I am not that great a driver. I do not enjoy driving in towns in the U.S., and that's when people follow traffic laws (for the most part.) In Amman, I'm not even sure that there are traffic laws, which is probably why one of the rules on our program is that we can't drive. This makes transportation very interesting, and every person I know has at least one crazy-taxi driver story...
Most recently, we got in a cab and as soon as the driver realized we were American he changed the radio station to Western music, and he kept asking Brian if it was okay. Aaaaaaaand then Stereo Hearts came on and we started belting it out, and our taxi driver, instead of getting annoyed, just turned it all they way up. And then you get the taxi drivers that don't say a word, and I'm never sure if they heard me, or if they're just driving around for their own amusement... they usually know, but it still makes me nervous.
Buses are a whole different ball game. I live in a part of town where about four other families are hosting kids from the program, and though it is economical to take a taxi all together, its even cheaper to take a bus. Its definitely not as creepy as the guide books make it out to be. You have the driver and the the door-opener-dude, the driver drives and the dude opens the door, you ask him if its the right bus, and then later he takes your money. Usually if there's a man in a single seat, and the rest of the bus is full, he'll get up for the woman who just got on. But occasionally the door-opener dude doesn't listen, and so you have to be a little more assertive, which is hard with the whole language barrier thing. The buses can also get as strange as the taxi drivers, me one friend saw a man who missed his stop hitting the driver with his cane. The driver then grabbed the cane and threw it out the window. I love this city.
Drivers in general are crazy here as well. From what I've observed, you basically have to drive concentrating on a billion different things in front of and behind you. It does not look like fun. My host family doesn't have a car, and so when we come home from the Circassian Nadi (more on that later) someone usually drives us. The first couple of times it was this dude names Teto, who, when angry, likes to floor it and then suddenly put equal pressure on the brake. Its kind of scary, but that's nothing compared to last Thursday when I got into a car and the driver turns to ask me "Do you like to drift?" when I asked what it was, the other girls in the car silently lifted up two fingers and twirled them in a circle, so I said "Why not?" The rest of the car was not as enthusiastic as I was. Twenty minutes later, I was looking out the window, and all of a sudden we were moving very fast in circles. Also, there was this noise, which I later realized was me, screaming. Of course I wanted to do it again.
Most recently, we got in a cab and as soon as the driver realized we were American he changed the radio station to Western music, and he kept asking Brian if it was okay. Aaaaaaaand then Stereo Hearts came on and we started belting it out, and our taxi driver, instead of getting annoyed, just turned it all they way up. And then you get the taxi drivers that don't say a word, and I'm never sure if they heard me, or if they're just driving around for their own amusement... they usually know, but it still makes me nervous.
Buses are a whole different ball game. I live in a part of town where about four other families are hosting kids from the program, and though it is economical to take a taxi all together, its even cheaper to take a bus. Its definitely not as creepy as the guide books make it out to be. You have the driver and the the door-opener-dude, the driver drives and the dude opens the door, you ask him if its the right bus, and then later he takes your money. Usually if there's a man in a single seat, and the rest of the bus is full, he'll get up for the woman who just got on. But occasionally the door-opener dude doesn't listen, and so you have to be a little more assertive, which is hard with the whole language barrier thing. The buses can also get as strange as the taxi drivers, me one friend saw a man who missed his stop hitting the driver with his cane. The driver then grabbed the cane and threw it out the window. I love this city.
Drivers in general are crazy here as well. From what I've observed, you basically have to drive concentrating on a billion different things in front of and behind you. It does not look like fun. My host family doesn't have a car, and so when we come home from the Circassian Nadi (more on that later) someone usually drives us. The first couple of times it was this dude names Teto, who, when angry, likes to floor it and then suddenly put equal pressure on the brake. Its kind of scary, but that's nothing compared to last Thursday when I got into a car and the driver turns to ask me "Do you like to drift?" when I asked what it was, the other girls in the car silently lifted up two fingers and twirled them in a circle, so I said "Why not?" The rest of the car was not as enthusiastic as I was. Twenty minutes later, I was looking out the window, and all of a sudden we were moving very fast in circles. Also, there was this noise, which I later realized was me, screaming. Of course I wanted to do it again.
So true!
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