The Wrong Side of the Road

So far the most nerve racking, stressful, and generally scary thing that I’ve personally had to experience here on St. Kitts is…driving. Yep, driving. The roads, the cars, the other drivers…I just don’t agree with the whole ordeal. When people at home joked that I’d be driving on the “wrong side of the road”, I laughed. I’m definitely not laughing now.

I bought a car from a 8th semester student who’d worked at the same animal hospital as me back home and was leaving Ross in January for his clinicals in the US. It’s a 1991 Toyota Sprinter and it is definitely a typical “Ross-mobile”:

Most cars driven by students are passed down the semester lines, and have been for many years. Add the salty air, harsh heat and humidity, and you get some pretty interesting specimens up for sale. There are many nicer cars too though. The parking lot at school is very varied! So far mine seems to be a good little car. I have a list of a couple things that need to be done to it, it drags a little going over speed bumps, and yeah, it’s missing one of the side view mirrors, but no big problems so far (knock on wood!).

The problems I have with driving start once I leave campus. At first, driving on the left side of the road was tricky. You have to remember the whole four feet of car to your left instead of to your right (I only hit curb once though! haha) and have I ever mentioned the traffic circles? Kittians apparently loovvee traffic circles. There are no stop lights on the island (I’ve heard rumor of one, maybe), just circles. Throw in some dogs and goats constantly trying to cross too. Add all that the fact that most roads have potholes rivaling the northeast when the snow melts…the roads are fun.

Now the drivers…they’re even better! Speed limits? What speed limits? Most roads are only two lanes and passing happens alll the time. I think it’s cool that most people hook a little when passing though. And on a serious note, driving at night should only be done with caution. We students aren’t so sure that drinking and driving laws are actually enforced here…

With all that said, I do have to say that I’m feeling much better about driving a month into my stay here. I’ve taken my car for its inspection and gotten this year’s new sticker for the window. I really don’t even have to think about driving on the left anymore! It still doesn’t really feel like “my car” but it’s starting to. I hope that it holds up, but I do suspect that it will provide me with lots of good stories.

And I almost forgot! Most cars here have names, usually written with stickers on their back windows. I don’t plan on actually getting stickers, but it still be nice to have a name for a car with so much personality! Any suggestions?

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