Who successfully passed her written driver’s test and jumped
through all the appropriate communist government hoops? This gal!
I’m officially licensed to
drive in Ecuador! Woohoo!
So here’s the deal.
We submitted all of our paperwork to the transit authority on August 24th
which was the first step in getting Ecuador to recognize our American
licenses. The whole reason we did
this was to avoid having to go to driving school…a part of my teen years I
wasn’t anxious to re-live.
Everybody’s got to go to driving school here. Whether you’re 18 or 80,
if it’s your first time getting a license, you have to do it!
Anyway, they accepted our papers (translations, copies of
translations, seals, stamps, and signatures, and the like), and a few weeks
later told us we needed more papers, and so forth. FINALLY, a couple of weeks ago we got word that our
paperwork was approved but that we had to make a 3 hour trip to another city to
finish the process. Apparently,
they only have the “system” to do these things for foreigners in a couple cities in the whole
country…surprise surprise! So, after
studying our brains out to take the written exam, we made our way up to Ambato
last week. Upon arriving we were
told, “oh, you can’t do that today, come back tomorrow.” The “Doctor” wasn’t
there to administer the “medical” test required before we could proceed.
I’m using
quotes because my dead grandmother could administer this medical test.
They make you look into a viewfinder to see if you're colorblind. That's it!! This requires a medical doctor... apparently.
After studying some more, we got up yesterday, caught a bus
at 6am and headed to Ambato again, determined this time to come home fully
licensed to drive. This time we
got there and found that while I was perfectly fine to proceed with the
process, Andy was not… They took
one look at his cane and told him he couldn’t get the license transferred from
the States, but would have to get a handicapped
license. It didn’t matter that
he’s been driving with a spinal injury for almost 20 years, safely, I might
add. And it didn’t matter
that his home country said he was fine to drive; they want him to get his
special license. Guess what that
means? He has to take driver’s ed… again, over 20 years later! Could they have told him this 3 months
ago when we gave them our paperwork? Uh, yeah.
Honestly, this will probably be a blessing because people
here BEG to get handicapped status.
In addition to many other benefits, you automatically get a 50% discount
on ALL transit, including international flights! That means the next time you see us
we’ll have paid half price for Andy’s ticket and we’ll have saved a BUNCH of
money!
So, while I didn’t have to go to driver’s ed. again, I think
I’d have been better off if I had.
This process took me 3 full months, and Andy can get his classes over
with in one weekend. Lesson
learned?
…probably not.
On the plus side, I have a pretty cool license, and am legal to drive on two continents! I'd say I came out on top :)
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