THE NEWEST MEMBER OF THE WHAT WE SEE TEAM
With a broken AC system, a gaping hole where her radio once was, and no power steering, Wendy is truly special.
After weeks of hunting for the best (read: cheapest) deal in town, today was the day the search would finally end. During the high season in Cape Town, big name rental cars are expensive and small names are sold out. But this morning I received a call from Theo, the head of a website-less establishment run out of his home––a car had been dropped off the day before and it was ready for me to pick up. WONDERFUL! I started getting ready: Passport? Check. Money? Check. Drivers license? ..............
To cut a long and stressful morning short, my drivers license is missing. Or probably more accurately put, my drivers license is staring me in the face but I can’t see it. I had moved it from my wallet last Friday night to be able to drive to Shabbat dinner without taking my whole bag, but I am clueless as to what I did with it afterwards. My sleuthing leads me to believe that it is somewhere between the garage and my bed, which also means that by now it could be in the back pocket of someone heading off to steal my identity. I have ordered a replacement from the Massachusetts DMV, which my mother will probably have to Fedex to Cape Town (Thanks mom!), and until then I have a triple threat of identification: a print out of an email from the DMV saying I am getting my license replaced, a photocopy of my license (which I had emailed to me from Budget since I hadn’t brought my own copies...), and my passport. Fingers crossed I only get pulled over by sympathetic cops (or those susceptible to the charm of dimples).
Regardless of this morning’s drama, Wendy and I are very happy together. She brings me one step closer to “local” status; as anyone who has been to Cape Town can attest, these small white chicos are everywhere. Now all that’s needed is to trash the yank accent, start inverting the “er” endings of words (I go to the theatre in the city centre), add an extraneous “u” here and there, and I’m set!