Last week I was at the Syrian family's home. We were drinking Coke and having our English lesson when it culminated into a conversation about driving cars, go figure! R. the 23 year old cousin/niece in the family, really wants to learn to drive (what 23 yr. old doesn't want to drive right?), her eyes get really big in her excitement, she stares at me as if saying "Please say yes, please say yes" and I feel so good at the possibility of making this dream of hers a reality.
So yesterday I met with S. (the father) and R (his 23 year old niece) to give them a driving lesson.
It was a beautiful day in StL, blue skies, 70 degrees. We climbed into my car and I gave them a first things first tutorial: gas, brake, Park, Drive, Reverse, Neutral etc., seat belts please, adjust seat and mirrors, turn signals, look behind you before pulling out, turn blinker on, ease out.
As we drove, I pointed out street signs, Yield, One Way etc. they knew all of this, so they said. I drove the three of us to Tower Grove Park, perfect for this occasion, smooth roads, spacious lanes. (There was not a big, empty parking lot in the area.) The park was pretty busy with joggers and several fields full of people playing ultimate frisbee. S. had told me he drove years ago in Syria but that must have been at least 5 years ago because they were in a camp for 4 years. He's 45 yrs. old and I thought he should be first, set a good example.
S. drove for about 30 minutes inside the park. Fully in control but a bit scared, a little white knuckled. He did a good job, both hands on the wheel the entire time, and drove very slowly, which I appreciated. I think he was being cautious, people were staring at this VW Jetta creeping along, "what's wrong with these people" but, hey, I didn't have that sign on my car declaring: "Driving School in Progress Don't Stare".
He would be terrified on the normal streets and definitely expressed concern about the idea of parallel parking (who doesn't!) "Parallel parking, maybe for the next lesson", I said.
Then it was R's turn. She's a sweet gentle, young lady and she's never been behind the wheel of a car. She too was cautious and her gentleness showed towards the steering wheel. She didn't want to use it. She slowly weaved back and forth across the park road at 5 m.p.h. for about 30 minutes. By "weaved back and forth" I mean she took up the whole road!
You have to imagine: a car literally weaving from one side of the street to the other at 5 m.p.h.! I had to intervene several times as I didn't think she was going to swerve away from the curb in time and thought on several occasions she would hit the trees on the edge of the street. I would say: "There's a tree, there's a tree, tree, tree, tree" and she kept the same expression the whole time and didn't move the wheel.
S. sat in back giving her detailed instruction, at times raising his voice, other times making a disgruntled ticking sound with his mouth, a very fatherly warning perhaps saying "be careful" or "oh God what have we begun". Several other cars didn't appreciate our speed and went racing by us, as if we were on a main thoroughfare instead of in a subdued park, but that's part of learning to drive.
After multiple times around the entire park, I thought she had done a good enough job for her first driving experience and I told her so. She's funny, she said in her broken English way "Who's good, my father or me?" I think she was saying who did a better job driving? Funny girl. We will do this again. I consider it a privilege to be giving them lessons. And not having hit the tree.
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