Driving Dominican Style

Greetings from the Dominican Republic where I am spending my spring break with my dear friend Jen Keng and risking our lives behind the wheel of a white Mitsubishi Lancer. For the first time in my international travels, we have rented a car. (In keeping with my travel habits, I didn't bring my driver's license, just my passport, so the car is in Jen's name, but I've asked to do most of the driving. Fortunately, highway patrol here seems pretty lax.)

The first sign that the driving would be difficult was the fact that the windshield has a foot of dark tinting along the bottom and two feet of dark tinting along the top, giving us approximately two feet of clear visibility. This visibility is reduced to about a square foot when it's raining and we use the decade-old streaky wipers at full speed, which has been every day. I can see through it really well when I lean up against the steering wheel, granny style.

Once we find the peep hole out of the windshield, we focus on swerving around the man-size potholes that could possibly consume our vehicle. In some undocumented part of history, the DR must have been the victim of its own Blitz. At a particularly ugly set of potholes, some entrepreneurial teens were taking advantage of the situation by demanding a toll from the slowing cars.

Other road obstacles include:
- The luxury buses that pass us on two-lane roads, completely covering us in their wet slosh. (Normally I would be embarrassed to admit that I was getting passed by million-pound buses, but these dudes are crazy.)
- Gorgeous ocean views.
- 70% inclines. With potholes. Good thing our automatic can shift down to first gear. RRRRR.
- Puddles that reach halfway up the car doors.
- Yelling "hola" to all the children and families hanging out on the main streets as we pass by. (see picture above)

Don't worry, Mom and Dad, I feel perfectly safe!