There was this one time back home when we were driving to visit my family in Louisiana. We had stopped for food and needed to get back on the interstate. Stewart was in the middle lane when I pointed out that he needed to be taking the U-Turn under the interstate. Problem: the left hand lane was packed. He decided that he could fit between the two cars and squeak on over to the U-Turn lane. The girl in one of the cars decided that wasn't cool and scooted forward. I, the very passive driver, thought we should just go straight and turn around. We eventually got across and headed on our way.
So the point? That was nothing compared to driving here.
Today was our first day taking a taxi to the embassy. The previous two days, people have picked us up on their way to work, and Stewart's coworker has had his driver take us home both days (Side note: I now want our own driver).
The taxi showed up and we climbed in. Inside it looked like a stolen vehicle in the process of being stripped. The stereo had been ripped out ..... and all the ac vents and controls. We headed out of our relatively traffic free colony and onto the main road. There was no stopping to merge. It was basically like jumping straight into the pool without testing the water first. This somehow works as we didn't die. One of the roads we went down is a big divided major road that is three lanes wide with the dotted lines marking the lanes. When driving here, feel free to ignore the lines. Stay between them, drift across them, straddle them, whatever you want to do. At any point in time there could be 3-6 cars driving down the width of the road. At the stoplights, the number across is a minimum of 6, much higher if the scooters find their way in between.
When we got to the embassy, we asked how much and the driver responded "how much do you want to pay?" Really? Is that an option? Can we say nothing? Stewart had been told the going rate already which the driver accepted without any argument.
When it comes to one way roads, feel free to ignore what direction you're supposed to go. This includes one way streets directly in front of the embassy and full of security barriers and guards.
When it comes to two way streets, feel free to ignore which side you're supposed to be driving down. You could even straddle the dividing line down the middle.
What makes it all seem to work is the overuse of horns. In America, honking your horn generally means that you're telling someone that they need to go at the green light or they're being a jerk. Here, horns are used to tell people to get out of your way or that you're about 2 inches from them and they need to not hit you. The tuk tuks zoom in and out of the cars and so do the scooters. It's the game Frogger intensified 100 times.
I have no idea what driver's ed looks like .... or maybe they don't have that and that's why everything is the way it seems.
All I know is that it's like a scary amusement park ride.
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