"Just like Disney Land"

Like in so many parts of the world the driving is crazy here. There seems to be no traffic signs or rules of any sort. If there are two lanes, but room for three cars then you just squeeze in, if you want to merge you go for it and hope the person behind you stops, a problem in one land is dealt with by a man on the side of the road pointing where you should go - directly into oncoming traffic. The horn is also handy - as are the blinkers and the headlights. In fact it seems that this is the only rule here. Honk and flash for everything. Driving around is really like a game of Almost Bumper Cars set to a symphony of honking and the comforting constant click of the signal light. We asked about speed limits and the question was met with laughter. Real genuine laughter. Of course when we reach for our seatbelts (which only exist in the front seat anyway) we are either laughed at or we are labeled “so American”. Of course there are no cross walksso crossing the street is an equally big adventure. I have not quite gotten used to it and I still look all ways and then still hesitate and then continue to monitor as I dart across but people here just make the decision and run for it. Like really run for it. They tell me that if I continue to look around and wait I will never get across the street. If I am with a local my rule has become "Stay close to the Egyptian" as we weave through cars, which do always seem to stop - though you are never sure they will. It seems the trick is to walk out in the streets with confidence...still on my own I wait and wait and wait.

In two weeks I have seen countless cars on the side of the road completely destroyed (in one we actually saw someone sitting in what was left – mourning a death of a loved one or seeking refuge from the heat?), one woman waving her arms frantically and running out onto the highway as her donkey ran out and four dead bodies that had been dragged to the side of the road. Seeing these bodies always shakes me up. At home we are very sheltered from death. Accidents happen and people die but they are very quickly swept away. Knowing that someone died in a terrible accident is horrific and always make me think about the uncertainty of life and of how quickly it can change - both for the victim and his/her loved ones. But there is something about seeing a lifeless body that just minutes or hours before was going about their day as usual that reminds you that nothing is promised. I have made a friend here who insists that I should drive here – in fact has offered me a car. Of course I tell him he is crazy – that I would never ever ever. He thinks this is hilarious and insiststhat it is fun, that it is “just like Disney Land”. As for me…I am walking – and of course darting across the street between swarms of honking vehicles