Moving to another country has taught me to appreciate some things that I’ve taken for granted. Growing up in the Midwest, a car was a symbol of freedom, a rite of passage, almost downright necessary for daily life. And I’ve always been fortunate enough that I’ve had the resources to own a car, even if the early ones weren’t the nicest. (Don’t think I’ve forgotten you, Ford Fairmont, you ugly old clunker, you).

The last few weeks have really helped us to appreciate what someone without those means has to go through. First of all, I can’t speak of bus travel in big metropolitan areas in America, but bus travel over here is miles ahead of what it is in a similar-sized American city. But it’s still a pain in the ass. Unless you live in city center, the bus IS SUPPOSED to come once every hour. So, you have to time any trips for when it goes by. I say supposed to, but it frequently runs late, as things tend to do. If you have to catch a connecting bus, which is supposed to take you to your job, and your bus is running late…..well, God help you. This nearly happened to Kyla this week. Fortunately she was still able to make it.

But what if she hadn’t? What if, through absolutely no fault of her own, she was late for her third day of work? What kind of impression would that have made? Would she have still had a job? It really has made us think about what some people have to go through.

So, yesterday I bought a car. It’s a crap car. £600, which works out to about $750, I think. 104,000 miles. You have to have two people to open the gas tank (one to push the button, one to pry the door). And the steering wheel is on the wrong dang side! But, I’ve driven around the city about 3 times now and have yet to hit anything more than the curb when parallel parking. And let me tell you, having everything on the opposite side really messes with you. Even the rearview mirror angled the other way is disconcerting.

Now I just need a name for her.

In other news, today we went to Blackdam Ponds, a local park. There’s a little playground, but the big draw is a large, shallow duckpond. It’s home to at least one pair of swans, who had to come over and check us out.

Check back in a few days for the next chapter.