driving ms. ostlie

I actually prefer the driving here. Coming after my post of the road rage, it seems a bit silly to mention such a thing, but it´s true. With few exceptions, people know how to get from point A to B as fast and efficiently as possible. From the time they are a baby they are traveling on these rickity buses, metros, and cars in their mothers arms swaying back and forth from the force of abrupt take-offs and fast braking. They have grown up with the feel of the fast-paced chaos. It is only natural for them to be able to navigate within it, it´s in their blood. If you want a license to drive here, you go to an office and pay for it. To get it they have to take an exam. I asked how - did the person with them tell them anything, did they have to take a written exam as well? Turns out that no one is in the car with them when they actually take the road test. I guess they figure if you can make it around the block, you proved that you can handle yourself on the roads and in the traffic of Caracas. Drivers concentrate on the cars in front of them. The cars behind you have zero relevance to where you are going. If someone wants to pass a bus or another car, they honk and whiz past. No one gives a dirty look, no one throws a finger. Instead you see a hand out the window waving them by. The horn is solely the announcement of passing, to avoid being sideswiped from either side of the road. Inside the city, walkers have to be real conscience about are the cars they cross in front of. I have known a few friends already to be hit by a car in the city. I feel this is because they pay less attention when they are in stop and go traffic, and the walkers.... well if you are talking on your cell phone and trying to cross the street, at least be on guard with the oncoming traffic. Speeding doesn´t exist here. Go as fast as you can, police won´t stop you. They couldn´t care less how fast you go. They are more concerned with directing traffic at crossroads. They don´t come after you for running a red light, those are only suggestions when traffic is super heavy. If you can cross it- cross it, the color of the light doesn´t matter. However, they may stop you for something completely irrational and get loads of money from you just because they can. 3 friends of mine while walking through Sabana Grande got robbed by the police. They told them to empty their pockets, when the money came out, they took it. Clean, simple, and quick... now who do you report that to? Bus drivers are cool. They let me sit in front on occasion and I get an excellent view. They even have special roads and lanes to pass by all the standing traffic. The taxi drivers on the other hand... well, them and I aren´t on the best terms. Maybe it´s because I live "so far" from the center and pay an arm an a leg coming home on the weekends. Without traffic it takes me 10 minutes to get home by taxi, but other days it takes 35-40-- and that´s not when they take their "short cuts" which always add on another 10-15. Ultimately, it just puts a smile on my face that I don´t have to drive or even think about driving for the next 10 months. Everyone else does it for me. If I never had to drive again I would be one happy girl. I think I will have my own driver. Until then, I am completely content riding with these venezolanos who know how to handle their road.