Getting A Driver's License

We continue to make sure that we have all documents in place. The latest, a Brazilian driver's license. We could drive legally for 6 months with our U.S. driver's license, but knowing that it takes longer to get things done here, we opted for an early start on the process.

Now, we are used to the mid-western way of obtaining a license. When we were young, we had Driver's Ed. Once the teacher signed off, you went to the Driver's License Bureau to have your eyes check, picture taken and to take the written exam. If you passed, you were issued the license. Renewing is an even easier process.

In Brasil, as we have learned, it is a much different process, and a much more difficult one. Fortunately for us, we have had help through all of our processes. The company that has helped us obtain all of our documents provided us with a gentleman, named Marcel, to assist us at all of the locations we have had to go to. He has been so amazing. Versed in a few different languages, native to Brasil but has lived in other countries, including Australia, he has made each appointment not only a learning process, but an enjoyable one!

Marcel meets us at the location with all the appropriate paperwork ready to go. He is known by most people, and if not, once he mentions where he is from, we bypass the lines and head straight to our task. I must say, it is very nice!

The process for us involved only three steps due to the fact that we hold a valid driver's license in another approved country. Natives have to take a written and physical driving test.

Step one: Go to the Driver's License Bureau to register that you would like to pay the fee to apply for your license, have your picture taken, have your fingerprints taken, this is the 5th time we have had to provided them, and register for your exams.

Step two: Go to the ophthalmologist for your eye exam. These are the appointed ophthalmologists and they seemed a little outdated on their equipment, but both Greg and I were able to pass. We had to identify letters, numbers and colors. They had us stand and touch our nose, hold our hands out straight, turn our neck left and right, etc., checking for range of motion and stability.

Step three: Go to the Psychologist for an exam. Yes, you read that correctly. Now this is where it gets very interesting!

I dislike tests and always have, especially ones that are analyzing my thought process. I was sweaty and nervous as we approached the building. Greg had told me a little about what to expect, but I told him to stop because I would overthink it! We were greeted by the examiners and escorted into a room with a bunch of others taking their exams. As I was about to sit, the examiners approached us and I was moved into a room of my own. Not intimidating at all!!!

       *Test #1: A pattern test. At the top of the test were three triangles. A solid black triangle facing left, a white triangle facing down with a dot in the middle, and a solid white triangle facing right. My job, go row by row to locate all the triangles that matched any of the three at the top. There were about 300 triangles on the page to look through. It was a timed test.

       *Test #2: I do not even know what to call this test. I was given a piece of paper. At the top, there were five vertical lines. The lines were about 3 cm long and about 1-2 cm apart. My job, to continue making lines across the page. The lines needed to be the same size and distance apart. When the examiner said a certain word I was to create a horizontal line and then continue making the vertical lines. Sorry I am unable to remember the word! I was a little stressed out! This continued for about 5 minutes. I kept making vertical lines until I heard the word, then drew a horizontal line. My hand hurt so bad. When the time was up, I was given a new direction. Count all the lines between each horizontal line. This was tedious. There were 100-250 lines between each horizontal line. I was to write the number that I counted above the horizontal line.

Greg and I are not sure what this actually tells them, what information it gives. When we asked our friends, they could not tell us either. Very interesting though.

       *Test #3: Problem Solving Test: This test was what I expected to be given. On the page there were 3-6 photos. My job was to analyze and find out what was missing or what would come next. There were 40 different questions with all different levels of difficulty.

       *Meet with the Psychologist: After completing each of the tests, it was time to have them analyzed by the psychologist. He looked over each test, typed some information in the computer, printed out some papers and told me congratulations! PHEW!

After all of that, I was exhausted. My brain hurt from thinking and my hands hurt from writing non-stop, but I was thrilled the process was over and I was going to have an official driver's license.

4-5 weeks later, it was delivered to Greg's work, as all documents go through the company and straight to Greg. One more thing to check off our list!! It is a paper document in a plastic, unsealed sleeve.

Still makes me giggle that everything I do, every document that we have completed is all tied to my parent's names. Even on this driver's license they are listed!