Summer has arrived!! (and so has Driving School)

Well, Summer has truly arrived - the heat - the sweat - the restless nights. But I can't complain. The summer up to now has been unseasonably cool. Our days consist of 'screening'. Sigh. I guess that's what you get when you have 'screen-agers'. Not my term. Can't take the credit. :-) This week begins the English camps that Jonathan will be helping with. I am glad he is interested in helping. It doesn't hurt that he has community service hours to catch up on. And no, he WASN'T arrested. :-) I was asked that yesterday. They are just required to do 10 hours a semester here. There was a little confusion as to what was 'community' service and what was 'school' service. So, he will finish those and do some for this next fall to 'get them out of the way'. I went to an intensive driver's school session this weekend. 18 1/2 hours of learning about how to get my license here in Spain. About 3 pm on Sunday, I realized the difference between how they teach here and how they teach - at least in the USA. Driving school in the USA has the purpose of teaching you how to drive. How to be safe. Here in Spain, the focus is 'how do you pass the test'. There is a subtle difference (actually once you see it, it's not quite so subtle). We Americans and Canadians were asking questions about how to navigate the roundabouts and the safest way to drive through them. Her answers were what we needed to make sure we did when we took the test. What the examiner will count off on and what he will watch for. When we would ask again - yes, but how should we drive in normal life - she would answer 'this is what you need to make sure you do or don't do when you take the driver's test.' The educational system here in Spain is focused on 'how do you pass the test?' Not on how do I learn or how do I use this in my life afterwards. It is focused on memorizing for the test and then forgetting. And that's how they drive here. They learned the 'rules' to pass the test. Now they drive how is convenient for them. That's why so many people have accidents here!! Anyway, the test is made up to trick you. To make sure you know the rules. So many of the questions are worded so that, if you have memorized the definition, you will know which is the right answer. It's a cultural experience for sure!! And so the plan is to pass the theory exam in July sometime (it is VERY common even for Spaniards to fail the first time) and then practice while I am in the USA - parking etc., to make sure I am in practice. Then in Sept. when I return, take the driving classes and then pass the practical (actual driving) part. Ugh. Well, I will stop boring you with the driving aspect of life in Spain. Many of you may wonder why in the world I haven't gotten before now - since we've lived in Spain practically since Sept. 1995. Well, when we arrived, we could have turned in my American license and gotten a Spanish one. But we didn't know and it was recommended that we just use the International License you get from AAA. Then the law changed!! Then we found out that the law changed !! This all took a couple years!! Then we kept driving because no one could tell us FOR SURE if and when we were illegal. So, practically, I have only not been driving since 2004. It has been very expensive to get the license here - Cost over $1000 for Sam to get his 11 years ago!! We didn't have that kind of money so I waited. But living here in our small town, I am stuck if I want to go anywhere unless I take the only bus or ask Sam to drive me. I guess I will choose to see it as a 'right of passage' for living in Spain. So, I will close now and see if I can pass any more of the practice tests!! I have passed 3 out of about 27 that I have taken!! I will try to attach some picture to this to see if I can figure out how to do it. Probably our latest family picture when Troyer graduated. Thanks for listening!! Jill