Italian Driving School Diaries - I HAVE AN ITALIAN LICENSE!!

Sorry for the caps but this situation calls for it. I passed the driving exam today.

I still don't believe it. After months of studying and freaking out about the written test and four weeks of driving lessons to learn how to drive a standard/stick it came down to 10 minutes this afternoon.

Yes my driving exam was only 10 minutes long. Let me break down the scene.

I went to the Autoscuola to meet my teacher, Bruno. We (and another student) went to the Parco della Musica to take the exam. Bruno gave us some last minutes tips.

The examiner arrives. She had a lot of style. Seriously, her shoes was fab. She kept her sunglasses on and got in the back seat. I went first. I remembered to use the indicators, check mirrors, etc. I didn't stall once. Phew. Finally I was able to go from 1st to 2nd then to 3rd gear no problem. I remembered to downshift to 2nd before making a turn.

Then I had to parallel park. I reversed too quickly and I did turn my head once to look in front of me. The examiner said, "Signora (in very quickly spoken Italian I didn't understand here)" basically, "what are you doing? Keeping looking behind you." I felt sick to my stomach because I thought she was going to fail me. At least the parking job ended up well. I wasn't too close or too far from the pavement.

After my two fellow classmates took the test, we went over to meet Bruno who had our licenses. We all passed. I held my Patente di Guida to my chest and whisper thank you to the examiner. She smiled. One of the girls pulled me and our other classmate into a group hug. I haven't been this happy since...uhm, it's been a while.

One classmate is going to organize an aperitivo since we live near each other. Both of my former classmates are super sweet. Seniors in high school. I don't think they realize I'm old enough to be their mom.

Anyway, I cannot say enough good things about this school. Yes it's a pain to get your license here but they make the process as smooth as possible. The school is worth every single euro.

Andrea was great. I wish I understood Italian better as the class kept cracking up. I missed most of the jokes/humor. Andrea took the time to answer all my questions. There is no way I would have passed the written exam without taking his classes.

Bruno was my driving instructor. He speaks some English. The man deserves a medal. I was so nervous about learning standard after 20 plus years of driving automatic. He has a ton of patience. Bruno corrected all my bad driving habits. I'm definitely a better driver now after taking lessons with him.

Here is their website.:

http://www.autoscuolailario.it/home.htm

If you know some who needs to sign up with an autoscuola in Rome, this school is the bomb. In a weird way I'm going to miss them. I've been going to the school every week for the past five months.

My next challenge is become fluent in Italian. I think this is going to take a little longer than five months. Ha.