Taxi Ride

I took a taxi by myself today! OK so my friend Shaimaa called the taxi, put me in the taxi and told the taxi driver where to go. She practically pinned a note on me. OK so the note was in my purse and I had strict instructions to call her as soon as I got home. But the point is: I took a taxi by myself today!

For my part in this journey I deserve full credit for not crying or calling out once in the one hour journey home. Despite the fact that every ounce of my being was screaming,
“THIS IS NOT THE WAY HAMDY DOES IT!”
Hamdy is the school’s trusty, responsible, courtesy driver who has been my chaperone for all of my trips to Cairo. And he never gets lost and he never tries to give the passengers whiplash. But, I bit my tongue, held back my tears, and swallowed my lunch that was trying to come up again as we whipped around Cairo for more than an hour. (It only takes Hamdy 30 minutes to get me home, but who’s counting. It’s not like I have a dinner date to get home to – not yet anyway.)

Once I accepted the fact that I had absolutely no control over anything that was happening to me at that moment (which really didn’t take all that long, really), I sat back and enjoyed the scenery and the sunset. I can’t say that I enjoyed the ride cause it’s was like driving around with my sister Kristen when she’s lost. Only in this case all the other drivers also drive just as bad as she does. For those of you who don’t know Kristen, it’s like a roller coaster ride with lots of fits and starts, odd accelerations, and way too many U-turns at high speeds and where you can’t see the end of the ride anytime soon. It’s a little nauseating. But if you focus on the horizon it’s OK.

In the end, I survived and was truly thankful to learn another route home. It helped me get a better sense of where I am in relation to other parts of the city. And believe it or not I even helped the driver navigate in the last bit after he stopped 3 more times for directions. (The directions were in Arabic so I was not cheating.)

So that’s my major accomplishment for the day. What’s yours?
Enjoy!