TAXI RIDE

I have always considered myself quite a cosmopolitan girl. Living during my high school years in New Jersey, I have spent time in New York, Boston, Philadelphia, etc. I have always enjoyed traveling and new experiences. I had a new experience this week, however. The day of Ramon Arguilles' funeral, we found ourselves without a car. The office car that we usually drive was in the shop for service, and all of the other options were busy. We knew that we had only one option to make it to the service: TAXI RIDE.

Missionaries negotiating for a taxi

Now let me explain a little about the taxi system here. We can compare it to a thrill ride at Disneyland or Magic Mountain. There are no rules. There are no speed limits. There are no guarantees. In other words, there is no safety or security. I knew that I didn't want to walk the mile or so to the service in my heels (I can't really walk up or down stairs in the stupid things anymore), so it was ride the ride of a lifetime or not go.

We left our apartment two very conspicuous gringo missionaries. We walked just a little ways from our apartment and hailed the first cab that we saw. We paid 50 Limperas (about $2.50) for the ride. I am sure that this was an inflated price, but we didn't care. After the service, we paid the same amount for the ride home. We survived, weren't robbed, and even were able to laugh about our experience. We did worry a little bit about the man with the machete who walked by us while we were hailing the cab. That story is for another day.