Day 30 ~ Driving

Today I had to sit in a car almost five hours, I drove two of them. I don't like driving, but it wasn't always like that. I learned how to drive at twelve, way before most kids in my community started, where the legal age to get a driver's license is 18. I had been wanting to learn for a long time. That summer of seventh grade, I was very sad after my parents took me back from my grandparents village, where I had spent four fun-filled weeks with my cousins and local kids. I would need to spend the rest of the summer in our country house, while my cousins continued the fun in the village. As a consolation, my dad taught me how to drive. We would go to the "soccer field" (more like a flat dry soil area where two goals had been placed) of the residential complex and we would switch seats. I started by just putting in first gear for a day or two, then I played with the third for some two weeks. Now I was ready to go on the road. The speed limit allowed going in third gear, so for a couple of weeks 1-2-3 were all in my repertoire. Soon I felt more comfortable and was able to put in 4th and look like a seasoned driver on the roads of the complex. From then on, I could drive to a nearby village and beyond, until the freeway entrance. At that point I would return the wheel back to my dad. One good day, a few months later, when we were about to reach the freeway, my dad said: "Go on. Just keep driving and... you know where the fifth is." I was exultant. For years, I kept using every opportunity I had to take the wheel. I got my own car at nineteen and loved driving for the fun of it. Just two years later, driving had become a necessity, no longer a pleasure. While I was still happy to have my car, I didn't choose to drive hours at a time. Like now.