We bought a car! It’s all very exciting and magical not to be solely dependent on riding the bus and having things delivered! The car is, funnily enough, also American, a Chrysler PT Cruiser and it’s a very bold sparkly red (I believe, the color is called ‘Inferno’). It’s a 2006, but not too many miles and overall it’s a good purchase. Or, so I’m told. Because I kind of hate it.

Now that we’ve purchased a car, Matt has the crazy idea that I should be able to drive the damn thing. So, driving it I’m trying. Here are the problems, in no particular order.

Everything about the car and the roads are backwards.

The car is too big for the roads.

Oh, yeah, and the car is a stick shift and it is impossible to learn to drive a stick shift because they are the cruellest thing to happen to humanity, maybe ever.

Yeah, hang nails, the Kardashians, genocide, all not as truly horrible as driving a stick shift. Or, at least, it’s close.

In all seriousness, I’m a few lessons in and (I’m told, repeatedly, though I don’t really agree, that) I’m doing okay; it’s really difficult, it’s incredibly stressful and there seems like no possible way that I’m going to ever get through this education process without running into something with the left side of the car or coping with traffic without screaming, but I’m working on it.