You just wait until you bottom out your new van and rip off your bumper and have to pull over to zip-tie it back on and then beg the kids not to tell their father… THEN we’ll talk.”  Touche.

Been thinking a lot about driving.  I’m at once terrified and anxious just to try it.  Looking forward to the independence I’ll gain.  I am at once amazed that there are not more accidents and in awe of the efficient flow of everything.  People don’t really drive with a chip on their shoulder – there is an unofficial courtesy, a push-pull that just seems to work.  The rough roads however, and as I’ve mentioned, speed bumps, make it necessary to pop a Gravol before heading out.  Honestly, I’ve never had an issue with motion sickness before Mexico came into my life.

On this same day, while out and about, Aaron notices that, “Sugar-Honey-Iced-Tea, we need GAS!!”  He had planned to take me and some of the kids back to the hotel so that they could continue working on their homework before heading back out to finish up one more errand, but then we decide that we should all go along to the gas station to see how it works.  Field trip!!  I want to, at the very least, appear to have a clue the first time I need to gas up my car on my own.  Petroleum is State owned, so only one gas station to choose from, and very controlled.  I’m kind of okay with that as it means I’ll never have to pump my own gas as long as I drive here!  Aaron was a great teacher, reminding me to always make sure they “zero” the pump, so you only pay for your own gas!  Tip about 5-10 pesos for pumping and 5-10 more if they clean your windshield – so much etiquette to learn!  After paying, he says to the attendant, “Recibo factura, por favor.”  I inquire as to the meaning and he says he THINKS it means “receipt please” – he always gets a receipt to expense when he says it.  I ask him if those two words together mean receipt so I know what to say when I have to ask for one.  He says no, you don’t need to use them both, but he’s not sure which is most correct so he just says them both to cover all the bases!!  Clever!

Aaron has got the hang of driving here, despite his speed-bump affliction. 🙂  He likens it to driving a Go-Cart, says the principles are similar, without the bumping.  Bumping cars is generally frowned upon and might involve police, so best to avoid that!!  I’m learning a lot just watching him drive and hopefully can put it into practice soon.  He’s doing a great job navigating these crazy roads!!