Driving Lessons

I need to go home and learn how to drive shift. I think my ignorance in this vein is a symptom of growing up privileged. The toyota dealership my grandfather owned made it easier to be me in a lot of ways- I drove a nice Jeep Grand Cherokee when I turned 16 until I almost totaled it in an accident where I was driving faster than I should have on icy Wisconsin streets, I went to a fancy private college on the east coast, I've traveled and lived all over the place and not having to learn how to drive a stick shift is just one symptom of my charmed life.

But now it's time I learn, the more I travel abroad the more I face the fact that America is the only place that automatic cars are the norm and not the exception. Sylvain doesn't have his drivers license so it's important for me to learn how to let out the clutch and shift. 

This has not been an easy week- nothing to do with Chile, just trials and tests one faces in life. Whenever things seem too perfect, something comes along to remind you life on earth is no paradise.

My parents have this joke that I like to make things hard for myself- I never take the well-worn path of easy- I left home- comfort, security and a safety net, I wanted to be different, do it on my own, go hard or don't go at all... But this week it hasn't been just about me and my pile of problems, even watching other people face their problems has been sobering and I wonder, as I watch friends and family in their own suffering- do we all suffer about the same amount- does anyone out there have it all good all the time? Because if that's true, then I don't think I can be blamed for always making it hard on myself- I think I just took a more scenic route...