On my way home from school the other day, I almost got hit by a huge SUV.  It got me really angry and then it got me thinking.  This is not a town that I ever, ever want to drive in.  Heck, I am not sure I even really want to walk here after my near miss this evening but frankly I don't have another choice.  I just need to train myself to do the triple check and not rely on signals.

Part of the problem I think is traffic.  It is pretty miserable here and if you don't turn when you have a chance or merge when you need to merge regardless of what other people are doing, you might not get another chance to make the turn or to merge.  Does this mean that it's okay to be reckless? no but I think it helps to paint the picture of driving in Sofia.

The other thing to know is that only in the last 20 years has the traffic started to get bad.  Capitalism brought plenty of new cars to this city but it seems like a sort of “driving pirate-ism” rules the roads.  I am sure that there are laws regarding driving and parking but no one seems to follow them.  Maybe this is because everyone more or less became drivers overnight or maybe driving is just a reflection of what it actually takes to get ahead in this city--a lot of daring, a bit of risk taking and decent dose of guts.

Anyhow, I don't have what it takes to drive in this city so I'll stick to the sidewalks.  After all, I grew up in a farm town and learned how to drive when I was 15 in my parents' station wagon--which they special ordered when I was in kindergarten.  Sure I can navigate a combine on a two lane highway but I don't want to get behind the wheel of a car in Sofia.