I grew up here in Atlanta and am used to driving around a lot. When I got older, I realized that I spend most of my time sitting in a car! You never realize at first how much time you spend driving from one place to another and sitting in traffic. By the time you finally get home, you wonder where all that time went! When my parents would drive me when I was younger, they always made sure that I was using my time wisely and that I had a book with me in the car or something else to keep me entertained, like food.
When I am in Argentina, I don't expect to be in a car as much as I am here. I hope to be able to spend a lot of time biking around, since I will be living on the campus of the school where I am teaching. I do not know how often I will take my bike when it starts to get cold, though...
Driving is definitely connected to the culture and environment of Atlanta. There are a lot of freeways and backroads here that go through large suburban neighborhoods, which is convenient for the people who live here. In my neighborhood, the sidewalks are poorly developed and there are no bike lanes. In other neighborhoods, there are better sidewalks and bike lanes, but that kind of infrastructure is not consistent throughout Atlanta. This makes it hard for people to use one single mode of transportation. The closest bus stop to where I live is about a 20 minute walk from my house on a beaten-up path that goes through people's front yards along the main road. It is not very convenient, so I often just drive to the closest train station and take the train to wherever I am going.
