Tuesday, December 28, 2010

The Jellybean of Death

That title sounds a lot cooler that what its really about.

The Jellybean of Death is my car.


Its a 96 Opel Corsa. I think they are made by GM. Either way its definitely a crappy little car.
Don't get my wrong, it does its job. I get from point A to point B, but not without its own share of issues.

First and foremost- It has NO AIRBAGS. Hello?? Didn't they know how important airbags were in 1996. seriously. I would HATE to get into a fender bender in this car much less anything else. Also it has no power steering. Parking this car takes some serious arm strength. I think my biceps are definitely a lot stronger than they were 4 months ago!

I bought my car off a friend of mine for 400 euro. He had bought himself a new car and sold it to me cheaply. I think it used to be cherry red, now its more dark pink. As you can see the steering wheel is on the passenger side of the car. I'm mostly used to that by now. There are still times though that all the years of driving on the left takes over.

For instance I was leaving a friends house late the other night- it was freezing outside so I ran and jumped into my car and put on my seat belt. I go to start the car and realize I'm sitting on the passenger side of the car. HAH. I then jumped out and prayed that no one noticed and hopped in the right side of the car.

Also driving on the roads here- it has made me a better driver. Some of these roads are insanely small and curvy and people FLY down them.

This is NOT a driveway people. This is a proper road. I took this picture driving down to my friends house. Its a two way road. When someone else comes along the other way its a game of chicken. Who will pull over first? Now not all of the road outside of the cities are this small, but its not much bigger. Huge difference than to the states. Even in some of the cities the roads are impossible. Like cork-

I don't know who took this picture- but its the city center in cork and its one of the larger roads in Cork. Its a very old city and the way it was built the roads can't be made any wider. Most of the time only one car at a time can fit down the street so that means that the cars in the other direction have to pull on the sidewalk in between parked cars so traffic can get through. Talk about a tight squeeze. I was freaking out in the passenger seat. My poor friend Aoife.

End of story is that while I'm thankful for my car I can't wait for the day that I can afford something a little newer and nicer. and with some safety features. But its kind of fun having a clunker again, it adds to that whole starting over in a new country experience.

7 comments:

  1. omg how do you drive down those roads? I dont think I would ever get used it so kudos to you! Also, I watched the movie Leap Year last night & totally thought of you, haha.

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  2. haha im still a pretty nervous driver on the small roads. I don't take my car too far out of limerick 1. because of the roads and 2. because i don't know how far that car would go haha!

    And i still need to watch that movie! so many people have told me that they have seen that and I should watch it. I'll get around to it one of those days!

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  3. But, think of all the memories this car will give you.... When I was little, my mom bought a clucker from a friend. After a few weeks, it stopped going in reverse. She kept it for about 1 year after. My poor dad would push it out of the driveway everyday and she would only park heading in. I will NEVER forget that car!

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  4. LOL!!!! this car is fab! and you are brave! and be careful with those chicken games! ACK! ack!!!!!!!! be careful!

    and happy new year!

    p.s. i have had two "red" clunker cars that faded with time and ending up being a tomato/pink shade. barf! but getting from a to be is what is most important!

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  5. The jelly bean of death is one of the most clever blog titles I have seen in a long time. It totally qualifies as random. I once had a "silver bubble" it was a 2-dr Hyundai Accent. It terrified me in the snow many times.

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  6. Hilary- Yes I agree with you- I think the clunker cars have the most "charm" they give you the most memories which, may not be so fond at the time, but are nice to remember. I won't forget how this car is tempermental about when it wants to go in reverse. Sometimes it just throws a fit and won't shift into reverse no matter how much I plead haha!
    Drollgirl- HAHA if you think my car is so fab please come and take it off my hands! I have NO problem with that lol!! and this car is well on its way to that tomato pink shade. the back of the car is clinging on to cherry red though...sigh.
    Christy- Thanks for thinking it was clever haha! Its just what I call my car, normal crazy for me I guess lol. I would be terrified of ANYTHING two door in snow! Two door cars freak me out a little bit- for some reason I just feel like cars with four doors are more stable or something like that. I'm sure its all in my head haha!

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  7. i like how the grass is growing in the middle of a gravel road--don't usually see that.

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