After my failure at the first driving test, I managed to pass a week later!  That was a really great moment of happiness and relief.  As my driving instructor says: “this is America, we let everybody drive.”  For once, it is good to be a part of the herd.

To join the real herd, of course, I still needed to buy a car.  To tell you how I did that, let me back up a bit. When I was flying back to Orange from the summer in Czech Republic, I had a layover in Atlanta.  I decided a needed a beer, and I giddily realized I was 21, so I hit up the airport bar.  I sit there sipping my beer and contemplate getting a snack, too.  I flip through the menu, push it away a bit, take a few sips of my beer, look at the menu again… this girl sitting next to me does the same thing: she always looks at the menu after I push it away and vice versa.  We start talking about the hard decision of ordering something or not.  She orders a salad, I pass. We shift into small talk:

– where are you flying to?

– oh, that’s where I’m going, how cool! what do you do?

…….

– … and I’m planning to buy a car

– oh, what kinda a car you want?

– one that runs and costs under 3 thousand….

– really?–I’m looking to sell mine for 500

So long story short, that  is the car I bought.  It’s a 1999 Chevy Prizm, automatic transmission (I’ve come to love that part), gas, 4 door, brown/gold color.  It runs great!  It drives super smoothly and love being my own boss – despite the fact that the only places I’ve been so far are the school, the grocery store (being able to buy fresh fruit and vegies on my own time as much as I want is amazing), and the DMV.  But adventures await!

The previous owner named her Tamara, or Tammy for short, and I decided to stick with that – it fits her well.