(NOT) The best place to learn to Drive A Stick Shift

Yup, had my first experience driving a manual - oh boy.  So I was planning to go to the beach to learn, where there weren't supposed to be a lot of people, and the roads are nice, open and wide.  But, my driver (Lahai) decided it would be a good idea to go to a field to learn.  However, when we got there, people were playing cricket on it (Of course! Cricket! Why didn't I think of that?!!), so I ended up learning on the road circling the field.

The road was DEFINITELY not wide enough for two way traffic but for some reason, cars were adamant about driving on that street.  Maybe they knew I was learning, so they were purposely driving in the opposite direction as me to freak me out.  Anyhow, I ended up learning how to drive a stick shift squeezed between a wall (or sometimes a ditch) and a car a foot away from me half the time.  The worst was when an enormous construction truck would approach.  I'd look on in terror and Lahai would laugh.  Great.  Oh, I didn't mention that driving on the main road in Sierra Leone is horrendous.  Thank goodness this was a side street.

Typical Sierra Leone traffic.  Thank goodness I didn't have to drive in this.

To make matters worse, I was learning from my driver.  Not that he was a bad teacher, but his English was bad, and my Krio was even worse.  So half the time, he's talking about "mass"-ing the break or the accelerator and I'm wondering does that mean press or release?!! (It means press.)  And initially, I didn't even know if it was okay to press the break if I was going to crash into a wall.  Well, okay, maybe my common sense was not functioning a hundred percent then.

At one unfortunate junction, I slowed to first gear to turn, but instead, I stalled.  Frustrated, I banged my head on the steering wheel, and I fortuitously honked the horn just as a group of students were walking in front of the car.  Yes, they all stared, pointed, and laughed at the strange American who couldn't keep a car running.

Then after a few circles, Lahai all of a sudden jumped out of the car and said, "I'm going to let you drive by yourself, to test how you do mentally."  Great, I just hope I don't stall and forget how to start up the car.  Well, despite my clumsiness gene, I made it back, and I jokingly said "I only ran over three people."  But I don't think Lahai understood it as a joke - now he probably thinks I'm a strange girl who laughs about running over people.