I got pulled over a few days ago. I was trying to make a U-turn and found out I wasn't supposed to. I didn't actually make the turn, just started to and then pulled out of it, but the cop pulled me over anyway. I didn't have my licence on me. Big mistake. There is a huge fine or 5 days in jail just for not carrying your licence. I knew the punishment was severe, but the last cop who pulled Charlie over tried to tell him that he had to have the Bolivian licence, not just the Utah one, or the punishment was the same. Even though the Utah one is supposedly good for six months. Or three? No-one can agree. Well, long story short, (too late), My mother in law Maria had to come and "negotiate" with the cop, and we have to pay a fine every day for the next few days to keep me and herself out of jail. Serves me right for getting cocky.
I am never driving again. I shouldn't have driven in the first place, but its been hard since Charlie and his Dad Juan Carlos are away. Maria is the only one who can drive. I was driving everyone to church since Maria had to go to a different ward for her calling. Luckily, Jason gets his licence next week, so that should lighten the load. Maria tries to convince me that it should still be fine for me to drive. But I'm too ashamed, and even though bribing cops might be just the way of life here, its just too insane, and I can't do it. I'd rather just stay out of their notice. But they're everywhere, and I am not that good of a driver, especially here, where I don't know all the expectations.
Oh well, there's goes that little bit of independence. Good thing I'm ok with being dependent. Mostly.
8 comments:
noooo, please dont worry!! OK so the corruption is such down there that bribery is the only way out sometimes. The cops will pull you out for NO reason, people will insult you when driving for NO reason, they do it just so they get some money out of you..yep punishments are weiiigh weird and law enforcement is just not fair...yeah pozos bribe, but hey its the ONly way out.
Sorry you had that experience!!! please dont worry and keep driving, you will become a master of it..and when i go down there you can drive me places too..
BTW I bribed a cop when I was 17 there in bolivia...i was on a one way street that WHO KNOWS was it because it didnt have any signs that indicated it...so I didnt think I did anything wrong I just had to give away a little money i had in my pockets.yep...life is different down there, it may seem like you are doing wrong by watching pirated movies, bribing,even r rated movies, i dont remember right now what else...BUT is the way it is in a country where corruption is at its roots...soo pleasee dont worry girl...you can do it!!
love ya and miss ya!
So sorry to hear about that! I hope you can work things out!
So is the public transportation system not great? Long, long ago when we were in Chile, we took buses everywhere! I never would want to drive in that kind of craziness! It seems sad that you are stranded if you can't drive.
Don't worry Meli, I don't blame your mom at all for doing things the way she did. But I just don't think I can do it myself. For one reason, because of the language barrier, and also because even though I am here, I'm am still very Utahn at heart, and I don't think I can change THAT much.
The public transportation is fantastic, but its incredibly confusing for me. Every time we take a mini bus, I always ask, how did you know where to go to get that specific bus? And they are always like, "I just knew". I'm fine as long as someone takes me to the right place and puts me on the right bus, but otherwise I'm lost. Taxis are always an option, but they are daunting to me too, for some reason. I can always walk. Frankly, I don't have that many places I need to go. Its not that I'm stranded thats the problem, its just that I don't have the option to drive, which was kind of the one thing I could do by myself.
Faralee
Driving in Bolivia intimidates me so bad. I think I'd rather walk. Hey, I'm working with two people from Taiwan this summer. One is from Taipei and the other from Penghu (island).
Cool John, What are their names. Its not very likely that I will know them, but there's always a chance...
They go by Eric & Lily, but I don't even know their real names. A lot of Asians I've gone to school with give themselves an American first name since most people can't pronounce their real one. Did you spend much of your mission in Taipei?
There are three missions in Taiwan, and I was on the opposite side from TaiPei. So no. But its still a little teeny island, so you never know. When they take English classes, the teacher always gives them an English name, although I think we have an easier time pronouncing their real names than they do ours. Their language is quite ridged and with the characters and everything translation of non-Chinese names can get tricky. Kind of like how we are when trying to translate bush man names.
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