My Husband's Legendary Driving

Before I dive in to my subject at hand, let me take care of a few items...

1. Sorry to those of you who need updated links -- that will come soon, I promise. Just remember that "soon" is a relative term.

2. Every one's healthy here & the transmission is working again. It turned out it was a problem with the car's computer...scary thought...

Now back to my chosen subject...my husband's legendary driving. There are so many things I could write about our Mexico trip, but this is the one that caught my fancy for today.

Upon his return from the Mexico mission trip last year, rumor quietly circulated, and I quote, that "Scott drives like a Mexican." Actually it was loudly proclaimed to the whole church at the Sunday Evening Mexico report, and not by just one person. Knowing him to be a generally good driver here in the states, I wasn't entirely sure what folks were implying. It didn't appear to be a compliment and I wasn't sure who should feel more insulted, my husband or Mexican drivers.

Now that I have gone to Mexico and experienced his driving first hand, I have a little better idea what to think. Just like a resident of a place drives with greater assurance and inside knowledge than a visitor, my husband drove with a bold confidence in his own abilities that was not always shared by his passengers. His reputation was further enhanced by the fact he drove the "vaca van" -- a van belonging to one of the churches that possessed a charm all its own. It has one really funky seat near the back that faces to the rear of the car instead of forward. It is not as firmly latched to the floor of the car as we are accustomed to so it lurches back or forward or sideways depending upon where the rest of the van is headed. It is somewhat like riding Mr. Toad's Wild Ride at Disneyland. All in all, it was a ton of fun if you were not thinking too seriously about whether or not that life insurance policy actually got paid on time. The vaca van also boasts a stool that most of the time stays in one place, but has been known to go sliding at a quick stop. The interior is rather primitive and became more so this past trip when Paul Bartholow tried to adjust the ventilation. Combine this unique vehicle with a driver supremely confident in his own skills and a passenger load of high schoolers egging him on and it is easy to understand how he earned and maintained his reputation.

He and I worked in separate villages so I did not ride in the vaca van often. I did ride home with him twice though after the taco stand and the Chinese restaurant. I willingly chose the fun, lurching seat and would actually like one for my own car -- as soon as I make sure that life insurance really did get paid!

And in case you're wondering, especially those of you who experienced his "incredible linguistic acumen" in Ecuador, although he drives like a Mexican, he still speaks like a gringo.