Our new car!

The van above is our new mode of transportation. You can see part of our house in the background and the kids in their school uniforms. While this van is new to us, it isn't new to our mission. The ministry bought 2 matching vans in 2002. This one we inherited along with our house and furnishings from the Holmes(the Doctor we replaced). The Nelsen's drive a van exactly like it. We did have to add an Auburn sticker to the rear window so it would truly be "our car". The only thing it lacks is an AU license plate because we have a tag in front and back here. This is the first time since I began driving that I haven't had a AU tag on the front of my car.
I mentioned in an earlier blog that driving has taken some getting used to. One reason is because this car is so very long. It makes our old mini-van look short. Think narrow suburban. There are 4 rows of seats with seat belts for either 10 or 11(sorry Dad I was wrong about how many rows we had). Although this doesn't mean we are limited to that # of passengers. The rule of thumb seems to be if they can fit they can ride. Having a big car is almost a necessity here not only because of the teams that come in, but also because of the amount of carpooling we do. We carpool with 2 other families to school everyday. This morning we had 8 in our van and no sat on the last row of seats.
Here is a funny thing about driving here--we don't go very fast. I remember one day early on that I came home from the morning school run and I had gotten up to 40 kilometers per hour. This was the fastest I had driven at this point(I have hit 70 KPH now). My friend, Amy, from the states called shortly after I walked in the door. She was calling me on her cell phone while driving. I asked her how fast 40 kph is. I almost fell down when she said, "it's almost right on 25 mph." I felt like I had been flying along when in actual fact I was traveling at a speed I found hard to go in my neighborhood in Greenwood. This explains why it took us an hour to drive only 20 miles to the place we got our driver's license.
We are becoming very adept at swerving--ok not swerving because that's illegal--maneuvering around the obstacle course more commonly called the road. I am dodging people, trikes, Jeepneys, other motorists, a multitude of stray dogs, basket ball games, chickens, goats, and cows without flinching. I did learn the second time I drove what the mirror on the rear window is for when I backed into a low concrete pole. So far no major accidents. Keep praying!
Ginger