Driving lessons

Driving in Costa Rica was stressful the first time I did it.

I didn’t understand the rules, the narrow streets, the signs were in a different language, the lines on the pavement were faded, one ways were everywhere, there is no place to turn around, the GPS didn’t work…

I was white knuckling the wheel.

And then, day two, I got a little better. Then a little better by day three. I understood a few more of the signs and how traffic moved.

“People like us drive like this.” At least that was the story I was telling myself. After a while, we begin to believe that everyone must drive like we do. This was my first experience driving abroad. And now I am reminded that there is a whole world out there.

Each of us has a story of how we live. Unique to the culture we were raised in, what we have been taught and what we experience.

Stating the obvious: Driving is only foreign once we drive somewhere foreign. At home, it isn’t unique, it’s just what we do.