Getting your POV and the driving course

I am excited to say our car has arrived in Italy, in fact, it was here on Monday. However, we can't have our car, at least not yet. See here, the regs state that we must get the new plates to register the car. Then we call the insurance company back home, thank God for USAA, and have them overnight the insurance straightaway to a local dealer outside the post gate. (Did I mention we walk EVERYWHERE here?) Anyway, we are also required to take a 2 hr driver's course and written test on the Italian driving laws and signs. We are at the driver's course portion right now. Today my husband and I sat through this class. The Italian instructor went through her power point presentation and I swear the lady had a wonderful sense of humor about how Italians drive around here. Several times she mentioned that we had to obey by these laws or that certain laws are only for the Americans, yet the Italians do not have to abide by them. For instance, bicycles. We are required to wear a helmet and pay attention to the road signs and oncoming vehicles which are supposed to yield to bicyclists since they have the right of way. No so true for Italians who seemed rather entitled to get from point A to point B without anyone or anything getting in their way. Shoot the Italians do not even need to wear a bike helmet! Now, tell me this, we keep getting told over and over, "It's important that you blend in." Hmm, well let's see, as Jeff Foxworthy might say. "you might be an American if you wear a helmet while riding a bike in Italy. You might be an American if your license plate begins with CZ or ZA. You might be an American if you are the only one saying "Non parlo Italiano" while everyone else around you speaks Italian." And it's not as if my blonde haired, blue eyed, fair skinned child screams Italian. I think it's a bit of a oxymoron to tell us to blend it but have us do things that cause us to stick out. There is no sense driving around with an American flag stuck on my car, you'll know right off the bat I'm American because I have a square license plate rather than the long skinny one.

Alorra. (For those wanting to know that meaning, it means absolutely nothing in the Italian language but is a filler word for so or anyway. I just think it sounds pretty.) Alorra, we listened intently and took diligent notes hoping to past this test. Then we did an overview of the various types of signs you might see here. Let's see, a circular sign with red trim indicates a prohibitory sign. A triangular sign with red trims indicates a danger sign. A circular sign with blue trim indicates a mandatory sign and a square sign with blue trim indicates an informational sign. Once you have those down, you just need to make sure you know the right 50 signs that will be on the test so you can past. Good thing I'm good at charades. The pictures on the signs are very informative. I especially like the signs for animal crossing. One has a picture a deer. This indicates wildlife crossing. The other sign has a picture of a cow and indicates domestic animal crossing. Oh and in case you are wondering, you cannot drive through the countryside or inside the city limits and honk your horn at the flocks of domestic animals. It could scare them and then we might have a stampede on our hands which would the creation of a new Danger sign.

As we watched our 40 min movie on driving in Italy, we became increasingly confused by all the rules. You must have your lights on while driving on the Autostrade, while driving through tunnels, during rain and fog, and most importantly 1/2 hour before sunset and 1/2 hour after sunrise. (And twice on Monday and once on a Wednesday). Allora, i must make sure I know when sunset is around here prior to my leaving home. Thank goodness i finally came into the 21st century and got a phone with internet access. Now I can just google the weather forecast and approximate time of sunset so i can turn on my lights precisely one 1/2 "ora" before sunset. But I will say the best part of the class is that I have finally learned to convert kilometers per hour to mphs. It's very easy. So for those that have forgotten the metric system learned a long time ago in school, here's a quick lesson. You take the kph, let's say 30, and multiply it times 6, then drop the last number. So 30x6 = 180, which means you can drive 18 mph down the street. Good thing I am good at math or I might have to have my oldest daughter start doing these calculations for me.

So on Monday morning, my husband and I will take our driver's test, 50 multiple choices and 50 signs, and provided we only miss no more than 4 in each section, we will be permitted to get our SETAF license and drive in this beautiful country. It also means that we can get our car out of hock and then move into our new house. I am praying that everything goes well on Monday. But since it is a first come, first serve basis and only 15 can take the test at once, I better get there early like the Target Christmas lady and repeat my mantra "Open, Open, Open." or in Italian: "Aperto, aperto, aperto." You see, I'm beginning to understand this language. Yeah Me!!

Ciao, ciao!