manejando en mexico

"Before I give you these keys, I'm going to tell you two things. First thing is, forget about driving in the U.S. This is Mexico. Second thing is, forget about your Honda Civic. This isn't your little car."

"Oh, that was a tope (speed bump)"

Grant: "Here, this road is kind of one way"
Me: "Oh, going this way?"
Grant: "No, going either way"

"You didn't hit the pothole or drive off the bridge. Good job!"

Just a few quotes from my first "Driving in Mexico" lesson on the back roads with Grant. We thought I was going to have to drive a route this evening because Marshall, Matt, and Regg are all gone. It turned out I didn't, but it was still good practice.

For comparison, here's a picture of me with my little car just before handing over the keys before we left the States...

...and a picture of my "new ride". They're a little different. :)

A few other notes about driving in Mexico (or at least around this area)...

1. A left turn signal either means "I'm turning left" or "Pass me". The game is that you have to figure out which one it is.
2. On the way to Guadalajara, there's an unmarked, free-for-all, "four-lane" road until the construction is finished. Its lots of fun during the day and terrifying at night. 
3. Occasionally you have to honk your way through a herd of goats, cows, etc. The other day we were taking a bike ride on a back road and this Police truck came through. They have a speaker on their truck and the Policia guy actually "baaa"-ed through the herd of goats over the microphone. And then proceeded to smirk at us. It was hilarious.
4. Three-point turn-arounds are the best when you do them in the only intersection in a town and everyone in town is staring at you.
5. If someone is passing you... someone else can actually be passing them at the same time. It's really pretty incredible. The lines on the roads here appear to be just suggestions. The number of lanes that exist seems to depend solely on the width of your vehicle and how much of a hurry you are in. (We actually witnessed this - a car was passing the semi ahead of us on a traditional two-lane highway, and at the same time a little car was passing the first car on the shoulder).
6. Without warning, a two-lane road may suddenly turn into one lane (due to a bridge, tree, BIG pothole, etc.) and its typically best if two cars aren't trying to get through that place at the same time.
7. Grant has found that even more fun than driving those big vans on Mexican roads is driving the one stick-shift van we have down here on Mexican roads. In his own words, he was "almost able to pull it forward three feet after killing it four times". (We're so much alike!)