Big Girl Toy

I know all those jokes about how men love their cars, but I don’t think that’s entirely fair, as what woman doesn’t love seeing that bright and shiny brand new car, and sitting in the nice plush seats and smelling that new car smell? Hey, we are all human, right?

Yesterday, the long awaited new car arrived! Let me explain, that it is not our car. The church purchases the car for the pastor’s use,  but it belongs to the church. One of the church treasurer’s oversaw the choice and purchase of the car. He was as excited about it, as if it were his own, which I thought was neat. They followed a path of finding a solid, safe car that offered some comfort and was not over budget. They had the same budget as our last car, but added to that was the selling price of the former car, which is now 5 years old.  My two cents worth was that I absolutely did not want a black car. Too hot! I did not participate in the choosing process, except for one large detail.

They were looking at the Honda Fit and seriously considering it, until I travelled with someone in such a car. I absolutely hated it. It was cramped, uncomfortable, hot, noisy, and felt like a tin can on wheels. I had a terrible opinion and told them I preferred to keep our old car rather than spend so much money on a subcompact.  Since a Honda is an import here, and the taxes are more expensive, they eliminated that.  I was rooting for a Nissan Sentra, but was very pleasantly surprised when they chose a Chevrolet Vectra, a very nice Sedan, by Brazilian standards could even be considered a luxurious car.

To me it is very luxurious and I was shocked by the fact they were able to buy the car. So when we went to pick it up yesterday (and trust me I wasn’t going to stay home and miss my chance to see the new toy), I went along.

They had to give us lessons on how everything worked and I was glad for that, as it is very different from anything we have had before. I had to get a shot of the engine, so clean and fancy (here in Brazil we call a new car a “Zero Kilometer”, but in fact the car did have 3 whole kilometers on it).  Have you ever seen a battery all swathed in felt? What a hoot. I had never seen an engine organized in that way before and was glad they showed it, as I would never have found the dipstick otherwise.

It has an onboard computer and you practically need an engineering degree to figure out how to work the air conditioning and radio. And last night as it was raining and the car fogged up, we never did figure out how to defrost the car. The windshield wipers have sensors and turn on automatically which was hysterical, since at times they would crazily go fast and then they would sort of shut down, etc. Made me nervous.

João loves the comfort and quietness of the ride. I am happy to report the rider’s side of the car is also very comfortable. There are all kind of small amenities we are not used to… which I know are no big deal to you North Americans, but we are having so much playing with – like a lighted mirror on the sun visor, cup holders that pull out, arm rests, cooled glove box to put food in, etc., etc.

So we have our new, expensive toy. Today João has to go out and get a license plate for it.  But other than that, it is ready to go. I am very grateful to the church for providing this for us. Thankful to God for a safe means of transportation. And praying that it will not tempt me to materialism or pride. Mostly I am just enjoying it. That’s okay, isn’t it, as long as I don’t “worship” it, right?