Getting to know your taxi drivers

Welcome to this magical land known as Abu Dhabi where cars move at a reckless speed, use of a turning blinker has become obsolete and watching the slow development of a neighborhood traffic jam with no relief in sight is just laugh-out-loud funny.

The above picture occurs just about every weekday around 10am right in front of my building. Several things factor into this daily display of hilarity: 1) garbage trucks collecting 2) there is a Starbucks at the ground floor of my building, which attracts plenty of inconsiderate parking and 3) mass confusion.

After living here for six months without a vehicle to call my own, I have became good friends with the speedy taxi drivers who risk their lives everyday with one heavy foot on the gas and another hand on the horn.

But here's a revelation to all my taxi transit operators: just because I'm white and I'm walking on the side of the road doesn't mean I need a cab.

Even though I do appreciate the blatant attempt at customer service, you don't need to pull over and honk at me every time I'm out for a stroll as to say, "What the hell are you doing? It's hot outside. Get in my air-conditioned cab and I will take you anywhere you want for two and half dirhams for every kilometer..."

Don't get me wrong. About 40 percent of the time, I surrender to the urge, hop in the cab, and enjoy the brisk ride to work. Mr. Abu Dhabi Taxi Driver likes those odds so I'm sure the friendly honks will continue.

Sometimes, I like to catch the public bus, which can be a social experiment in its own right. And it costs only two dirhams (that's only 54 cents for you Statesiders). But I'll have to save those sweaty, claustrophobic stories for another blog post.

The men behind the taxi wheel are usually some of the most interesting people I get to meet while living here. Most speak some form of English and they never shy away from conversation, especially since I prefer to hop in the front passenger seat with them.

A quick introduction about where the cabbie is from usually gets the dialogue going. I've come to learn that the taxi drivers that roam the Abu Dhabi streets are typically from Sri Lanka, Bangladesh or India. A natural ice-breaker I use is any mention of cricket, a sport I am slowly coming to grips with. Every cabbie loves cricket, and if you let them, they will talk about it until your final destination.

Have you ever seen people who take a photo of themselves at their computer every single day for like a year and splice them all together in a time-lapse sequence? Well, I took that idea and threw in some of my favorite transit operating friends:

OK, after a while, I started to feel bad that I was snapping these photos off without them knowing. I just figured they had an important job and had to keep their attention on the road (and our cricket conversation).

Eventually, I started to do the polite thing and waited until we were at a red light. While incorporating the polite approach, the pictures came out much more friendly and it usually was followed by a "Am I going to be in the newspaper?" inquiry. I always said no but as you can see, they enjoyed the possibility...

 

Don't we look like we're having a great time together? We are.

For me, it always puts me in a good mood on my way to work. Meeting an interesting person from another side of the planet -- even if it's just for 12 minutes -- and speaking with them about their views, opinions and/or concerns is always an eye-opener.

It's a great reminder. As you float around your lofty little bubble without a worry in the world, there are so many other people on this globe also living their lives. I have spoke with many cabbies since I've lived here and not a single one of them (zero) have ever been to the United States. Their aspirations, ambitions, upbringing, family -- all very different than mine.

I truly enjoy the perspective and celebrate the geographical and cultural insight, if only for 12 minutes each day.

* * *

But eventually, my fiancé and I started to crunch the numbers and we found out with each of us working and the money we spent on cab fare, we could actually rent a car long-term for about the same price.

So unfortunately, my daily escapes to India, Sri Lanka and Bangladesh have diminished since we got a car but they have been replaced with a new sense of adventure and of course, the freedom to drive wherever we want at any time we desire.

Plus, now I get chauffeured around with the most amazing person in my tiny world...

Istanbul

It's almost funny how we can start relationships and sometimes put them on the shelf but depending on the type of person you are, they always have the potential to come back around full circle.

One of the many attractive things about my job in the desert is the extensive vacation time allowed each year and the accessibility to interesting places I wouldn't even factor if I still lived in the States.

I predicted that after about five months here, I would need to step out for a week and I was very right in that assumption. The timing also worked out well for Miranda, who, after an exhaustive and arduous employment battle, was scheduled to start work at the Fairmont Hotel two days after we returned. So congrats to that beautiful lady.

Istanbul is where European and Middle Eastern cultures collide head on. Everywhere I looked, it was an interesting blend of compromise, beauty and jaw-dropping history.

A big reason why we picked Istanbul was because we knew a few good people there.

Kim traveled through Asia with Miranda during and after college and Kim has lived in Istanbul for the last three years. Brycen, who has also lived there for the last three years or so, played on my soccer team years before we entered high school and we even graduated from the same college together but at different times.

So Miranda had not seen Kim for nine years while Brycen and I had not hung out for almost a decade. But here we are; parading through this eclectic city. Hiking, drinking, dancing -- just living life. Such good people. It almost makes my heart explode.

Side note: In the days before this trip, I was excited to introduce some cool expats to one another as I thought it was the least I could do before throwing my innocent tourist appetite into their clutches. But, of course, in a city of 20 million, I found out on the first night that they already knew each other. Go figure.

Just about every person I met in Istanbul was genuine. The lovely nature people exuded could be felt in all directions. That's why it really struck a chord in me when I saw the first reports of the police clearing out Taksim Square.

On Friday, we were supposed to leave for the airport from Taksim Square -- the apartment we stayed at was a few blocks from there -- but since we were running a little late, we scooped up a taxi. Little did we know, it was the exact time the Turkish police brought the hammer down on a peaceful protest over the preservation of a nearby park.



Because of the severe overreaction from police with tear gas, water hoses and rubber bullets, the wonderful people that we were surrounded by in the days before have naturally started to fight back. It appears several questionable decisions by the Turkish government have fueled this fight and it doesn't look it's going to go away anytime soon.

The police brutality I saw on TV reports right after we landed at the Abu Dhabi airport compared to the serenity I experienced while walking around that fair city are on extreme opposite sides of the spectrum.

Of course, this has pinched a personal nerve for me with consideration I was just there. Our Istanbul friends, Kim and Brycen, are both OK and have not taken part in the protests. But I do believe in the cause.

Keep up the good fight, Istanbul.

Change is on the horizon. Keep on rocking in the free world.