Got a car!

A colleague of Rob's at La Catolica sold us his car and now, in theory, things will get easier. I am going to miss the taxistas and all of the commotion on the buses.   It is an automatic 2005 Hyundai Accent and has a little over 100,000 km on it.  Hopefully it has enough power to get us around for our summer trip to Uruguay (including going over the Andes) and who knows where else.  We have actually had it for two weeks to try it out and I have found that I still take the buses and metro when it makes sense but it does make dropping off the kids a lot easier.  We will really learn to appreciate our minivan as the kids make their imaginary lines down the back seat ;-)



In two weeks, besides having to learn to drive like a Santiguino (including making right turns from the middle lane, the optional use of the turn signal, and the use of the sidewalks as parking spaces - the kids are always impressed when I get this little car over the big curb), I have been most amused by the street activities surrounding cars.  There must be some sort of juggling fad in town because every other intersection (especially downtown) has somebody juggling for money in front of stopped traffic.  It varies from balls, to bowling pins, to knives, to fire (the later freaked me out a bit when I only saw the smoke and no juggler).  They also sell whatever the whiny kid in the back seat might be craving, as well as whatever fruit/veggie is in season (a lot of artichokes and oranges right now).  Then there is the random surplus Chinese made toy that somebody picked up in bulk that week.  Finally, there are cuchufli  - a tubular, wafer-thin pastry filled with manjar - that are sold on the street or in fancy shops covered in chocolate.










P.S.  It rained today and the white car is now filthy - the joys of rain in a smoggy city - ick!