So, our plan was to not have a car while living overseas. We were going to live close enough to Emet's work that he could walk each day. Most of the schools have transportation that pick up the kids at their houses and drop them off again. It is easy enough to catch a taxi if you need to go somewhere that is too far to walk. Employing a driver is also an option--not as expensive as it may sound. However, yesterday solidified for us that we have to buy a car.
Let's start at the beginning:
When we first got off the airplane, I unpacked the suitcases in the airport to get out the car seats for AL (short for Aidan and Lucas). We quickly realized that we can not all fit in a car if we use the car seats. So after the ride home from the airport, when I was basically sitting on the driver's lap, the car seats have been sitting in Emet's closet. We were left with seatbelting AL in the backseat with my arms across their chests, just in case. We have been taking Misha, Emet's driver from work, everywhere we go so far. He is a very cautious driver, so although I hate the no car seat deal, I at least feel like he is a safe driver. It is all the other drivers we need to worry about.
Yesterday everything changed. We were on the way down to the dry bridge to check out the artwork, so we hailed a cab. Before I could even buckle AL in, the cabbie was off. (^I must pause to mention that when I say "the cabbie was off" please create the mental image of a car zipping quickly into traffic. This image will be important later in the story). We tried telling him to stop, but he didn't listen. I then quickly realized that there were NO seat belts. When I asked, he tutted at me and wagged his finger and uttered something that sounded like "no, you don't need them."--only in Georgian. If I had an ulcer from not using car seats, no seat belts almost forced me into full on internal bleeding. I sat in between AL and securely fastened my arms across them. I am not sure what exactly that would do if we got into an accident, but it made me feel as if I could keep my vomit in the back of my throat instead of all over the seat. Thankfully, we arrived safely.
The ride back home is when we decided we would be buying a car, even if we used it only for small weekend excursions or to go to the "good" grocery store. Aidan got into the cab first. I told Lucas to wait, so I could get in next (I wanted to be in between them so I could employ my well-tested seat belt method). With the cab door still open, and Lucas half way in the car, the cab took off (^ please see note above regarding cabbies' approaches to re-entering traffic after picking up passengers). I screamed! Emet screamed! I held on to Lucas for dear life. The car was lunging into traffic and Lucas was not in the car! The car door slammed against Lucas' leg. Finally, the cab screeched to a halt when he realized what was going on. He felt really bad, but I honestly don't care. Enough. We need a car, so we can use car seats and seat belts and I don't have to be taken to the hospital for a bleeding ulcer.
Anyone know of anyone selling a car in Georgia?
**Clearly, this is not an instance where Lucas will re-enact the event just to get a picture for the blog. Sorry folks.
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