I’m happy to announce Kat and I are the happy owners of a car. Might not be a big thing for you, but for us this is proper grown up stuff, especially in Copenhagen, where Christiania bikes are normally the ultimate embodiment of adulthood.
You could argue is unnecessary to have a car in a city like this, where bike lanes have been perfectly laid out for our enjoyment and convenience, but I have to admit that the process of getting a car we can call our own has been a genuinely exciting experience.
Kat had to learn how to drive from scratch, go through dozen of classes and a few tests (both theoretical and practical) and finally hunt for the right car, one that was both within the budget her Dad had allocated for it and our personal needs: not too big so that is easy to park but not too small so that we can still fit stuff in the boot if we need to; not too old so that it’s not too expensive to insure but not too worn so that it can last a few years before it starts giving us troubles; not too powerful so that it doesn’t consume too much petrol but with an engine big enough to drive around without problem. You get the picture.
Luckily for us, we managed to find a really nice Mazda 2 (year 2003) at a good price and in great condition. The car is compact, powerful and very spacious, just what we were looking for. Last night, after picking it up from the car dealer, we went for a little celebratory lap around our neighborhood, smiling and looking at each other in disbelief.
– Holy shit, we own a car!
– I know!
(High five)
Now I just need to swap my Venezuelan driving license for a Danish one, a painful process that involves paying to have my current license translated (which I already did), paying to get a health certificate (which I will do next week), and paying to submit my application (which I’ll do the week after). That alone can take up to six months because the Danish authorities need to check with the Venezuelan police to verify my documents and make sure my license is legit, but at least I get a temporary license while they do that, so it’s not that bad.
In the meantime, Kat and I will need to settle on a name for the car; she wants to call it “AziZ” (lame) and I would like to name it “Lemmy” (awesome). Either way, we now have a car!
Pretty cool, huh?
Failure is Fuel 