The joys of owning a car

Oh, the joys of owning a car...  Now I remember why I waited 6 years to buy one here in Bolivia!  So far, everything that could go wrong, has.  Parking ticket, run out of gas, flat tire, motor won't start, car at the mechanic's for 2 months... the list goes on and on.

 A flat tire isn't normally a big deal.  I've known how to change one pretty much since I was 16.  But turns out we were sold the wrong kind of jack for our car with a crank that just bent with the weight of the car.  And none of our neighbors had one, or the right kind to borrow.  After almost a week of a flat tire, we were finally able to fix it with a borrowed jack, took the car for one drive, and the starter promptly stopped working.  Turned out we had a major electrical problem, but everything else seemed to be working ok.

 Question: How many people does it take to change a battery?  Answer: Five.  One to change the battery (Collin), one to hold the light (Humberto), one to mess with the butterfly valve in the carburetor (see, I already know so much about car parts!) so the car doesn't die (me) , one to sit in front of the car and test the brightness of the lights to gauge the battery charge (Matias), and one for moral support (Brianna).

A week later, we got the electrical problem temporary solved, and the car would start but the motor wouldn't catch.  Collin fiddled with the engine and got it going, until we realized the idle was really revved up and whenever we would engage the clutch or stop at a stoplight, the motor would sound like we were pressing fully on the gas.  Needless to say we got a lot of stares, a hot engine and decided the car wasn't safe to keep driving.  Back to the mechanic it went for another week.  This time, we got a better mechanic, who fixed lots of things in just a week's time.

During the ongoing mechanical saga, I decided to get my Bolivian license.  I have my international license, which technically is legal here in Bolivia, but I've heard from several foreigner friends that police often try to get bribes, claiming the international license isn't valid.  I've been driving since I was 15 and feel like I'm a pretty good driver.  I failed the driver's license 2 times!  I did great driving in traffic, weaving in and out of cones, backing up straight, etc.  But when it came time to parallel park, I couldn't pass no matter how hard I tried.  I had to drive a mini bus (see above), park in a tiny  space, and had to be 30 cm or less away from the curb or I failed (never mind if I'd parked safely and well or not!).  After failing twice and taking a practice test, I finally passed.  I spent the next month+ waiting in lines, trying to navigate an already complicated system further complicated by being a foreigner, and FINALLY got my license on October 31st!  Phew.  Hope I don't have to do that again any time soon.

The first of November, the car was finally, officially fixed, and I've been able to drive it to church, take Matias to and from his mom's house and go on several other errands.  It seems to work just fine, except when the headlights  suddenly stopped working on my drive home at night... Sigh.

Matias doesn't seem to mind our new car's quirks.  He says "blue car feels sick" when it doesn't start and giggles at the bumpy ride a 40 year old Land Cruiser gives.  We also have a built in car wash every time Matias comes over!