4th TIME'S a CHARM

4^th TIME’S A CHARM

August 14, 2014

            Three weeks ago when I walked into the local DPS office I felt as if I were back in Paraguay.  The overcrowded waiting room groaned with people who had been waiting for a long time.  Lines of people curving around various obstacles made it impossible to tell where one ended and anther started.  Then I really felt as if I were back in Paraguay when, after three hours of waiting, I walked out no closer to my goal.  You see because my driver’s license is more than 2 years expired I have to not only renew it but take the written and driving test again. 

            The second attempt at getting my license I only had to wait 2 hours and the lady behind the counter liked my paperwork that time (it’s really hard to prove you live somewhere when you’ve only been in that place a couple weeks and own nothing) and I passed my written driving test (yes, I did study).    

            The third trip to DPS was to take my driving test which is booked by appointment only one week in advance.  I showed up on time and confident after practicing my parallel parking in the parking lot only to have the teacher discover before even meeting me that the car’s registration (I was in my mother-in-law’s vehicle) was out of date and therefore I couldn’t complete the test.  I booked another appointment for the following week.

            Fourth time in three weeks to the DPS office I passed my driving test and now I can drive in this country.